How did you end up with your current Boxster?

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

986ers!

We want to know your story and how you ended up with your current Boxster. I'll start the thread off with our in house Boxster that is now a Boxster Carrera. It was purchased to compose Wayne's 101 Projects book. The project Boxster now lives on with an engine conversion and enjoys spirited drives on some great twisted roads! Share your story and an image of yours with us below.

[thstone]

Nice to see some Facebook love for the 986Forum from the forum management team!

[thstone]

My Boxster history is well documented!

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/43878-ahhh-my-car-hit-bad-today.html

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-racing-forum/46070-spec-boxster-build.html

[DrCactus]

Myself I was at a dealer to buy a Eclipse convertible but the sales guy was jerking me around so much that after 3 hours of being there I walked out with a huge headache... on way home I passed a Porsche dealer and decided to go look... the sales guy was great and a straight shooter. I saw my car on their back lot and asked if I could test drive it... he said give him a few mins to get battery installed and after driving around I walked back in his office and drew up the papers! OMG was I nervous walking out knowing I just bought a Porsche! hahaha

[FoxRvrBox]

We wanted to get out of our C4 Vette for something with a power convertible top. Did an eBay search for all convertibles within 100 miles (I live in a relatively rural area) and the closest one was a Boxster...within one mile. Test drove it, I loved it, my wife loved it but that particular one had too many miles. Put the search on hold for a couple months and searched for Boxsters only on a different site. Only about 3 met all search parameters, but also showed me the ones that met most parameters. The one we bought was 105 miles away. It pays to keep looking!

[Nmbrsix]

I had a modded '94 Miata R-Package, and after 6 fun years I wanted something that would be equally fun but in a different way. I previously had a 944S and missed driving a Porsche. The mid-engine design of the Boxster was widely reported to offer amazing handling. A test drive in a relatively poor example proved that to be true. I spent a couple of months looking at every Boxster for sale in a three state radius, finding my current car one state away owned by an older classic car enthusiast. 3 years later and it still feels unique every time I get in and fire it up.

[cheese]

I never would have believed that I would have wanted a Boxster, and now I really can't imagine being this happy in anything less. I was actually looking for a German roadster on Craigslist and traded a custom chopper v-twin motorcycle for my 1997 base model Boxster. Even money swap. It has brought me constant happiness the likes of which has not been found. There is no substitute.



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[Anker]

Last year the local used car dealer put a 2001 Boxster S up for sale at a price that seemed amazing to us, 60K miles and $9,999. We never knew that it was possible to purchase a usable Porsche for that little money. After driving by it for weeks we finally decided to take a look at it and for a test drive. It was clear a car that had been parked outside. Fogged headlights and cracked driver seat plus some fading, but heck, for $9,999 it would be a blast. We both got completely hooked on the test drive and I went to our local Porsche indie to arrange a PPI. After making the appointment I asked if he knew of other Boxsters for sale and he said he only had one, the one he was using as his daily driver. Did I want to take it for a test drive? Sure! What a difference. This 2004 S had clearly been looked after, and it had a service history. It also had a TuneRS DOF IMS replacement. Even though it was $14,500 and had 104K miles on the clock there was no doubt this was a better value, so be bought it and haven't looked back.

The one we didn't buy:


The one we did buy:

[mjmckeon]

I remember it well. The year is 2002. I was recently divorced, driving very large vehicles (I owned and showed Newfoundland dogs), and I decided I wanted to give myself a present, and wanted something small and FUN. I wasn't thinking about a Porsche, but I had lusted after one since I was 12. I looked at Mini Coopers and Miatas, but no go. I was driving home one night, and passed by a used car lot with some interesting (Ferrari) cars, and stopped to have a look. I knew the Ferrari was out of my league, but I spotted a 986 with a price said "I can afford that!". So, I began to.look earnestly at Boxsters. In a short time, I found a nice 2000 Boxster that I went to take a look at. It was nice, but not really what I was after. The salesperson said that there was a Boxster S that had come in the day before as a trade with <6K miles, and would I like to take a ride - the rest is history. Fabulous car.

