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

Interested in seeing what everyone else was looking at?
Here's my list:

- E36 M3 (old car now but if I could find one low mileage at the right price I would strongly consider). It's got the box part in common with Boxster that's for sure. But BMW makes square look good somehow.

- E46 M3 (solid car but found it impossible to find one with low mileage despite it being newer than the E36. Not sure why but these things seem to all have high usage owners. And hopefully not offending anyone, but 99% of the owners of these look like total douches, so that was on the con list of ownership)

- First gen BMW M Coupe. Sensationally awkward, I love it for it's rarity and personally cannot get enough of the look of this car. Unfortunately in Canada the buying pool is almost non existent, and if you do find one it's going at a considerable premium to the M Roadster. It's nickname is the Clownshoe, and the main owner's meet is called Dorkfest. I dig everything about this car.

- 993 911. Appreciating like crazy, this was just not a reasonable value proposition. Might as well just buy a 981 with a few miles on it for the same price.

For me it was a very different journey. I had been restoring Honda Del Sols for several years: A great little targa-top, 2 seat variant of the Civic. Sold 4, scrapped a few. I had put a 2 liter engine in one and was going to build it up with a full aftermarket suspension, updated leather interior, fresh paint, etc. Budget around $5-6k to make it an "as-new condition", highly modified car.

Then I saw a Boxster. It was everything and more than what I was trying to build, also surprisingly affordable. In the end it was an easy choice.

I needed a second car and wanted something sporty so I did a search for sporty cars under $15k and when I found out that a Porsche Boxster fit in that category I only started looking at Boxsters.

I had been looking at Fiero based kit car GT replica, but those are far too much work to look decent in the end.

I thought a Porsche was out of reach so I was pleasantly surprised.

had Honda CRX transtop - actually I really enjoyed that car.
But was considering Mazda MX5!

since owning a porsche that just seems ridiculous,

If I had to stop owning a porsche, I'd struggle to think of an alternative now (in same price range). maybe audi TT since R8 out of my price range

I only considered a Porsche, so I looked at:

- 964 C2
- 996
- 987
- 986

In the end, the 986 was a better deal than the 996/987 I saw around Montreal.

If only I had been able to find a 964 in my price range, I would probably have gone that way

I considered a 350 or a 370 Z Nissan . I know a guy who bought a new 370Z for his Daughter when she turned 16, had it almost 2 months before two of her friends took her car from a party and drove it off the interstate doing 125mph....rolled 3 times and only a few broken bones....impressive car. She later claimed they took it without her permission....but you know kids

Was looking for a Honda S2k when a friend mentioned, "Why aren't you looking at a Boxster?" I laughed and said Porsches were way out of my price range, then he pulled up a few CL ads and it's all history now.

Mercedes SLK as I was looking for a fun convertible daily driver for my summer commute into the city, but it seems the majority are automatic. I liked the Boxters, but thought they were out of my budget until I started looking seriously into them.
Very glad I went with the Box, I'm having a blast with it!

Boxsters are like Pleasure Horses
 

It's not the Buy in, it is feeding them that is expensive :cheers:

But I have never regretted buying mine

Ferrari
Lambo
Maserati
Bugatti
Aston Martin

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. :D

911 twin turbo, for about 2 minutes. Too expensive. From then on it was only a matter of which Boxster to get. I got a 2003 S peach :D!

• S2000 - but I am too big and didn't fit comfortably in the seat.
• Miata - I actually bought one, a 95 for $2300, but then I gave it to my son.
• Nissan 350Z (or 370?) convertible - seemed too plastic-y for me.
• Oh I forgot I also drove a ragged out Toyota MR2 Spyder, the convertible top was rotten, the interior of the car was musty, and the check engine light came on during my test drive :) I will say it was a very nice driving car, and the cockpit felt very comfortable and familiar (I have driven Toyotas since the early 90's), and it had plenty of room for me. That thing has very tiny cargo space though, and the owners wanted major bigtime $$$ for it.

For some reason the Boxster was just... "it".

Magnum!
 

