Boxster depreciation?
 

Is it just me, or do Boxster's seem to depreciate quickly, severely, and painfully? The late model low mileage cars on the market seem to be sitting forever, and getting few offers all of which are far below what would seem to be "normal" depreciation.

Is there something about our cars that makes them loose value quickly? Or is it just the economy being harsh on luxury goods?

I don't think the Boxster is different than any other Porsche.
Its simple economics, supply and demmand. Porsche has produced more cars in the last 7 years then they have at any point in their history. I've seen MINT condition 2002 911 Turbo's selling in the mid $50K's , a depreciation skirting the 50% mark after less than five years...crazy, that was considered an exotic at one point and now $50K won't buy you a CaymanS, and X5 or a lemon Mercedes.
All new Porsches are depcreciating faster than most of their owners have anticipated. But I have yet to see any data comparing Porsches to other luxury brands from Germany that would suggest that Porsche is depreciating a quicker clip than BMW or Mercs. If anything I would say that the improved reliabiltiy of Porsche is opening the door to a wider pool of buyers which helps a seller expand his target market.
Ask a Jaguar or Range Rover owner how quickly his 7 year old car is selling...

Yes, they depreciate.. Heck, even a Mercedes can only hold about 30% of its original value. Porsche built so far, over 200,000 Boxsters. Every year, thousands more come off lease and flood the market. Panic over reliability means most who buy used search for CPO or an aftermarket warranty. All of which hurts resale value.

I think another unspoken element is people only want to buy "new". Used, Preowned, CPO etc all carry a bit of a stigma to those wanting to impress or validate their sucess by owning only the "newest" and "best", even if they aren't the best and money is being wasted.

Could be worse, you could own Chrysler! ;)

for people buying new to validate success, 'what are you trying to compensate for?' :rolleyes: some used are great value but i would love to get into a brand new Porsche any day if i had the money.

To add my 2 cents, I actually have a 2006 RR SC and a 2005 XKR Cab both with low low miles (the XKR has 6900) and in the case of the XKR I would be hard pressed to get 55k. This from a car that sold for close to 100. The lesson, buy slightly used and get a great deal!

They depreciate but in comparsion to other cars they do pretty good. My car was probably in the $54k range new I bought it a month ago, 8 years old for $22k so a little more than half in 8 years but it only had 17k miles. That seems pretty good to me.

That's what made buying a Boxster possible for most of us! I got my 01 with 40k miles on it in December for 19K. It's not perfect - the interior was dirty and has a lot of wear on the center console and door pocket covers, and there's some nicks in the paint. All can be remedied relatively easy.

She runs great, and I'm liking it every time I drive it!

My plan was to keep it, and in about 4-5 years, find a used Cayman for around the same price! Although I might need to get something more practical...

Depreciation
 

If you want a car that holds it's value then buy a Toyota Prius. My friend is on his 4th one. He drives them for a year then sells them for a little more than what he got them for. But on the flip side you'd be driving a Prius and not a Boxster.

You are so correct, some pca members and I were talking out at the local track the other day about the depriciation of the 996T. there was a guy that bought a new cayman s for $60K off the lot with 2xx something miles on it and a guy would just bought an 01' turbo with 10,xxx miles on it for $70K. who's getting more bang for the buck, it just doesn't make sense to buy new nowdays or really ever in my opinion. i'd rather get a gently used porsche at a 50% discount than a brand new one at more than msrp.

Hopefully as w/ ALL(except the 924) Porsches,the Boxster will hit a point where it levels out and still holds value,look at old 928s,924s,914s and 911s.

Hi,

In 30 years buying and selling Sports Cars, I've never bought new (though I almost always could have). I've usually bought a 2-3 year old model in as new condition and mileage, and drove a hard bargain on the Purchase price.

Over some 30+ cars, averaging 2-5 years ownership, I have always sold them for more than I paid.

The key is to buy smart - keep your objectivity in the forefront and your emotions in the rear. If you can't make the deal on the car in front of you, rest assured that there's another one just like it, just around the corner. Do your math and stick to it.

I bought my '99 Boxster 2 yrs. ago with 17k on the odo for $17k (asking $24). Given the fast depreciation, this may be the first car I actually lose money on. Whatever.

The key is not how much it holds it's value, but rather, how much under the current value that you can acquire it for...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Last I checked you don't buy cars hoping to make money on them after years of ownership.

Hi,

I do... and have...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

You COULD do some quick analysis on this if it makes sense.

There are data on the web for MSRP for most cars and there is KBB.

Taking the same data points for a comparable car, say a Corvette, Z4 etc. you could take a particular set of years and calculate the percentage drop over time for each car.

Interesting, maybe I will try it.

Subjectively, the Box would do worse than say, an M3 but that is just a guess.

The depreciation on a new Porshce is no worse than any other comparable car but please show me a comparable car. BMW's aren't comparable. I'm not saying they're better or worse they're just not a Porsche in any sense of looks, driving, etc. Mercedes are not comparable, Audis, and so on. All of the luxury sport cars depreciate, but they're each in a unique market as well. The biggest depreciation comes from the Porsche options. They don't provide any return at resale. None, zip, zero, nada. Some are a liability at resale, pccb, pasm and pcm likely candidates for costly failures with pccb being the worst.

If you're going to buy new get a car lightly optioned with the options buyers expect at this price level: halogens, climate control, top of the line sound sytem with a cd changer. Also look to a minor change within the same platform. I looked at used 986s and found a significant difference between the 987 and 986. I love the 986 but liked the 987 and potential increased reliabity, rms for example, much better. Buying a 987s at the end of '06 when Porsche announced the 3.4 for '07 was a good time to do so. There was a lot of hype of 15 more hp and vario cam plus which is really a big yawn unless you're Speed Racer at the track. I got mine for 15% below msrp. Now it's depreciated 30% but that's from msrp. A neighbor waited and got an '07 for list. He can't go any faster than me down the drive to work even if there are no cars on the road because you can only get 80% out of the cars performance on the street at best. Don't ever pay msrp. That means you need to be patient and time your purchase when the market is soft.

