Inflation Adjustment 1987 / 2006

rgdalacrity · 06-24-2007, 09:38 AM

What cost $45,565.00 in 1987 would cost $80,758.59 in 2006.

Considering inflation, a 2006 Porsche 997 is a better value than a 1987 Porsche 911 was when it was new. I know my math may not be perfect, but I think it is close. The $45,565.00 was the average price of the 1987 911. The $80,758.59 is close to the average price of the 2006 997. I say it is a better value solely on the fact that you get the innovative technology and ostensibly better quality. I know this topic is bound to bring out the prejudices in us all, but I felt inclined to make the casual observance.

Jim Sims · 06-24-2007, 11:48 AM

The first criteria of value is that the item exist. Since a 2006 997 wasn't available in 1987 and a new 1987 isn't available today I'm not sure how the value comparison holds up. Future value of money is a highly personal thing and tends to be quite age and circumstance dependent. A 2006 car is of no value to someone who died in 2002 but a 1987 car driven for 15 years may be of immense value. Then there are the many differences in the cars; for some, the 997 is actually inferior (money issues aside) as it fails to meet their needs and desires.

rgdalacrity · 06-24-2007, 12:27 PM

Good analogy. I have an '87 and I love it. I'm just trying to talk myself into buying a 997 and also keep the '87.

aigel · aigel's Garage

A lot of the cars have become "cheaper". The cars are not hand made any more and they share a lot of parts with the other lines in the stable. This has it's good and bad sides. The pricing in the US also heavily depends on the exchange rate. It's amazing that they sell for this "cheap" even though the Euro remains very high.

George

89911 · 06-24-2007, 03:45 PM

I'll argue that the 997 isn't a good value (it really isn't, your quoting a base price on a model that usually gains another $10-15k once you get it the way it should be with options). I think more so, the 87-89 911's were way, way overpriced for numerous reasons. The were selling poorly and came close to ending there run until the 964.

dentist90 · dentist90's Garage

I kinda think the 911's produced in 1987 were pretty high-tech for their day, just as the 997 is pretty high-tech for today, just that the tech has gotten higher. 20 yrs will see a fair bit of advancement!

As an analogy, my parents first PC (IBM) was a 8088 processor (7Mhz) with no hard drive, only two 5 1/4" floppies with one to run DOS 1.0, a dot-matrix printer and a 12" monochrome monitor, which cost just over $2000 in 1980. Internet... what's that?