Which year to buy?

[Brucelee]

Keep in mind that the Porsche dealer ads THOUSANDS for the CPO brand. You can do much better if you avoid these guys.

[5thtonbench]

I love my 2000 S, and the six speed that comes with the S model I bought everything they could throw at me, which makes me an enthusiast or a sucker, you decide

One thing no one mentions is that somewhere around 2002 they went to some digital bus sound system, so it may be harder to play in the electronics arena. It does let you upgrade to porsche navi if you wanted though. I can say that the glass rear window of '03+ would have been desirable, considering even with heavy TLC my plastic one still recently developed a hole. I have a perfect top, bad window, and its going to run me a few $ to get myself to glass now.

I like to buy high-end within whatever Im purchasing, thats just me. I drove a standard boxster first, and thought it was great. Its a convertible porsche, cmon! But not until I drove the S was I completely sold. I have not driven the upgraded 986 or new 987 so I have no comparison.

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

The '03 Models are the least produced of any Model Year - 13,452 Units produced Worldwide. Coincidentally, there seem to be fewer issues with the '03 Models, although to be fair it could be any number of Factors including the possibility that the '03 Fleet hasn't yet collectively accumulated as many miles.

I agree with Bruce re. the looks of the 987, I don't like it. I don't think it's better, nor do I think it's a very good update or interpretation of the Original but Personal Taste rules here.

It's generally accepted in Sports Cars that one should buy the newest model one can afford and there may be some truth to this, but you also have to consider that the newer Model will depreciate at a much faster rate as well. A sizable chunk of your investment will just evaporate in your first few years of ownership, whereas in an earlier model, this will be much less pronounced.

I drive a Boxster, yea it's a '99, but I only paid $17k for it a year ago with 17k mi. on the clock - today I could easily get $22k for it. A guy buying an '06 today will lose at least $17k to depreciation in 2 years. My Car is PERFECT in every way - a true 100 point Car, and just like the '06 guy, I drive a Boxster... you decide

My recommendation would be to keep an open mind and buy the Best Car you can find that meets, or comes close to meeting, your ideal. Good Luck!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[Brucelee]

"My recommendation would be to keep an open mind and buy the Best Car you can find that meets, or comes close to meeting, your ideal. Good Luck!..."

This is good advice. And ALWAYS get a PPI.

[Dfer]

Hi Bruce - what a problem to have!

I went thro the same thing recently after driving older 911's for the last 15 years.

Now I'm no Boxster expert but my personal solution for what its worth was to buy an early S - 6 speed , better looking than earlier, better optioned than 2.5/2.7 and easy to upgrade to 2003 looks .

I have just ordered PSS9's from the good Doc on this forum and will upgrade to clear lights shortly. I want an exhaust as the standard one sounds like a family sedan and, when the warrenty runs out in a year , will upgrade to a 3.4.

After all , a 2003 plus will look its age soon and there's not really any difference to the early S's.

987? Don't especially like the looks and my tricked 2001 will be a better car IMHO!

Happy hunting

Dennis

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

The '03 Models are the least produced of any Model Year - 13,452 Units produced Worldwide. Coincidentally, there seem to be fewer issues with the '03 Models, although to be fair it could be any number of Factors including the possibility that the '03 Fleet hasn't yet collectively accumulated as many miles.

I agree with Bruce re. the looks of the 987, I don't like it. I don't think it's better, nor do I think it's a very good update or interpretation of the Original but Personal Taste rules here.

It's generally accepted in Sports Cars that one should buy the newest model one can afford and there may be some truth to this, but you also have to consider that the newer Model will depreciate at a much faster rate as well. A sizable chunk of your investment will just evaporate in your first few years of ownership, whereas in an earlier model, this will be much less pronounced.

I drive a Boxster, yea it's a '99, but I only paid $17k for it a year ago with 17k mi. on the clock - today I could easily get $22k for it. A guy buying an '06 today will lose at least $17k to depreciation in 2 years. My Car is PERFECT in every way - a true 100 point Car, and just like the '06 guy, I drive a Boxster... you decide

My recommendation would be to keep an open mind and buy the Best Car you can find that meets, or comes close to meeting, your ideal. Good Luck!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Yep, depreciation was a major factor in my going with the Boxster. It was said to be one of the residual value leaders at the time but now the glutt that are coming back form leases has me concerned. I would never sell it to buy a 911 but I can't sit on it if gets below $20K when I can use that capital to get into something newer/faster. The 911's are holding value in a very enviable way as I can tell by the 'buy it now' (the usual absolute high limit) prices on Ebay motors.

[Brucelee]

After the first three years, the 911s do well on deprecation.

[pbadss]

I may be risk-adverse when it comes to cars, but after reading about replacing engines and RMS leaks it seems to me like some sort of warranty is important to have. Do you mean that CPO cars aren't worth it and a third-party warranty is a better value? or do you mean that a good PPI on a newer car with low miles is sufficent?

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Keep in mind that the Porsche dealer ads THOUSANDS for the CPO brand. You can do much better if you avoid these guys.

[Brucelee]

The worth it question is in the eye of the buyer. I was just pointing out that Porsche dealers charge somewhere in the area of $5000 more for their CPO cars and they PAY about $1500 for the warranty.

An aftermarket warranty on the Box is around $2500. Each buyer has to decide what their value equation is.

Personally, I don't think I would own a Box w/o a warranty but that is me.

BTW-That is not a true statement for many other cars. The Porsche is a DIFF ANIMAL.