Thinking about a Boxster...
 

Hi there. I registered for this forum a few years ago and was fully planning on getting a Boxster. Then I got a great deal on a Lexus and stopped thinking about it, at least for a while. Now I've had the Lexus three years and keep thinking about Porsche again. I've never driven a Boxster though. My only experience driving a Porsche is a 1983 944 I used to own way back when. Loved it though.

So now even though I don't NEED a new car I keep thinking I should at least go test drive a Boxster. But I also like the Cayman and 911. Honestly, first instinct tells me I'd want a 911, but it's so much more expensive. And also, I've never driven any of them at all. I'm just saying 911 because it's such a classic sportscar. If I want a car soon I could get the Boxster. If I want the 911 I should probably wait a couple years and save some money. Cayman I believe is about the same price as Boxster.

So I'd love to hear some opinions, advice, whatever. Are the dealerships pushy as far as trying to get you to buy the car or do they understand that these cars are pretty expensive and people might want to actually take their time to make a decision?

Driving is the only way to really tell how you will feel about the car.

I would suggest taking at least 3 test rides in each car that floats your boat. If you like the Box, drive it again.

It is different from a Lexus but very very nice indeed.

If the dealer objects to your taking your time, find another fast.

Best of luck.

PS-I have owned a many boxes and 911s. I prefer the Box, but that is just me.

thanks. I am sure it'll be much different from the Lexus, especially because my Lexus is an SUV. I guess the only way to know for sure will be to go on some test drives.

We need more Forum members with user names like "LoveBunny"! :)

Quote:

'We need more Forum members with user names like "LoveBunny"! '

Posted by bmussatti.

I'll second that! :D

Hey LoveBunny---go drive a Boxster (or two, or three). Even if you don't buy one, ya gotta drive one! (My oldest son keeps buggin' me about how I need to go and test drive an Elise. There's no chance I'll buy one---not even sure I'll comfortably FIT in one, but you know what? Come spring time, I'm going to take that test drive.)

LoveBunny, if you think you want a Boxster now, go test drive one....... and then you will DEFINITELY want a Boxster!! :D

Going from a Lexus SUV to a Boxster is a big change. I don't see how anyone would be a candidate for both vehicles at the same time. Unless, of course, you really have no needs other tha image/perception. Seriously, these are about as far from each other as you can get. How can anyone really consider both an option?
I don't mean to bag on you. It just seems like an odd question to me, that's all. Can you help me understand?

Quote:

"Going from a Lexus SUV to a Boxster is a big change."

Posted by Pat.

Yeah it is. Which is why she should probably drive a few before she thinks about buying one!

BTW, LoveBunny: You should probably think about changing your avatar...I'm pretty sure that's a DOG.

I say test drive everything. I wanted a small, sporty convertible. How much fun to test drive every small, sporty convertible I could think of! Its free, doesn't take much time, and if you like to drive, its entertaining. Then when you can't sleep for thinking about the one you enjoyed most - you know which one to get.

Yes, going from a Lexus SUV to a Boxster is a big change! I actually was interested in a boxster years ago when I got the Lexus, but I got a deal on the Lexus I couldn't pass up. It was my brother's and he didn't want it anymore because he hated car payments. So all I had to do was start paying the payments and it was mine at a great interest rate. So like I say, was a very good deal. I do like the Lexus, but in the back of my mind is always how much I'd love a fun sporty car, a Porsche.

I do admit that the shifting might get annoying in driving in traffic, but no way would I buy an automatic Porsche. No offense to anyone who has one, but that's not for me.

I don't have any kids, so all I need to worry about mostly is driving around myself. The only other concern I have is my dad, who has a hip and knee replacement, might have trouble getting in and out of it if I drive him places. But I'm sure it wouldn't be awful for him. I do also bring my dog (in the avatar) in the car with me in a crate, so I'd have to be sure I could fit a crate in the front seat when she's with me.

So I really need to find the time to go test drive some cars and see how I feel. I've only ever even ridden in a Boxster so that is my limited experience with them, other than staring at them in traffic. I'm kind of hoping I like it better than a 911, becuase of the price, but I do like that a 911 has a back seat, even though it's a small one. All in all though, it'll come down to what I like to drive enough to want to spend some money on.

I like the body design of the Boxster over the 911. I also like the price better. Easy decision for me.

I think its the best looking roadster on the road, and a blast to drive. More horsepower would be more fun, but no matter how much power that is probably a true statement.

