Price for CPO 2005 Boxster S?

[tango131]

good luck on your search. I was in similar shoes for the past 3-4 weeks, looking for an 06-07 S for about $35K (btw, according to folks here, the 06-07 are jsut better cars with much better reliability). found just 3 examples that fit my bill in auto trader and cars.com. as of yesterday, they were still there (2 private parties, one dealer) Stats and descriptions as I recall from memory):

private party; new palestine, IN (06 S, silver/black, 8k miles, CPO until March 2013, 19 inch sport design wheels, sport chrono, ~asking $38k, will let go for less). car looked pristine, as new. great guy too, we exchanged a few emails. this was my # 1 choice. send me a PM and I can send you pics and link you guys up by email (I don't know the guy, just offering to help...I know the agony of the search).

another in Nashua, NH: 06 S, red/black, ~20k miles with 20k serivce performed, asking ~$34k. car also looked pristine. great guy too. he had a buyer coming in this weekend, so it might be gone after tomorrow. same comment as above.

another in indianapolis, IN (listed under circlecar.com, but apparently selling for his uncle): 06 S, silver/grey; loaded options, pasm, sport chrono, etc., ~8k mi, ~$34K. Car also looked pristine in pics. Just talked on the phone.

I stopped looking when last night, minutes before the 3/31 offer on new cars expired, I picked up a new 2010 box S silver/black for a deal that I could not pass up. it has 9 miles in the odo. OMG, what a car. I still can't believe it. I'll post pics under a formal introduction once I find my camera. My first porsche...

good luck!

[jcb986]

5 year car is a cash buy. Mine is a one owner 2000 S and I gave $15,700 for it. I have the sticker which had a selling price just under $70K. It's pictured here in my post.

[John Y]

Originally Posted by tango131

good luck on your search. I was in similar shoes for the past 3-4 weeks, looking for an 06-07 S for about $35K (btw, according to folks here, the 06-07 are jsut better cars with much better reliability). found just 3 examples that fit my bill in auto trader and cars.com. as of yesterday, they were still there (2 private parties, one dealer) Stats and descriptions as I recall from memory):


good luck!

Thanks, and congrats on your new one! I had 18, short months that were completely trouble-free on my 07, so I can only hope this one, whichever it ends up being, will be as good. I was looking closely at the red car in NH - very nice, although red isn't high on my list; one of the others is stone grey and I want either sand beige or black, the other has 19s and I would probably have to unload and replace them with 18s right away - 19s are a non-starter for me in NYC, especially on a roadster. I really am leaning towards a CPO car, though; the piece of mind is worth it to me. One exception might have been the Silver 06 S on the same search list you generated, at Weissach Auto Haus in my area. I drove it, and the car is every bit as pristine as it sounds and looks. But he is talking as though he might not be that flexible below 37, and that's only with his 6-month warranty.

[gschotland]

Keep in mind that asking prices vary an awful lot from from what cars actually change hands for. You'll pay absolute top dollar from a dealer and then CPO is icing on the cake - for him. Every low mileage Boxster (private) owner thinks his/her car is the best out there and worth far more anyone else's. Prices are literally all over the place (nothing new), but the bottom line is it's a buyer's market - big time. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

When my brother was looking for an '02S (now mine) in '06, we researched prices quite a bit through various sources including eBay and Manheim Auction in PA. At that time we found KBB.com's trade in values to be spot on for what he eventually paid at Manheim ($23.4k + 5% used car dealer's fee). And when his wife made him sell last October (baby on the way), I again did a lot of research through eBay other sources before we settled on a fair price for both of us ($16k). And as I continued to follow prices a few months after that I felt even more sure that I'd paid FMV.

Not a lot of cars are actually sold through eBay, but where the bidding stops and where there were no bids at seemingly reasonable starting prices, these are very telling regarding fair market value. For example, there's a red '05 S w/9.9k mi CPO from Suncoast Porsche in FL that got no bids at a starting price of $27,880, and for an '07 S w/16.5k CPO from Porsche of Naples, FL bidding stopped at $30,975 (no sale). Research closed auctions over the course of a few weeks and you'll see a pattern. Sure, options have an effect on value, but not that much unless the car's really loaded with 15-20k of options. With the common options you're talking about, there are loads of low mileage choices well into the $20s. If your budget is higher, go for the newer car with some warranty left.

