Base or S model? Feedback Requested...

[jrgill]

PaulOfto - so that's the reason I'm not seeing many 03-04 986S models available at this time. Hoping more will appear as they're taken out of winterizaton.

[jrgill]

PaulE - THanks for the two references to look for available 986's. I've been watching the PCA.org classifieds but wasn't aware of the Excellence magazine. I have it bookmarked now. I've wanted a Porsche for many years, but life has always pointed me toward other ways to "conscientiously and approprately" spend my money. So now that I have the opportunity to do so, I'm spending some extra time to think through what I need and what really may not be necessary based upon probable usage. But my mind keeps going back to when I owned a '72 MGB that handled so well, yet was so underpowered. I always felt that I had half of the best of two worlds However, since finding ou the the 2003 base has a little more HP, I'll start to include that into my searches.

[Oldcarguy]

Hi Joe. IMHO, within any given model year there is a material difference in the driving experience between the Base and the S. Having said that, the Base 986s I drove were very satisfying driving experiences. Looking back at your original post, the options you mentioned are available on the Base (I think) and they are not performance oriented.

If the emphasis is really on the non performance oriented options, for me a newer well maintained Base would be better than an older S that would require some TLC.

Comparing Base vs S across MYs becomes more difficult.

I was looking for a specific 986 (the Spyder Anniversary), otherwise I would have considered a newer Base 986/987 or later for sure.

No clear cut answers, but I hoped this helped!

[mikefocke]

If I were looking for a Boxster today, I'd first find a great Porsche mechanic. Not that the cars need that level of service frequently, but when they do it is good to have someone who really really knows Porsche's water cooled cars to work on it.

Next I'd go talk to the mechanic. He may have a line on a car he has been maintaining for the owner and so may be a source of a very valuable reference. Boxsters are cars that get sold for life stage reasons (marriage, divorce, age, buying a house, changing job locations, etc) and knowing the motivation of the seller and the maintenance history of the car takes much of the risk out of buying the car.

And finally, I'd look on Craigslist for your area. Get an idea of local asking prices understanding that most cars sell for maybe 5% less.

Go drive one. See if you fit. See if it is your idea of what such a car should feel like. When I was getting back into a sports car, I drove about 8 makes/models. It was amazing how a car that looked good on the showroom floor or the ads just wasn't for me. Some it took just sitting in, some as little as driving a block. The Boxster was a 1 mile and it was obvious case. But it might not fit you.

[Frank N]

In my search, I had my must haves and the nice to haves. I found it beneficial to limit my search and not consider every car that popped up on the interwebs....

Must for me? Less than 50K miles, black ext, $20K max. After test driving an S and a couple of nonS, the S became a must have.

That was two years ago, it took several months and when I found as close to exactly what I wanted, I didn't hesitate to cut a deal.

I didn't like the Savanna Beige interior. I got over it, I also never notice the color when I am driving....

[Pominoz]

Hi,

On normal roads, the driver is the biggest performance determinant. I'm a member of a Porsche club and we went out for a club run today. I had the 'slowest' car today being a 2002 2.7 manual. I spent most of the day following a 981 Cayman GTS, and didn't have any real difficulty keeping up with it, or with the others, BUT it is one hell of a lot of fun ringing the neck out of my 986 to do it. Using the gears to keep the 2.7 in the power band is great fun, especially if you are an enthusiastic driver who enjoys driving the car hard. These cars are all more than fast enough on normal roads, and no matter what you buy, you'll end up getting used to the power and thinking maybe you'd like more.
Personally, for the same money I'd go for a really nice example of a base 2.7 over a not so nice S. The gearbox is supposed to be a bit more reliable than the 6 speed as well. My car isn't in this picture but this is some of what I was up against today

[Nmbrsix]

These days, there is almost no price difference in my regional market (Seattle/PNW) between a base and an S.

Given that, I see no reason not to step up to an S. The 6 speed, more usable torque of the 3.2L, and bigger brakes are all very worthwhile.

[jrgill]

I'm seeing 2-4k differences in pricing between S and base models in the northeast. That actually factors into another (but not previously mentioned) reason why I was asking. I thought the price difference between models was just a given. So, if I were to find a well maintained , lesser priced base model with some options I desire, would the difference in performance be worth the cost savings? I know this could be subjective and I appreciate what some have said about driving both and making the determination afterward. As the weather begins to warm hopefully some will become available nearby to test drive and work through the decision process. Thanks again to all.

[Anker]

Even though the number of base Boxsters and S nodels sold each year have been roughly equal, there are a lot more bases being offered for sale than S'es. My very rough estimate is that there is one S model offered for every 4 base models.

I have wondered what the underlying cause might be. What I have come up with are:

S'es are holding up better than bases, so owners are holding on to them.

Could be the exact opposite, so most S'es are gone to the eternal roadways.

No clue, but intriguing.

[That986]

It really depends on how or what you're going to do with the car. If you intend to cruise from place to place then a base model will do the job nicely, but if you intend to "drive" it every now and then that's where the S comes in.

The extra shove and better brakes just add to the whole thing and turn it from a capable sportscar into a supercar troubling scamp.