Have fun in your discovery.

yeah, I have heard of the upkeep on the 911 being much higher. It's all going to depend I guess on what I like driving the best. I won't have two cars though. I'll be getting rid of the Lexus if I get a Porsche.

and how in the hell do I get that picture of my dog sticking her tongue out off of my avatar? I can't remember how I got it in there to begin with.

If the new car will be your only car, then price, fit, feel and how you plan to use the car boils it down to a few choices. After fit, feel and price, to my mind its about space capacity.

Would you ever have an occasion that you might need the rear seats of a 911? They are not useful for much, but could come in handy either as seats for passengers or as open storage area.

If not, then the Box or Cayman would work depending on your preference for a drop top or not.

The Boxster is the perfect car for me at this point in life. As my 20 month old grandaughter gets older, I"ll need the rear seats of the 911 and will swap cars at that point, likely for a 99-04 911

I don't often drive with other people in my car, but I do go places with my dad and brother often enough that not having a back seat is of a little concern. Of course it's not like I'm the only one with a car or anything, but for some reason I seem to drive a lot. Might just be because it's more comfortable to ride in my Lexus than my brother's Jeep, and riding with my dad driving can be downright scary so we never ask him to drive.

So that would be the main reason. Now, if I did ride with them in the car and use the back seat, guess who would be back there though? Not my 60+ year-old dad and not my 6-foot-tall brother.

I just got back from New Orleans and it was Dec and 80 degrees, I realize that it is not always like that, but it is warm enough to have the top down whenever you feel like it. Heated seats. In a week I only saw 2 Boxsters there and one had Washington plates on it. I had choices and chose the Boxster. you may choose differently but all your choices are a blast. I spent weeks going for test rides on all kinds of sports cars and had one of the best periods in my life. All the choices you had were different and only you can make it , but if you ask the oponion of people on a Boxster forum they are not going to tell you to get a 911. We all love our cars because of the handling, looks and affordability. Good Luck on your hunt. Nice dog, I have a Silky, a Wirehaired Mini Daschund and a Black Lab-Golden mix , and they all love the riding in the Boxster with the top down. Ed

I don't know what the temperature is right now, but my A/C is on, so definitely warm enough for the top down. I don't see many Boxsters here, but there are a few. I saw one today and was thinking how nice it would be to be in a convertible. My dad said he knows someone who works at the dealer here, unless the guy has retired by now, so going to check on that. I'm going to go on some test drives soon when I get the chance and I'll report back how it went.

How much difference is there with the Boxster and Boxster S? Is it really worth the extra $$$? Seems like a pretty significant price difference.

This gets to some parts of the "feel" part. Some will say that the base Box is plenty enough oomph for their driving style. Others who have a need for more go and stop pedal under foot will want the S model at any cost.

During my search, I drove several base Boxsters before geting a spin in an S model and after finding a huge difference in performance, that sold me on the S. Besides the S model has a few interior upgrades that make living conditions a bit nicer too.

Good luck,
Rich

Quote:

"and how in the hell do I get that picture of my dog sticking her tongue out off of my avatar? I can't remember how I got it in there to begin with."

Posted by LoveBunny.

LoveBunny I was just joking about changing the avatar. I LOVE dogs!

I grew up during the heyday of the muscle cars of the '60s and the '70s, never at that time in my life able to swing the big V-8 some of my friends had (the Chevelles, the Roadrunnders, the GTXs, the Chargers, etc). When I went car shopping a couple years ago, this still influenced me. Even though I was more interested in the handling and the overall roadster appeal, I guess that's why I knew I wanted something with some decent HP to it. "Torque is a good thing," as a friend of my once so simply put it. I knew I wanted the 'S' and never even drove a base model. OTOH, mines an '01; if you're looking to get a newer one, some of the base models have almost the HP of mine.

At least one of the times you test drive, take your dad and a pet carrier with you, to see if they'll "fit" well with the car. Your dog's pretty small---I don't think you'll probably have any problems fitting the relatively small carrier that (s)he would need in there. I take "Jake" my springer spaniel with me all the time---he's about 60 lbs, though I just throw a blanket over the seat. (When we go hiking together, keeping out of mud, water, leaves, etc. is not particularly high on his priority list.)

Well, my avatar is kind of huge. I just would at least like to shrink it a little. Every time I come on here I see this huge pic of my dog with her tongue out.

