Miata replacement
 

My wife and I have owned a '94 Miata since, well, '95. It is her car, really, and pretty much a weekend car as we own a few others. She was ready for something new, so yesterday she test drove a new 370Z roadster. She was 'underwhelmed'.

Next up was the Porsche dealer, where they had an '08 Boxster with 12,500 miles. It is CPO, base model, cobalt blue (a half-shade different from her Miata!)

Guess what she liked better - couldn't wipe the grin off her face when she got back from a long test drive.

Dealer won't budge off of $38,999 - unless we buy it without the CPO bennies like an extra 2 years warranty, roadside, etc, in which case he'll do $36,999.

Like I say, base model with the Bose and the sport seats being the only upgrades I can see (oh, the windscreen.)

Doing a 500 mile radius on Autotrader indicates that this isn't a horrible price or a good price for a CPO with few miles.

I'd really appreciate any comments on this as I'm not familiar with the Boxster market. Thanks,

John F

You should check out Mike Focke's site before buying. Tons of great info.

If I were you, I look for a relatively low-mileage well-maintained '04, the last year of the 986, and also the last year you could be sure of replacing the IMS bearing without having to disassemble the engine. I'd then replace the IMS bearing, the RMS seal (do the clutch at the same time if it hasn't been done recently) replace the motor mount and water pump, and sail off into the sunset.

That sounds like a good price to me. Might want to look for an '09 with the new engine instead though.

There are 150+ 2008s for sale
 

nation wide on cars.com. Your price isn't bad but the NV market for high end cars has to be soft as heck given the economy there. I'm surprised there is no budge.

Having just gone through the selling and buying experiences 3 times in the last 3 weeks, I can tell you there are bargains out there. My 2 buyers got good honest deals on 2 cars that needed nothing and were maintained very well. I bought a new car from a dealer with full warranty for $3800 less than any dealer in 3 states would sell it for but I had to go 350 miles to do the deal.

My experience with dealers is you wait and they suddenly have a talk with their manager and make a better offer. Or you wait for the next good deal to come along.

I think those wheels were an upgrade. Pump the VIN into http://www.********************************************.com/life/vin/vin.php and get a list of the build options.

Mike, Are you Boxsterless?

Here is what the VIN lookup came up with. Does anything look interesting?


The following codes were found, but the description may not be accurate.

Option Code Possible Description
I022 Black-coloured instrument dials, instrument cluster
I029 Standard chassis
I098 Left-hand drive version
I130 Control and indications in English lettering
I195 Battery, 70 Ah
I199 Battery disconnetion switch
Battery disconnection switch
I218 Licence plate holder version 4
I219 Differential
I270 Door mirrors -flat - driver's side, electrically adjustable and heatable
I288 Headlamp washer
I375 Sports seat, backrest shell, left
Sports seat, backrest sheell, left
I376 Sports seat, backrest shell, right
Sports seat, backrest sheell, right
I393 17-inch Boxster II wheel (987)
I424 Cd compartment
I426 Without rear window wiper
I436 3-spoke airbag steering wheel
I441 Radio preparation
I454 Automatic speed control
I465 Rear fog light, left
I476 Porsche Stability Management (PSM)
Porsche Stabillity Management (PSM)
I481 5th-speed manual transmission
I482 Tire Pressure Monitoring TPM, 433 MHz
I484 Version for USA
I535 Theft security system, 315 MHz
I551 Wind deflector
I553 Version for USA, Canada
I555 Black seat belts
I560 Advanced airbag
I567 Windscreen tinted, upper part darker coloured
I571 Activated charcoal filter
I572 Manual air-conditioning system
I601 Xenon lighting system
I607 Garage door opener "Homelink", 315 MHz
I621 12-V socket, passenger's side, footwell
I659 On-board computer
I660 obd 2
I661 Stricker emission-control concept
I664 orvr
I680 BOSE sound package
I689 Preparation for CD autochanger
I694 CD radio "PORSCHE CDR 24"
I912 without ID plate
I983 Seat covers, front, leather
IXCM Roll-over bar in Galvano Silver


We were not able to find definitions for any codes below this line.

I240
I434
I502
I706
I709
I760