911
 

Were any of you in a position to buy a 911 but still bought a boxster?

Yep, 6 years ago when I bought the box, but never like the Carrera and still do not.

The box is my third mid-engine car. When it came time to replace my second fix it again tony I looked for another mid-engine in a convertible/targa. Wanted just 2 seats. My friend was selling a Ferrari 308 GTSi. Like on Manum PI or whatever it was called, if you are old enough to remember the TV series. My dream car when I was in school and had no money.

Drove the Ferrari for a few days and that was the end of that dream.

Took a 2 minute test drive in a box at a used car dealer. 6 days later I found the one I wanted and bought it. Cost more than the Ferrari.

Boxster owners are suppose to upgrade to something else. If a Carrera was the same price I would not have bought it.

The sales guy I know at my dealer always wants you to move up. Years ago I joked and told him when Porsche made a turbo cab. Then Porsche did it. I do not like that one either and it has nothing to do with the price.

Mid-engine and 2 seats. And no fat rears like the 996 cabs.

I buy and sell both. Different cars, both great fun to drive!

No.

I was looking for a convertible to replace my Miata. I was looking at the usual choices: S2000, Z4, SLK and contemplated a Lotus Elise (which isn't really a convertible but sorta kinda you know what I mean).

If I had in fact decided I wasn't going to buy a drop top I would have bought a 996 or an M3.

I wanted a convertible 1st, A Porsche 2nd.
For me the only option with that criteria is a Carrera GT or a Boxster S.
Actually if you wanted a Porsche 1st and convertible 2nd I still believe the
best choice is the BoxsterS.

I don't believe in chopping the tops off cars to market them as convertibles. From a performance standpoint it's a major downside. At its core the Porsche is a performance car. Not a road car with a big engine. I think its sacrileage to cut the roof off a performance car unless it was designed to be so.

By the way I wouldn't mind owning a GT3 and my current BoxsterS together!
One for winter one for Spring and Summer. :)

986 not even considered the 911
 

My purchase of the Boxster was more of an accidental purchase than anything else. All my life until Dec. 2003 I did the predictable when it came to cars. I had owned Audi's from 74 to 2003 and was looking at buying my first V-8 engine car. The 2004 S-4. When I went there to trade in my 2001 S-4 twin turbo the trade in was very what I considered low. Add on top of that inequity the fact that this salesman that I had done business for years wanted over list for the car really burned my fuse quite rapidly. I went home moping and told my wife who suggested " Honey why don't you go see the Porsche dealer? I had the Porsche so far out of my psyche as an unattainable car that I really never did considered it.
Upon arriving there I was shown the Boxster and the trade in was much nicer that I bought a 2003 Boxster S. I fell in love with the car once I saw it. The clean roadster lines, a convertible another first for me, I never got a chance to test drive the car other than the manager told me wait till you drive it and you will love it. No truer words were ever spoken. The car is a blast to drive. It is faster than the S-4 I think it is one of the nicest designs in cars since the E type. I never did consider the 911 eventhough I could have bought it the 986 looks so much better. Basic differences are very small and insignificant at least in my mind. I use it every day in snow, rain, traffic jams etc and have yet to tire from it. The 997 genre is an old design that has evolutionized vs the 986-7, which is a totally new design as a roadster from the outset looking much nicer.
Sure it would be nicer to have all hp in the world but realistically where can employ and exploit all of that performance of the car. Being 1/2 second slower is not the end of the world but handling better than an Enzo is really a nice award to hang on your mantle. :D

I agree with Toolpants. Even if the 911 and Boxster are the same price I would still buy the Boxster. I like the lines and proportions of the car. I love the complete performance and I think my S is fast enough to drive 160 MPH through my town (I wish they would repave the streets with banked corners so I wouldn't have to break when turning) ;) . What I mean to say is how fast is fast enough when you are using it as a vehicle to get to work in? We all rarely can drive over 100 and if we are its only for 2 minutes until the radar detector bleeps.

I am annoyed that Porsche positions the Boxster as an entry level car instead of just a different animal. I know people think of the 911 as the original car but I would argue that the older style 911 is better proportioned than the current one. And if you agree with that then I would further argue that todays 911 is a pig of a car in terms of appearance. I do like what they have done on the front end but the back of a 911 looks like a big fat clumsy butt on a sleek front end. It needs a trailer hitch on the back to complete the picture. I would love to see the Boxster get a new engine and get faster. I would likely buy one but I wouldn't buy a 911 to get that boost.

O.k. I am sure I have started a fight in some way so let er rip... :matchup:

No need to fight, each car has its advocates.

Obviously, the 911 floats a lot of boats, certainly does mine (I am driving a 911 coupe at the moment and it is a fantastic auto and looks great to MY eye)!

Love the Box too for some of the same and for some different reasons.

Just because someone marries a blonde does not mean that they have to rank on brunettes or redheads. All have their place!

Let's look at it from Porsche's point of view.
The 911 dimensionally and component-wise is very similar to the Boxster. They can sell them all day long for $80k minimum, and more like $90k for the Cab.
The Box is more like $50k, to $60k for the S.
I don't believe the manufacturing cost of a Carrera is anything like 50% more than the Boxster. My guess would be that they make more profit $ on one 911 than they do on three Boxsters.
No wonder they pimp the 911 for all they're worth, and ignore the Boxster.
We may be in for a little bit of a change, though. I understand that the US Porsche dealers have been agitating heavily for Porsche to promote the Boxster more actively.

you know I was thinking that Porsche probably marked up the 911 to pay for all the expenses involved in making the Boxster. As I read in Excellence, back ten years ago after the plans for Boxster were drawn up they were told by the production meisters that the car would cost $80,000 to build. In came some Japanese production consultants and out went Boxster parts to Finland and Austria for assembly, but that 911 never came down in price despite the terrific success of the Boxster. (where'd all the profits go???).

