Instead of a Boxster I wish I would have bought....

[986_inquiry]

Originally Posted by mts

Pretty wide definitions and certainly open for debate. I personally have never thought of the Boxster being anywhere close to an exotic. My neighbor, who really isn't into cars at all always told me he thought my Boxster was exotic (of course he also told me he thought I paid over $100k for it).

I think the exotic part is ultimately all relative to the individual.

Agreed. Also depends on where you live. In LA a boxster might be fairly common, but in most of the world it's rather rare.

I'd agree the boxster is pretty low on the exotic list but it should still be on the list.

[mts]

Originally Posted by ddb

mts,

How are you enjoying the 993 thus far? Love the wheels!

Thanks,

ddb

Thanks for the compliment on the wheels. I had wheel dynamics custom powdercoat them for me in Arctic Silver/Gunmetal. It was the first set they'd done in that specific color combo. The sad thing is they liked so much I see they've now done at least two more sets exactly like mine and they are up for sale on Ebay right now (even using my car in the ad). So much for being a little unique.

On the 993, I've really enjoyed it so far. It's shockingly different from my Boxster S in both good and bad ways. I am thinking of adding a Boxster or Cayman back to the stable in the next couple years though (keeping the 993). I will probably go with a post M96 car next time around though as I was one of the unlucky people that had an IMS failure.

[mts]

Originally Posted by 986_inquiry

Agreed. Also depends on where you live. In LA a boxster might be fairly common, but in most of the world it's rather rare.

I'd agree the boxster is pretty low on the exotic list but it should still be on the list.

That's fair. In my city I see quite a few Boxsters and I never really seemed to turn any heads when I drove it. When I drove it to the small town where I grew up, it turned everyone's head. I'd wager its one of very few (if any others) in that town.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by 986_inquiry

That's up to debate. Google disagrees
porsche boxster exotic sportd car - Google Search

And the boxster matches the definition of exotic sports car, or at least the definition this website has presented:
Exotic Cars 101: What is an 'Exotic Car' (by definition)? - National Exotic Car | Examiner.com

Bahh. If a Boxster is exotic, so is the Z3 and Z4, the SLK and the TT. I even see more Boxsters than 350Zs. Heck, my 30 year old Rx-7 is more exotic. Expensive when new and German does not make a car exotic.

[RandallNeighbour]

My daily driver is a BMW 550i with a 0-60 time of 5 seconds and the boxster feels very slow indeed on the street and exceptionally slow on the track.

I'm getting just good enough to pass cars in the course only to see every one of them pass me in the long straightaway so we can do the whole passing thing again in the turns. The only way to fix this is to get a faster car or putz along the straightaway to let the 3.8's and turbos get by me and waaaay down the track.

I've yet to meet anyone who is satisfied they bought the sports car with the smallest motor one can get in the model line. Whatever HP you've got now is never enough, just like cash in the bank, hair on your head, ram in your laptop, or the amount of sex you're getting from your woman!

And as to the choice of words "exotic" used by a previous poster, a better word choice would have been "boutique" car manufacturer... which describes Porsche to a tee. They don't make nearly as many cars as BMW or Audi or VW, so the cars break down more and need more attention than these brands.

Reminds me of a mechanic who told me years ago not to buy a Firebird but get a Camaro instead. He said they sold twice as many Camaros each year and they were a far more dependable version of the car.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

My daily driver is a BMW 550i with a 0-60 time of 5 seconds and the boxster feels very slow indeed on the street and exceptionally slow on the track.

I'm getting just good enough to pass cars in the course only to see every one of them pass me in the long straightaway so we can do the whole passing thing again in the turns. The only way to fix this is to get a faster car or putz along the straightaway to let the 3.8's and turbos get by me and waaaay down the track.

I've yet to meet anyone who is satisfied they bought the sports car with the smallest motor one can get in the model line. Whatever HP you've got now is never enough, just like cash in the bank, hair on your head, ram in your laptop, or the amount of sex you're getting from your woman!

And as to the choice of words "exotic" used by a previous poster, a better word choice would have been "boutique" car manufacturer... which describes Porsche to a tee. They don't make nearly as many cars as BMW or Audi or VW, so the cars break down more and need more attention than these brands.

