Boxsters

[chopper]

Hi all

I am considering buying a 986 Boxster, I have around 7k, there are plenty on the web sites for sale, are there any special sites, that are away from the usual Auto Trader, Piston Heads etc, I am unsure of the major difference between the 2.5 and the 2.7, is the jump that great, also what is the differences, other than brakes on the S?

Thanks everyone in advance

 

[SidewaysSteve]

I was in a similar position, I opted for teh 2.7 due to more power and the fact that the 2.7 is a newer car and has a slightly revised spec.

You will be hard pushed to find a GOOD 2.7 for £7k though I got mine for around that and had to do an engine rebuild, which for many would be a task costing well in excess of £3000 depending on how you go about it.

If I were to sell mine on now with its spec and history on a 2000 W reg i would be looking for no less than £9000

For £7000 you should get a very clean and well looked after 2.5, At the end of teh day they are all nice cars, but look out for any signs of oil leaks underneath as you could end up with a serious bill !

Dont worry too much about service history either, mine has full dealership history and it still managed to have serious problems. Buying a good car goes WAY beyond a book with some stamps in it, many people do their own servicing these days and there is no reason to say a dealer serviced car is better than a home serviced one, if anything a home serviced car is likely to be better because the type of person who does their own work is usually more likely to take greater care of the car in the first place.

I have seen some stunning cars in dreadfull conditions being taken into dealerships for servicing, lots of people who use garages tend to just use the car and get otehr people to sort it and clean it and for me thats not the type of person I would purchase a car from.

 

[chopper]

Thanks Steve, is the 2.5 much slower than the 2.7? my thoughts were to get a really good 2.5, good spec etc, some people say the 25 is a bit slow, but they have probaly not driven one

 

[bdheng]

Hi

I also think you'll struggle to get a GOOD boxster for £7k.

When I was doing my own search a few weeks ago, I typed in boxster sales into Google and trawled through each of the websites. A lot have the same cars, but sites like Exchange & Mart threw up some odd different ones.

Good hunting - well worth while the search (and persevering for the "right" one - not the first one)

 

[chopper]

I will have to keep a good look out and resist the temptation to buy the first one, does any one have a view on the difference in performance and the different spec of an S

 

[thboxster]

Yes, don't be too tempted to buy the first one you see.

7k might be a bit tight to find a great car, however, certainly on PistonHeads there are a number of apparently good deals for perhaps 10, and i've seen 2.7s and the odd S for that money.

So in theory your money shouldn't be far out but you should look hard and carefully if that's the budget you're sticking to.

Happy hunting.

 

[T200]

Hi I agree with Tony looking is all of the fun as owning and driving it is the best of the fun I would however make sure you have some money left over if your purchase is in need of a job or two when you get it. As most will tell you they do need care and attention, which in some cases aint cheap. In my first year of owning mine I had two repairs on it and it cost about a grand so look, enjoy and keep a little spare cash if you can for the raining day

Good luck

Chris

 

[gonzosquidgy]

Hi. I had a budget last year of around £10k and picked up a 1997 2.5 for £6.5 from ebay and have loved every minute of ownership. I may have been lucky but apart from service and MOT it's not cost me a penny. My biggest expense, however, was a new glass hood due to me opening the roof during the frost. This was also purchased off ebay for less than half price and car now looks as new. Lots of detailing and polishing won me the concours at Blenheim Palace last year and I now have the bug. I agree there are a lot of "dogs" on the market at highly inflated prices so shop around and don't buy the first car. (I bought the 2nd car I saw). Happy Boxtering. John

 

[911sse]

ORIGINAL: gonzosquidgy

Hi. I had a budget last year of around £10k and picked up a 1997 2.5 for £6.5 from ebay and have loved every minute of ownership. I may have been lucky but apart from service and MOT it's not cost me a penny. My biggest expense, however, was a new glass hood due to me opening the roof during the frost. This was also purchased off ebay  for less than half price and car now looks as new. Lots of detailing and polishing won me the concours at Blenheim Palace last year and I now have the bug. I agree there are a lot of "dogs" on the market at highly inflated prices so shop around and don't buy the first car. (I bought the 2nd car I saw). Happy Boxtering. John 

Which ebay seller did you get your roof from?

 

[gonzosquidgy]

Hi, bought my glass upgrade hood back in January on a buy-it-now or offers. I paid £325 + £16 postage from J.C.Automotives, although I believe the offer price was £425. Email is runnystock@hotmail.com If you type in Boxster hoods on ebay they should come up as advertising all the time. I had it fitted by my local servicing garage for £100 although he said would charge more next time! This was a great saving on £725 (cheapest) from other sources and nearly £1,000 from a Porsche dealership. Must add that the hood is brand new and not used and really finishes my car off a treat, unfortunately didn't come with wiring for the heated window but looking to buy from Porscheshop for around a tenner. Good luck. John

 

[SidewaysSteve]

Well I have driven all 3,

the 2.5, the 2.7 and the 3.2 S

The 3.2 is awesome, but I felt that for my budget at the time it was stretching it a little far (but then I had to build an engine so it would have worked out teh same anyway !)

The 2.5's are still great little cars and feel lively enough but I was moving down to the boxster from a 600 bhp GTR so it was nowhere near enough for me !

I ended up opting for the 2.7 as I felt it was a good middle ground and for the money I had I managed to get a really good spec whilst still having spare cash for some bits and bobs. I have now just bought a set of 18" carrera rims for her which I would not have been able to do had I went for a Boxster S.

There are noticeable differences in power, however for me the main thing I wish the 2.7 had was not the extra power the S has but the LSD.

As my name suggests I do like to go sideways, I used to participate in various drift events and like to get the tail out at trackdays on a regular basis but its much harder in my Boxster due to it having the standard open diff [&o]

For me even despite coming from some big power jap cars the 2.7 was powerfull enough. I think had I not had some crazy power cars in teh past though that a good 2.5 would have been fine too.