Wanted a convertible for summer driving - looked at:
- mustang
- BMW Z4
- Audi A4 Cabriolet (could not find a TT anywhere local)
- VW Bug
- could not find a miata anywhere local either

Nothing I looked at though got me excited. Then discovered a slightly older Boxster is in my price range! Yes, more expensive to maintain and older than I would have preferred, I'll roll the dice and enjoy driving a real drivers car!

As a child of the 80's - grew up loving Magnums Ferrari. Every since learning he was supposed to have a Porsche originally, that made Porsche cool too. If it's good enough for Magnum, it's good enough for me!

I had test driven a Honda S2000, Nissan 360Z, Porsche Boxster and S, and a Cayman. I had a 2002, Corvette which I sold two years prior. Some what like a boat owner the best days with the Corvette were the day purchased and the day sold. I'm a very good mechanic but electrical, electronic problems in cars are hard to deal with, and the Corvette was none stop electronic problems

I had a few Audi tt cars catch my attention, but having driven Porsches for almost 30 years, it was an easy decision. Once I got serious about them, it became an addiction. 5 Boxsters later, I'm always looking for another. And, I seriously like the Generation 1 986 over the other, newer cars. They just seem to be more a drivers car.

Rick

996 or 997.

The only real Porsche is a 911, right? At least that is what I had heard and what I believed at the time.

Then I drove a 986 and realized that it was more of a true sports car than the 996/997. It was also a lot cheaper so I could use the price difference to fund enough track days to learn to drive well.

All of that went prefectly to plan... except I got addicted. :)

This was actually the first car I ever financed. I always paid cash for everything and still do but the rates were attractive. I got a good loan. But I still had a hard time justifying a great deal of money in a sports car when so many excellent cars could be had second hand in the $20-40K range.

Back then no one had any real interest in bidding up the prices of air-cooled Porsches so they were plenty of excellent examples to be had. By this point I'd seen and driven a ton of Porsches either through friends or with the local autocross clubs. the Boxster was not my first choice of Porsche simply because it ended up being the very last Porsche model I'd ever driven. Visually I thought the 996 was fantastic but it struck me a bit 'loose', the C4 seemed too heavy/pushy, the Cab looked weird to me, the Turbo was down the road proposition when depreciation set in some more and the bullet proof engine was still tight, GT3 Mk1 was still too steep for the budget. I was most impressed with the E46 M3, then the Honda S2000, STi, EVO, a Mazdaspeed Miata, Lotus Elise (a bit of hike on the budget but worth it I figured), third gen RX7, BMW M Coupe and on the vintage front I considered (for a second) a BMW 2002 and a 964 (would probably have bought an RS if I had made the mistake of actually driving one), Z4 and I don't remember if I'd drive a JCW Mini then yet but it's still high on my list.

Then I watched an episode of 5th Gear where they crowned the Boxster the best sports car. Something about former F1 driver Tiff N. sliding it all over while laughing all the way that won me over. I started looking for one that day. A few days later my car shows up on Ebay from an Acura dealer 10 minutes away, still sitting in the showroom with barely 9K miles. There was a super clean yellow 996 up the road for sale by a private owner for only $10K more, but I'd already driven a C2. I never made it to see the 996, the Boxster S was perfect. No need to spend anymore money this car does everything.

I'm sort of in line with the OP. I've owned an E36 (325iS) and an e46 (328 coupe) and an e46 sedan (330i). All were outstanding cars, with the E36 the best drivers car - less refined but lighter and easier to drive fast. I had always wanted an M3 version of either of the first two.

I've owned two Miatas (both great cars).

This time around my woman was trying to get me off of my motorcycles (not going to happen, but I did sell two in order to swing the boxster).

I did have my heart set on a 996 for a while. The affordable ones were tiptronic (I still have use of both legs and do not have a vagina, so no tiptronic for me) or they had some seriously bad color choices. Or both.

Decided to give the S model a drive. Fell in love and made it happen.

996 C4s / cab
Maserati spyder
Miata
Honda S2K
TR6 fully restored
Mercedes SLK

For various reasons, the boxster trumped them all.
After 3 yrs of enjoying it, think I made the right choice. (Despite my first cel 2 days ago. Think I may need an aos.)

