Which year to buy?
 

Ladies and gentlemen,
I am proceeding to move from a 1976 914 to a Boxster. 914's had good years and bad years. What is the best year used Boxster to buy, what should I "steer away from", and possibly what issues/problems are common for each year. Any other information would greatly be appreciated!

You probably need to factor in your budget when you look at the years of production. I don't have alot of experience or knowledge on the earlier models, but the major update occured starting with the 2005 model (different appearance, more HP, new interior etc..). So I personally, have a preference for the '05-'06 models and I haven't heard of any major issues with either of those years.

check consumer reports they track customer complaints for each model year.
I know my 2000 was a good vintage.
Also Finland assembled Boxsters seem to have fewer issues then German builds.

If you have the dough, I think the 2003 Boxster S is the best VALUE of the Boxster series.

Expect to pay mid 30s.

If you need to go lower, stay at 2000 or newer if you can.

Good luck!

97's and some 98's had some small and big problems. Good owners of these cars have had them taken care of though.

03 and up had glass windows in the back... very nice to have if you can afford one this new.

Hmm.. why '03? Would a CPO '03 Boxster S be better than a '05 Boxster?

I think the 03 pricing to value is good. If one thinks of an 05 and its price, why not a new one?

As to better, that is totally subjective. I really don't care for the cosmetic changes made to the Box in 05 but that is just me.

I'm looking for the a good value Boxster (oxymoron?) so I was curious if there's anything obvious that I'm missing.

From what I've seen, a CPO '03 is about the same price as a used '05 Base. I'm new to Boxsters, and most everything I've learned is on these forums, but it looks like the '03 S has better about 20 more horses and a better suspension while the '05 base has an updated interior and exterior going for it. I guess I can see one picking an '03 S over an '05 Base. I'll have to consider that, thanks.

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

:cheers:

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 :D

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.

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

"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.

:)

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

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?

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.

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.

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

Vaportrail,

Two suggestions for you, having recently bought an MY02 Boxster S - hope they help you in your search, as I think I would probably have preferred an earlier or later car for different reasons...

My favourite thing about the MY01 (and before) is the layout of the dash, with the tacho having pride of place and the digital speedo appearing directly below the tacho in the same dial. For the track, or on any piece of road where you need to spend as much time looking at the road as possible, having both key instruments in the middle of the dash where they can be seen at a glance is most useful. For MY02 and later the trip computer display was placed in the middle of the tacho (even on cars where the trip computer was not optioned and you only see the odometer/trip meter), and the digital speedo made smaller and moved to the left to sit under the analog speedo. To me this was a step backwards in the layout of the instruments, and given the minimal other differences between MY01 and MY02 I would prefer the MY01 layout unless the MY02 actually has the trip computer as an option (which mine does not). I’m not sure when Porsche realised their mistake but the 987/997 cars have the speedo in the middle again.

On the other hand, if you plan on driving with the roof down fairly regularly (I only ever have the roof up if it’s raining or my wife has just been to the hairdresser…) the glass rear screen in the MY03 and beyond is a godsend. With the plastic screen in the earlier models (as per my MY02) I find myself needing to get out of the car at least every 2nd time the roof is opened to ensure that the screen folds correctly and I don’t risk cracking the plastic, which gets kinda annoying. I also managed to scratch the rear screen with the (plastic) buttons on my shirt sleeves, so I don’t think it’s the most durable of parts. The glass screen in MY03+ is a much better design and doesn’t have either of these issues, and I certainly underestimated the value of the glass roof when buying the earlier car..

The only other advice I can offer is that, in my opinion, an earlier ‘S’ is a better purchase than a later non-S. I ended up comparing a straight 987 (MY05) and an MY02 S, both available for roughly the same money, and I found the S to be a much better drive all round. Had the 987 been better optioned (esp sat-nav or heated seats, the latter of which are invaluable when driving on colder mornings with the top down) I might have been persuaded otherwise, but as it was I ended up buying the MY02 S.

Best of luck with the purchase.

James@fish

I don't anyone has said it yet so I will, buy the newest Porsche you can afford.

I'm no expert, just an owner/enthusiast.


I have a 98 non-S, with a 5-speed. I have been very pleased with it in the two years I've owned it. I haven't had any problems with it, and it turns heads every where I go. Lots of compliments, too.
The only thing I would say is...don't buy tiptronic. C'mon, this is a PORSCHE. An automatic in a sports car is....an oxymoron. :p