Boxster depreciation?

[Adam]

It could be worse, just think of those 996 owners that bought new thinking of selling and trading up to a 997...ouch. Porsche went "high volume" with the boxster and the 996 to make some $$$. They made a mint and were the most profitable car company for awhile. The joke is on the consumers. I'ts a Porsche with a hint of Toyota literally and figuretively. I can only imagine how pissed of the 996 seller is right now and the boxster seller to a slighty lesser extent.

[hamstur]

The initial value of the car needs to be based on dealer invoice, not MSRP, hence the word "profit." Something to note is Porsche mark-ups ($6K-$8K) are considerably higher than even BMW ($3K-$4K).

Options add about 10-20% value for every dollar spent, so realistically no value unless it's a drastic performance upgrade.

If you want to validate this, go to a site like Kelley Blue Book. The dealer invoice for a 2006-07 987 is $39,222, so you can gaurantee a private sale value (i.e., true market value or TMV) for one with zero miles is $38-39K. I just tested it, and the KBB value is $38,520. The rest of the depreciation comes from use and age, taking into account upkeep costs and replacement parts.

I've got a 2004 non-S. A couple options in the pot, along with dealer mark-up made the MSRP $49K (I bought it used 9 months off the lot back in 2005 for $32K from a couple going through a divorce). Regardless, the invoice that year was $37,121 which was the true value brand-new. The current value for a brand new one is $31,130, so the car technically only depreciated 16%, which isn't bad by any standard.

Take it back to 1998 when the invoice was $35,895, the TMV for a brand new 1998 is $18,325, or a 49% drop. A 51% value for a 10-year-old car is, in my opinion, very high.

For anybody who ever thought their non-S boxster was ever worth more than $36K, it unfortunately never was. Every dollar you spent above that was to fatten Porsche's very deep pockets.

Andy