Sell up for a Porsche?

mainsy · Post by **mainsy** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 8:25 pm

Cardinal sin?

I've had my s1 for over 4 years now, and whilst I still love it I've always had a hankering for getting something Porsche. However I'd be looking at the lower end of the price range, which leaves me thinking would I regret the change when it wouldn't the all singing all dancing model? I know the s1 is as basic as they come but its great as it is.

What would be your option at around the 12k mark? I know its not a lot to spend so I wonder if its worth it.

Boxster
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3397438.htm

Or an older 911
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3458350.htm

The 2+2 of the 911 would be handy and I want to stay convertible.

Am I being stupid? Ideas?

ryallm · Post by **ryallm** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:49 am

Personally I think all convertible 911s are just wrong, but a 996 soft top with a tiptronic box is unforgivable

. Remember this is not a clever DSG or even an automated manual - it is a conventional torque converter slush box. Possibly the least desirable 911 ever. Horrible!

A boxster is only maginally less uncool. For 12k the porker I'd go for is one of these http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/clas ... ort/337011 A proper drivers car, none of the hairdressery Boxster image, and unlikely to loose much value

Mark

mikeyb13 · Post by **mikeyb13** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:54 am

Must admit i love the new spider boxer

Stevoraith · Post by **Stevoraith** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:01 am

Sod the hairdresser Boxster image, anyone who perpetuates that nonsense has never driven one.

Personally I wouldn't touch a 996 tiptronic cab but go and try a Boxster, even a 2.7 like the one you posted will put a massive grin on your face.

It's a completely different car to an Elise (obvioulsy) so only you can decide if it suits you

max1966 · Post by **max1966** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:03 am

My 2p..............

Go for a Boxster, the spec on the one advertised looks good. I reckon the 2.7 allows you to drive the car harder more of the time but with cruise you should get reasonable MPG on longer journeys.

No experience of sport chrono and it is another thing that could cause issues but sure it makes for a 'firmer' more responsive ride, which coming from the S1 you will appreciate and miss in equal measures.

As for 911's in the price range a 996 Cabbie high mileage tippy may be about as undesirable as you could get which is why the prices are so low. Maybe a tippy targa is just as unpopular but IMO the 996/986 models now look pretty dated are looking very unpopular unless specials GT3/RS. Look at even TT's silly money for a car that 'good'.

There's no sin in wanting a bit more usability, without the compromise, of a mid engined sports car and the fully convertible Boxster is a more open top experience than the Elise. One to be tried at least for a change, you may well hanker after another Elise for the simplicity but your other half unless a serious petrolhead will appreciate the added practicality and comfort.

As for a 968CS, not a convertible, old and drivers car or not could involve oily hands. I would also disagree, the Boxster/Cayman has a great chassis, a proper drivers car in every respect, not hardcore but if you want to use one everyday, yep and should be reliable.

Anyway all IMO.............Gayman owner

still hanker for a Caterham though.

Dominic · Post by **Dominic** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:06 am

Stevoraith wrote:Sod the hairdresser Boxster image, anyone who perpetuates that nonsense has never driven one.

(Although it won't stop us trying to wind up Mr Boag)

Andy G · Post by **Andy G** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:09 am

Found a 60k, 2005 Boxster 987 with 60k on it for £11995 last night. Thats a lot of car for your budget.

Bloody well built, Clare's didnt miss a beat, and in many ways was 90% of the GT3 with 10% of the hassle. Great cars. Mr Boag was raving about his at Oulton park, and with the amount of different cars he's owned, the fact that he's keeping it signifies how easily these can get under your skin. He's also helped it breathe a bit more easily.

Will easily get 30mpg on a run, bit more brutal around town though.

The power and the build quality, especially on the roads where you live, wont have you missing the Elise for long.

Agree on the 911 front - i'd avoid that. Higher running costs, and no quicker. Get a C2 if you are wanting to consider a 996, but remember at that age, there can be some significant running costs, whereas the boxster is really good in that regard.

Still thinking about a convertible one for the wife when the 7 series go back, but they dont look right proportion wise to my eye.

Gooldie · Post by **Gooldie** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:14 am

Stevoraith wrote:Sod the hairdresser Boxster image, anyone who perpetuates that nonsense has never driven one.

Personally I wouldn't touch a 996 tiptronic cab but go and try a Boxster, even a 2.7 like the one you posted will put a massive grin on your face.

