Need advice...getting my first Porsche...
 

Will be placing an order for a 2007 Boxter S next week.

Below are the options I want, but I'd love feedback on what you think I should drop and/or add, with reasons WHY you think I should add or drop an option. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

19" turbe wheels
Bi-xenon headlight package
Hard top
Porsche windstop (deflector)
BOSE surround sound system
Porsche Communications Mgmt (PCM) 2.1
Adaptive sports seats
Sports steering wheel
Carbon package
Sport Chrono Package Plus

Sounds very nice. It does not sound like you have any budget issues! :) Congrats.

What are your color combo's? Exterior, leather and top?

I would recommend:

1) Leather Door Finishers- code XTV ($360)- looks very nice on the doors when the Full Leather packaged is also selected. Door finisher in carbon, to match your theme, would be $2,150 (code XTL). Leather is a much better deal, and really finishes off the door nicely.

2) Fuse Box Cover Leather code CUJ ($140)- For any color of leather, other than black, this looks very nice! The fuse box cover is black, so, on a car like mine with Sand Beige leather, the black cover sticks out like a sore thumb. I have been waiting now 6 months for the one I have ordered from Sun Coast Porsche. Get it when you order the car, not after.

3) What about Sport Exhaust, code XLF ($2,100)? You would be the only guy with it!! I would trade this option for the Adaptive Sport Seats IMHO.

4) Painted Roll Bars- code XMK ($535) It looks awesome! Especially in certain exterior colors.

5) Wheel Cap w/colored Crests- code 445 ($185) Dresses-up the wheels. The Porsche crest is very recognizable.

6) Chrome Exhaust Tip, code XLA ($340) Looks nice and clean. The standard tip is dull and looks dirty, even when clean.

7) Do you really need a Hard Top in California?

8) You have just about every major option except PASM. Maybe you want this too??


Let us know your color choices. Have fun. Welcome to the Forum and Congrats on your new car.

Wheels are a matter of taste, my only thought on your Turbos is that I could see these possibly delaying your order down the line due to lack of 'availability'. Bmuss, I don't think you can order the turbo wheels with colored caps.

I've lived in NorCal and can see why you might want a hard-top. But for the same reason, I'd think you'd also want heated seats.

As long as you're not ordering a car in a shade of grey/silver, I'd agree with Bmuss that the painted roll-bars add a lot for relatively little money and also with his chrome exhaust recommendation for the same reason. Appearance-wise, I'd actually say the chrome exhaust is the best bang for the buck on the whole options sheet.

I'd agree that if you're going to order Sports Chrono, you should order PASM, as optimally, there is integration between the two.

But I'm not sure what Bmuss was smoking when he recommended the leather fuse box cover (which only sticks out if your interior is sand beige) and door finishers. Whatever it was, I'm pretty sure it wasn't legal.

The Turbo Wheels, code 404 do not conflict with color wheel crest, code 445. The turbo wheels only conflicts with codes; 397, 398, 401, 403, 405, 407, XD9 and XRR.

SD987, the Leather Door Finishers look great. I have them, and they really finish the all leather package very nicely. The stitching is done very well. I have received several positive comments at PCA Concours Events.

I don't like seeing the black fuse box cover. Everything else is color coded to the leather, and it really sticks out. I guess I like things more mono-chromatic.

SD987, good catch on the Heated Seats, I missed that one for Spy4cia.

I only tried it. And did not inhale! :)

To answer bmussatti questions...
 

Meteor gray will probably be the exterior color, with the green leather interior. The top I was going to do in black? Or is there a better option?

I'll definitely add the leather door finishers, thanks! Since the interior is going to be the dark green, should I not worry about the black fuse box?

I'm getting the adaptive seats because the regular one's are not very comfortable for me. I lift weights, so I have wide lats, and have also had 13 back surgeries. So the adaptive seats (and their adjustable lateral edges) are imperative.

The sport exhaust seemed a waste of money, and no performance improvement.

Can't have wheel caps on the chrome mags I'm getting.

Sounds like I'm going to HAVE to get the chrome exhaust tip now!

I live in Monterey, where I can only realistically use the top down for about 4 months of the year. The remainder of the time, I'll have the hardtop on.

I was told the PASM lowered the car to a point where I will hit the bottom of the front of the vehicle in driveways, etc.

Thanks very, very much for your input!

To answer the next two posts!
 

Wow...great news...sales rep told me that the wheels (404) could NOT have the painted Porsche Crests. I will add that for sure now...

Heated seats I'm not too concerned about. I'm always warm, even in Monterey weather where it is usually 65 degrees...

I think the Cocoa top looks good with your color (similar to Seal Grey...right?). Also the Stone Grey top looks very good with your color. A more monochromatic look.

