2009 Boxster or an 08?

[Perfectlap]

Find a low mileage certified pre-owned 3.4 S!
Sounds like you are responsibly minding your finances, that said you have a great deal of bargaining power in the current soft economy. New Porsche sales are down sharply in 2008.
That puts downward pressure on the price tags of certified pre-owned Porsches, meaning they are the best bargain going (as far as depreciating assetts go).
The dealerships have to move these cars before inventories of old cars start to mushroom, hurting new Porsche sales. Furthermore 05's still LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME as 08's. Those 08's will take a big big hit on depreciation in this current economy that is only going to get worse. The dollar has taken a brief pause in its drop but the long term outlook is not good. Fewer and fewer Porsche buyers means less demmand and lower values.

The conventional wisdom is to do the opposite of what your dealer wants you to do. I'm guessing they want you in a 2009 first, 2008 second, a 2007 third and a CPO 05-06 third. To each his own but I've never heard a good argument against buying a CPO. These cars are gaining Japanese level reliability.

[jk335]

Perfectlap: You make some good points about CPO cars. I have been shopping and looking around at 2005/2006 Boxsters. They are out there, you just have to look hard. The problem I am finding is the paint on some of these vehicles have many swirl marks and have not come across a great example of someone who cared for the cares like we do on these forums.

I will still consider a CPO if one comes along.

BUT... my dealer has many S's and Boxster's sitting around. I know if the econony slumps further, these cars may lose more value, but I am more interested in buying a good example and then enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Have we gotten any indication when 2009 comes out. Any new pictures from the NY Auto Show?

Does anyone know how to take swirl marks off Red Paint. If I knew I could get a nice surface, I'd be willing to look at pre-owned...

[Perfectlap]

don't allow swirl marks from keeping you from an otherwise showroom looking car.
A car doesn't need to be repainted if it has bad swirling. An hour or two with an orbital buffer will get it back to pristine brand spanking new shape. This is an easy do it yourself job that will only cost you about $200. A pro high end detailer will probably charge two or three times that, a real waste because its not something you can really mess up just takes some elbow grease. Check out the PC link in my signature, it has video on how to remove the swirls.

[blue2000s]

Does anyone actually have confirmation that the Boxsters in the spy shots will be coming in 2009? They were originally supposed to be 2008 model cars, but that didn't happen.

Also, isn't the RS60 officially a 2009 model? It doesn't have the droopy tail lights of the spy photo cars. It wouldn't make sense to have the two different body panel generations on cars of the same model year. Especially if the RS60 is supposed to be a special model.

I agree with Perfectlap, the best financial decision is to not blow your money on the high initial depreciation.

[jk335]

I am obviously a notice on the detailing end. I have seen "wet sanding" by a body shop. Had no idea I could do soemthing about swirlmarks at home. I will take a look at your video and educate myself on the process. Funny how every used car out there has swirls, and just for alittle money, I bet the dealer would have gotten a sale from me had they been in better shape.

GREAT question about 2009. I have been reading the Net for 5 months and all I can come up with are spy photos of the new tailights and headlight. Maybe it's 2010? The Cayman gets the same treatment. Funny how the RS is a 2009. Makes you believe early 2009 the 2010 may debut. I am gun ho about learning about the process to remove swirl marks. I think it's given me more desire to buy a used CPO.

I'll keep everyone updated. Thanks for the ideas this morning. Much appreciated, excellent forum and members thus far.

joe

[Perfectlap]

Don't tell the dealer that you know how to remove the swirls. Chances are he might know either and maybe you can use that as leverage about "not being so crazy" about the particular car up for sale. The great thing about being able to remove your swirls is that you keep your car looking brand new the whole time you own it. As hard as you might try, especially if you buy a dark colored car, car washing will always lead to swirls making it look old. I de-swirl once a year and my new neighbohr last year thought my car was an 07.
Don't worry about the learning curve. I'm an idiot when it comes to working with my hands, everything takes me three times as long as the manual and even I figured out de-swirling in one morning. If the internet were around back then I probably could have sold previous cars for more money. Novice buyers always fall for that. You just have to rememeber to use only a small dime size amount of product and move slowly with buffer. If you can paint a wall in a house you can de-swirl your paint. It's that easy.

[1JB]

2009 boxster will start being built in September '08 after the factory shuts down in August I believe.