Reminds me of a mechanic who told me years ago not to buy a Firebird but get a Camaro instead. He said they sold twice as many Camaros each year and they were a far more dependable version of the car.

You'd be getting passed on straightaways by 3.8s and turbos with any Boxster that did't have an engine swap. I did get a ride in a 3.4 swapped '98 once, and that car pulled impressively harder than my 3.2.

Boutique is definitely a good term for Porsches.

[Sawfish]

Upon reflection I wish I had bought a Porsche 718 W-RS Spyder. But I was unable because they are so rare and expensive.

So I am satisfied with the Boxster.

[Johnny Danger]

Whether or not the boxster is itself an exotic car is extraneous, because when I'm at the wheel, the driver is considered very exotic .

[ekam]

^You stole my line again Danger.

[Johnny Danger]

Originally Posted by ekam

^You stole my line again Danger.

Brilliant minds think alike !

[Dale_K]

I took action on this topic today and traded in my 2000 S on a 2012 Jeep Wrangler. And I just bought $400 worth of new rear tires only 2 weeks ago. That was money down the drain, lol.

The Boxster was pretty troublesome although I hadn't had a CEL in about 6 months. Things my car needed during the one year I owned it were:

Oil fill tube
MAF
Tip coolant control valve
Brake booster pipe
Coolant tank
Gas cap, bleeder valve
Alternator, battery

It smoked pretty often on a cold start and had a cold start rattle that might have been cam chain tensioners but also could have been valve lash adjusters. The rear window wasn't cracked (yet) but it was non-pliable. If I kept the car I kind of figured I'd be down probably $2k for mechanical work next year. It had 111k miles when I traded it.

Basically I came to realize that the high performance aspect wasn't really very important to me. What I really like are convertible cars and scenic drives at the speed limit. There is a lot of scenery near me. Jeeps hold there value terrifically and I have a garage so I can take down the top and leave it that way during the warm weather months. Maybe even take the doors off too. I'll never use the 4 wheel drive but a new convertible vehicle has a lot of appeal and the Jeep was only $21k. It's surprising how tight and rattle free it is. The 2012 Wranglers have the Pentastar 3.6 with 285 hp. I got the 6 speed manual, so it has a little sporty feel but obviously not the handling.

I'm going to have some stuff to sell so keep an eye on the FS thread. The Boxster forums are a fantastic resource.

[fivepointnine]

Originally Posted by Dale_K

I took action on this topic today and traded in my 2000 S on a 2012 Jeep Wrangler. And I just bought $400 worth of new rear tires only 2 weeks ago. That was money down the drain, lol.

The Boxster was pretty troublesome although I hadn't had a CEL in about 6 months. Things my car needed during the one year I owned it were:

Oil fill tube
MAF
Tip coolant control valve
Brake booster pipe
Coolant tank
Gas cap, bleeder valve
Alternator, battery

It smoked pretty often on a cold start and had a cold start rattle that might have been cam chain tensioners but also could have been valve lash adjusters. The rear window wasn't cracked (yet) but it was non-pliable. If I kept the car I kind of figured I'd be down probably $2k for mechanical work next year. It had 111k miles when I traded it.

Basically I came to realize that the high performance aspect wasn't really very important to me. What I really like are convertible cars and scenic drives at the speed limit. There is a lot of scenery near me. Jeeps hold there value terrifically and I have a garage so I can take down the top and leave it that way during the warm weather months. Maybe even take the doors off too. I'll never use the 4 wheel drive but a new convertible vehicle has a lot of appeal and the Jeep was only $21k. It's surprising how tight and rattle free it is. The 2012 Wranglers have the Pentastar 3.6 with 285 hp. I got the 6 speed manual, so it has a little sporty feel but obviously not the handling.

I'm going to have some stuff to sell so keep an eye on the FS thread. The Boxster forums are a fantastic resource.

if you dont mind me asking what did they give you on trade? Ive been thinking about trading in my S on a G35 coupe 6 spd (back seats and a better daily) and have been offered 11.5k as a trade

[986_inquiry]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

My daily driver is a BMW 550i with a 0-60 time of 5 seconds and the boxster feels very slow indeed on the street and exceptionally slow on the track.