I have never seen the green leather.

I still like the leather fuse box cover for all colors except black. For $140 you can't go wrong.

PASM only lowers the car 10mm (about 1/4 inch). Several guys on the forum swear by PASM.

I now understand your seating choice. Take care of your back...ya gotta be comfortable!

Spy4cia, I think you have a typo in your first sentence. Please check. I am confused.

I think you should reconsider heated seats. They are helpful for re-sale too. I have driven with top down in 45 degree weather with the heater on and the heated seats turned on, and was very comfortable. Do forget passanger comfort too! You might be warm, but they want a little extra warmth, and the heated seats are great for that comfort level. My wife and kids always want the heated seats on during early morning drives or after sunset. The heated seats have 2 setting...low and higher.

Te green interior will significantly impact resale negatively.
 

Just as green exterior is the one color cited in studies that reduces the sale price of a used Porsche vehicle by 20%.

Clarification on two points...
 

I see, the heated seats allow you to comfortably drive in even cold weather. In this case, I will get them for sure.

On the wheels, the sales rep explained that the painted Porsche crest on the wheels, were NOT available on the specific wheel I wanted --- 19" Turbo Wheel (404). From reading your post, I CAN INDEED get the crests on the 19" Turbe Wheels i've selected.

Does that make it a little clearer? Sorry for the confusion...

OK, this is now more clear. I am going by the order guide, on page 11. The order guides have been wrong in the past, so maybe the salesperson knows more than the order guide.

The heated seats may also be therapeutic for your back too. Hey, maybe you can claim your whole Boxster purchase as a medical expense!!

I would strongly suggest not getting the green leather interior. Even if you think it looks great, you will have a very hard time selling it or even trading it in later.

Here are some photos of the green leather:
Car 1
Car 2
Car 3
Car 3.1
Car 3.2
Car 3.3
Car 3.4

That last car is almost exactly like the one you describe... silver exterior, black top, green interior, carbon package....


PASM is apparently the best thing since sliced bread. I've never driven with it, but the reviews have been most excellent, especially when combined with PSM and the sport package.

You know, you might be onto something...
 

I wrote off my spa/hot tub for medical purposes. As the Porsche is the least expensive vehicle with seats I can comfortably sit in, AND have heat applied to my back, I th ink I will check with my accountant to see if we can write the whole car off. Now the trick is to have my Primary Care Physician write an RX for the Boxster like he did for the hot tub!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the great idea...........

Yes, the green IS a bit much...
 

...Looks like I should go with gray or black interior...

Thanks VERY MUCH for the pics and the input...I may have made a mistake otherwise...

Michael

I was assuming, sounds incorrectly, that you have to have 65+ degree weather to have the top down. With the heated seats, it seems like you can go topless all year. Shall I NOT get the hard top???

I found the regular sports seat too narrow. The sales guy told me the adaptive sports seat have an adjustment to widen it along the "back" and "seat" portion of the seat. I should probably try and find an Adaptive Sports Seat in stock and sit in it before I order one.

WHY on earth would you have a smoother ride on 18 vs 19" wheels????????

The Sport Chrono Package Plus includes: "analog and digital chronometer, sport button in the center console and display in the PCM, also adds ability to adjust lighting wipers, AC and door locksing to suit personal perference." I was told this option allowed you to "turn on" a sport option to stiffen the car up, etc. when you want to track the car or "go faster" on curves, etc. Am I wrong???

Spy4cia, congrats on the predicament!

Few thoughts...

Don't get the GREEN interior. In addition, convertibles with THREE very different colors for body, top, and interior don't look good, IMHO. Combined with the RED on the calipers, there's just too many colors. There is no "theme" there. But I may be an extremist in the "mono-chromatic" camp (triple black). If you're going to spring for a custom leather and you're dead set on the body color, at least try to match the interior to one of the available top colors. Brown, perhaps?

Forget the HARD TOP. Do you ever see snow where you live (CA)? Does water ever freeze there? For rain, you have the soft top, right?. And it's very well insulated so you won't freeze, believe me.

Now, it's so bad there for a hard-top but not bad enough for HEATED SEATS? Get the heated seats. Early morning, evening, or night drives can all use them. My fiance allows me to get the top down at night ONLY becuse there's a heated seat for her to turn on.

If you plan to take the car on the track once in a while (2-3 DE events a year) get the PASM. I don't have it and haven't tested it but I wish I had it after my first DE event a week ago. Forget the salesman's talk about it being to low. It's only 10mm lower while people here have lowered their cars an inch (25.4mm) and I don't read much complaints.