The used 911's that were in the same price range as the new 987s were completely different beasts. They just weren't my cup of tea and being out of warranty the potential maintenance costs were a real concern. I keep my cars for a long time and get my money's worth out of them. I'll seriously consider a RUF upgrade when the '06 is out of warranty. That'll be the bomb.

So it's a matter of choice and common sense. If an '02 turbo melts your butter go for it. You'll get a heck of a deal but not necessarily more bang for the buck of a new 987. If you want brand new, popular and highly optioned be prepared to take a bath on depreciation. The Cayman S when it came out is a very good example. They were selling at or above msrp when they first came out and the dealers brought in a few with options that put them well over $70k US. If you can't pick up a Cayman S for 15% below msrp right now you're in a completely different market than I am in the NE US.

You can get a hint at depreciation by looking at lease terms on new cars.

BMWs have residuals in the 60-65% range after 3 years. This is strong but it still shows a drop of 1/3 after 3 years.

Many cars have 3 year residuals in the 52 - 57% range.

Sometimes the residual is inflated to get lower (subsidized) leases but across the model line they generally indicate the anticipated depreciation rate -- 5 years out, most everything is going to be below 50% of original value.

My 2002 Box was 48% of original value when I bought it and was between 5 and 6 years old. That doesn't seem like excessive depreciation to me.

PORSCHE-a sound purchase-
 

Cars are, not a good investment, to say the least. That said however in thirty years of buying (61 vehicles), kind of a dumb hobbey of mine, mostly sports cars, and a few bikes;I would like to share with you my experience. This is my experience and may not reflect any resemblance to the automotive market what-so-ever. With the excpetion of a 67-427 Corvette Convertble, a HD-Fat Boy, and a 1970 -914-6, I have never actually "made" money on any vehicle. I lucked out with the 914, which was sold at an auction in Scottsdale, AZ for more than 4 times I paid for it.
Without any specific studies, just what I have personally experienced, PORSCHE in general, has held thier value better than any other vehicles I have owned. Maybe it is the mere fact that there is just not many, by general comparison, built, or the folks who buy them will not settle for much else, not sure.

I agree with this as in general I find all cars depreciate within a couple of points of each other when years and mileage are constants. The problem is that 50% depreciation on a $60k car seems worse than the same depreciation on a $30k car

I think there are a lot of great deals on used Boxsters out there. They will continue to depreciate, but I expect there will be a "floor" for prices of Boxsters in good condition with reasonable mileage. So at some point, depreciation will probably slow down.

I look at it this way: I paid $21,250 for a 2000 with 30k on it and overall excellent condition. My total outlay is just a bit more than what I would have paid for a good new economy car. I'll enjoy driving the car for at least 10 years, and it will be worth something at the end of that time. So, I'm paying an economy car price to drive my Boxster. If I get $4000 or $10,000 for it in 2017, I'm going to be happy either way.

Depreciation
 

You make very good points...I don't always have the patience I should but my good friend does. He was looking for a used '05 Infiniti FX that were going for $40K at the time. He searched for about 6 months and got exactly what he was looking for $31K. He is ready to sell and he'll probably get $30K.

WOuld yOu guys like my to make you a different porsche spinning logo???

Could be due to the fact that so much of the cost can be in options, and options don't necessarily price well in resale?

Just a theory based on the fact that I think a hard top sold as a $2500 option but only adds $500 to the value of a '98 boxster, which is a 80% drop vs about a 65% drop in the value of the base car.

Say the base car drops 30% in value, and the options value drops 50% in 2 years. If you've got a $40k base + $20k in options, you go from $60k to $38k. If you had a car (non Porsche) that was $60k with no real options (because it just comes with all the stuff) you only drop to $42k.

Sure if you are game. I actually never meant to use that on this site as it's PL's anyway. I thiefed it for my sig on other sites. ;)

a few ideas based on my research and experience
 

I just wanted to add that timing is everything when considering buying a preowned Porsche...Porsche's value decreases exponentially in the first few years, but seem to level off over time...consider my car: I bought my 2001 Boxster, base model with 41000 miles on it for $26,000 and the asking price was $30K. It had one major flaw (to me) which was a crinkled plastic window (indentations) but I figured I would eventually get a new top anyway...plus it was still under Porsche warranty, so when I bought it they did about $2800 worth of work for free... Also, Porsche's depreciation does tend to level off after the first 3 years...my car is still worth $20,000 at least, in it's good condition.
But getting back to the point, it's always best to buy a car on the last day of the month and one hour before closing...at this time, dealers are falling all over themselves to make the sale to increase their sales volume for the month...so if ever one is in the market for a Porsche, that is the time to buy. One other thing I noticed is that it's best to buy a slightly used Porsche from another dealer who have no great fondness for a car that is not their own, so they don't have a problem unloading it at a good price (unlike Porsche, who are clearly biased, in my opinion, because it is their car after all) :)

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.

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

it seems worse because it is worse. Losing $30K in an investment is one thing, there are deductions you can take on that. There's no deducting $30K on car depreciation. If there is please tell!

Cars are not about investing, but there are ways to reduce your exposure, which are largely ignored. I know many wealthy financial advisers and not one of them has a new car or leases one for pleasure. Meanwhile they tell me their wealthy clients rarely buy used.