Trade in value
 

Hi guys,

Ready to upgrade my ride
The dealer is offing me $10k for my car
2002 Boxter S
95k miles on the chassis
45k miles on the engine (IMS replacement)
new waterpump
low temp thermostat
underdrive pulley
power steering cooler
Brey-Krause deep oil sump
PSS9
Tarret sway bars
GT3 lower control arms
18" turbo twists (with curb rash) with TPMS
Litronics
Deambered
Aftermarket touchscreen double DIN Pioneer navigation/radio
XM and HD radio
IPod connectivity
Bluetooth
Rear view camera
Rain sensing wipers
heated seats
wind blocker
Carrera instrument cluster
1 year old A5 acoustic top with heated glass rear window

Shall I take the trade in offer or try to sell it myself in the spring?
I have enough money for the down payment, so I don't need to trade in, but would like to avoid all the hassle with Craigslist ....

Something I've been contemplating as well. Dealer absolutely will low ball you, but they do have to make a profit and there is less hassle for you, but a private sale will get you more money...probably a couple thousand more.

Dealer is the safe bet, IMO, if you don't mind taking the 15-25% hit.
Dealing with private sales is just a headache and every idiot is going to want to test drive your baby...probably as hard as they can.

Be patient and sell it privately.
Your car is a great set up for anyone who appreciates the 986 S.

I brought mine privately from a dealer , it was a trade in, the book price trade from glasses guide was only £6750 for what was easily an 8 grand car plus... I haggled it down to 6,500 which was fantastic. There are deals to be done.

As a rule, dealers will only buy a car from you what they could buy it at auction for, which is about a grand under low blue book.
I trade in my cars as I hate dealing with strangers, and unless you're selling a car that's a hot commodity and sells super fast (used Prius, Jeep Wrangler, Miatas, etc) it's a real pain.

BTW, dealers don't seem to car about upgrades , just mileage , model and condition.

Straight Blue Book is ~$14.5K for private party sale. Dealer blue book is ~$12K. But to be honest, in this economy, it can sometimes be hard to get even blue book for a convertible 2-seater sports car at the start of winter. You have to understand that its a buyers market. With that being said, selling it yourself can be a PITA but you'll still sell it for more than trading it into the dealer.

Go to NADA site and put your car in and see what they say. Skrapmot is right about giving you what they would be able to buy them at auction. But you should have a couple of thousand in your favor since your purchasing a new one. My best guess would be $12,500 on trade.

You have winter in California?

I say sell it yourself. Not sure if this is a factor in CA, but in NE we pay sales tax on either the cash difference when there's a trade or the whole amount of the sale price if there's no trade. So I try to calculate how much I'll save in sales tax with a trade and compare that to the extra cash I'd get if I sell the car myself.

Just sell it on Craigslist the first week of really nice weather. It'll sell in days. I have sold several cars of mine. Usually the first or second person to come and check it out buys it within a day or two. Most people I've dealt with have actually been really nice, and had great conversations with them just shooting the **************** about cars.

For reference I sold a 2002 Subaru WRX with 165,000 miles on it for $9k in a week after posting it for $9k, almost no haggling, the kid reallyyyyy wanted it. And sold a 2012 Hyundai Veloster that I had for 5 months for $500 more than I paid for it brand new after rebates in THREE HOURS for my asking price of $17,500.

Word your ad correctly, have good pictures, and it'll sell quickly. Especially for a desirable car like the Boxster S. You are getting REAMED by the dealer, I would have just laughed and walked away if they offered $10k for trade in. They are going to re-list the car for $14-15k and enjoy their $5k profit.

If you are comfortable with $10k, list it on CL right now for $12k and it'll be sold by the end of the week, especially with that upgrade list.

That car should sell for $12k in about an hour if you get it in front of the right people. It just depends on how much convenience is worth to you. Top dollar right now is probably $16-18k but that might take months of tire kickers. Anyone in PCA-GGR know the car and have the hots for it?

A bunch of track rats are at Laguna Seca today and tomorrow. Spend $100 on a detail job, make a nice sign listing all the go-fast parts, take the day off tomorrow and park it in the cold pits for everyone to see. SOLD!

Trade it in. The small difference you'll get for selling it yourself ($12K - maybe) or trade in ($10K) is probably not worth your effort. A Porsche is a specialty car and finding that 1 person in the haystack who wants to buy it (especially a modified car with no PPI), may cost you money (and you'll be closer to that $10K, anyway). This down economy also will make selling this car, difficult.

Posting an ad online (free) and maybe having to make human contact (via email or phone) to several people for less than a week isn't worth an extra $2k in the pocket?

Man, maybe you Porsche guys have way more money than I thought. I know I'd could use an extra $2k. It's a desirable sports car for under $15k. Maybe if he was trying to unload a $75k used 911 Turbo thennnn maybe he'd have problems because of a "down economy" but get that car in front of a 20-something young engineer who wants a cool sports car for under $15k in California of all places, it'll sell no matter what the economy.