It was fall of 2002 & I was working as a new car test driver for 80% of the brands for sale in the U.S. Over the last 2 years I had predetermined the Porsche's had the best handling feel. Then the 2003 Z06 debuted with 405HP, this car was a blast to drive with instantaneous massive torque. The titanium exhaust sounded great but so loud, is it 1970 again?? I didn't trust myself with this for a DD. Vipers fell in this same category + very uncomfortable after 30 min. drive. Drove every Porsche from base Box to GT2 & determined Box "S" was the funnest just needed more power. Management change took the enjoyment out of the job so I quit meaning I was back to my own DD a Mustang conv I bought when I worked for Saleen.
Last 2 cars I wanted to check since my former company didn't have BMW or Honda account were M3 & S2000. Rented a S2000 for a day, fun car simular to Box's just not as good & there's no easy cruising in them, just constant shifting. Test drove a few M3's, hated the SMG trans & sound of the straight 6. Finally rented a 330i conv on 3/2/2003, date of the 1st drifting competition in U.S. Nice all around car,does everything well, (even drifting), but it's no Boxster.
In the end it came down to Box "S" or C5 conv. The C5 is alot more comfortable & powerful. If I lived in a more rural area than So CA I may have gone the C5 route. I have always loved the way the Box is so nimble, it's the funnest thing I have ever driven, especially after fixing that lack of power issue!

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1409331914.jpg

I wasn't actively looking. I was just surfing the Internet and looking at different Porsche's on ebay and AutoTrader. When I saw how low the prices were for Boxsters, I began looking closer until I found my 2000 Arena Red / Beige 986. It has turned out great and led me to purchase a 1972 914 as a project car and a low-mile 955 Cayenne S for my daily driver. Purchased all three for less than what my wife's Audi A4 cost. :D

I chose the blue one.http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1409336655.jpg

S2K
E46 M3
E36 M3
Miata
Z4

I still really want an Alfa spider or a gtv6. I considered z4 and z3, too common, mr2 late model.. No trunk... Slk, father has history with Benz and says they are a nightmare. Boxster it was, still want an Alfa to supplement though.

Had six 914's back in the 80's and 90's...always loved the mid engine handling. Had a Miata for 10 years - loved how easy it was to work on. Left all that behind when my daughter was born...

Ten years later :) it was time to get back to my roots...
Ferrari 308/328...they look great, but are terrible to drive...not to mention crazy unreliable!!
MR2 - 1992-94...hard to find and ones that are out there are stupidly modded by little boys
MR2 Spyder...would be great for my daughter one day :)...interior too "cheap" feeling/looking and "blah" body
M Roadster...I never could get past the "nosey" looks
M3 E46....I think someone else said it here - too douchey, plus I really wanted a middie
S2000...technically, this is a mid engine car since the engine is behind the front wheels, but I just don't like how v-tec engines perform...NO LOW END TORQUE!!!!! Plus, the interior is terrible!!!!
Lotus Evora...I really wanted to like this one, but was just not impressed with the driving...kinda like driving a Camry, wait... :)
Lotus Elise...this was actually my first choice, but these things are soooo small and it would not make a good car to go on a date (interior too uncomfortable and sucky A/C) It did drive awfully nice!!
another 914 :) ... these things are going for more than 986's!!!...and I wanted A/C and power steering!!!
996... I just did not like the drive as much as the Boxster!!
987S...I drove so many of these and they drove really well, but I did not like the interior. Plus, I have to admit, I was a little afraid of the IMS

I started looking exclusively at 986's. The S was plenty of power and low end torque and I really like the interior. It is kind of a modern-day 914...especially the 2000 model - no cup holders, plastic window, no glove box. I realize most will say these are drawbacks, but I get in this thing to drive. I would never want to be distracted by a drink and the glove box is just a place to store crap (and worry about it getting broken into when the top was down). Mine has heated seats and the M490 with DSP...just the right amount of modern and a fabulous drive!!! I really do think it is the perfect car!!!

I did it backwards......I bought a Boxster S, then a 993, then a Miata. Still have the latter two.............