[algiorda]

It's all my wife's fault! She is a car girl and worked for Fiat motors for 10 years back when they first bought Ferrari. We both purchased Fiats and I had my Datsun 280Z. We had kids and from that moment we both had soccer mom and dad cars for 30 years. Plus I'm a musician so I always have a SUV or crossover to cart my stuff around. Wife had a Subaru WRK manual shift and she loved that car. She cried when the engine blew. We had to get a car fast, so we ended up getting her a Ford Focus manual shift and she was miserable. For her 60th birthday, I decided to get her out of that car and we went looking for cars she might like to drive.

We looked at everything and nothing really clicked with her until we saw Fiat was coming out with a new 124 Spider. We went and looked at it and put a deposit on it. However, it was taking them months to get a manual shift. We also looked at a 2010 Porsche Boxster and a 2006 Boxster, but after speaking with my sons friend, she didn't want something used or requiring lots of maintenance. We took them for test drives and she fell in love with them both. We decided to go look at the Mazda Miata and she fell in love with it so I purchased it for her.

The problem I had, I also fell in love with the Boxster during the test drive. I began to shop online and researched the heck out of all the issues and decided I could pick one up for cheap and work on it and still keep my SUV for carting my music gear. During a scan on Autotrader, I found a 2004 Boxster S Special Edition w/54k, which was very local and so I arranged to go see it and test drive it and fell in love. I may have paid a premium and spent way more than I wanted at $19k, but the car was in immaculate condition and so I had a PPI done and that was it. I love this car.

[IMG] [/IMG]

[Steve in NV]

Saw it on a car dealer lot in November 2016, 24,500 miles. I test drove and bought it. My first Porsche (2004), however I do have a couple of classic Mercedes.
First thing I did was rip off the front plate. And then the ash tray delete.


Attachment 20767

[dghii]

I 2008, I'd been looking for a Box or S at the right price for about a year. On a Sunday night, during one of my countless eBay searches, I decide to search by "items ending soonest". A nice looking 2000 S comes up, with auction ending around 11 am the next day. I click on the link and find a "no reserve" car with 76K miles. Best part, it turns out its local! I email the seller and get a chance to check the car out and drive it before the auction closes.

I head home and place one bid at closing and win the bid at $15,400. The other cool thing was that eBay had a deal going on that dropped $500 off any eBay motor vehicle purchase (recession thing I guess, looking back).

I've bought three other Boxster since then but still have this car as its been very trouble free and still a blast to drive. It owes me nothing!

[flouese]

We (my wife and I) just bought a 9 seat golf cart to haul grandkids around the neighborhood. While looking through Craigslist, I saw a Boxster for half of what I paid for the golf cart. My wife felt guilty and bought the Boxster for me. The Boxster is my fun car while my 66 912 is my current project car.

[fridsten]

I had a 1978 Porsche 924 some years ago. It was a complete waste of money and a piece of crap. After having tried to get it in shape, it broke down on me completely and I had to sell it as parts.

Lesson learned, but still partial to the front-engine Porsches, I started saving up for a 944, but losing my job at one time and getting another child as well, it wasn't easy.

During the summer of 2015, I decided that funds were sufficient, so I started looking. The ones I found were either mechanically sound but with a lot of cosmetic issues or the exact opposite. After my dad had talked me into checking out the Boxster as well, I found one that seemed to tick all the boxes.

The mileage was low, it was well kept, the current owner was an elderly gentleman and it had a complete history. Also - it was yellow!


I took it for a test drive, and fell in love immediately! I told my wife that I needed to get it and luckily she liked it as well.



The only downside is that it's a two-seater and we have two kids. The obvious solution is to get another Boxster. Perhaps a Lapis Blue one...

[That986]

Always loved the Boxster, the way they look and go is just perfect to me but sadly up until now I couldn't really afford to run one.

Now I quite happily say i use my 2000 S as my daily car and i love it. It's coming up for 100000 miles soon but feels fresh as a daisy after the bits of work i've had done to it, they really do put a smile on your face.
This one was average price for the market which was a fair reflection of the car tbh. But it had the spec i wanted (basic as possible) and the right colour being black.