I'm sure they have recouped their Boxster costs long ago but like the Music industry and their intially expensive CD's back in the early 90's, Porsche have only further increased prices making Porsche more profitable than ever in its history.

The 2005 Boxster price didn't skyrocket which makes me wonder if the extra R&D funds to build the 987 came from the success of the Boxster, the markup on the 911 or the Cayenne.

If the Boxster and the 996 were the same price, and I picked the 911
I WOULDN'T HAVE A CONVERTIBLE! :(

I guess as long as the Boxster is lowest powered Porsche available it will be priced as the least expensive and inevitably the "entry level Porsche" label will stick. Although in the sportscar world of affordable options the power to weight ratio of the Boxster make it far from an "entry level" expense. The Corvette and S2000 may not be as refined as Boxster but they are not lacking in performance one bit. Yet the Boxster is more expensive and I'm not entirely convinced that after all these years and all of these Boxsters bulit its still a really expensive car to build for Porsche. I know that Porsche run limited numbers of production but how do we really know what it actually costs Porsche to build and market a Boxster vs. what's actually sold for? Is the difference in price between a Boxster and a similar performance sportscar all due to its smaller production numbers?
Or is Porsche pricing in some "exclusivity"(read more profits for Stugart).

I guess at the end of the day its less of a headache to run a smaller company with less volume and higher profits than a bigger company with way more volume and smaller profits. Either way its the consumer that funds which route a company will take. Those Porsceh guys are smarter than I thought.

Don't forget the savings Porsche realized by sharing components extensively between the 986 and 996 - if you figure that the 993 was going to be redesigned anyways they leveraged a good amount of that investment in creating the Boxster. A lot of interior, some suspension, the whole front body structure and probably a lot more are shared.

All good points. I guess the 911 can't be slammed because it is hugely successful and presumably profitable. If keeping the Boxster down makes Porsche more money in positioning the 911 then god bless them. Capitalism marches on. But it sounds like many of us would have paid more for the Boxster in the first place? If they sold 20 to 30 percent fewer Boxsters and charged more money then we are back to their low volume high profit model.

Given Porsche's financial turnaround over the years since it introducted the Boxster, I would give them high marks for product mix, strategy and execution.

A small company that made 2 Billion last year and a brand identity that is the envy of most other car makers. Yes, and even though they brought out an SUV like, WAY LATE, they still managed to sell that too, and for much money.

Hats off to these guys, they know what they are doing. Any car maker that can sell you a $70K car and charge you for full leather and floor mats is doing OK in my book!

I like most people on this board wanted a top-down driving experience so the 996 coup wasn't a viable option for me. Ever since I drove my Dad's 66 stingray, I wanted a convertible. I could have bought a used 99-01 3.4L 996 cabbie with roughly 20-30k miles for about the same price as a new 03 Boxster S. The back seat in the 911 wasn't a factor either. Anyone over 5ft tall can't sit back there for more than 5 min anyways. I drive pretty hard so performance was factor however. When I examined the numbers, the S out-turned and out-braked a 996 cabbie. The 03 S does 0-60 in 5.3 and the 996 ragtop does 0-60 in 5 flat(and this is for the more powerful 3.6L). When you break-down the numbers, 911 doesn't return the same value as the boxster and in every case except maybe straight-line accel it gives you less for more. Even the interior sans the back seat, is nearly identical to the boxster. New for new, I really can't justify paying about $30k or 50% more for a car that's an eye-blink faster in straight-line acceleration, has a small back seat and slightly more badge appeal. It wasn't a hard decision for me.

I looked at a few 996 cars before buying the Boxster S. I like them...but in the same manner that I like the E46 M3 vs the E36 M3. The car is faster and does have the status but it was too much of a GT feeling car. The Boxster just feels lighter on it's feet.

Now, if the Cayman was available at the time things might've turned out differently... :D



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i was looking at 996 and 996 cabs...even drove the 996 tt coupe...and c4s...all nice but just didnt quite excite me enough to buy them, even at used car prices....the turbo was very fast but also too detached, almost like a luxury car....the 996 cab had too much body flex for the price...and the steering and tranny on 996 was ok but not great...but then i test drove the 997s, fell in love with it, great car, very fast and fun to drive...but was selling for full msrp with waiting lists and costs of 90k and above..for a coupe!!!!! i came back to the dealership to try the new 987s after reading the glowing reviews and even drove a 986s back to back...loved the 987s as much as the 997s and it was a conv., which is what i really love...i was sold, best all around sports car i have ever owned, dollar for dollar....and i have owned 911s, corvettes, mb amg sl55, and even a ferrari 360 spider....the boxster is that good...btw, the 986 boxster was no slouch either, just the 987 was even better in everyway..... :cheers:

Yes, I thought long and hard, two things swung the 987 for me, first of all it's a convertible and I've always wanted one and secondly, the Boxster S is faster in real life than the standard 987. Oh, and of course the money saved was a big bonus.

Don't know if any of you guys rewad 'EVO' magazine but a couple of months ago there was an article of the 987 S vs the 997, both cars were raced round the track by an experienced racing driver and the boxster got consistently faster lap times. 997 was slightly faster on the straights but the boxster more than made up for it on the twisty bits.

That said the 911 shape is to die for, if I were rich I'd buy both!

Chris

"That said the 911 shape is to die for, if I were rich I'd buy both!"

There you go. I have a 996 coupe in stock right now that is a thing of beauty!