What's my car worth?

[ChrisZang]

The time has come to look for a new home for my Boxster. I am planning to wait until spring and then she goes on craigslist and autotrader.
I looking for your guys help in figuring out a good price for the car, so here it goes:

* 2002 Boxster S
* 6-speed manual transmission
* 2nd owner
* 94k miles
* new engine (IMS replacement) at 50k miles, new engine has the latest IMS revision from Porsche, oil changed every 7.5k miles

Standard equipment:
* HID / Xenon with headlight washers
* PSM
* 2 stage heated seats
* Rear wind blocker

Upgrades/Mods:
* Chip tuned by Softronic
* "Techno-Torque" intake plenum
* new waterpump at 75k miles
* low temp thermostat at 75k miles
* underdrive pulley
* LN engineering power steering cooler
* Brey-Krause deep oil sump
* PSS9, 9 way adjustable coil-over suspension
* Tarrett front/rear adjustable sway bars
* GT3 adjustable lower control arms
* GT3 brake ducts
* Mantis lower stress bar (same as Technobrace)
* Adjustable rear toe arms
* Braided steel brake hoses
* Modified exhaust (internal baffling removed). Looks stock, but sounds very similar to a Carrera, absolutely no drone. 100% legal
* 18" Cayman wheels in perfect condition with Michelin PS2 with about 50% left
* De-ambered
* Smoked LED taillights
* All turn signal lamps replaced with LED
* Aftermarket touchscreen double-DIN Pioneer navigation/audio
- 10 speaker surround sound
- XM Satellite and HD radio
- Full iPod connectivity
- Bluetooth hands-free
- Rear view camera
* Rain sensing wipers
* Short shifter
* Carrera 5-gauge instrument cluster with all on board computer functions enabled (has the much more desirable dot matrix display)
* Pre-wired to connect garage door opener
* Old softtop got replaced in 2011 with A5 acoustic top with heated glass rear window
* Aspheric side mirrors (no more blind spots)

[V-Rod]

I am not one to comment on price. But that is one sweet ride with a bevy of great upgrades.

Good luck! I hope you get a good bit of $$ for it and let the low ballers move on by.

[Stroked & Blown]

If you end up parting out the suspension, I'm interested in the PSS9's and GT3 LCAs.

[Meir]

very impressive Chris.
i would say your car worth around the 18K, but you will need to find a buyer that really wants all the upgrades.
most people will prefer to buy a stock 03-04 with around 60K miles for the same $ (that's the price more or less down here).
like most owners of highly modified cars, you are probably better off removing the upgrades, selling the car for 13 -14K and the parts for another 3-4K (maybe even more).
good luck with the sale.

[Johnny Danger]

Just so you know, both KBB and NADA list an automatic deduction of $4,700 on private party or trade in values for any boxster that isn't Speed Yellow !

[thstone]

Seems that the Blue Book is around $17K. The chip, suspension, exhaust, etc could be worth several thousand more (~$21K) to the right buyer.

Unfortunately, a lot of buyers won't understand the value of the options (and some may actually deduct value because of them), so you'll have to find an educated buyer.

[AKnowles]

Just for my two cents worth, I puleld up a KBB of about 15K. KBB does not include all the modifications, and as a buyer (when I purcahse a vehicle as I recently did), it wouldn't matter to me. To a delaer, it wouldn't matter at all (most of them anyway). I mean you often hear about various modification, new tires, etc., but these are all upgrades to required components. For example, a car without tires will not sell at the sticker price. You'd have to drop the price significantly or put new tires on it prior to the sale. After all how many car purchasers will buy at car at the top dollar asking price with bad tires knowing they will have to sink the money in it before they can even drive it?

The same goes for most of the suspension modifications, radio/navigation modifications, and the like. As an owner, you tricked out the car the way you like it. But to a buyer it rarely matters. If you want to sell it to a buyer that will appreciate the modifications and pay the extra $$$ then you have seriously limited the number of potential buyers for your car. That means more time amswering phone calls - for those that call, more time putting up with questions for a lower price since they don't care/appreciate the mods, etc.

If you want to get any $$$ for the modifications, it would be best to restore it to stock condition and sell the mods seperately. Of course, that too is a lot of hassle and may not be worth your time/effort. It's call you'll have to make.

PS: I sunk $8000 in my Ford Escape for a new (brand new with 3 year factory warrenty) engine and another $1300 for an AC unit because I really liked the car and it had no issues for 7 years aside from basic maintnenace (about $200 a year). I got over 140,000 miles on the stock brake pads & rotors for example. I plan to keep the car until it dies. To no one else - including a dealer - does the repalcement engine have any value at all other than the fact the car moves when you press the gas petal. It's not even a major selling point or trade in consideration.

[Porsche Chick]

Yes, just pull it up on kbb.com.

Beautiful car, btw.

[ChrisZang]

Thanks for all you chipping in.