I wouldn't get the 19" WHEELS. Actually, I think I calculated that the 18" wheel + tire has a slightly larger total diameter than the 19". With the PASM nicely lowering the car, the look will be very cool but not overdoing it. People have reported that 18" actually perform better, and tires are much cheaper for them.

I personally wouldn't get the XENONS. The 987 halogens are almost as good as many have reported here.

The PCM I would only get if you plan to play MP3 files on a cd. I don't have it and I don't miss it. Honestly, I rarely want to listen to ANY music while driving this car with the top down. The engine sound is all the fix I need, and I don't want to spoil it.

Get the windstop. It helps.

Carbon package? Personally, no.

I don't lift weights but I do have wide shoulders and lats. The standard seats are some of the most comfortable and supportive seats I've ever sat in.

13 back surgeries and still lifting weights? More power to you.

Z.

I was assuming, sounds incorrectly, that you have to have 65+ degree weather to have the top down. With the heated seats, it seems like you can go topless all year. Shall I NOT get the hard top???

Forget the hard top in CA. Period. You should be able to go topless all year there. And when you can't, that's what the soft top is for. The hard top is for people in Montana, Nebraska, Canada, etc.

I found the regular sports seat too narrow. The sales guy told me the adaptive sports seat have an adjustment to widen it along the "back" and "seat" portion of the seat. I should probably try and find an Adaptive Sports Seat in stock and sit in it before I order one.

Can't help you with this one. But if you're having problems with the standard ones DEFINITELY try the adaptive ones before ordering to make sure you're OK with them.

WHY on earth would you have a smoother ride on 18 vs 19" wheels????????

18s have less metal and more rubber then the 19s. Rubber is smoother than metal. The diameter of the whole 18" wheel + tire is actually larger than the diameter of the 19" wheel + tire.

The Sport Chrono Package Plus includes: "analog and digital chronometer, sport button in the center console and display in the PCM, also adds ability to adjust lighting wipers, AC and door locksing to suit personal perference." I was told this option allowed you to "turn on" a sport option to stiffen the car up, etc. when you want to track the car or "go faster" on curves, etc. Am I wrong???

The option that stiffens the suspension is the PASM. It does that when you turn its "sport" mode.

Z.

Thanks, one and all, for the great advice.
 

I'm sure glad I posted here before placing my final order.

Looks like I've got a number of things to add, and a few to drop off.

What kills me is the 19" wheels...I love the way the 19" mags look, but performance should ALWAYS (almost always) take precedence over looks...

If you like the look of the 19's you should get them . I have the 19" Carrera Classics and love 'em. Ride is great. Who cares about extra costs at tire replacement time...all Porsche tires cost a lot!

Spy4cia, have you ever seen the Cocoa Leather? It is very nice. Looks great with a silver/grey exterior and Cocoa top. I would have selected the Cocoa Leather myself, but I really wanted a light (cool in the sun) colored leather.

What about Meteor grey with TAN interior?
 

Stick with a grey top, too?

I was told TAN gets dirty pretty easily, but TAN looks sooooo nice.

Tried cocoa leather with cocoa top...
 

DEFINITELY A GO!!!

Thanks....

I didn't realize Terracatta was available...
 

So what do you think?

Meteor grey, Terracatta interior, and Cocoa top OR Black top???

I'm guessing that carbon would NOT go with the terracatta interior...

"I was told this option allowed you to "turn on" a sport option to stiffen the car up, etc. when you want to track the car or "go faster" on curves, etc. Am I wrong???"

Pushing the "Sport" button will change the throttle mappings and other engine variables, if you have PASM, it will also simultaneously enable "Sport" mode of PASM which tightens up the suspension. See here:
http://content2.eu.porsche.com/prod/boxster/boxsters.nsf/papenglish/chassissport_chrono

Wheels:
The problem isn't the larger wheels, it's the lower profile tires. Low profile tires are good, but not if they are too low. I don't have data either way, but it does make sense that the lower profile tires of the 19" wheels would be stiffer. In this case, just go with what you like.

Colors:
You're right, carbon probably wouldn't look too good with the terracotta interior... I've never seen one in real life, but looking at pictures, I can't imagine a brown interior going well with the dark grey exterior. I think it looks better with the colored exteriors (blue, red, yellow, green).

What about this combination:
Meteor Grey Metalic exterior, Black Soft Top
Two-Tone Black/Grey Leather Interior
Carbon Package

The two-tone interior looks awesome and really pulls together the outside colors. Plus, it should look good with the carbon. I just made one up in the Porsche configurator and it looks hot.

Headrest:
I also second the opinion that you should get the Porsche crest in the headrest. It's fairly cheap ($270) and really adds that finishing touch. It's more important than painted crests on the wheels imho.