She is pretty small so her fitting in the car wouldn't be a problem. The carrier she usually rides in is a little larger crate that I put in my back seat with a soft bed inside. I'm so paranoid about getting into an accident with her in the car that I think she's safest that way. I'm sure it would fit in the front seat of a Boxster though. I'd want to be sure I could get it in the trunk so when she's not with me it'll be there.

I'll have to see what the difference is in how the S drives versus non-S Boxster, and versus the others too. I honestly don't need a super fast car. I just want one that is fun to drive and handles well. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of open windy roads around here to really enjoy driving on. Most of my driving is in the city. The Porsche dealer happens to be in a really busy suburban area, so driving around there would give me an idea of how they drive in traffic. I'm hoping to go tomorrow.

You'll want your carrier not too big, otherwise you'll risk banging into the door or the paint right behind the door getting it into the front seat. And I hate to say this, but I don't think you're likely to get a carrier into either trunk (unless you can find some sort of collapsable one). The back one would be too shallow vertically. The front one's a possibility, but, short of taking out the spare tire, I think even that's going to be difficult. Even without the spare, don't think you'll be able to get anything bigger than a small to (possibly?) medium sized carrier up front.

They do have seat belt/harness arrangements that can be used to strap dogs in the front seat, but I've not used one before so I can't give you any sort of useful opinion on them.

Don't worry about your avatar being "huge." Guys really like women with big avatars. :rolleyes:

oh, might have to look for a new dog carrier if I end up buying a car, but I'm sure I could figure something out. The harnesses never worked for her because she gets out of all of them. She's even gotten out of a dog carrier that closed with zippers and a snap.

What will be a huge problem though is if I can't get the case I carry my equipment in for work into either of the trunks. It's in a rolling suitcase type thing, and it is supposed to be able to be used as a carry-on on a plane, so I hope the trunk(s) would at least accomodate that.

Well, I went for a test drive today. And I drove a new Cayman and a 2005 911...no Boxster! They had no new Boxsters on the lot and maybe one used one I could have driven. But by the time I got through with the other two it was dark and getting late. The supply was pretty limited on what they had to drive. I did like the Cayman and 911 though. So I want to go back when I have some more time and drive a Boxster.

I liked them both, but lean a little towards liking the 911 more, but part of that could have been because I drove the Cayman first and haven't driven a stick in years and was a little more comfortable with it after driving the Cayman. I want to go back and definitely drive the Boxster. Even though I liked the Cayman, I'd rather a Boxster. And while I somewhat liked the 911 more, I think the price difference is enough to make me scratch that one off my list, at least for the time being. The idea of having a convertible sounds pretty appealing, especially since it's several thousand less than a 911.

New S owner
 

I'm an engineer so I analyzed the this 'what to buy problem' till I got a headache for months. First it was buy or build(cobra, etc.). I didn't want to wait so it was buy but giving up the brut force of a cobra was tough. So then it was 911 or boxster (no cheaper used Caymans are in the market yet) and newer or older. I felt that mid engine was preferable to rear engine and after watching a couple of Porsche autocrosses the flat cornering of the boxster was amazing compared to older 911's. (theory confirmed) I preferred the look of a convertible boxster to the convertible 911. Arthritis and Atlanta traffic made think seriously about the tiptronic. I targeted a range 01 to 03 black and S (having backed off on the cobra I still wanted what ever HP I could get). I looked and test drove, rinse and repeat, etc. Disappointed nothing was doing it for me, too many miles, split rear windows bad CarFax reports, etc. so I decided to look up year or two to get some comparison points. Local Dealer, Jim Ellis, had a dark blue 2004 S at 24K miles the CarFax showed they had been sitting on it for about 4 months. They agreed it needed to go so they offered to Certify it, two years additional warranty, put new tires on it and bring everything up to snuff. Moral, don't ignore the orphans, maybe it's just a less popular color, you will know the right one when you see it. BTW, a top down six speed screaming petal to the metal blast is better than a whole cabinet full of pills when it comes to aches and pains.

Well, I had narrowed it down to the Boxster or Cayman because the price jump for a 911 was just too much for me to handle right now. I liked the look of the Cayman, the shape just seeming so attractive. I hadn't yet driven a Boxster yet. I went to the dealer and drove a 2004 Boxster, and even though I want a new one, that made my mind for me. As soon as I put the top down I was like, "This is the car I want!" So I have ordered a 2008 Boxster. It it scheduled to be produced on Feb. 11, so hopefully I will have it by the end of March. :D