Ordering A New Boxster
 

After looking for that perfect used Boxster, I've given up and decided to order a 2008. I read the info on ordering from 986faq.com and it looks like it's about 10 years old and wonder if it's still relevant. Specifically, I'd like to know what the deadline is to place an order for a Spring 2008 delivery?

Also, any gotcha's I should be aware of when ordering or picking up the vehicle?

The 986faq stuff is mostly for 986 Boxsters.
Go to your local dealer, they will more than happy to help you with their projected commission on a new Porsche. The arrival time and stuff is also mostly dealer location specific.
Hope that helps a bit! :cheers:

Thanks rick. I did go to my local dealer, but they weren't real forthcoming with the ordering deadline dates..... and a few other things. They were trying to imply that "I'd better order now or I'd miss out".

After getting the run-around from them, I decided to ask here to uncover as much as possible about the process before I actually go through it.

Have you looked for new Boxsters already in inventory? A quick search on AutoTrader found over 500 2007 & 2008 new Boxsters throughout the US. Heck, there are even 16 new 2006s available. You should be able to make a great deal on one that a dealer already has, especially with cold weather coming. I'll bet you can get a tremendous deal on an 06. They're now 2 yrs old.

Never hurts to look. Ordering will get you the exact color / options you want but greatly reduces your ability to negotiate.

Baseball, here is how it works. You need to find a dealership with an open Build Allocation for a Boxster with a Spring 2008 delivery.

Let's assume you want the car in April 2008. The car will ship to the USA in approx. March...and will be built in approx. February. So you need an Open Build allocation for February 2008. If you want the car in March, then the Build Allocation is January.

Ordering a car is great. I did it and would do it again. Main reasons being:

1) You get exactly what you want
2) Nothing you don't want
3) No one did any test drives in your new Porsche

Have fun. Congrats!!

i'd strongly recommend the euro delivery if you can. from what i've heard, you basically get a free trip to germany to bond with your new car before having it shipped here.

Yes, good idea, but I don't know about being "free". The option costs over $1,500 and you still have to respect the proper engine break-in proceedure- keeping below 4,200 RPM's.

http://www.porsche.com/usa/accessoriesandservices/eventsandracing-europeandelivery/

I'm also going to order an '08 for delivery in the spring. I can't find the "perfect" used one and I really don't want it until spring anyway. The dealer I spoke with told me not to rush and call him around Christmas.

My wife and I wanted to do the European delivery, but figure that trying to coordinate a European trip with proposed build times with be stressful. I'm also not thrilled with the idea of break in Europe. I'd rather do it here.

-Dan

I don't know why one would pay $60K for a brand new boxster when you can get a 996 Turbo with roughly 20K miles for $10K more. My dad picked up an 01 Turbo with 10K miles for $70K from the largest Porsche dealer in NA, Champion. Just my opinion.

Let's see....

1) A warranty
2) 19,999 less miles
3) $10,000 less
4) Convertible
5) Mid engine
6) I know I did a proper engine break-in procedure
7) Seven years of updated Porsche technology- safety and performance

Baseball, one thing I will do when buying a new Pcar is having a tech hook up a PST tool to it BEFORE I SIGN THE PAPERS to recored the number of stage one and stage two redlines the engine has on it.

This way, if the engine blows, Porsche can't tell you they're not paying for it because you redlined it.

If the engine doesn't blow, it's a good way to record a baseline so you know how you and anyone else has driven the car.

If it does have a bunch of stage two redlines, you can refuse to take delivery of the car. One overly zealous drive in your brand new car by a salesman or tech or a porter pegging it repeatedly is really bad for a brand new engine, but they could care less because it's not their car.

300 extra hp I guess cancels that out for me. :eek: Call me crazy but, to each their own. BTW, you can get a Turbo Cab, maybe not for 10K extra but, I'm a fan of hardtops. I got what I could afford, if I had my pick it would be a hardtop 993. :D Warranty doesn't mean sheit to me, I've had my car for almost a year trouble free, so that's just like insurance to me...meaningless. But, if you guys are about that, rock on.

A $60K Boxster, I'd never buy. A $25K Boxster, sure. Turbo would woop your ass around the track but, go on thinking the Boxster is superior to the Turbo. :confused:

Warrenty's are for suckers, imo.

Hey Randall, just a side note, on the 987 (not sure about the 986) there are actually 6 (six) ranges on the DME that record ignitions for that range. I don't know what they all mean. I wish someone could tell me.

At my last oil change, just last week (I love that new oil "feeling"!), I asked for a print-out from my DME. The tech gave it to me and reviewed it with me. He said everything was fine.

Is this thread a debate about a new Boxster vs a 7 year old turbo? Sorry if I'm wrong for being a newbie, but isn't this thread about "ordering a new Boxster"?

Besides, did the OP say anything about taking his car to the track? Maybe he is looking for the perfect all around car. I know that is what I'm looking for. And why would anyone pay $70K for a 7 year old used car. That seems silly to me. IMHO

-Dan

I, for one, am just a tad jealous that someone gets to walk into a dealership and sit down with a salesman and say, "I WANT TO ORDER A PORSCHE WITH . . ."

