THE LEAD
A 2016 Cayman GT4 with 13,288 miles sold for $111,750 in May. A 2020 718 Cayman GT4 with 44,100 miles sold for $94,375 in April. The older car, down 29 horsepower and a full engine generation, beat the newer one by more than $17,000.
That's not a fluke. That's the trade of the year taking shape.
When the 718 GT4 landed in 2020 with its 4.0-liter flat-six and 414 horsepower, everyone wrote the same obituary for the 981: nice car, but the new one is faster, newer, better, done. The market agreed. A base 718 GT4 has averaged $123,805 across every sale we track. The 981 GT4 — manual-only, naturally aspirated, 385 horsepower — has averaged $96,896. Call it a $27,000 premium for the newer car.
Here's the part nobody's pricing in. That gap is closing. Fast. And the reason is the exact thing the purists loved about the 981 all along — three pedals, no turbos, no PDK option, no compromise. My take: the 981 GT4 is the smartest money in the mid-engine Porsche market right now, and the window to buy one under six figures is nearly shut.
AUCTION INTEL
Seven GT4s that tell the whole story. Watch where the two generations meet in the middle.
Year | Model | Miles | Trans | Price | Platform | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | 718 GT4 | 393 | Manual | $143,000 | BaT | Delivery-mile top result |
2023 | 718 GT4 | 9,900 | PDK | $124,718 | Cars & Bids | |
2016 | 981 GT4 | 13,288 | Manual | $111,750 | PCarMarket | 981 record-territory |
2021 | 718 GT4 | 24,402 | Manual | $109,750 | PCarMarket | |
2016 | 981 GT4 | 23,600 | Manual | $104,000 | Cars & Bids | |
2016 | 981 GT4 | 36,700 | Manual | $99,500 | Cars & Bids | High-mile, still ~$100K |
2020 | 718 GT4 | 44,100 | Manual | $94,375 | Cars & Bids | The 718 floor |
Now look at the overlap. The best 981s — clean, low-mile, manual — are clearing $104K to $112K. The tired 718s, the high-mile cars and the ones nobody optioned, are landing at $94K to $110K. The two markets aren't stacked anymore. They're interleaved. A great example of the old car now costs more than a rough example of the new one, and the buyers writing those checks know exactly what they're doing.
MARKET PULSE
The 981 is appreciating — and it's not subtle. 981 GT4 averages: $99,324 in the back half of 2025, $105,569 so far in 2026. Up 6.3% — about $6,200 — in six months. On a car most people still call "the cheap GT4."
The 718 is firm, not flying. Base 718 GT4 sits at $125,999 in 2026, right in line with its $123,805 all-time average. It's holding its value beautifully. It's just not the one adding value right now.
The premium has compressed from $27K to $20K. Full-history, the 718 commanded a $27,000 edge. In 2026, that's down to about $20,400 — and shrinking every quarter the 981 climbs and the 718 holds.
On the 981, transmission isn't a question. Every real 981 GT4 is a six-speed manual. There's no Tiptronic tax to dodge, no PDK debate to have. You buy the car, you get the good gearbox. That simplicity is worth something the spec sheet never shows.
THE DEEP CUT — Which GT4 to Actually Buy
Three cars, three buyers. Here's who each one is for.
Buy the 981 if you want the analog car and the upside. This is the value play and the appreciation play at the same time, which almost never happens. A clean 10k–25k-mile 981 averages $104,363 and is trending up. It's the last naturally aspirated, manual-only GT4 Porsche will ever build — the 718 offered PDK from 2022 and diluted the purity. Buy the best-documented, sub-25k-mile car you can find, and don't overthink the miles: even 36k-mile 981s are holding at $99,500. Get the manual — all of them are — and let it climb.
Buy the base 718 GT4 if you drive hard and want the bigger engine. The 4.0-liter and the extra 29 horsepower are real, and at $126K the base 718 is holding value like a rock. Manual and PDK trade within a few thousand dollars of each other — $123,141 versus $120,573 over the last year — so pick the gearbox you actually want, not the one you think resells better. Neither one penalizes you.
Skip the GT4 RS unless it's the halo you specifically want. The RS is a different market entirely — 40 sales averaging $206,878, PDK-only, and stretching past $250K. It's a brilliant car and a $200K commitment. That halo is part of why the base 718 sits flat: buyers chasing the ultimate GT4 leapfrog it entirely. Which is exactly the opening the 981 is walking through.
The play in one line: a documented, low-mile manual 981 GT4, bought under $110K, before the premium finishes collapsing.
PIT LANE
What we're watching this week: The next sub-20k-mile 981 GT4 to hit no-reserve. The record is $130,000 (BaT, January). If a clean manual clears $115K this summer, the "981 under six figures" era is officially over — and the 718-costs-more assumption goes with it.
Reader question: "Is the 718's extra power worth the extra $20K?" — For a track-day regular, maybe. The 4.0 pulls harder past 5,000 rpm and it's the sharper tool on a fast circuit. For everyone else — weekend canyon runs, cars-and-coffee, the occasional HPDE — the 981 gives up almost nothing you'll feel on the street and gives back appreciation the 718 isn't offering. I'd take the 981 and the $20K.
Garage tip of the week: These are cars people actually track, which means paint takes a beating from rubber, brake dust, and bugs. A proper ceramic spray after every session is the cheapest insurance a GT4's finish can get — we run Torque Detail Ceramic Spray on our own cars between details. (Affiliate link — we only recommend what we'd use ourselves.)
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