[kk2002s]

My family needed something bigger so I traded my 02 Mustang GT for an Xterra. After a few years I started feeling the itch to get a sporty car again. Looking at 911's they were outside of my budget then. Was never interested in the Boxster - "Poor man's Porsche" etc. I started looking anyways and guess what, a Boxster S was affordable. I started the research and the car was more than I perceived. Most ranked the car's performance as exceptional for it value. Of course I also read that at any time, the car could go up in a blazing mushroom cloud. I know it would have to be DIY for maintenance, I was OK with that.
So here I am, 4-1/2 years into it and always look forward to driving it.

[Boxster_S_girl]

Can I share the stories of the two Boxster I no longer own?

I've been a car fanatic and Porsche aficionado for as long as I can remember. Almost 10 years ago (oh.. wow.) and still early-ish in my professional career, I was in the market for a newer car to officially indoctrinate me as a newly minted yuppy. In my budget I was looking at G35 and G37 coupes, thinking Porsche would be out of reach. I was test driving a G37 at an Infiniti dealer, looked over and saw a base Cayman in the pre-owned lot. For fun, I asked to drive it and the sale associate said he'd never seen anyone smile as much as I did on that drive. Adding 987s to my search, I found an '06S, in a color combo I loved and wheels I loved. I visited the dealer, and bought it on the spot.



Fast forward about 5 years later and I had just started grad school. Work and school consumed absolutely every second of my time and I started to worry about upcoming repairs with an out-of-warranty Porsche (not to mention the inability to commute to school--nevermind that she had NEVER once been in the shop for unscheduled maintenance, not once). I decided it made more sense to trade her in for an fully warrantied, off-the-lot, 20-mile 981. And so I did...



The irony is, the 981 was in the shop more every 3-6 months of ownership than the 987 EVER was...

As an epilogue: about a year ago it was time to renew the 981's registration. I did, and I received the tags. The next time I went to apply the tags and drive the car, I realized (and completely out of circumstance) it had been three months. Work and personal travel (and a daily driver) made for a very pretty $tatic model. I amortized the wheel time with running costs... I just couldn't stomach it. I could almost periodically RENT a Lamborghini for a day for less money. So, she had to go...

Now, I'm in the market for a 986 to AX/DE! I figure, 90% of the car at 10% of the cost.

[mikefocke]

2 Boxsters

The first one: I had been looking at the classifieds (remember them?) and the kids were through school and the bills were paid. My wife said to me " you have been looking forever, why not just go buy the car". So off I went to buy a 928. Only on driving the shark, it was to big and heavy. Ok...maybe a 'vette? No. BMW? In a half block I knew it wasn't for me. Sure puzzled the sales guy when I was back in 2 minutes. Miata? Too small. Honda? Ditto. I'm not but 6' and maybe 195 then but you gotta fit and see through the windshield and not have your eyes at the level of the roof support. So I saw an ad for a Boxster about 25 miles away. It fit me on first drive. I had comparative prices, she wanted the room in her garage for a hummer (three kids now) and I paid her a deposit and went back home in my car to get someone to drive me back. Came back with a check only to find that her kids had scraped the side while riding their bikes. She said she'd pay to have it redone so I took it home. Took it to a body shop owned by her brother and they gave me an estimate. She paid me in cash as I recall thinking I would get it done closer to home. I took the car home, buffed the scratches out and was happy as a clam until

While driving along the day after Thanksgiving to get a price on fixing a chip in the windshield, I saw a Boxster sitting in a used car lot. Looked over and BAMM. Ran into the back of a pickup that had stopped in the road. My fault. No sweat, maybe $3k in my experience with my son's accidents. Driveable. They stopped the estimating at $26k and the insurance company actually paid me several thousand more than I had paid for the car 6 months earlier. So I waited till after Xmas with snow on the ground and saw another ad. Young gal (yea, both were chick's cars) was an outside salesperson and needed 4 doors. I PPI'ed this one and it needed maybe $2k of work to bring everything up to my standards. Bought it with 5" of snow on the ground. Then went looking for some tires. Found a set a dealer was selling which were take offs. $600 for Michelins with maybe 50 miles on perfect wheels. Now I was set for about 5 years of reliable, pleasurable driving.

