Thinking about a Boxster... - Page 2 - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Frodo · 12-16-2007, 05:37 AM

Quote:

"and how in the hell do I get that picture of my dog sticking her tongue out off of my avatar? I can't remember how I got it in there to begin with."

Posted by LoveBunny.

LoveBunny I was just joking about changing the avatar. I LOVE dogs!

I grew up during the heyday of the muscle cars of the '60s and the '70s, never at that time in my life able to swing the big V-8 some of my friends had (the Chevelles, the Roadrunnders, the GTXs, the Chargers, etc). When I went car shopping a couple years ago, this still influenced me. Even though I was more interested in the handling and the overall roadster appeal, I guess that's why I knew I wanted something with some decent HP to it. "Torque is a good thing," as a friend of my once so simply put it. I knew I wanted the 'S' and never even drove a base model. OTOH, mines an '01; if you're looking to get a newer one, some of the base models have almost the HP of mine.

At least one of the times you test drive, take your dad and a pet carrier with you, to see if they'll "fit" well with the car. Your dog's pretty small---I don't think you'll probably have any problems fitting the relatively small carrier that (s)he would need in there. I take "Jake" my springer spaniel with me all the time---he's about 60 lbs, though I just throw a blanket over the seat. (When we go hiking together, keeping out of mud, water, leaves, etc. is not particularly high on his priority list.)

LoveBunny · 12-16-2007, 01:35 PM

Well, my avatar is kind of huge. I just would at least like to shrink it a little. Every time I come on here I see this huge pic of my dog with her tongue out.

She is pretty small so her fitting in the car wouldn't be a problem. The carrier she usually rides in is a little larger crate that I put in my back seat with a soft bed inside. I'm so paranoid about getting into an accident with her in the car that I think she's safest that way. I'm sure it would fit in the front seat of a Boxster though. I'd want to be sure I could get it in the trunk so when she's not with me it'll be there.

I'll have to see what the difference is in how the S drives versus non-S Boxster, and versus the others too. I honestly don't need a super fast car. I just want one that is fun to drive and handles well. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of open windy roads around here to really enjoy driving on. Most of my driving is in the city. The Porsche dealer happens to be in a really busy suburban area, so driving around there would give me an idea of how they drive in traffic. I'm hoping to go tomorrow.

Frodo · 12-16-2007, 02:27 PM

You'll want your carrier not too big, otherwise you'll risk banging into the door or the paint right behind the door getting it into the front seat. And I hate to say this, but I don't think you're likely to get a carrier into either trunk (unless you can find some sort of collapsable one). The back one would be too shallow vertically. The front one's a possibility, but, short of taking out the spare tire, I think even that's going to be difficult. Even without the spare, don't think you'll be able to get anything bigger than a small to (possibly?) medium sized carrier up front.

They do have seat belt/harness arrangements that can be used to strap dogs in the front seat, but I've not used one before so I can't give you any sort of useful opinion on them.

Don't worry about your avatar being "huge." Guys really like women with big avatars.

LoveBunny · 12-16-2007, 04:26 PM

oh, might have to look for a new dog carrier if I end up buying a car, but I'm sure I could figure something out. The harnesses never worked for her because she gets out of all of them. She's even gotten out of a dog carrier that closed with zippers and a snap.

What will be a huge problem though is if I can't get the case I carry my equipment in for work into either of the trunks. It's in a rolling suitcase type thing, and it is supposed to be able to be used as a carry-on on a plane, so I hope the trunk(s) would at least accomodate that.

LoveBunny · 12-17-2007, 04:32 PM

Well, I went for a test drive today. And I drove a new Cayman and a 2005 911...no Boxster! They had no new Boxsters on the lot and maybe one used one I could have driven. But by the time I got through with the other two it was dark and getting late. The supply was pretty limited on what they had to drive. I did like the Cayman and 911 though. So I want to go back when I have some more time and drive a Boxster.

I liked them both, but lean a little towards liking the 911 more, but part of that could have been because I drove the Cayman first and haven't driven a stick in years and was a little more comfortable with it after driving the Cayman. I want to go back and definitely drive the Boxster. Even though I liked the Cayman, I'd rather a Boxster. And while I somewhat liked the 911 more, I think the price difference is enough to make me scratch that one off my list, at least for the time being. The idea of having a convertible sounds pretty appealing, especially since it's several thousand less than a 911.

kimbo · 02-02-2008, 05:35 AM

I'm an engineer so I analyzed the this 'what to buy problem' till I got a headache for months. First it was buy or build(cobra, etc.). I didn't want to wait so it was buy but giving up the brut force of a cobra was tough. So then it was 911 or boxster (no cheaper used Caymans are in the market yet) and newer or older. I felt that mid engine was preferable to rear engine and after watching a couple of Porsche autocrosses the flat cornering of the boxster was amazing compared to older 911's. (theory confirmed) I preferred the look of a convertible boxster to the convertible 911. Arthritis and Atlanta traffic made think seriously about the tiptronic. I targeted a range 01 to 03 black and S (having backed off on the cobra I still wanted what ever HP I could get). I looked and test drove, rinse and repeat, etc. Disappointed nothing was doing it for me, too many miles, split rear windows bad CarFax reports, etc. so I decided to look up year or two to get some comparison points. Local Dealer, Jim Ellis, had a dark blue 2004 S at 24K miles the CarFax showed they had been sitting on it for about 4 months. They agreed it needed to go so they offered to Certify it, two years additional warranty, put new tires on it and bring everything up to snuff. Moral, don't ignore the orphans, maybe it's just a less popular color, you will know the right one when you see it. BTW, a top down six speed screaming petal to the metal blast is better than a whole cabinet full of pills when it comes to aches and pains.

LoveBunny · 02-02-2008, 04:44 PM

Well, I had narrowed it down to the Boxster or Cayman because the price jump for a 911 was just too much for me to handle right now. I liked the look of the Cayman, the shape just seeming so attractive. I hadn't yet driven a Boxster yet. I went to the dealer and drove a 2004 Boxster, and even though I want a new one, that made my mind for me. As soon as I put the top down I was like, "This is the car I want!" So I have ordered a 2008 Boxster. It it scheduled to be produced on Feb. 11, so hopefully I will have it by the end of March.