BTW, this is where I got the trade in and private party values quoted in my previous post:

http://www.kbb.com/used-cars

Take a deep breath, relax, try to put your emotions aside (yes, it's hard) and take your time shopping. You're in the driver's seat. Your attitude should be "there's always another car around the corner" and there are plenty of motivated sellers around, both absolutely true.

[John Y]

How did you get Manheim data? I always understood you had to be a dealer to participate in their auctions and get their data, and when I went to the website to look at sales #s it asked me to sign up and then asked me for some sort of auction id that dealers have?

I am in this for the long haul, and you're certainly right that there are plenty of cars out there, and I'm not in a particular rush, beyond the general desire to get back into one. I sent out offers by e-mail this morning on two cars - both base - an 06 and an 07, both with low miles; the former CPO at a Porsche dealer, the latter at a franchise dealer for another brand, with what I figure is about 16 months of factory warranty remaining - an adequate substitute for CPO, to me. I was, IMO, pretty aggressive in terms of the discounting in my offers compared to ask (on both I was in the mid to upper 20s - 50% depreciation based on their original MSRP.) We'll see what happens...I am going back for a second look at the 05 S today, and seeing a different 06 base CPO tomorrow, also with ultra-low miles. I will be as aggressive with that one.

You are also right that prices are all over the map - the dealer I e-mailed this morning has his ask on the 06 base CPO at $31,900 - a hair below KBB. The car I will see tomorrow is virtually identical - colors, year, CPO status, and options, mileage is only 1K apart. The second car (on 17s and not 18s) has his ask at 36,995! Extraordinary, especially considering the car came in while there were still green leaves on the trees last year. Perhaps they will be realistic in person.

Another thing worth mentioning on the 05 S is that it has only been with that dealer 30 days, so I suppose that says something about relative motivation to sell.

EDIT: That was easy! The 07 under factory warranty sold (ask was $30,995) and the Porsche dealer with the 06 car won't budge off of $31.9K - surprising! The say there aren't a lot of 06s out there (which we know is untrue) and that they are seeing dealers paying close to retail #s at auction for them. Puffery aside, they know what they paid and they must have an idea of what they can get for it.

It's a good thing I enjoy the process...

[stephen wilson]

I bought a CPO 06 in November, after watching prices for about 2 years! I didn't find any outrageous deals out there. Not many cars seem to sell, with the listings looking mostly the same for the last year. Porsche cut production, and sellers seem content to hold their cars, waiting for a good price. This includes dealers, and private sellers, which there seems to be few of on newer models. If you want a specific color combination and mileage range, as I did, your choices can become very limited.

The short story, I bought a base 06 with 14,500 Mi. , moderately optioned ( Zenon, Sound pkg. plus, 18"wheels, power/memory seats, windstop ) for 31,700 from an asking of 34,900. The paint's not perfect, but I'm still a happy man!
YMMV.
Steve

[John Y]

Originally Posted by stephen wilson

I bought a CPO 06 in November, after watching prices for about 2 years! I didn't find any outrageous deals out there. Not many cars seem to sell, with the listings looking mostly the same for the last year. Porsche cut production, and sellers seem content to hold their cars, waiting for a good price. This includes dealers, and private sellers, which there seems to be few of on newer models. If you want a specific color combination and mileage range, as I did, your choices can become very limited.

The short story, I bought a base 06 with 14,500 Mi. , moderately optioned ( Zenon, Sound pkg. plus, 18"wheels, power/memory seats, windstop ) for 31,700 from an asking of 34,900. The paint's not perfect, but I'm still a happy man!
YMMV.
Steve

Steve, thanks for your input as your experience is clearly on point; you bought at Danbury, correct? What color combo was it?

[stephen wilson]

Yes, Danbury, Triple black. The only thing I wasn't happy about is the paint, which has allot of faint scratches and stone chips. I'm sure some would come out with a good buffing.

At the time I decided that low mileage, and seemingly good mechanical condition, was more important than a showroom appearance. For me, it's not just going to be a weekend car, but handle a large portion of my "daily" driving, so it will be hard to keep mint in any event.

FWIW, I decided on an '06 for the hopefully improved IMS reliability, an 07 would have even better, and further "improved". The plus with an '05 is that it can be "upgraded". In 4-5 years I plan on "moving up" to a 2010 S if things go well.