Then I realized I hadn't even put 1k miles on it in the prior year. I had moved, no P-car service for 50 miles. It was time to let it go. Ad on CL and the first caller bought it. Less than 2 hours. I've since learned that my buyer had sold it. New owner found some papers in the car with my name and contacted me. So that car has now had 5 owners at last count. 90k miles.

I've been lucky enough and frugal enough to have owned 5 sports cars, 2 Alfa's and 3 Porsches.

[grc0456]

In 2014-15, many years after a divorce and putting 2 kids through college, and the youngest about 1/2 way through, I started thinking about rewarding myself with a sports car. I had always loved the funky little mid-engined 914 and did a lot of internet browsing, but just couldn't pull the trigger on a 40 year old car. I began looking at Miatas and S2000's. Great and fun little cars, but no room for baggage for a long weekend trip for my wife and me. Around this time my wife's cousin called to say he had sold the 914 he had owned since the 70's and had purchased a 2008 Cayman Base - would I like to come up and take it for a spin that day? Would I??? Of course I would. Well, that's all it took for me. One drive of this mid-engined beauty - the balance, the sound, the looks, the build quality - I had to have a Porsche, but I wanted the ragtop version. I established a budget, and determined the 986 was my best bet. I began my research and read everything I could. Wait, what is this IMSB thing that could sink my dreams at any time? Oh, there are some fixes for it - great. I decided to limit my search to cars with one of these fixes and determined I would be willing to pay a premium for such a car. Further research led me to the 986.2 version (03-04) for the glass rear window, glove box and few more ponies. I found a great research site was Pedro's Garage, and the well regarded Mr. Bonilla had a 03 Base for sale in Florida. It was Midnight Blue Metallic with the Savanna Beige (really more of a caramel color) and a Metropol Blue top. He had bought it as a roller, sourced and rebuilt an engine with new clutch and many other new parts, plus added his IMSB fix - a Direct Oil Feed. I loved it and the best thing was that my wife did as well - and it had two trunks! Unfortunately, the price was a bit too high for me. I emailed a Pedro and let him know that was the car I was looking for, but couldn't go that high now - maybe after several more months of saving. He was very nice, and said he would keep me in mind. Several weeks went by when he let me know he had reduced the price and was I still interested? I was indeed, and we agreed on terms. He was going away over Labor Day weekend to Road America (he is a PCA tech scrutineer) and we'd finalize plans when he got back. One day he called me and I could tell by the tone of his voice the news wasn't good. Unbeknownst to him, his partner had already verbally agreed to sell the car to someone else and they were coming to look at it on Monday. Ok, don't worry about it I said, just find me another similar car. On Monday, Pedro called me back to say the other buyer had fallen through and it seemed the little blue car wanted me to have it. Cue the Hallelujah music! We were on a plane from Boston three days later, Pedro picked us up at the airport, we bought the car and drove it 1,500 miles home with huge smiles on our faces the whole way.

We've had it about a year and a half now and it continues to bring smiles every day. Fun runs, tours, Autocross, cars and coffees, BRBS, car shows, etc are all things to look forward to and cherish. I've done quite a few what I call tasteful or OEM style mods to put my personal touch on it, and it has been nearly flawless (it's water pump had a bearing that was failing has been the only real issue). It has brought us a lot of fun and I love it. By the way, I hold Pedro in high regard. He's a man of his word and always willing to answer a phone call or email and offer free advice at any time. Here's our car:




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[dghii]

Originally Posted by flouese

We (my wife and I) just bought a 9 seat golf cart to haul grandkids around the neighborhood. While looking through Craigslist, I saw a Boxster for half of what I paid for the golf cart. My wife felt guilty and bought the Boxster for me. The Boxster is my fun car while my 66 912 is my current project car.

That's great!!! I actually decided not to buy a 2001 Box S Tip with 106K miles at $5,200. It was all I could do but my plate is full. I can't believe I walked away. These cars are too much fun for $ folks are asking.