What other cars did you consider before settling on 986 purchase?

[Deserion]

I've wanted once since 1997 when I first saw an Arena Red/tan model while on vacation. At the time I was just amazed at how good it looked, parked there at the marina with the top down. I had been infatuated with 993s (and to a lesser extent, 964s, 944s, 928s, etc.) but this... damn.

Since then I had bought a few new cars that were as expensive as a nice used 986 at the time (almost $30k). But in 2010 I had an epiphany after seeing how little the prices were. "Why can't I get a Boxster?" So the hunt was on. My daily driver then was a 2007 Volkswagen Golf GTI - fun car, able to be utilitarian to an extent when necessary. Searched for a few months and found the one I have now, well under what the GTI had cost. The next year the GTI went away and the E320 came in to fill the daily duty. Over 33k miles later, I still love it.