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Originally Posted by Perfectlap
1-somene posted on here that the Consumer Reports folks reported that drivetrain issues were fewest with the 2.7 and 3.2's from 2000-2002. The 03 and 04 featured some redesign of the drive shaft? that's starting to report problems in increasing numbers with no real problems in this area being reported by earlier models. Before 2000 of course there were the porosity issues with the engine block on the 2.5's, tons of cases to report on that front which surely had to be a factor in redesigning the engine and introducing the 2.7 and 3.2 ...
Someone posted here..?? That's not a very definitive arguement. Just looking at the issues posted here over the months, there were more problems reported from the '00-'03 cars than the earlier ones. To a degree, this makes some sense since there were about twice as many of these models produced. So far as the porosity issues, this has taken on a scale of Urban Myth which probably now surpasses the $50 Corvette the guy died in. I have a TSB from Porsche which shows that this was limited to exactly 136 Cars Worldwide! Give me a day to dig it up, and I can supply you with all 136 Engine/VIN numbers, so to boost your arguement with this misinformation is just wrong. The odds of finding one of those 136 Cars, and one which has not had the engine already replaced, is astronomical - it is simply not a valid reason to ignore the 2.5s.
2-I never said the 2.5 doesn't have pep. But if you have driven both you see that though the cars may be similar in weight the seat of the pants feel very different coming out of corners and coming off braking with the substantial increase in torque from the 3.2. (why would anyone pass this up if its in their budget??)
The more power you add to the Boxster the more the excellent handling/balance is magnified well except for that moment of polar inertia when the car breaks away like no other and you're just a passenger. But no car is perfect.
No, but you implied that it didn't, that somehow it was inadequate which is simply not true, and I have driven both, all 3 in fact - 2.5, 2.7, 3.2 Tip/5-speed/6-speed.
3-Again no one ever said you can't adequately merge on traffic and overtkae slower cars in a 2.5 BUT if you have driven a 3.2 you will see how much easier of an effort it is, particularly higher up on the power band.
Again, the implication was that you couldn't. Fact is, the 2.5 Boxster is faster than maybe 80% of all cars on the road, that ain't nothin'.
4-The Boxster market varies greatly. You might be able to get a 3.2 in one part of the country for the same amount of money that it would cost you for 2.7 (with both having the same mileage,condition etc.) in another area. If you are willing to buy with just an independent inspection report sight unseen you could get into an S for the same amount of money as a 2.7. Its not always signficantly more or more at all. Like I said this a very good time to be 986 buyer, lots of fluctuation in prices and choices by region.
That may be true in some rare or unique instance(s), but in general, the S will cost you more to buy and more to keep than the Base model will.
5-I'ts not a given that the S depreciates at a lower rate but the rules of supply and demmand are often a factor. There are 150 Boxsters for sale on Ebay right now and only 50 of them are S models. Allot of people are locating (not always buying) through online trading sites like Ebay. You very well could end up selling to this pool or making your Boxster known to this segment of buyers who rely on the internet only. If the trend in this buying pool shifts towards more buyers wanting 3.2's and willing to pay more for an S model then obviously there will be fewer S models to choose from (and even fewer well preserved ones) and the 2.7's(in similar mileage,condition etc.) WILL have to be lowered in price to entice a potential 2nd hand buyer away from a 3.2. This lowering could be at a increasingly faster rate given the ever growing numbers of Boxsters coming off leases every day.
Pure speculation built upon a lot of assumptions (Buts, Ifs, Coulds), maybe right, maybe wrong, but as speculation, it's not really a valid point in whether to decide between the various MY. And you fail to factor in the new competition in the used market - the Cayman S. Already several of these have been sold previously owned. They will cut into Boxster sales to some degree too.
I did say it could not it will cost you money. Its hard to show this statiscally because no one really tracks resale values this closely. It's no different than with the Carreras. Relative to overall production of the 996, the C4S was small in production and the market is very good for that car thus its still quiet expensive to get into one. Supply and demmand. The pool of buyers for Boxsters is going to grow 10 fold as people look to get a piece of the Porsche brand for little money and a very good track record of reliability. This hasn't really happened much in the past with this brand.
There's no way to say now whether the demmand for S models will be greater but the fact that there are fewer to choose from makes it a strong possibility that like the C4S the BoxsterS will be more desireable in the 2nd hand market and a lower depreciation rate could be the result. It's as likely as it is unlikely. If I'm a buyer and can get into the rarer model for not much more money its a no brainer.
Again, a lot of generality. Who says the market is growing? There's lots of competition out there - M Roadster, Z4, S2000, Sky, 350Z Convt., MX-5, Audi TT, etc. On the contrary, I believe this market is so oversaturated that it isn't expanding at all and prices are going to get softer, not firmer
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