The 550i is an exceptional vehicle that few people are lucky enough to own, of course the Boxster feels slow, as would a new V6 Camaro or Mustang.

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

I've yet to meet anyone who is satisfied they bought the sports car with the smallest motor one can get in the model line.

Now you have. Hello, nice to meet you

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Whatever HP you've got now is never enough, just like cash in the bank, hair on your head, ram in your laptop, or the amount of sex you're getting from your woman!

Eh... I don't know. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

And as to the choice of words "exotic" used by a previous poster, a better word choice would have been "boutique" car manufacturer... which describes Porsche to a tee. They don't make nearly as many cars as BMW or Audi or VW, so the cars break down more and need more attention than these brands.

Exotic Cars 101: What is an 'Exotic Car' (by definition)? - National Exotic Car | Examiner.com

They have 10 criteria for a car to be considered "exotic":
1. limited production
2. personaliztion, ie hand built, etc
3. new or unusual materials or engine design
4. not intended to appeal to general population or market audience except to improve prestige
5. may require special dealer to procure or resell unless traded on private market
6. scarcity: Any car sold in a boutique automobile sales environment; if less than 8,000 - 10,000 cars per year, may be considered exotic
7. specialty tools or equipment to repair or service
8. may or may not have competed in races
9. design elements influenced by predecessor models considered exotic
10. appears strange or unusual in concept or design, may or may no include unusual functions (speed, task or newly defined multipurpose transportation, aesthetic value).

That list is pretty reasonable IMHO, the exotics I can think of would match most of the requirements on that list.

Boxster meets most of them:
1) Limited? Not really, they were hard to find when introduced but Porsche made as many as possible. No
2) Personaliztion? Not that I know of. No
3) Unusual materials or engine design? it's mid-engine and boxer, that's unusual. Yes
4) Not for general population except for prestige? two seat convertible that looks amazing. Yes
5) Special dealer? they're hard to find in most of the world. Yes
6) Scarcity? Porsche sold more than 30,000 vehicles in 1997 thanks to swift Boxster sales. While that's over their 8-10k/yr mark, that's still very few cars for a manufacture, especially when you consider in 1999 1.5 million new vehicles were sold in Canada alone, making Porsche's 30,000 seem like a drop in the bucket. Yes
7) Special tools to repair? Yes
8) May have competed in races? I can rattle of a long list of exotics that never raced, so I'm not sure this is a good measure of being an exotic, but it's still a No
9) Exotic design influenced by past exotics? Based on 911s and inspired by classic exotic Porsche 550 Spyder. Yes
10) Unusual concept or design, including special functions? Spoiler raises at 75mph and lowers under 50mph, that's pretty unusual and special, along with functional side vents which is rarely found on normal cars. Yes

So of the 10 criteria (9 if you remove the racing requirement) for a car to be exotic, the Boxster has 6.

[Mike_Yi]

Originally Posted by thstone

Mike, $10K in 3 years and still needs another $3,500? Can you give us a run down of the issues?

Issues I've spent the money on....
MAF
O2 sensors
Brake rotors
used engine + LNE IMS Retrofit (labor done by me)
Water pump
thermostat
About 10 gallons of Porsche anti-freeze before I wised up and switched to Prestone

Issues need to have money spent on....
replace rear window
Head gaskets and all associated miscellany

Originally Posted by 986_inquiry

That's about $300 a month, a little high but not excessively so, I bought mine knowing I should put at least $200/mo aside for repairs and maintenance based on information on Porsche forums. These are exotic sports cars made by a company that only makes sports cars (until recently). You didn't buy a Ford or Toyota, Porsches will cost more to maintain.

I won't debate with you whether or not these are exotic cars (I personally do not think they are). If you are okay with spending the value of the car to keep it running every 3 years, then you have a different expectation of quality than I do. Maybe you're okay with those kinds of costs. I'm not.

Originally Posted by thstone

However, if you purchase the right boxster (clean, maintained, loved!) the right way (with a PPI) at the right time (when you have the money for the best example you can find... even if it takes a full year) you can put that $200 in the bank for tires and brake pads and DE participation fees!

