Is the Boxster the next 944?

[Brucelee]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

When you guys throw these American engines in them do you put in matching American trannys?

No, the tranny in the 968 is reported to be very robust indeed.

Just an engine swap.

Rooooooooooooooooooooom!

[ohioboxster]

Im thinking maybe the Box will be likened to the 944. Before I get jumped on let me explain. The Box is already not held in high regard because of the 911 and now the Cayman is out. The Box prices are going to continue to drop Im afraid. How much?, I dont know. I really like my car but its just a fact. I think someone on this site was going to sell his low mileage box for low 20k. They are already not bringing very good money. well, 20k for a six or seven year old car is pretty good I guess. Who knows?

[longislander1]

Early Boxster owners will probably shoot me, but I think that power, interior quality and looks are keeping those values down. The early Boxsters are nice cars and true sports cars when they're standing alone. However, there was a significant drop in horsepower from the 968 (despite the upgrade from a 4 to a 6). And while the 968 interior was certainly primitive by today's standards, the leather quality and sturdiness of the interior bits was superior to the early Boxster. Finally, the early Boxsters simply didn't look as aggressive as the 968s. Anyway, those were three factors that kept me away from the Boxster until the 987s arrived. (I also thought the droopy headlights were a turnoff.)

It's hard to say what will happen to future Boxster values. Porsche is sharing more 911 content with the Boxster now, and that may help. On the other hand, the numbers of cars being manufactured today are well beyond what Porsche has done for individual model lines before. That may continue to hurt values. We'll see.

[Brucelee]

Several factors will crater the older Boxster values IMHO.

Quantity-There are a TON of Boxsters out there.

Quality issues-the older Boxes have them in spades and the word is getting out. This is NOT a car to have with 120K miles on it for example.

Maint/repair costs-Porsche reputation preceeds.

Alternatives-There are increasingly more cars of similar ilk to buy.

I could be wrong but the lack of exclusivity and power in the older Boxes will hurt values.

Having said that, if I could buy a $15K Box that looked and ran good and didn't scare me to death, I would.

[Ronzi]

"I could be wrong but the lack of exclusivity and power in the older Boxes will hurt values."

I agree with the first point, but not necessarily the second. Not everybody wants/needs a car with 400hp. Or even 300.

The problem with sinking resale values is that eventually the car drops to a point where it can be purchased by people without either the inclination or resources to maintain the car properly. That, I think, is why you see a lot of ****************box 924/944s. The car has become, in a sense, expendable, so why put any money into it?

It is entirely possible this will be the fate of the Boxster, but, for selfish reasons, I hope not.

[Brucelee]

"It is entirely possible this will be the fate of the Boxster, but, for selfish reasons, I hope not."

Agreed~!