2004 boxster s limited edition
 

Is the 2004 boxster s limited edition spyder worth the premium they are asking for these cars. I found on with 60000 miles original owner and all records but they are asking 22000.00 seems high to me for a 2004 boxster .

Hi Jim,

Average sale price on BaT for 2004 550SE Boxsters was ~21,500 USD last time I checked.

Porsche Panorama #764 featured the 986 in their Market Dashboard (pg 138-141). They value the 550SE from $11,000 (4-fair condition) to $32,400 (1-concours condition).

So my answer is ‘it depends’. Lots of variables. IMHO 22k seems high for a 60k miles example. If it’s an excellent condition, one owner with complete records and current on all maintenance with ‘The Solution’ IMSB or at least a recent high quality IMSB I’d guess around $17-19k but what do I know :-) OTOH my friend who makes a really good living selling high end pre-owned says the true value of any car is what someone is willing to pay for it at a particular point in time.

Check out the Panorama article. It gives a fairly objective assessment of all 986s. Hopefully some of the other 550SE owners will offer their opinions here.

Old Car Guy is wise....
 

....I agree completely with him, and I also own one.

Check out that article.

FWIW, I paid a premium for mine back in 2015. Many would say I overpaid a lot for my car.

There is an old saying, “Buy the best and newest Porsche you can afford.”

I wanted a 986. The 2004 SE is the best and newest 986 they built.

The car I found was a one owner and only had 25,000 mikes on her and had full service records and I actually spoke to the service writer at the Porsche dealership where the female owner brought it in for by the book service.

So, I paid top of the market money for mine five years ago.

I have now put 40,000 more miles on her. And I could probably sell her for what I paid for her.

BUT! I have spent a LOT of money on preventative maintenance.

IMS Solution, two water pumps, two AOS, two sets of spark plugs, two sets of ignition coils, cam chain tensioners, clutch and flywheel, RMS, pads and rotors, and that doesn’t count all the wear items and convertible top work and aftermarket toys and other various items.

She has NOT been cheap.

But driving her is priceless.

I’d spend it all over again.

Good luck.

10/10ths why did you have to replace the coil packs twice during 40k..? I am curious as my 987CS went 105k with the original coils..

Last one on BAT went for 26k plus, before fees, no IMS done and only 15k less miles. ithad plenty of bidders too. I am biased as I own one, but I would not sell it for 22k.

They seem to have gone up in price lately. When I was looking for a Boxster last year, I remember seeing them for 2-3k CAD. above the regular 2004 S.
This one has been up for sale in Vancouver for months.
https://www.autotrader.ca/a/porsche/boxster/north%20vancouver/british%20columbia/19_11694905_/?showcpo=ShowCpo&ncse=no&orup=20_100_153&pc=L8E%20 6C5&sprx=-1
It has approx. 119.000 miles, asking approx. 23.500 USD, and it looks like it has a few dents.

$11,000 might get you one like this:
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1608428230.jpg

Now restored 'Flood Salvage' and under 50 k miles I'd still ask at least $15K, but in reality I plan to keep it until I don't drive anymore.

2004 SE 550 Spyder
 

Hi Jimbo - I own #1272 and I have been thrilled with the car. It’s my 3rd Boxster and I bought it one year ago, for a very reasonable price, and I will not likely ever lose money, nor will I ever sell it. I am the 3rd owner - the previous owner had the car for 12 yrs and he maintained the car exceedingly well, including the IMSB. You have to consider that these 550s come very well equipped, there were only 1953 made with only 500 being imported to the USA. Plus, the factory mods on the car are all very nice and make a difference. All of this makes this car a bit unique in the Boxster world. And it’s the last year of the admired first gen Boxsters. Assuming that these cars are well maintained and have a good documented history, with no stories, go for it. Good luck.

It's absolutely amazing what you've been able to do with this car.

Just sayin'...........

TO

BTW, a local PCA member bought one of these a few months ago for $12K. Great shape, 100K+ miles.

He uses it to autocross.

TO

Coil packs...
 

...Because of the engine location on the Boxster, the coil packs get splashed by water.

I drive the snot outta my car in all weather.

The coil packs tend to crack from exposure to water as they get shock cooled.

They are wear items on these cars.

The second set I installed was just preventative as I was replacing the plugs, so I had the old coils out, why not put new ones in?

I am pretty hard core with my preventative maintenance and my change intervals are sooner than most folks.

But that is why I don’t get stranded in Utah any 2am in a rainstorm.

I drive this car everywhere, all the time, in all weather.

Good luck.

2004 boxster
 

dave, what I dont understand if they only shipped 500 to the united states your number is 1272 how does this work, am I missing something here isnt 1272 higher than 500

2005 Boxster SE
 

Hi Jim - they did not necessarily ship the first 500 to the USA - they spread out their shipments all over the world, but ultimately they shipped only 500 in total to the USA.

Hi Jim,

The total worldwide 550SE production run was 1,953 of which 500 were randomly shipped to the US. The individual cars are numbered 0001 through 1953. There was no reserved range of issue numbers for the US.

*** just saw Dave’s answer posted while I was hitting ‘post reply’ button :-) ***

Thank you 10/10ths, it makes sense because in SoCal (sadly), we rarely see rain..
.

Gilles...
 

....I heard a song about that once, ”...it never rains in California, but man let me warn ya, it pours, man it pours...” Or something like that. :)

Cheers!

We own No. 0123. IMS done. Its our second one. We sold our first on BAT a couple years ago ( https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2004-porsche-boxster-s-500-anniversary/ ). Our current one has 36k miles and all service records. It needs a new headliner, which we haven’t gotten around to yet. Other than that, its pretty cherry. We are lookin at a cayman r, so we are about to list ours. If anyone is interested, let me know. Chad

I'm the second owner of #288. I really don't think I paid a big premium for mine over a nice '03 or '04 S. This is my dream Boxster. Since these came out I've completely lusted after one. I love the cocoa interior and top, and the solid red tail lights, and the wheels and exhaust tip and blah blah blah. Totally, this is my favorite model Boxster.

Mine also needs a headliner, which I haven't had done yet. I have an IMS Solution, deep sump kit, a ton of other maintenance parts, all ready to go. Actually, I was about to post in the 550 SE thread.

Even though I feel I didn't pay a premium for mine, to answer the original question of are they worth the extra money? I think so. It's a relatively cheap way into a numbered Porsche. They're a bit more special than a regular S, and the folks who know what they are really get excited when they see one.

For me, that cocoa interior alone would have been worth whatever extra it cost!

For what it’s worth I bought my 1st boxster in 07 a 1997 with a blown motor for 3.5k. Kept it until 2014 when I bought my 04 SE with 73k miles here in Canada for 8k.