Not a lot of Love for the 986

[Porsche9]

Mine get compliments all the time.

Still waiting for someone to say something negative or a "I guess you couldn't afford a 911" comment so I can say been there done that twice and find the Boxster to be superior.

[Fyeganeh]

At this point a 1997-2000 Boxster costs the same or really less to own as a new 25,000 car. People worry about the maintenance costs when forgetting about the depreciation costs.

All cars depreciate about 10-15% per year. So a car costing 25K will go down about 2500-3500 in value in a year and add in 200 maintenance.

An early Boxster costs now about 10-12K. Over the last year prices have stopped falling. They are getting so close to parts value that they may not drop further. So let's say about 500-1000 depreciation per year plus maintenance of 1500-2000 per year.

It's highly likely to cost you less to own a Boxster and the Boxster even has a chance in 15 years of going up in value whereas the new car has no chance.

Of course the Boxster has a chance of dying but that's where the 1.5-2k per years goes - it can be used to maintain and restore the car and worst case you can sell it as a roller and still be ahead.

Now this analysis doesn't work for 20-45k Boxsters that are newer.

[jb92563]

Initially in the parking lot at work I felt guilty when folks said, "You drive a Porsche!?" so I was a bit humble and told them that my 15 year old car only cost me less than a cheap KIA, but then I thought better of it and stopped telling how inexpensive it is and just agree with their high opinion of the car.

I'm still the only Porsche in a Parking lot of a couple hundred cars and I like it that way, because my car is "Special" and I am immediately considered a serious Driver and Enthusiast!

Thanks Porsche Marketing machine!