Planet 9

Hi everyone. While I am not new to the forum. I don't post all that much... so most of you don't know me. In any case I would like some friendly input if any of you would give an opinion.

I trade in my 2002 Corvette (that I loved) when it hit 100,000 miles last year. I was going through some life changes and sold a few things and was looking forward to getting out of the rattled plastic car that used to be so perfect. In any case, I saw a 2005 Porsche Boxster for sale at a local dealer in Texas and I took it for a test drive. I bought it that day. The handling was better than my Z51 packaged Corvette and the stereo (Bose) was better than the Bose stereo in my trade in. I found the seats and interior much more comfortable and I was extremely impressed with the car. I felt what it lacked in power it made up for in many other areas.

Well, being the person that I am and I am sure many of you can relate, I am not happy with a stock vehicle. I wanted more out of the Boxster. A couple months after buying it I put it in storage and left on yet another deployment to the middle east (here now).... since then I have been building a list of the things I want to do to the car and at the same time.. craving a C6 Zo6. I have been quite torn between spending a chunk of change to get the power and performance out of my Boxster and trading it because I have really grown to dislike the rear of the car extremely. No matter how much stuff I change out on that car for looks or power, I can't get over this look of a convertable with a crazy looking back side. Call me crazy but it's how I feel. It makes me sick. So I started thinking more and more about the Corvette, then back to the Boxster, then the Corvette and so on and so forth. After two attempts to sell the Boxster on eBay for well below what I owe.... I gave up.

Then I started browsing on here a lot more and reading and I started craving a Cayman. Going back to a plastic car (even with 505hp) just kind of makes me upset. Thinking about the cheap interior on the Corvette and how comfortable I feel in the Boxster really got me thinking. So I started internet browsing for a Cayman. The Cayman S has much better looks, power, the same solid interior, amazing handling.. all the stuff most of you would agree on. Why go to a similarly priced Corvette? Well I am upside down on trade in value about $9500 and that makes me a little bit sick too.

So all in all I am waiting on some quotes from some Porsche dealers in Texas for my trade in. I found a CS in Dallas with all the right stuff for me and low miles for $44,900 at Park Place Porsche. I haven't began price haggling yet and any input on a fair price for this car would be great. 2008 CS, Manual Trans, 18,500 miles, black with beige, bose, quite a few nice options but no chrono.

Reading everything I have just written, what would you do in my shoes?

1. Focus my attention and spend $17 or $18k on my Boxster and get the thing running fast and agile and looking good minus that ugly backside that I will never get over.

2. Trade in and take the loss, not be able to spend money on the car for a couple years but have a beautiful 2008(ish) CS for a few hundred more a month (which I can afford no worries).

3. Something else?

Thanks for your time and input!

I do understand about the Corvettes. I had a C5 and drove it for 55,000 miles. It started to get a bit tired after around 40,000 miles. I have no real desire for another one though loved it while I had it. I have an 08 CS bought new and love it. I am moving to a 2012 CR currently being built and deliver sometime in March. I think a Boxster S to Cayman S would be a tougher call. My POV is if you have a base Boxster and are thinking of moving to a CS, it is a solid move.

To clarify.. it is a base model. I should have put that up above.

Thanks for the input Ronald. I really appreciate it.

First, thank you for serving our country.

As for your question... what I wouldn't do is put several thousands of dollars into a car that you don't appreciate aesthetically. A turbo kit will get you a lot more power, but if you can't get past the looks, will you still want to unload it?

Thanks for serving our Country!!!!

In my opinion I would go to the Cayman it is a great car and if you like the look you wouldn't look back.

You deserve any car you want for serving our country!!!!

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bxstr

Cars-

2009 BMW 335i Xdrive Coupe Space Grey Metallic
2003 Porsche Boxster-Lapis Blue Metallic (SOLD)

Agree, I drove a base Cayman before I bought my CS and it is a completely different animal. I would say the CS for a couple of years would make you the happier of the different outcomes.
Besides how many Vette's do you see on the road compared to Caymans?
Keeps you in a great group of people and machines. I mean no offense to the Corvette crowd but it just isn't the same.
best of luck with your decision and thanks for your service.
Regards,
Justin

I had a 2002 C5 with H/C...the whole nine yards and I thought I was in love; it was a great car and fast as hell. Eventually it started to get to be too much and I wanted something more refined and something I could actually look forward to driving everyday. I traded the vette in and took somewhat of a bath on it (a given with a modified car). I picked up a beautiful midnight blue/sand beige '08 base under the original warranty for $32k this past November. I couldn't be happier and like you said the lack of power is made up for by everything else. The Corvette has its purpose and I'll eventually get a C6 Z06 as I am still into them but you have to realize you're paying for an engine (virtually indestructible when modded btw if done right) not a fancy interior or all that extra engineering/quality that comes with a Porsche. And BTW the new Vette is coming so those C6 Z06's will be dropping in price really fast really soon. The Porsche will hold value better.

