Should I walk away?

Steedie

Steedie

Steedie

Man of Honour
Joined
29 Jun 2004
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21,639
Location
Oxfordshire
Hi all

I've been looking at new cars for the last few months, I do want to get away from my diesel and I do want to get something a bit sporty for a year or two to get it out my system

I decided a while ago on 2 cars, a Boxster or a 350z roadster. Again, I want to get the soft top stage out of my system

I've basically been looking at Pistonheads and Autotrader so far, not really looking seriously, but yesterday I noticed a local dealer had a Boxster in so went to look at it

It's older than I originally planned to get, 2001, but not by much, I have been looking at the pre facelifts mostly as I don't want to spend too much as I only intend keeping it for a year or two tops. But apart from the age, it's exactly how I wanted it. Red and with a good contrasting interior. It's low mileage and in absolutely mint condition. The paint on it is superb and the leather is also great for a car this age

Here's the link

Basically, I'm not going to be paying the full whack for it, it's not worth £9k to me, it's pretty low on options, but then I don't care too much about fancy gadgets on a car like this, but providing I get it for 8, is it an alright deal?

Anything I should be worrying about? Asking about?

And no Fox, it's not an impulse this time :p and no I haven't committed to it yet
 
An old Boxster is going to be quite a commitment financially - it might be cheap to buy but it remains a Porsche Boxster - for an idea of how much stuff costs look at how it cost another guy on here almost £1k to change his lights over to the facelift ones.

Personally I don't see the point in sinking huge amounts of money into an older car like that. I'd get something newer and far less fussy.

Something like a 350Z, perhaps :p

Though I've no ida what sort of 350Z £8k gets you.
 
I'd get it with a years warranty so hopefully wouldn't need to invest any money into it other than tyres (although they're brand new Michellins now) and the other expected expenses

350z for around 10-12k gets you a good one, but a part of me thinks I don't want to spend that much when I know in a couple of years tops I'm not going to own it

EDIT - Also, something that surprised me, my insurance is £100 cheaper :eek:
 
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See I did think about the lights, but I can honestly say it doesn't bother me as much on a red car. On any other colour where it stands out far more, I would agree but it really isn;t too much of an issue there
 
Before you buy that invest a few hundred quid on a pre purchase inspection by a Porsche specialist, or better yet have it taken to a Porsche specialist and get it inspected. Peter Morgan is the best mobile Porsche inspection bod i can think of.

Forget the warranty you will be getting because it wont be worth a toss, thats why the inspection is so important.

If it were me i would avoid red because it will be harder to sell when you sell it, its also the worst colour trim, savanha.

I would also get a 3.2 not a 2.7 they dont cost any more to run are better to drive.

For comparison here is one sadly sold now, it went for 7k from the best Porsche indy in my opinion.

http://www.911virgin.com/porscheforsale/270/9863.2BoxsterS/
 
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I concur with Mark - get a 3.2S and get it inspected. I loved mine except for the £5K engine rebuild required when the timing chain let go :(

You can de-tango the rear lights for less than £200 with aftermarket parts, but the fronts are a different story as Fox says. Go test drive one and you'll fall in love with the way it drives and you'll forgive the lack of options, slightly dating interior etc. Suprisingly practical too for a two seater with 'boots' front and back.

Decent owners forum here for more info:

http://www.boxa.net/forum/index.php?act=idx
 
I've test driven two now, that one and a 2004 one. I absolutely loved them both. I was only able to drive with the roof down on the second one, but it was so good, roof down wind in your hair, even though it was freezing :p

It was weird at first missing the torque of my car when you plant your foot in the lower gears, but to counter that, the amount of times I was going way faster than I thought I would be as it's quite deceiving, and it's just so so nice to be able to plant your foot for more than 2 seconds without having to change gear

I'm going to speak to them and see what the best they can do on the price is then make my mind up from there. I will continue looking as well :)

Cheers guys
 
Steedie said:
I've test driven two now, that one and a 2004 one. I absolutely loved them both. I was only able to drive with the roof down on the second one, but it was so good, roof down wind in your hair, even though it was freezing :p

It was weird at first missing the torque of my car when you plant your foot in the lower gears, but to counter that, the amount of times I was going way faster than I thought I would be as it's quite deceiving, and it's just so so nice to be able to plant your foot for more than 2 seconds without having to change gear

I'm going to speak to them and see what the best they can do on the price is then make my mind up from there. I will continue looking as well :)

Cheers guys
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Not being funny but did you listen to anything that was said?