I am not planning to either part the car out or to swap the original suspension parts back in (I no longer have them and it would be such a pain in the butt to do it in the first place).
KBB value is $14.8k and I don't expect to get any extra $ for all the goodies I put in. Most potential buyers won't even know what PSS9 or Tarrett is ;-)

So my plan is to list it for $14.5k and hope that the extras and the way the car looks will make it stand out against the rest of cars in the same range.
Just for reference: When I bought my 997, the dealer offered my $10k on trade in, so anything above $13.5k would sound like a good deal for me.

But please keep opinions/comments/flames coming ....

[Meir]

Originally Posted by ChrisZang

Thanks for all you chipping in.

I am not planning to either part the car out or to swap the original suspension parts back in (I no longer have them and it would be such a pain in the butt to do it in the first place).
KBB value is $14.8k and I don't expect to get any extra $ for all the goodies I put in. Most potential buyers won't even know what PSS9 or Tarrett is ;-)

So my plan is to list it for $14.5k and hope that the extras and the way the car looks will make it stand out against the rest of cars in the same range.
Just for reference: When I bought my 997, the dealer offered my $10k on trade in, so anything above $13.5k would sound like a good deal for me.

But please keep opinions/comments/flames coming ....

post it here for 14.5, it will be gone in a week.

[coreseller]

At least it was never tracked Chris . Something to consider; when I sold my '02 S a year and a half back I found that someone in the market for a "fun" car and not a true Porsche enthusiast kind of freaked out when I pulled the binder full of receipts and service history. I know a couple of guys made up their minds right then upon seeing the stack of paperwork.

My guess is you'll draw much more interest and get more money by posting it for sale in Porsche web sites. Good Luck.....

[Porsche Chick]

Originally Posted by coreseller

At least it was never tracked Chris . Something to consider; when I sold my '02 S a year and a half back I found that someone in the market for a "fun" car and not a true Porsche enthusiast kind of freaked out when I pulled the binder full of receipts and service history. I know a couple of guys made up their minds right then upon seeing the stack of paperwork.

My guess is you'll draw much more interest and get more money by posting it for sale in Porsche web sites. Good Luck.....

Uh-oh. What's wrong with tracking it? I've autoX with mine, but only a couple of times (and not very well, if you must know), is this a big issue?

[Jager]

Chris, why are you selling? Are you driving the C4S more?

[BruceH]

Someone is going to get an incredible car. You might advertise in Excellence Magazine and with PCA. You might find an enthusiast buyer that will appreciate(value) your mods. Advertising in CL will most likely find the more casual buyer. $14.5 is a very reasonable price, maybe a bit low IMO. As long as you are not in a rush, I would shoot for maybe a bit more.

[ChrisZang]

Originally Posted by Jager

Chris, why are you selling? Are you driving the C4S more?

Yeah ;-) I got kind-a addicted to 385 hp + PDK ....

[ChrisZang]

One more thought:

I someone local with a 986S is interested in my suspension parts (PSS9, Tarret, GT3 LCA) as a straight swap for his stock parts (in good condition) and takes care of the mechanical swap (meaning either does it himself or pays for it), then this might be an option...

[ChrisZang]

Originally Posted by Porsche Chick

Uh-oh. What's wrong with tracking it? I've autoX with mine, but only a couple of times (and not very well, if you must know), is this a big issue?

For a group of potential buyers this is a big no-no

[coreseller]

Originally Posted by ChrisZang

For a group of potential buyers this is a big no-no

Ooops, I didn't mean to deride anything here Chris, sorry if I did. In my experience occasionally tracking a car is a non-issue come selling time.

[ChrisZang]

Originally Posted by coreseller

Ooops, I didn't mean to deride anything here Chris, sorry if I did. In my experience occasionally tracking a car is a non-issue come selling time.

No, No, that's not what I meant with my post.

I see so many ads (even for GT3) where it says "never tracked", that I am assuming that there must be many potential buyers out there for whom this must be a big red flag. That's what I meant with me post. I will also remove my "badge of honor" decals of all the tracks I drove on.
I for my part, when I looked at GT3 while I was out on the hunt for a new car, I ruled out every GT3 w/o a built in roll cage and proper GT3 seats.

[coreseller]

Originally Posted by ChrisZang

No, No, that's not what I meant with my post.

I see so many ads (even for GT3) where it says "never tracked", that I am assuming that there must be many potential buyers out there for whom this must be a big red flag. That's what I meant with me post. I will also remove my "badge of honor" decals of all the tracks I drove on.
I for my part, when I looked at GT3 while I was out on the hunt for a new car, I ruled out every GT3 w/o a built in roll cage and proper GT3 seats.

Cool, I'm glad I didn't upset you in any way, you've always struck me as a good guy. It's kind of fun to watch some of the Boxster guys move towards 911's, totally different vehicles. Good Luck......