Boxster ... Opinions Please!

[greido]

Hi,

I'm doing very low miles at the moment due to being in London for most of each week so was again thinking of getting something more fun for when I actually do some driving, so, having enjoyed my last Boxster many years ago I've been keeping my eye out for another and spotted this tonight, does anyone have any opinions on the car? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2011-Porsche- ... 3797&rt=nc
- I have a few reservations:
- My girlfriend is not too impressed by the colour, I quite like it but not convinced by the blue leather, will this limit resale?
- We will only keep this for around a year, how much could I realistically lose in depreciation? - think I'll do around 7,000 miles pa.

Any thoughts on spec, value, alternatives etc would be greatly appreciated.... I believe Mr H8OAG is the guru here for all things Boxster but I value all opinions!

Cheers,

Gordon

[tut]

Love the colour, great spec, pampered car, hard to see you finding a better one, but have never owned a Porsche.

I would expect his reserve to be at least £26K, but as you say, Iain is the man for both price and opinion as he owned one for a long time.

tut

[douglasgdmw]

Blue is such a nice colour for a Boxster , it surprises me that you do not see more of them about.

Couple of negatives:
- lack of official sports exhaust. DesignTek are well know so not much an issue
- always wary of people who put different makes of tyres on a sport car
- no Sports button (makes the accelerator etc more direct)
- turbo wheels do not look that nice and don't really suit that colour of Boxster
- blue leather/hood does limit resale as most people prefer black (also looks like the driver seat is starting to show its age as I can see some marks)

If the car is at the right price it will be fine but don't expect it to shift quickly when you come to sell as with that mileage a lot of people will be put off. The car will easily take it but their are so many Boxsters out their with much lower mileage that a lot of people will just put the extra money into a lower mileage car.

Although he says the car is due a minor service, I would check whether it also needs: clutch, brake fluid, brake pads as these can all add up.

Also found this one (not many options though and red is not everyone's favourite colour but I think it looks great and Iain will agree):
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/ ... 10/3692556



George

[Sanjøy]

£26k gets your similar from a dealer with a warranty.

http://locator.porsche.com/ipl-customer ... .ipl?cid=1

Not that I have been looking.

S

[H8OAG]

My research may not be as up to date as Sanjoy.......but would offer up the following:-

Blue and Navy are not the best combination for resale but not unattractive in this particular model.
Real world price is £21 - 22k on that spec
Trade price is around £19.5 - 20k.......but there are loads around at springtime
Check clutch on any Boxster irrespective of mileage.....they get progressivly stiffer and give your left quad a good work out.
It does not affect the operation but is a bit of a chore to drive around town
A new clutch is around £850 at a specialist and around a grand at a OPC.
Check carpets behind drivers seat and the carpet panel under each door.
Any damp ......walk away
Could be anything from door membranes/water channels/roof proofing which cause ingress.

Finally

You could lose yourself for hours on internet research around bore scoring issues.
If it bothers you, take out a warranty or buy from an OPC (two year warranty)

I am currently hunting down another for Summer fun and would thoroughly recommend them as a good all rounder

[greido]

Many thanks for all the replies, they were much appreciated, didn't bid on it in the end..... Iain's 'Real world' and trade valuations put me right off! .... Not to mention Amiee, she's an accountant and more than a little averse to paying over the odds for anything!
Question is now...... Where can I buy cars for 'Real world' prices? - I usually get a decent deal on private sales and bought at a few auctions but I have never really seen anything as keenly priced as Iain had mentioned so I'm now utterly intrigued..... So please feel free to share any secrets!
Incidentally, the highest bid on the Boxster was £24,650 and it didn't meet its reserve.

[mckeann]

Iains real world price is usually a million miles away from normal people's real world price. I wouldn't worry about it

[H8OAG]

No Secrets
Just do your research and locate the right car.
Simple arithmetic comes into play as well
If it books at £20k (trade)
Add around £2k to get a private sale price

Add around £4k for an independent retail sale

Add aound £6K for an OPC car which comes with a two year warranty


Get yourself an auction account such as BCA or Central Auctions and the appraisal system online grades the cars and lists all visible defects
Auction sites have CAP and Glass's guide prices on each vehicle listed

As I said before....plenty of them out there

[tut]

No way of finding out the reserve, but £26K was probably close.

tut

[Sanjøy]

No way of finding out the reserve, but £26K was probably close.

tut

DM the owner and make a bid, it will exclude eBay fees so they may bite.

[douglasgdmw]

Would also recommend that you trawl some of the more common forums where Boxster's may come up for sale (boxa.net etc). Similar to S.Elise's in that a lot of people will put a car on the forum before they post it on Ebay/Pistonheads/Autotrader etc.

Also try the Official Porsche Owners club forum as quite often a member has their car advertised their as well, although they do seem clued into the market so its unlikely you will get a bargain.

Unfortunately with the time of year it will make it harder to get a bargain (Sept-Feb is the best time).

George