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...ps82dbf0ed.jpg

Here what Bill and I had before the Boxster
As strange as this sounds bill had been away
From cars for years. He wanted to back into
The car club sene. Contacted the local Porsche
Club found out to join you had to own a Porsche.
All were out of his price range. Plus the Audi was
A fully optioned TT with 70,000 miles on it.
It was a 3.2 Quattro s-line.roadster.
One night on EBay just Looking at different
Car prices. He put our zip code in the search
Field and it brought one up for a rather cheap
Price about four hours away.
Next day the dealer called the rest is history.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1409346653.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1409346677.jpg

My 01S was broken into last week at my house in my carport. I Had a gun locked in the little console but had left the car unlocked. I thought I had rather them get what scarce items are inside rather than have them cut the top open to get inside. I should have left the windows down and locked so the alarm would have gone off..lesson learned. The pin broke on the console cover and let them get the gun $300 value...really could not tell any other damage...I can epoxy the pin back...it was in the drivers seat.

I had three cars burgled that night, my E36 which suffered more damage than anything else. The glove box was jimmed violently to get inside and tore the dash up and ruined the glove box..one Sig gone $600.

Police catch the guy one street over recover my stuff....including my wallet that was locked in the Honda CRV. I went down to the PD and they gave me my wallet but the $400 in cash will probably never be returned to me.

I was looking to replace an Acura 2.3 CL manual with 180K miles. I started looking for a used Acura TSX, Lexus IS, Infiniti G (coupe and sedan) in a MY range to cost under $15K. I was avoiding the BMW 3 series and Audi A4 due to reliability concerns. All had to be manuals. With limited options locally, I used our wonderful interwebs to expand to a national search. I read all the C&D comparisons. They all sounded much better than the CL, but still lacking.

I was sharing my frustration with a friend at work, and he (a car enthusiast but never owned a Boxster) suggested the Boxster. Quick searches to determine price range, then started thinking about the Z3/Z4, TT and S2K. Read the C&D stuff again, and decided to make Boxster the only option. I could still drive the Acura in the Winter.

I test drove a local 99 with 130K miles I had no intention of buying just to confirm Boxster was a good choice. The condition of the car was bleh, but it convinced me.

After that, I only looked at Boxsters - Autotrader, Cars.com, Cargurus and e-bay. Scored my 01 S unintentionally on E-bay. A flight to Sacramento, a friend's drive to Chico, and I had a ride home. :)

DBear

My 1998 E36 is the most reliable bullet proof thing I have ever owned

Do you have surveillance /security?
Sounds like the local trouble have been keeping tabs on your nice cars coming and going.

Sadly No
 

The thieves broke into 29 cars in our subdivision from4 AM until 7:30 when they were caught. They wanted money, guns and drugs. I had a 200 folder in my BMW and it was tossed on the seat (still in the box), GPS left behind

Morons

Sold my 2007 SLK 280 and got the Boxster.


My DD is a 2006 A3
For fun, 1986 190E 2.3-16, 1989, MK1 convertible I've owned for 14 years.

I totally agree Rick with your comment about the drivers appeal of the 986. I have owned many sport cars in my life and could have purchased newer S models but was drawn by the simple lines of the 986S and its tremendous engine, brakes and best handling car I've driven to date!

IMO ... I prefer the cleaner lines of the pre -2003.

I may move up in the Porsche step ladder over the years. However, I will always always have a 986 likely even the 2.5 I love the S, but the simplicity of an early 2.5 is great.

Than why leave money, guns, and drugs in your car?

Was looking for an Elise or Exige when I happened across a Boxster for about half the cash. Ten minutes into the test drive it was a done deal.

My cars were in my carport, I had a legal hand gun locked in each glove compartment or console of each. I always travel armed and have a CCW. In fact I was a reserve deputy and shot on a pistol team for our local PD for many years. I am also a Master Instructor with the Civilian Marksmanship Program. Thieves are always looking for money, drugs and guns....nothing we can do will change that nature of this sub-race of humans.

A year ago I was looking at a 1964 Impala convertible, when a friend of mine whom is in a wheelchair and has a 2000 911 that he gets people to drive him around in, finally talked me into taking him for a drive. I was intimated by the car, and had not driven a standard for over 20 years. After a 4 hour drive I was hooked (only stalled it 1 time), the 64 Impala was no longer a consideration. I had always liked the Boxster and was driving mine by end of last September.