40K Budget - To "S" or not to "S"

[Ian c]

I'd say get the S .

One word of warning ...
Cpo can only be transferred if you buy from a porsche dealer or private party .
Beware of any car advertised as Cpo that are at "other brands" dealers .
You'll be amazed how many Cpo cars get traded for other brands , then that dealership advertises them as Cpo ....

[ilikeching]

Go for S,
"Non S" is fast enough, but after a while, you always want more power....

[Perfectlap]

When it comes to Porsches always go for the S if you can.

Adding power later is very costly with this brand. And the extra oomph is very handy when merging on the highway and overtkaing all manner of sedans and SUVs that now have considerably more power than 15-20 years ago. When the Boxster first came out the M3 was a ~250 HP car.

If you intended to only use it for track/autox, the base is plenty enough power to get you up a tree.
Conventional wisdom thinks its the other way around. The bigger power car for the track, smaller for the street.
They have that backwards in my opinion.

2009 is the way to go, not really because of the IMS, but because it's the next engine regime.
Addressing the IMS is simply a day at the shop, costly but not take out the engine costly.
a 2000-2004 S is probably the best value in my opinion. The 2009-2012 is a faster car but I didn't feel it was fast enough to justify the delta while in-warranty.
But now that the 2009 cars are off warranty the prices should start to dipping hard soon a.k.a the second big wave of depreciation.

[RaisedOnPorsches]

When in doubt go with the "S". That said test drive both a 986 S and a 987 S. People tend to have rather strong feelings about which generation they prefer (due to size, performance, interior design, etc).

I personally like the looks for the 986 more. While the 987 has more ummph, it wouldn't be enough to have me dish out more money above a 986 S. The only 987 Boxster that makes me weak in the knees is the Spyder, but those aren't at their second round of depreciation yet.

Happy hunting.

[BIGJake111]

Originally Posted by RaisedOnPorsches

When in doubt go with the "S". That said test drive both a 986 S and a 987 S. People tend to have rather strong feelings about which generation they prefer (due to size, performance, interior design, etc).

I personally like the looks for the 986 more. While the 987 has more ummph, it wouldn't be enough to have me dish out more money above a 986 S. The only 987 Boxster that makes me weak in the knees is the Spyder, but those aren't at their second round of depreciation yet.

Happy hunting.

I wonder if the spyder will depreciate, I saw one for more than a new base, and the car had 20k miles on it.

But I agree with the others on at least looking at a 986, as they said, the ims is an easy fix with a budget that large. Not only is it cheaper up front but I wouldn't expect much depreciation on the 986 over a few thousand from now to 5 years down the road. Which you could possibly even afford a 911 engine swap on a 986 if you really want power. Many would argue this is the perfect boxster combo with its light weight and purpose built interior.


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[litespeedp]

I have an S and I'm very glad.The extra low end torque makes merging etc a lot more fun.

I've always tried to buy the strongest.My MINI Cooper S and Mustang GT were my previous cars.

Each had the strong drive train.