To the OP. Post on CL, just a blurb with the list you already posted here. It will take 10 minutes, and see how many offers you get within the first day, then reconsider trading in. Put on CL for $14k, people will lowball you by a couple thousand, but if you are comfortable selling for $12k, then bam deal done and both parties are happy.

Strip the sways and shocks and sell them to me!

Past that….wait until Spring! Prices are slumping, in March they will be pumping - at least a couple grand more. It will give you time to put it back to stock trim…and you can offload the 'race' parts to someone like me and pocket and couple grand off of BOTH. Total is $4k MORE than you will get TODAY! My $.02!

Sounds to me like your dealer is offering to sell your $14,000 car for a flat one time fee of $4,000. Better jump on that deal before he changes his mind! :D
28% seller's fee for an enthusisast-owned car...

I would say wait and sell it privately.

I bought my brothers off of him after he did some of the same upgrades. We settled on a fair price, well above what they were low-balling you for. It is also a 02'S with 75K miles on the clock. My bank valued the car at $21K, so they were happy to give me the money for what we settled on. There are buyers out there especially for a well set up Boxster.

Good point!!!

With all those parts and being in CA, you should have good luck on the rennlist classifieds.

Chris - post it here first once you decide, I'm still keeping my eye open for a low priced 986. At 10k yours would be an awesome car (a steal!) to store at my Mom's in the Adirondacks and enjoy on my vacations.
How much stiffer is it with your setup?

Trading it in also gives you a sales tax advantage. Don't forget to add this into your thinking.

What I do is hammer them on the new car sale price to compensate for the lowball trade amount, and when they balk, I say "Fine, then overpay me on my trade. You must do one or the other to get me to buy today."

Then I shut up. The next guy to speak just lost money.

Then, no matter what deal I negotiate in the sales area, I change my mind in the finance office, and demand free maintenance (oil changes, first 3 scheduled maintenance visits, etc.). It totally pisses off the finance guy, who will storm out and yell at the salesman, and give you something more to get you to sign the papers.

Screw with them until they're just about to throw your ass out of the dealership.

I sold cars for a while. The salespeople always comment, "buyers are liars". ... So I have no respect for them whatsoever and redo the deal well after they think the negotiation is over.

If I leave with my new car I hope that the staff never wants to see me again for the haggling I have done and their lack of control over me and my money. No matter how they moan about losing money, they are lying to you.

^ I had to buy a car for my mum on short notice unexpectedly while out of state. Decided to finance with the dealer. When I walk into the finance guy's office he's got the special factory offers lined up to boost the monthly payment. I don't think this guy had ever heard someone say "nope" so many times. With each "no thanks" he kept lowering the price on everything he was offering. He must have some really aggresive pay arrangement with the dealership because he was not going to let me walk unless I said yes to something. So like you, I started asking for them to raise the price on the trade in and lower that dealer fee crap. By my math they said yes to much higher trade in price -- no time to sell it so it was a win either way, lowered dealer fee (couldn't negotiate it away completely..grrrr) and extra factory coverage for another 4 years for a lousy extra $10 a month. It was also a late Friday afternoon and they just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Wow! Thank you all for all the good advise. You guys are AWESOME!
First one clarification: I am not looking at buying a new car, I have my eye on a used 2009 C4S. Actually two: One at a dealer and one is private sale.

But in any case: You guys got me convinced that I keep the car and wait for the right opportunity to sell. As I said I don't need to trade it in, I just wanted to avoid the hassle. But I am looking at my list of options that the car has and I agree that $10k is a joke for that. I rather keep it and have it as my weekend driver (or something like that)

To answer the questions:
@WhipE350: The ride is OK. everything (swaybars and PSS9) are at "full soft" and it rides a little hard, but not like the stagecoach-like ride when the car is setup for the track)
@Topless: Great idea with the PCA-GGR trackday but
a) it's gonna rain tomorrow
b) I can't take off from work (just started a new job)

Thanks again Y'all :cheers:

09 C4S. That's a nice ride. It's on my list in fact!

If it makes you feel any better, I've got north of 40k sunk into my 97 boxster, worth no more than $9,500 to someone who would probably turn it into a spec box.

If I never sell it, I do not have to realize the loss.

I just need to raise enough money to raise the boxster in the garage on a lift so I can park a newer Porsche under it for my DD :)

replacing your nimble/mid-engine roadster for a pendulus 4WD GT seems like its going to be quiet an adjustment if you're a track-oriented driver.

I considered adding a C4S to the stable to give the Boxster a rest during winter but I doubt I could replace it for the Boxster. It would be like giving up Megan Fox for Jennifer Aniston. Not bad but you know... very different.

The 986S has surprised me that way. I never expected to own it this long but the more I drove the newer rear-engined Porsches the less urgent the switch has become. Now that they've gone electronic steering and more plush, I've got no rush at all. At this point it would have to be .2 GT3 or maybe look at another brand entirely. But a GT3 would not be practical for me right now unless I moved to a warmer climate. If I lived in a warm climate the 997 GT3 wouold be perfect since its one of the few track cars that many daily drive.

