OPC v Independent Prices

[mikfinch]

When I bought my '99 C4 a couple of years ago, I looked at loads of cars at OPC's and independent dealers and, at that time, there did'nt seem to be such a huge difference between OPC and independent dealer prices. I concluded that the extra security of buying from an OPC was worth the extra couple of grand that their cars cost
I've been thinking recently about replacing my C4 and have again checked out both OPC and independent dealer stock but now there seems to be a much greater difference between OPC and independent prices. For example there are a few Turbo's around at independents in the low £40k's but nothing in the OPC stock less than £50k and this difference is similar for other models too
So, what is happening here? Are OPC prices so high because they have all the mint cars or is it that independent dealer prices are more indicative of true state of the 996 market and the OPC's are just trying it on

 

[NXI20]

When I was looking for my C4 a few months back, I formed the impression that the OPC's were cherry-picking low mileage cars (no doubt because that is what most buyers want) and then putting them on the forecourt at fairly silly money. Although I'm a Porsche novice, I'm very familiar with the scare tactics employed by dealers & I just wasn't buying it. I bought from a well-respected independent & don't regret it at all - neither does my bank account!

 

[daro911]

Back in the days when 986/996's were hard to get new without a genuine 9-12 months wait OPC's were paying top $$$ for top used exanples and were happily working on 10% mark ups as the cars were literally coming in and going straight back out again. Fast forward 5 years and the market place is flooded with good examples, new cars can be had between 4-6 months and in some cases off the decks so now independents reflect the trade / retail prices while the OPC's have decided to work on 20-25% mark ups []

2006 would appear to be a bad time to sell to an OPC and for the retail customer an extremely expensive way of buying into the Porsche experience [&o]

 

[philippe]

I have had a look at OPC prices and i think there are some very nice examples on offer and they do prepare the cars well, but i would not be able to justify the extra £ i think the Indies are not always a baragin with the very nice examples, and that there are loads of great cars for sale from private sellers and as long as you get one well checked out you will get a very good buy.Don't forget a lot of these cars come from private sellers in the first place.

Let us know how you get on.

Phil