About To Make An Offer On a 2000
 

What is a reasonable offer for:

2000 Artic Silver, black interior and top
29,990 Miles (Has had 30k service)
Original owner, manuals, both keys, all records, dealer maintained, garaged
CD, cruise control, wind blocker, 17" wheels with colored crests
Willing to have pre-purchase inspection
Tires have 6000 miles on them

Edmunds Private Party: $20,812
NADA Trade In: $22,575
KBB Private Party: $21,625
Consumer Reports: $22,850

Asking Price: $23,990

I was thinking of offering $22,000.

Any opinions?

More importantly, what are the cars actually selling for in your area. Take a look at autotrader.com and try to find some comp values. Then, take a bit off the asking and see how that compares to the values you already have.

good luck!

Thanks for the replies.

The only real price point I have for what cars sold for in this area is the 2002 with 29,000 that my friend bought for $26,000. Now that I'm thinking about it. $22,000 for a 2000 might be a little generous.

I've checked the asking prices for similar cars on Autotrader, Cars.com and Craigslist. I had to expand my search to 300-500 miles to get a good sample. Here's what I have.

2000 Black with black interior and hardtop, carbon fiber interior, 18' wheels and "special Porsche exhaust", 21,000 miles - asking $26,900

2001 Silver/black 22,100 miles, $25,900

2000 Silver/black 32,700 miles, $24,550

2000 Silver/black 23,500 miles $21,900 (This car is in Cleveland and would be difficult to retrieve.)

Maybe $21,000 is a better starting point.

I also found a few low mileage 2003's. The asking prices are above $32,500 for a low mileage non-S models. I haven't received replies from the owners, so I have not made any offers on 2003's.

Hi,

There's merit to the Addage that Money talks and Bull******************** walks. Offer $20,500, but do so in the form of a personal check. That tells the seller that you're sincere.

Then, let it ferment. You can always up the ante. The seller may not have any other offers but yours. You will always have to opportunity to increase it.

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

That car is in the high 30s in my area.

There does appear to be a lot of local variation in pricing. I'm sure that I could get a better deal if I went to California or other areas where Boxsters are more plentiful. I'm willing to go as far south as Atlanta, and as far north as the DC metropolitan area. Anything farther would just take too much time away from work - a situation I don't foresee changing for a few years.

I've talked to a dealer about acquiring a car for me at auction. Unfortunately I don't know any dealers personally, and I haven't been able to work out an arrangement I feel comfortable with.

So, I think I'm going to offer $21,000 for this car contingent upon a successful PPI. The owner told me that CarMax offered him "more that $20,000". I doubt it was much more than $20,000 since I spoke to the owner of a 2001 with 18,000 miles who was offered about $21,000 a month ago.

The owner did tell me that the car had the sports package and the on board computer. He also told me that the MSRP on the car was $48,516. I realize that is largely irrelevant since the value of the car is determined by present-day supply and demand. So, it has everything I want except a hardtop. If the deal goes through I'll live with the car a while and determine whether I want to purchase a hardtop in a separate deal.

Kevin......as a point of reference I just bought a 2000 2.7 5 speed with 62,000 miles for $16,000. Artic silver, blue top/interior, sport package. Car is very clean with new tires, 60k service done, full front brake job.

The miles are higher than what your looking at, but all maintenance is up to date, no wrecks/paintwork etc.

Good luck with your search.

Jim

wow low mileage Boxsters are becoming a Bargain.
I wonder if the 911's are dropping at the same rate.

If the prices are getting below the mid $20's I would STRONGLY urge you to look for an S model.

911 prices are a bit firmer and will firm up more as weather improves. Porsche leased a ton of Boxsters that are now flooding the used marketplace.

Jim,

It sounds like you got a great deal. The Edmunds Private Party price on your car in my zip code is $18,123!

I'm looking at an almost identical car (2000, silver, black top and interior, sport package, 17" wheels, on board computer) with 29,990 on it. It is a one-owner car, and the 30,000 mile maintenance was completed 3-months ago. Tires have 6000 miles on them. I'm having it checked out at a dealer on Thursday.

I'm definitely paying a premium for the lower mileage. We'll have to compare notes in 2 or 3 years to see what was the best way to go. I guess the $5000 question is "What are 32,000 miles worth?" Looking at it another way, the first owner(s) of your car paid about $32,000 to drive it 60,000 miles or $0.53 per mile. The first owner of the car I'm looking at paid $27,000 to drive it 30,000 miles or $0.90 per mile.

Assuming I buy the car I'm looking at, and we both drive 30,000 miles in the next 3 years, it would be interesting to know who suffered the most depreciation and repair costs.

I checked the Carmax website to see what their price difference is between a 60k car and a 30k car. I'm not supporting Carmax's pricing formula, but the difference in pricing between similar cars with different mileage is a pretty good indication of how their forumla values lower-mileage cars. Because they have a "no haggle" price policy I assume they are selling at these prices in most cases.

They list a black 2000 with 36k for $24,988 and a silver 2000 with 61k for $21,988. So a 25k difference in mileage results in a $3000 difference in price. By that formula, Jim K should have paid a little less than $18,000 for his car or I should have offered a little more than $19,000 for the one I'm planning to buy. Of course, there is more to assessing the condition of a car than just mileage.

I don't know if I could purchase a 30k 2000 Boxster for $19,000. In this area, Carmax provides a "floor price" for cars in relatively good condition. The seller of the car I'm considering obtained an appraisal from Carmax prior to listing his car on Cars.com. I'm going to ask him what Carmax offered him for the car. I think it was between $20,250 and $20,500 based on some of my friends experience with Carmax. If I close the deal on Thursday, I'll ask him to show me his written offer.

In any event, I'm offering $4000 or 16% less than I would have paid at Carmax. I'm getting all the records, manuals, keys and a PPI. I may be rationalizing, but I feel comfortable with that.