Where are all the blown up boxsters ?

[jcoit]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I am continuing my trek better educated. Kudos to the forum for being the best resource I have come across to date in making an educated step back into sports cars. Its been three kids and 20 long years since I had two sports cars and three high performance road racing motorcycles in my garage. I havent forgot the cost or long hours spent in the garage maintaining my hobbies early in life.

Mike Focke. The first resource I utilized was your pages. Thanks for taking the time to put that together. I definitely finished that study with a smarter consumer feeling. At the very least I was well aware of the development of the boxster and where my likes and desires fit in the model years. Just reading that section of your page saved me 10-15 grand. Thank you sir.

In regards to your financial advise I guess I should clarify my stance. I am in knee jerk phase at the moment. I have been overwhelmed with sad stories about massive engine failures. Everything from I just paid 18000 and 300 miles from the dealership a big puff of smoke came out and there I was needing a 12000 motor replacement, to "But it really sucks when yours is the one to go. 50% of the Porsches I have owned (100% of the Boxsters) have experienced an engine failure.....statististically speaking that makes me.... Bottom line if one only read that far no one in their right mind would buy one of these cars. Fortunately I read on.

I realize that pre purchase I have some amount of control in how reliable my boxster will be. I am simply looking into different options that may solve some core issues and get me closer to the perfect fit. All that said I am well aware that there is no cure all to any situation. That amount of risk I am more than willing to take to own and drive one of these cars. I have set a very conservative purchase budget that allows for regular costs and worst case scenarios yet allows me to own the car I want with the features I want. In other words i cant buy an 05 or 06 s and have a parachute but I sure can buy 00-02 and have a parachute. My final investigation is along the lines of this thread...maybe a 98 with a new raby motor is even a better idea than an 02s Your pages led me to this sensibility and willingness to consider many options before purchase, thank you again.

I look forward to the day mid summer when I can say ok here she is, and thank the many folks who helped me along in making a wise purchase.

[mts]

Originally Posted by jcoit

I realize that pre purchase I have some amount of control in how reliable my boxster will be. I am simply looking into different options that may solve some core issues and get me closer to the perfect fit. All that said I am well aware that there is no cure all to any situation. That amount of risk I am more than willing to take to own and drive one of these cars. I have set a very conservative purchase budget that allows for regular costs and worst case scenarios yet allows me to own the car I want with the features I want. In other words i cant buy an 05 or 06 s and have a parachute but I sure can buy 00-02 and have a parachute. My final investigation is along the lines of this thread...maybe a 98 with a new raby motor is even a better idea than an 02s Your pages led me to this sensibility and willingness to consider many options before purchase, thank you again.

I look forward to the day mid summer when I can say ok here she is, and thank the many folks who helped me along in making a wise purchase.

I didn't mean to scare you off, but it's good you are doing your research and are informed about what you are getting into. If I were looking today, I would find a well taken care of 2003-2004 S model (obviously I'm partial to the 04 S Special Edition) and immediately get the basic engine upgrades done. You live realtively close to Jake Raby so getting the upgrades done would be easy.

The market on these cars (and most all sports cars for that matter) is really soft right now so some very good deals can be had. Put the engine upgrades into your purchase budget upfront, get it done, then go have a blast and sleep like a baby without this stuff to worry about......aside from the engine issues (which is a big deal, but can be fixed), these really are great cars in almost every way.

Good luck.

[SeaNile31]

Originally Posted by mts

I didn't mean to scare you off, but it's good you are doing your research and are informed about what you are getting into. If I were looking today, I would find a well taken care of 2003-2004 S model (obviously I'm partial to the 04 S Special Edition) and immediately get the basic engine upgrades done. You live realtively close to Jake Raby so getting the upgrades done would be easy.

The market on these cars (and most all sports cars for that matter) is really soft right now so some very good deals can be had. Put the engine upgrades into your purchase budget upfront, get it done, then go have a blast and sleep like a baby without this stuff to worry about......aside from the engine issues (which is a big deal, but can be fixed), these really are great cars in almost every way.

Good luck.

I'm looking for 986 or 987 and in searching the usual sites the prices on the 03/04 S are insane to me. Most 03 S are $22K with an occasional $24K and the 04 S are mostly $25K to $28K. Prices are way out of line. It's winter here in Philly and the prices for these cars are not coming down...yet. Hopefully they will soon.

[mts]

Don't forget those are likely ask prices, not sale prices and given that they don't look too far out of line to me. What are you thinking is fair for a nice 03-04 S?

[SeaNile31]

Originally Posted by mts

Don't forget those are likely ask prices, not sale prices and given that they don't look too far out of line to me. What are you thinking is fair for a nice 03-04 S?

My gut says under $19K for 01/02 S, maybe $20K for an 03 S and about $21-22 for the 04 S. There are plenty of 03 S cars advertised for $22k and the 04 S are mid to upper $20's. I base this off of what I think an 05 S should sell for which is under $30K. There has to be a decent difference between an 986 and 987 to me and having an 04 S in the upper $20K's doesn't seem right to me. You can find some of these 986 cars priced right but they have 70K miles on them....

Hopefully this search link works. There is an 02 S for $28K!!!

http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresults.action?prMx=35000&sf1Dir=DESC&prMn=0&mkId=20081&mdId=20705&crSrtFlds=stkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-mdId-pseudoPrice-pseudoYear-transTypeId-trId&rd=500&zc=19317&PMmt=1-1-0&stkTypId=28881&sf2Dir=ASC&sf1Nm=price&yrMn=2002&sf2Nm=miles&transTypeId=28112&rpp=100&feedSegId=28705&trId=24752&searchSource=GN_REFINEMENT&pgId=2102

[mikefocke]

I have a 58K miles needs nothing '01S and I don't think I could get $16.5k for it and that would be spring time selling. I see real selling prices like that all the time. Mostly private sellers. You don't get the convenience of the dealers and the seller isn't as adept at giving you the warm fuzzies as the salesman is. But keep in mind CarMax made $2100 on every car they sold this year in a tough market so there has to be a gap between private seller and reseller. Maybe to get a better car, or a better price, or both.

[WhipE350]

SeaNile31,

Look at this post 02boxster 2 or 03 boxster

Your market is even worse then mine! Dang those are high prices you list...looks like South Fl is the place to be...or come to NC, at least we can beat yours.

Cheers

Mike, I would have giving you 16.5 for yours, that would have been a good price for a great car when i was looking in oct/nov...I paid less for an 00 'S' but I'm sure yours was better maintained, I had to put a lot into mine...well a lot of it I wanted to put into it