It's a completely different car to an Elise (obvioulsy) so only you can decide if it suits you

I agree, i bought a boxster for the girl friend recently and never expected to like it as much as i do. It really is a fantastic car, and unless you have actually driven one you wont know what you are missing out on.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:33 am

Andy G wrote:
Will easily get 30mph on a run, bit more brutal around town though.

Jeez that's fast!!

douglasgdmw · Post by **douglasgdmw** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:38 am

If it was me I would be looking at 2 options:
Boxster
Older 911 (80's style or 964)

The 996 is not well loved (lots of fears of engine issues with the early Gen 1 versions) and will depreciate considerably more over the years. The older 911's has hit the bottom of the depreciation curve (and could even appreciate). Unfortunately the 993's are a lot more expensive due to it being the run out air cooled version.

You could get higher running costs for the older 911's as well (especially if compared to the Boxster) but remember there are alot of people out there who have emphatically maintained them and if you buy wisely (with an independant Porsche inspection) then its should not cost you vast sums. However what you are paying out for in maintenance will be considerably less than the 996 in depreciation over the years.

George

Ps I have a whole load of Porsche Independant Dealer weblist sites that I can send you (compiled them when searching for the 964). Can also recommend a very good Porsche specialist to do any vehicle checks (rather than get your fingers burned).

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:56 am

ryallm wrote: A boxster is only maginally less uncool. For 12k the porker I'd go for is one of these http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/clas ... ort/337011 A proper drivers car, none of the hairdressery Boxster image, and unlikely to loose much value

Mark

Quite possibly the biggest load of tosh I've ever read on here, even athough I do love the CS

Image/'coolness' doesn't come into the equation when I'm buying a car but obviously it's the driving factor for some which is a shame

But for what it's worth, if you are worried about 'image', I've had several Boxsters and several Lotus products over the years and people are a lot more positive towards the Stuttgart product. I couldn't care either way, personally, because I prefer to focus on what the car offers to me. . . . and I love both Boxster and Elise.

Andy G wrote:Found a 60k, 2005 Boxster 987 with 60k on it for £11995 last night. Thats a lot of car for your budget.

Bloody well built, Clare's didnt miss a beat, and in many ways was 90% of the GT3 with 10% of the hassle. Great cars. Mr Boag was raving about his at Oulton park, and with the amount of different cars he's owned, the fact that he's keeping it signifies how easily these can get under your skin. He's also helped it breathe a bit more easily.

Will easily get 30mpg on a run, bit more brutal around town though.

The power and the build quality, especially on the roads where you live, wont have you missing the Elise for long.

Agree on the 911 front - i'd avoid that. Higher running costs, and no quicker. Get a C2 if you are wanting to consider a 996, but remember at that age, there can be some significant running costs, whereas the boxster is really good in that regard.

Still thinking about a convertible one for the wife when the 7 series go back, but they dont look right proportion wise to my eye.

This.

If you love your S1 then you'll love a 987, they do get under your skin.

Regards,

Jeremy

shooomer · Post by **shooomer** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:57 am

I seen a nice blue 968 CS Pistonheads

H8OAG · Post by **H8OAG** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:42 pm

Andy G wrote:Found a 60k, 2005 Boxster 987 with 60k on it for £11995 last night. Thats a lot of car for your budget.

Bloody well built, Clare's didnt miss a beat, and in many ways was 90% of the GT3 with 10% of the hassle. Great cars. Mr Boag was raving about his at Oulton park, and with the amount of different cars he's owned, the fact that he's keeping it signifies how easily these can get under your skin. He's also helped it breathe a bit more easily.

Will easily get 30mpg on a run, bit more brutal around town though.

The power and the build quality, especially on the roads where you live, wont have you missing the Elise for long.

Agree on the 911 front - i'd avoid that. Higher running costs, and no quicker. Get a C2 if you are wanting to consider a 996, but remember at that age, there can be some significant running costs, whereas the boxster is really good in that regard.

Still thinking about a convertible one for the wife when the 7 series go back, but they dont look right proportion wise to my eye.

The Case for the Boxster?

