Nov 2007...
The CPO on my 01S had expired a few mo earlier and this was at the height of the IMS hysteria (no solution at this time). Porsche just released the orange 08 Limited Edition Boxster. My local Porsche dealer had 4 in stock - 2 base, 2 Ss. I went down on a cold afternoon to look. 3 of them were outside and I didn't spend much time looking them over. The fourth was on the showroom floor. Man it looked nice. It was an S. To my surprise it was #5 of the 250 S models. That blew my mind!
I thought and thought about how I could buy #5. My house would be paid off the following July and I was just starting a big project at work, so financially I felt comfortable (I had been thru 4 downsizings in my over 25 yrs so I wanted to be careful). But the sticker was an eye-popping $66K. The most I had paid for a car up to then was half that and my house cost me $75K 19 yrs ago. This was no small matter.
I did some research on what I thought invoice would be on the LE. I figured a 5% profit over invoice would be sufficient. So on New Year's Eve 2007 I went to Porsche of Omaha with a list of colors, options, and yrs I would be looking for and if they came across one that fit, they should let me know. We talked for about 5 min. Then on my way out I pointed to the LE and said, "or you can sell me this one for 58". I was talking to Mitch, the sales mgr and he jumped up and ran over to his desk, did some quick number look-ups and said he could sell it for $59K. I thought, wow, that's pretty good, but all I could afford was 58. I stood firm. He quickly dropped to $58.5. Once again, I thought that was pretty good, but all I could afford was 58. I stood firm. He said he'd sell it for $58K. I spent a total of 20 min making this deal.
He admitted that he hadn't wanted to be open that afternoon but his boss thought someone would want a car. So Mitch wanted to sell something that day. Problem was, I couldn't pick my new car up until Jan 2. I went home that night and didn't go anywhere - I was trading my 01S in and didn't want anyone to hit it on NYE. I contacted all my family and told them the great news. My mom, sister, and brother all said I was stupid to trade in my beautiful Lapis Blue 01S. Only my sister-in-law said she liked the orange car. So now I have to mull over if I'm making a big mistake? Will I flame out on the orange in 6 mo? I have 2 whole days to mull this over. Hmmmm....
Needless to say, it will be 10 yrs this Dec that I bought my LE and I still love her. 2nd longest ownership of any car I've owned. I love the color. I get rock star treatment from fellow motorists. Never was sorry I made the deal.
Here she is on the showroom floor on the Nov afternoon.