That red thing is 2500 quid to dear, forget the low miles they mean nothing at that age, duff it, find another, and seriously, get it inspected. They are a car with the potential to land you with a bill the same value as the car if you buy the wrong one.
 
[TW]Fox;18581761 said:
An old Boxster is going to be quite a commitment financially - it might be cheap to buy but it remains a Porsche Boxster - for an idea of how much stuff costs look at how it cost another guy on here almost £1k to change his lights over to the facelift ones.

Personally I don't see the point in sinking huge amounts of money into an older car like that. I'd get something newer and far less fussy.

Something like a 350Z, perhaps :p

Though I've no ida what sort of 350Z £8k gets you.
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Yeah, that was me.

OK, my take on it, after buying a similar age 2.7.....

Positives

Its a fantastic car to drive. Get on the right road (luckily I live in the Dales) and its an absolute pleasure, top up or down. For people that actually appreciate handling rather than just a spec sheet.

Quality interior - my 10 year old Porsche interior looks like new, and is far far better than my mates 2005 350Z with similar mileage.

Engine noise - absolutely fantastic, especially above 4500rpm and fitted with the sports exhaust.

Very little performance difference with the 3.2 - test drove both and couldn't tell the difference. Might make a difference on track days, especially the brakes, but otherwise very little - both fast compared to my Focus and slow compared to my Bike.

Negatives - As Fox says they aren't cheap to run - mine was £48k new so it costs comparable to that to maintain. Mine has been completely reliable, but still cost me a quite a bit for a service - a lot of it optional but all parts that are just general wear and woudn't be covered by a warranty. I've spent about £2k on mine in a year, mostly having a suspension refresh, geo alignment and new aircon radiators. It drives so much better now though it was completely worth it.

Overall I love my car and have no plans to change it for a couple of years. I definitely prefer it to a 350Z which I've driven a few times - the 350z might have the power advantage, but its 400kg heavier, feels very plasticky and, well, just more cumbersome than the Porsche. Haven't driven an S2000 to compare to. The Boxster is also more practical with more boot space.

I'd say it depends on your budget. Definitely have a couple of grand in a fund and be prepared to spend it and really enjoy the car. If you cant do that then you wont enjoy the ownership. A recent survey on Boxa.net suggests about £1k to £2k per year should cover running costs.

Oh, and Marks suggestion of a decent inspection is also advised :)
 
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Seriously an inspection is the do and die of buying a Porsche, the price of the car is less important, everything is less important because if you buy the wrong one its Surrey all out.


That one i linked to at 911Virgin is the perfect sort of car to buy, a few extra miles so its cheap, but probably had everything thats going to go wrong done already, from a good indy that just dont sell sheds, probably get your money back in 2 years on that, its at the bottom now for a nice car.
 
DiamondMark said:
That one i linked to at 911Virgin is the perfect sort of car to buy, a few extra miles so its cheap, but probably had everything thats going to go wrong done already, from a good indy that just dont sell sheds, probably get your money back in 2 years on that, its at the bottom now for a nice car.
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How much was it as it only says Deposit Taken now :(
 
Going to see a 02 plate, Boxster S, Black with cream interior on Saturday. Well specced out too and comes with face lift lights

I turned down the other one based on advice here and I think it would have needed a lot of work. Test drove a different one the weekend just gone and it had MAF issues (ran out of juice after 70), they said they'd sort that though, other than that it was fine but just didn't do it for me as much as I thought, the grey with grey interior was too dull

This one looks good though, full Porsche service history. 1 owner and well looked after by the sounds of it.

Trouble is, again the price is a tiny bit high, close to 11k for a 02 plate, has anyone got any tips on getting the price down? Methods to use, like the old "I'm going to see another car today" trick and so on, as I definitely want to try and get it down to at least 10.

p.s - Providing I decide to go ahead with it, I've sorted an inspection with a well respected guy round here, Wrighttune, he's got a really good reputation with Porsches, only deals with them and has 30 years experience working with them
 
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Yeah I've run far from that one :)

Although the fact it's red being a negative thing surprises me as I love them in red, red and black are the only colours I'd go for
 
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