I am struggling to think of another car that offers you so much for so little financial outlay. It is a great all rounder with a chassis that Messrs Cruickshank,Gordon and WankR would not get bored of exploiting.
Not really the ideal ladies car ........as anyone who has driven one will have noticed a very heavy clutch action and a deliberate gearchange . The steering also has an unassisted feel with plenty weight.
I wanted a bit more ooomph in my 3.2S and changed the artificially strangled Air Intake for a 997 one. (The Porsche marketeers still strangle the Gayman and Coxster for fear of making it quicker that its 997 equivalent.)
This relatively simple Mod coupled with a sports exhaust gives an easy 30BHP more and the desirable "chainsaw wail"........ which incidentally gives me " a bit of a semi" at 5000 rpm

The ride on 19" rims can be a bit harsh for everyday use.......even after a Lotus, so I would opt for smaller rims. The tyres are £350 a corner for N Series so I suspect that there will be relative cheapness in running17/18" rims . With respect to servicing , there are a few longstanding independants and I have used everyone one of them over the years with varied degrees of success.
Current favourite is based in Stirling which is nice and central for most.

It will do the job until the girls are grown up and the horses are gone........then I will have the GT3 or Evora that I hanker after.

There are plenty cars for sale, so choose judiciously
Drop me a line if you want a help/more info

Paula
I recently drove a 968 CS and it is a classic in every sense of the word. Overall I was disappointed as It felt old fashioned and lumbering compared to today's cars. I so wanted to like it a second time around as I owned a purple (Amaranth Violet) Sport in 1994 and thought it was the knees of the bee.

douglasgdmw · Post by **douglasgdmw** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:58 pm

Thought I would post these up as hopefully they will be useful for you locating a Porsche (whatever variant). These websites were on my daily trawl list when I was looking for the 911 but as they are Porsche specialists they have all types of Porsche for sale:

Chappell http://www.chappellsportscars.com/
Dove House http://www.dovehousecars.co.uk/
GMund http://www.gmundcars.com/website/home.html
Lewis James http://www.lewisjamesporsche.co.uk/
MR 911 http://www.used-porsche.co.uk/
Paragon http://www.paragon.gb.com/
Classic Cars General Classic Car sale site http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/
Specialist Cars of Malton http://www.specialistcarsltd.co.uk/
Strasse http://www.strasse.co.uk/index.asp
911 Virgin http://www.911virgin.com/
Car & Classic General Classic Car sale site http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/
Paul Stephens http://www.paul-stephens.com/
Porsche Club GB http://www.porscheclubgb.com/ Some members put their cars up for sale here
Paul Devyea http://www.pauldevyea.co.uk/
Hartech http://www.hartech.org/
EPorsch http://www.eporsch.co.uk/index.htm
Zentrum http://www.zentrum.co.uk/
Portiacraft http://www.portiacraft.com/cars.asp
911 Sport http://www.911sport.co.uk/index.php
Stirlings http://www.stirlings.co.uk/
Cridfords http://www.cridfords.co.uk/
RSJ Sports http://www.rsjsportscars.co.uk/
Northway http://www.northway.co.uk/
Kenny Dunn http://www.kennydunn.co.uk/

Obviously PistonHeads and Autotrader are the more prominant sites you will find some stuff.

If you are looking for Porsche forums I would recommend the following (some more 911 biased):
911uk http://911uk.com/
Impact Bumpers http://impactbumpers.com/
Rennlist http://forums.rennlist.com/
964 UK Info Site http://www.964uk.com/html/main.htm

I would definitely recommend you get an inspection done for the Porsche, I used 2 companies and based upon these inspections I would recommend Peter Morgan (purely as his report seemed a lot more detailed, however they both have a very good reputation)
Peter Morgan Inspection Company http://porscheinspections.com/porsche_inspections.php
Phillip Raby http://www.findaporsche.com/pre-purchase-inspections/ (Note Philip Raby is the editor of Total 911 Magazine)

Happy trawling

Ps If you need any information then more than happy to help (or even if you want to see the 964)

Gooldie · Post by **Gooldie** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:43 pm

H8OAG wrote:I wanted a bit more ooomph in my 3.2S and changed the artificially strangled Air Intake for a 997 one. (The Porsche marketeers still strangle the Gayman and Coxster for fear of making it quicker that its 997 equivalent.)
This relatively simple Mod coupled with a sports exhaust gives an easy 30BHP more and the desirable "chainsaw wail"........ which incidentally gives me " a bit of a semi" at 5000 rpm

what sports exhaust have you fitted, and roughly how much was the TB upgrade?

Was watching this one on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250935639182? ... 706wt_1185 went fro just £225 kicking myself for not bidding on it.

Scottish Elises

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