CA charges sales tax on the full price of the new car regardless of any trade-in. Varies with the county you live in but averages 8%

I am with you, and I might just hang on to the Boxster for much longer just for fun. I am just looking for the perfect mix between daily driver and weekend track car.
The Boxster is totally up there, but with only 250 hp, it's really hard to keep up with the high hp cars in the advanced run groups (Yes I am fastest Boxster there, but it's not much fun when you get permanently passed by 350+ hp cars). Yes, GT3 would be the ideal answer to that, but it has too many disadvantages on the DD side. So let's see how this pans out.
By the way the two cars I am looking at are on the opposite sides of the C4S spectrum:
Car a) has: SportChrono Plus, PDK, Navi, CarbonFiber GT2 seats (great for the track, bad for DD)
Car b) is a Targa, also with SportChrono Plus, PDK, Navi, and pretty much every (meaningful) option that a Porsche connoisseur would select, like heated/ventilated seats, dynamic cornering lights and the list goes on...

Both are in the same price range and have about the same miles.

Which one would you choose?

Keep the car !!!!! It would a shame to see it go for only 10K; especially after all of the work you've put into it ! :(

Go with a Cayman S. There's a really nice one in the classifieds. ;)

Which ever one you pick! :). Hard to go from a convertible to a hardtop, unless maybe as a dd you don't take the top down much anyway.

Honestly if i'm from california the only 4WD porsche i would consider would be a turbo. Definitely if im going to be putting down some track miles since you get the bulletproof racing engine. Otherwise i stick with 986 until the turbo prices come down. But it sounds like youre looking at right years...post-ims.
Btw, if i lived in socal I'd get the Boxster Spyder...the TC klein BS without any engine or exhaust work out-lapped a modified 997 GT3 at Laguna.

A 997 C4S is a very comfortable Grand Touring car. Excellent daily driver or for extended road trips in all weather. It is much less interesting as a track car. Too much weight. I don't think I have ever seen one outrun a pair of 2.5L Boxsters from SoCal at the track. YMMV

Of the two cars you are looking at I like Car "A" but might switch out the seats for DD. Totally love the PDK. Car "B" is nicely appointed but... it's a Targa. A 997 Targa is a hairdressers car. :p

After spending 30 hrs in the right seat of 12 different Porsche models last year, I'd say a 997C2S PDK might give you what you are looking for: More room and comfort, more power, still reasonably light and nimble, and capable of very fast laps in stock trim with quality tires.

Good hunting!

Ouch that hurt ;-) (I am leaning towards the Targa)
I just loooooove the extra wide stance of the 4S and don't forget that the Targa is still lighter than a Carrera Convertible....
Man, I hope you still talk to me when/if I show up in Buttonwillow in a 4S let alone a Targa :-)

1- my hairdresser drives a 997 Cabriolet
2-his sugar daddy husband drives a Panamera
3- two of my former girlfriends drove Cayennes (both in white)
4-my boss drives a Cayenne Turbo
5-my doctor drives a Carrera Turbo
6- the only male, straight, under 50 Porsche owner I know (me) drives the Boxster.

ROFL. :cheers:

People and their car perceptions! Through out history, 914? Under powered, not a real Porsche. 944? Same label, 986? Well a true flat six but still maligned for not having stupid Hp/ torque figures. Even today, I read articles about how Porsche should put five or six hundred hp into a Boxster. I say, "sure that's a good idea if you want lousy gas mileage and would like to only legally be able to use the first three gears". It's not just Porsche either, the Ferrari 308 has been dogged as a POS, no go showboat but in reality, I'll bet it was quick in it's day, it's still a @%*&ing Ferrari!

it was a nightmare trying to sell my 02 Boxster S with 64k miles on it (and a LN IMS and new clutch!!!), lots of lowballers. Ended up getting 13k in trade for it towards an 04 CLK500 coupe with 72k miles.

Wow that is a low price! When did you sell it...during a snow storm :).

trade in prices can be misleading. "I'll give you $10K" but when you read the paperwork on the new car you find all of these hidden fees that most never ask about when they slide the pen across the desk. Their favorite trick is to say "tax, title and drive". Or on paper to write three plus signs under the price you're negotiating. Which leads me to believe that its worked enough times in the past that it's worth repeating, in other words most people never question the meaning of "drive" or what that third plus sign means.And then there are all the other fees that many never question but look perplexed about why the negotiated price is so much higher thant the after tax and fees price on the paperwork. It's their way of getting back what they payed you on your trade in

You always lose on any trade, I tried to trade a flawless handgun in today on a .380 and the guy says "we already got two, I don't want it". OK well one is consignment, one is yours, neither have the case and both your pieces look like someone used them as a shovel, whereas mine doesn't. Screw em, I'll carry my full frame handgun.

A .380 ! What are you going to do with that ? You'd have more stopping power if you were to give someone a monkey bite !