What the heck? Boxster residuals?

[blinkwatt]

Isnt the key to keeping value on a car the options? I know the guy I bought my car from(private) didnt add a penny for the $10k in options it had,and he based his asking price off the base price of the car.

[limoncello]

Viewed differently, there are some pretty sweet deals out there for those who buy at the 3-4 year/coming off lease point. My '01 listed for $51 and some change, I bought it 3 1/2 years old for $28 with 13,000 miles on it, essentially a new car, carefully broken in by a meticulous first owner. A 45% discount off of MSRP without having to haggle with a saleman.
Having said that, my next one will be P-certified. The extra few grand on front end price to get dealer coverage seems to be a good investment, as opposed to the aftermarket extended warranties that have an air of uncertainty around them. Some of them work fine, as posters have stated, but others don't and my luck is generally bad.
I'm really looking forward to a 2003-2004 S in a couple of years. It's sitting, lightly used, in someone's garage right now. I just hope it's yellow

[mquillen]

I think part of the issue with Boxter residuals can be found on another thread here: RMS issues. A perceived reputation of chronic maintenance issues directly effects the resale market. The risk is priced into the market value of the vehicle. While it can be argued that cars coming off lease can be certified and aftermarket warranties can be purchased, at some point in the product life cycle the vehicle is out of warranty, and the risk must be priced into the resale value, which in turn effects all resale prices along the product life cycle.

To an extent, a certain excessive amount of perceived ownership expense adds to the aura and exclusiveness of a marque. If everyone could afford one, everyone would have one. While a lot of scheduled maintenance by well trained technicians might be understandable in order to keep a complex, technologically advanced, vehicle in perfect working order, oil leaks, on the other hand, are not generally a sign of a well designed, technically advanced, vehicle. Having said that, I'm looking for a 2004 S.