That's the kind of thing this 12 year old boy trapped in a 45 year old's body dreams of most nights. :p

You'll save a lot of $ if you find one on a dealer lot that matches your criteria and you can break it in while driving it home. If you have time, you can go through inventory of every dealer in the usa on porsche.com/usa. Or, you can work with a local dealer and they can do a national search using your exact criteria. You might get a few extras and you might pay shipping but you'll save overall versus ordering. Use dealer search by state on porsche.com/usa and then click into each dealer to see their inventory.

If you decide to order, biggest thing is to secure your build slot with the dealer. Slots are allocated by month and then assigned a specific complete date approx 1 month in advance. Customer-ordered cars get production priority and so they are usually completed within the first week or so of the month built. After that, 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Are those 996 lights and a turbo bumper cover on your 986?

ok fair enough, sorry. Just giving my .02.

yes and fenders also.

Thank you to everyone for the replies.

Randall, what's the difference between stage 1 and stage 2 redlines? And does Porsche have language in the warranty that limits their liability in the event the car has these redlines in its history?

About leftovers, I was going to go down that road. However my search (which includes a 300 mile radius of dealers around my home), has uncovered something many dealers are reluctant to admit. All the 07 left-overs I've found have an in-service date of 7/31/2007. The in-service date is when the warranty starts, so if you buy a leftover, you may not get the complete warranty. One dealer stated that Porsche forces the in-service date on them - I don't know if that's true or not, but it's something to look out for if you're in the market for a leftover.

So far, the best price I've negotiated on a leftover was $985 under invoice. But when I did some analysis on the depreciation, lost warranty, etc. it turns out that's not a very good deal (to me anyway). But I wanted to put that out there so anyone looking for a leftover has a good baseline to start negotiating with.

I've found dealers with open slots for Jan, Feb, Mar, and Apr. My reason for trying to find the latest date that I can place an order for each of those slots, is so I can increase my negotiating leverage with the dealer. I will find out those dates, and when I do, I'll let everyone know to help out others looking to order.

I don't know about $60k for a new boxster.

So far the preliminary quotes I've received for an 08 Boxster with:
Bose
18" S Wheels
Windstop
Heated Seats
Climate Control
PCM

Have all been under 50K.... not much under, but I haven't even really begun to negotiate with them yet.

Bill Mussatti posted above that the new boxsters have more stages.

However, the older ones have two to my knowledge. The first is just redlining the car without it shutting down half the cylinders to keep the engine from blowing.

The second is where it shuts down half the engine to keep you from blowing it up.

To my knowledge, Porsche has no warranty or statements saying that the car may be delivered with one or more redlines on the motor.

However, if I ever buy another Porsche, the car will be put on a PST Tool and I will not buy the car if I see the motor has been redlined repeatedly.

Finding a brand new boxster with a couple of hundred miles on it that has been demo'd hard and has dozens or over a hundred redlines registered on the computer, which can never be removed by the way, tells me that car has been abusively driven in the very first miles of the motor's life and I should walk away.

This may just be me being very cautious and overly zealous. I just know that Pcar motors ain't cheap and I'm not paying for someone else's foolish driving habits.

You might be able to negotiate a little. But with a custom ordered car, you really are between a rock and a hard place with negotiating. If you were buying an older '07, or '06 new from them and clearing out there inventory then you could negotiate.

I would respectfully disagree with my fellow Forum Member, Rick3000, here. I ordered my car in August of 2005. My requested delivery was late March 2006. I was able to negotiate a 10% discount.

That's fine, in my experience though. It is harder to get a discount on custom ordered cars. :cheers:

I have to agree with bmussati, the quotes I'm getting on a custom ordered car are all about 4k below MSRP.... but that still leaves another 3k above invoice that I plan to chip away at :)

Yes, very true!

My experience is that you get a better deal when you order. The dealer does not have any carrying cost. It is never part of their inventory as it is sold when it comes in. Of course, I have never ordered a Porsche before.

I am going to give myself a deadline of around mid January. If I can find what I'm looking for at a dealer in the states using the Porsche website then great. I will look in all 48 states. That way I still have time to order and get it by spring.

The inventory of Boxster S is slim. Much more Cayman S. I was told that Porsche is making 1 Boxster to every 3 Caymans. The inventory seems to confirm that.

-Dan

Yellowboxster, are you sure about your numbers? A 2008 987S has 295 HP. A 2001 911 Turbo had about 415. That's a difference of approx 120 HP. Big difference, but not 300.

Great car. Congrats to your father.

Configuration is locked 4-6 weeks prior to 1st of the month of the build. I'd speculate that you would get best deal on Jan or Feb builds due to timing. As Spring approaches more people start ordering

I would just buy one of the limited edition S Boxes out now.....probably your only chance at finding a truly unique Boxster and one that might actually hold its value and be something worth collecting....

:D