This is how much a 2021 Porsche 911 depreciated in five years

Porsche’s incredible 992-generation 911 is a technological force that combines the feel of grand touring with a platform that’s still incongruously fast and still fun to drive. The first examples were launched at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show, and Porsche is still introducing new variants of the chassis. However, you never want to buy those first few model years; it is better to give car manufacturers some time to solve the production problems. Despite a global pandemic hindering so much progress, by 2021 Porsche had all but perfected the eighth-generation 911 Carrera.

These types of cars don’t normally see high numbers, and they’re usually well cared for, so you’ll still find a nice example for a little less than you’d pay for a new one. However, Porsche 911s are not depreciating as quickly as other German luxury cars, or even other similarly priced sports/grand tourers like a 2021 Nissan GT-R. Rather than halving its price through depreciation, a 2021 Porsche 911 has only lost about 8% of its value over the past three years, according to Kelly Blue book (KBB). Due to the price increase for sports cars caused by the chip shortage after the COVID-19 crisis, a five-year-old 911 has been more or less ‘written down’ to its original recommended retail price.

It’s hard to say whether that makes purchasing a used 911 a good idea at this point. If you want a nearly new 911 for a little discount, you can probably find a good one for around $101,000. That’s a little more than you’d pay for a Lotus Evora GT from the same year, which might be a more worthwhile purchase. But with the base price of a new 911 skyrocketing to over $135,000, saving $36,000 by buying a used one is no small feat.

The advantage of choosing a five-year-old 911 is that someone else has already taken care of the depreciation for you. It could be argued that the entire depreciation of the 911 was mitigated by inflation. For example, a 911 purchased for $108,000 in 2021 has the same purchasing power today of approximately $133,793. Buying a used 2021 911 today for $101,000 will practically save you $20,000 off the original asking price. If it helps, KBB predicts the $101,000 992-generation 911 will hit a depreciation wall in 2027 and 2028, dropping to about $80,000 and $69,000 in those years, respectively. If you’re not willing to avoid a $30,000 loss in value over the next two years, you’re better off sticking with deeply depreciated BMWs and Mercedes-Benz.