Seats:
Before you buy anything, you really need to sit in each of the seat options. You will feel the seat more than anything else on the car, so it's very important you find a seat that fits you comfortably.

Spy, what's the hurry?
Take yout time. Enjoy the process of building a car EXACTLY the way YOU want it. Go to a dealer (or two) with large inventories, check out many color combos and see which ones get your heart racing. Get inside cars, see how it feels. Look at the body color from many angles (direct sun, shade, etc.). You can use color combos from the 911s on the lot, as well -- Porsche colors are all the same. The internet configurators cannot replicate being there and seeing the colors for
yourself.

Z.

Be careful with advice on this forum, many choices are personal taste and you are the one that is going to purchase and live with this car. I think there is very good advice and experience regarding functional items - windstop, Bose, hardtop or not, PASM etc..

However, when it comes to wheels and colors etc.. get what you want. If you love the 19" wheels get them. The ride quality difference isn't that big.

The one consideration is resale value, so I wouldn't necessary get a very uncommon or unusual color combo (ie green interior).

Make yourself happy, you will love the car. :cheers:

This woman regrets getting green seats
 

This woman regrets getting green seats for her porsche.



Please refrain from greeen seats!! They are hideous. You might as well spray paint graffiti on your car, or attach pink fur interior, or curb feelers. . . . hell, those would be improvements if you had green seats.

Please no no no no no.

I'm sorry, I'm in agreement with DrBurton - keep in mind that all of this advice is FREE and therefore worth exactly what you pay for it. It's your car - get what you want. Or, you can just do what most people do and get a 3X Black Boxster.

Pretty Close To A Final Decision...
 

And I can't place the order for a few weeks, so I will, in fact, take my time!

Here is what I think looks great...and I have seen ALL THREE colors today at two different dealers:

Meteor Grey metallic
Cocoa Top
Special Leather in Terracotta (saw it in a Carrara GT and it's amazing)
19" turbo (love those mags, and not worried about a slighly stiffer ride)
Bi-xenon
Delete Model desigation
Windstop (Deflector)
BOSE
PCM 2.1
PASM
Sport Chrono Package Plus
Chrome Exhaust
Instrument dials carrara white
Adaptive Sports Seats
Heated Front Seats
Thicker Stering Wheel Sport - Leather
Porsche Crest in Headrest

VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I STARTED WITH. If you go to the Porsche Boxter S and build one, and you can see the 3d version, the color combos look great. And I'm not ordered a hard top, either.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR OPINIONS AND SHARING YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCES...

Please feel free to continue to comment on this thread, as I will monitor it daily.

Michael

just wanted to say that I've cleaned lots of cars as "an enthusiast".
Without out question, the EASIEST combination is the one I have now.
Silver and Red.
Even if it rains a few days the car looks like it was just washed.
THe colors also hide imperfections incredibly well and the "new look" is
preserved much much better than a dark color interior or exterior.
Second to that I would have gone with light silver and cocoa brown or cinamon toast crunch.

I'd spring for those nice interior upgrades like aluminum or painted interior components.. They really set a pcar apart and cost an arm and a leg if done stateside. Porsche crests on the headrests seems like overkill to me. I have them on my GT3 seats and it seems kind of redundant. The damn car screams porsche no need to restate the obvious!

Get PASM, CaymanS motor, skip the Zenons and evaluate the stereo options by making a point to test out the stereo in the showroom and on a test ride.

p.s.
deviating stiching makes it look like $70K car.

Spy, not keeping track but looking at your list and wondering if that MSRP is toying with $80k yet. What kind of a deal do you expect to get?
Z.

Spy, sounds great!

Why the Carrara White Dials?

The Stone Grey Top would also looks great. It would look like this:

Here is a photo of Terracotta in a Cayman:

Another photo:

This is the chrome exhaust tip:

:eek:

I would stay clear of that color top. I've seen these lighter color tops and they all seem to show dirt and staining. Blue or Black looks very Porsche.

The center console would look 1000X's better in an exterior paint color match. Looks too monochromatic.

My new total is: $75,435. MSRP
 

I'll be paying little under $70,000...

Thanks for all the cool photos...

Wheel Cap w/colored Crests- code 445 ($185) not available on the wheels I want.

This is my first NEW car in 15 years, and I keep cars AT LEAST 10, and usually 15 years.

So, am I missing any important options, considering I'm going to have this 15 years???

Thanks,
Michael

Very cool...thanks! What a great new family I have...
 

Any of you ever visit the Monterey Bay and/or Pebble Beach, be sure to let me know, and I'll get you into the 17 Mile Drive for free, and take you to dinner for your help...I get to drive us, of course, in the Boxster!

And I'll post lots of pics when I get it.

How did I do on the price??????

I think a price of $67,892 would be a very fair price.