Please Help Me Out - Boxster or C6 Corvette?

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

As you stated, this is a Boxster Forum, so the replies so far do not surprise me.

They are both Great Cars! I love my Boxster! But, I have owned many Performance Cars through the years, including a '63 Corvette SW Coupe. Because of this, I just cannot muster the Brand Loyalty some others may. I have seen too many Great Cars of many Marques Come and Go over that time.

At the risk of surrendering my Club Card, frankly for the same money, or close to it, I'd say the edge goes to the C6. It's more right out of the box and it WILL be more reliable and cost LESS in the Long Run.

It lacks the uniqueness of the Boxster, but will have greater recognition from the Masses (if that's important to you).

It will hold it's resale value longer too.

Whichever you ultimately choose, Drive it like you Stole it!!

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[CA_Boxster]

Like you said, it comes down to horsepower vs. feel. If it were me, I'd drive both and go with the one that was more fun. I would think 5 years down the road and consider which car will hold up better. I've been in a number of 10+ year old Porsches and they always are solid wihtout a lot of the rattles, squeaks, etc. that would drive me nuts after the novelty wore off. My 6 year old Boxster is as solid as a new car and Porsche is known for that. The build quality makes all the difference in the world for me. I don't have experience with aging Vettes, but they don't have the best rep. I happen to prefer the preciseness and feel of the Boxster to a bigger car with huge horsepower. The Boxster will never look like an out-dated car, either. They all still look good. You'll be buying into last year's Vette body style. They're performance cars, but it's still more fun to have one that looks new.

Mechanically (as far as wear and expense), I think it's a wash.

[ohioboxster]

First off if your in Ohio I have a friend that owns a high end lot. You will save a few thousand right off the bat. Not because hes my friend because he has fantastic prices. I bought a Vette off of him, drove it for 4 months and didnt like it. He sold it for me for a hundred bucks more than I paid for it. Anyway, if your interested in info on his lot PM me. I had a similar choice to make recently, an 01 Z-06 or the Boxster. I drove both and loved the power of the Vette but the ride was awful. My Porsche feels like a brand new car at 40k miles. My friend, who owns the lot told me I would never be happy with the Boxster over the Vette because he knows Im a speed freak. I love the boxster! It would be perfect if it had vette hp but then it would be a 911 right? Let me mention the Z-06 was 5k more but that wasnt the deciding factor. Decisions decisions, you know how many people would love to have your problem? Good luck, both are fantastic cars.

[Brucelee]

I would drive both cars as much as I needed to, in order to feel comfortable with my choice.

Both are great cars. The Corvette is NOT a muscle car in the classic sense. It handles very very well. The Boxster is not as slow as many folks make out.

This makes the choice a tough one IMHO.

In my opinion, the driving experience trumps all the other elements of the decision. Drive until you are certain.

And good luck!

[MikenOH]

as others have suggested, buy the one that makes you feel the best.

Our Corvettes were fun cars and we got into P cars only because GM decided not to honor a warranty claim. Our old '99' was definately a step down in HP from our '96' LT4 but it made up for it in so many other ways:
-Balance
-functional design
-ergonamics
-more efficient overall package.

The biggest change I think was that the car was so comunicative to the driver; you always seemed to know what was going on at the wheels and there weren't any unhappy suprises when you started to approach the limit.

With our '06', all of the small issues with the older car have gone away; enough HP to get into trouble, stiffer chassis, better interior, better gearbox..., the list goes on.

Having said all that, we looked seriously--at least I did--at the new C6. I like the styling a lot and performance wise it has a lot going for it. After we drove the 987, though, it didn't matter--we were thoroughly hooked on the P car again.

One small issue which entered into the decision making was the way that a few Chevy dealers treated prospective buyers. We tried to drive a 6spd and were told that Vette buyers wanted 0 miles on their cars so they didn't allow for a lot of test drives. Our local P dealer on the other hand let us drive both a base and an S; another P car dealer did the same. Seems to me if you want people to plunk down $45-50K on a car, they should be allowed to get it out on the road to see if they like it.

You probably know what features are the most important for you and by driving these cars extensively, you'll figure out which one hits the mark and which one doesn't. Best of luck with it.

BTW, this a terrific time to buy a performance car in OH--I've seen a lot of inventory on certain lots and would expect traffic to be slow. That Chevy dealer in Elyria had a few cars in stock the last time I went by; Freddie Baker in Bedford had a number of 05's.

[rteichman]

About 20 years ago I had the same decision to make. At that point it was the "new" Corvette or the new 944. While that was a long time ago and they were 2 different cars from the C6/Boxster there are a lot of similarities. I bought the vette because unless I was willing to pay $5,000 over list (on a $19,000 car) I would have to wait a year for the 944.

18 months later I wanted to trade the vette for a 944 turbo. Why? The 944 was more fun to drive. As a Miata owner I think you can appreciate the "fun factor". Its not the power nor the skid pad numbers, but the "feel". Back then the vette out accelerated, had a higher top speed and could negotiate curves faster than the 944. But the 944 was more fun to drive. I never did buy that 944 because my new wife was against me spending money on cars, and I always regreted it.

I think that still holds true today for the C6/Boxster comparison. So now as a fellow Miata owner I am in the market for a Boxster to replace my trusty old Miata (the divorce also factors into that LOL). I drove the C6, its one hell of a car, but I think the Boxster is more "fun". With any luck I will be buying a Boxster next week (I had hoped to get it this week :-( ).

You should also pay heed to what people say about longevity. Ride in a 10 year old vette and then in a 10 year old Porsche. Especially comming from a Miata, I think you will be sorely disappointed in the shakes and rattles of the vette.

[Ghostrider 310]

GM vs Porsche?? if you have to ask you might not enjoy the Porsche.


Do you want a ballerina or a boxer? The vette is a rumblebox piece of **************** that happens to be fast. I saw an article on pelican from 83 where a 944 spanked a vette through the slalom, I'll bet it would be a close race even today. Vettes are good if you just want to burn from stoplight to stoplight. If you get one, don't be surprised when you get owned on a twisty highway by anything from the Porsche factory.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by MikenOH

One small issue which entered into the decision making was the way that a few Chevy dealers treated prospective buyers. We tried to drive a 6spd and were told that Vette buyers wanted 0 miles on their cars so they didn't allow for a lot of test drives. Our local P dealer on the other hand let us drive both a base and an S; another P car dealer did the same. Seems to me if you want people to plunk down $45-50K on a car, they should be allowed to get it out on the road to see if they like it.

That just amazes me that they would expect someone to buy a vehicle without a test drive first. When I was out boxster shopping I saw a used base model at some saturn dealership. I just got done test driving a Z4 and M-roadster accross the street at the BMW dealership. The saturn salesmen wouldn't let me take it for a test drive because he thought I was just some punk fresh out of college. He was trying to point me to the saturn EON's or whatever they are. I eventually ended up getting a brand new 03 S at Tom Woods which is a dealership in Indy. They let me take out the car without the salesmen ridalong and they were very helpful. I knew that was the right car and the right dealership.