I would take exception to that statement. If you are a potential Boxster buyer and think this would be a great car to take to the track, think again. You might get lucky and have no problems. You will probably want to play it safe though and make some mods to give it a better chance of surviving the track, and that will cost you thousands of dollars on top of the cost of the car, and WILL NOT be any kind of guarantee that your engine won't be destroyed by DEs. This car was not built to be taken to the track.

[Mike_Yi]

Originally Posted by 986_inquiry

Boxster meets most of them:
1) Limited? No.
2) Personaliztion? No
3) Unusual materials or engine design? No. Boxer engines are not unusual, and the car does not use unusual materials.
4) Not for general population except for prestige? No. A Lambo is a prestige vehicle, a car that is priced new to be an "accessible version" of a brand is not a prestige car.
5) Special dealer? No harder to find that Merc or Audi. No.
6) Scarcity? Not really. Compared to "Last year, Ferrari sold 6,250 cars worldwide" That's 5x.
7) Special tools to repair? Yes. So does a Chevy. So that question is pretty foolish
8) May have competed in races? No
9) Exotic design influenced by past exotics? Really? No.
10) Unusual concept or design, including special functions? C'mon. You're really stretching on these.

You can call your car an exotic car if you want. I suggest you do it on most automobile forums and see how people respond.

[Ghostrider 310]

Originally Posted by Mike_Yi

You can call your car an exotic car if you want. I suggest you do it on most automobile forums and see how people respond.

Since many people out there persist in the thought to this day they can spank a Porsche in the twisties with a New Stang or Challenger, who really cares what they say?

[Bmod986]

Before i bought my boxster which was in june of 2011, i was looking for an audi A4 2006 face lifted modle. I had driven a boxster before and I didn't really like it for myself and when i was given the offer of the boxster the first time the first thing that came to my mind was its going to be expensive to maintain, ether way i was convinced to test drive this boxster and when i did something in me just went like, wow I dont care if it brakes down on me this is sooo much fun. I paid 10,000 for it and i didn't even get a PPI before i just said lets do it. Completely blind and a maybe stupid leep of faith. So far i have had to change the MAF and did a major service myself.

The boxster is one of those cars that puts a smile on the drivers face every time you drive it. I don't care if people say oh its a girls car or any other thing that is bad about it, to which i have to say thanks but i didn't buy the car for you to like it, its for me and whomever may be my one passenger. For the past 6 months I have had my boxster i have had no regrets just joy of driving as a daily driver. Sometimes i think about how it would have been to have a A4 but then my boxster reminds me it dosen't matter.

Its not like i haven't had a go at faster cars. My first car was a 1995 Mistubishi eclipse GSX. So turbo and all wheel drive. It was great and fast. Enjoyed it very much but when i moved i had to sell it so too bad. Its the same color as my boxster so I spend some time remembering my car when i look at my boxster even though they are very different.

On the other topic of the boxster being exotic, well that is up to the person. In the car community it isn't, but to everyone else who sees that porsche badge its like," you have a porsche!! thats crazy" to me its a fun toy that i will juice every penny out of until it all goes horribly wrong.

And to all you boxster drivers who don't smile at least for a moment when driving your boxster, then i will call u a lier or u should never have bought one in the first place. That is what the test drive is for.
So to end this let us have another great boxstering year.

[fivepointnine]

most common comment at my work (where chargers, WRX's, EVO's and Mustangs are the norm) "how the hell can YOU afford a Porsche?" if only they knew lol

[Brockmeister]

I've been reading these posts and of course I have to add my perspective. I've owned 13 cars, 3 trucks, and 5 motorcycles in my lifetime. I've had to fix them all from time time to time. (no exeptions). they all break down. I have owned the '99 Boxster since 7/11. I have already done the brakes and replaced the top. It's not any harder to work on than any other car, but looks much better and puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.
Exotic? to some..maybe. To me...a great style that commands attention. And it's woth every penny.

[coreseller]

Like MTS I will likely purchase a 987 down the road, no doubt with DFI. No comparison between the Boxsters and earlier 911's, each is superior in their own respect. Hindsight being what it is................if I had not bought the Boxster.........a ZO6 no doubt, brutal performance for the buck and an excellent value.......Porsches are what they are.....an emotional purchase and they pay off in spades in terms of driving pleasure. Either way.......Box or 911.....you win.