Having said all that, if I had the chance to reverse my actions I wouldn't give the Cayman back. I never particularly cared for the boxsters ('cept the new 981) so I hear you on that. If I were you I'd try to hold out for a buyer for the boxster even if it takes a little more time and price reduction. DO NOT mod that boxster if you're not in love with it, you might as well burn your money. I had to roll a little of the debt over to the Porsche but if you can afford it which you already made clear you can then I'd rather be happy with what I have then "settle".

Hope that helped.

i vote for getting the Cayman S too, the amount of money you are planning to spend is not going to make you like the look of the car any better, and probably open up a can of worms on more upgrades or problems. I sold my 08 C6 vette, i tried to like it and it was a blast drive, but if you like german cars you will never by happy with a vette as the replacement (vettes are nice cars, just two different types of sport cars) and yes the interior is not on-par with the rest of the car.

Or hang-in there a while longer the new c7 vette is coming and maybe they will seriously address the interior once and for all...
Be safe over there

Joshua,
I agree with the advice that you should not sink money into a car you dont like the looks of. You will still be unhappy. I would advise you not to trade in your car, but to sell it on your own. I say this from recent personal experience. Last month I moved from a 2002 996 to a 2009 CS. I talked to my local dealer and was offered $12,000 for my 996. It has 75k miles on it and had a 1 year old new factory engine (not a rebuild). I laughed, got mad and walked out to the parking lot. Got out my Ipad and took 3 pictures of the car. I listed it on Craig's List in minutes. 30 minutes later it was sold for 26k. I then searched the country and found a great CS in WA and purchased it. I couldn't be happier. Anyways, my long-winded point is, try to sell the car yourself and buy what you want. In the long run you will be more satisfied.

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AZKman
2009 Cayman S, Midnight Blue, Softronic, PSS9, BB exhaust, PorscheMesh

Agree. This is part of the total experience of owning a car. To me the Boxster looks great, whereas with the Cayman it is more of a love affair.

Also, the '05 Boxster to '08 CS jump should net you +50 hp (and some torque), which is a healthy power bump.

I vote number 2.

Good luck!

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Gustaf, PCS 12498
2011 987110 B4:AM 342 409 475 482 509 635 810 CNJ MT

Wow! You guys are great!! And fast too might I add. This really helped a lot. Each and everyone of you had great points and I noticed a big trend here.

1. We've got some Corvette people here that feel like me. I loved the car but I got to the point that I didn't look forward to driving it anymore. Rattle rattle squeek squeek. I miss it. But I miss the car I bought, not what it became.

2. You mostly all seem to vote CS (or new vette, which I am not sure a C7 is going to do it for me) and that makes me more confident in the pending decision. You have successfully broken me from my idea of modding my Boxster. I think I just needed to hear it from someone else. The CS definitely seems to be the way to go. It's such a good looking car too. I wish I would have found one in the beginning. (got to love those impulse buys)

Sometimes I think I am sick in the head for not being happy with a Boxster!! My girlfriend drives a Saturn with no hubcaps and 150,000 miles and she won't even let me change the brakes... why can't I be happy with a Boxtser? Ahah!

As far as selling it out right goes. I completely agree. The trade in offers have been ridiculous. I owe $26k on the car and I am getting $10k less than that every where. I listed the car on craigslist and didn't even get a call. I put it on ebay with all the trimmings twice in the past 2 months and didn't get bids higher than $17,500 on one and $14,000 on the other. I was ready to accept $22k for the car and just pay the rest off and start fresh but I didn't even get close to that. Below that it's almost worth it to trade in and finance the missing bit for lack of free cash on hand to pay off the large difference. I've kind of lost steam for it. Paying almost $500 a month for a car I don't want to drive anymore isn't making me any happier.

Updates from the Porsche dealer in Dallas- They have dropped their price from $44,900 to $43,500 for me and seem to be trying to do well on the trade. It still isn't where I want the deal of course so I am going to keep on them. However, I think the car is the right one. The problem is that asking price. It seems a bit steep for me and my bank tends to agree. I love to haggle though, so if it's going to happen... I'll bet they will get there.

It's Basalt Black Metallic vs. the other one they have with a few more miles which is Black. I tent to prefer a metallic color but I haven't seen it in a black in person. Is this a good color?

Again, thank you all for your opinion. I really feel a lot more solitude about this now. It's almost 3AM here so I am going to rack out I think and I can't wait to see the rest of the responses tomorrow when I get a minute. Thanks everyone!

P.S. Does "Certified" really provide a whole lot of value to the car? They aren't wanting to budge off of this $43,500 and a big reason is they state that the certified adds value and cost them nearly $3,000 to do. I am not experienced in dealing with Porsche as a dealer. Does anyone have experience in this? I am used to busting dealers down $4k to $6k off asking price.

Odd how this went from me asking overall advice to getting down to actual help requests on making the buy isn't it?

The Cayman is beautiful in black. Both Basalt Black and Black are great colors of the car but if you like a deep, wet color after detailing, full black is the only way to go. It has been argued that the Basalt Black does bring out the lines of the car more than solid black, but in the end it's a personal choice. I love my solid Black CR.

Hope you can make it all work.

As others have stated, please accept my gratitude for your service and sacrifice.

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The Exocet - Cayman R - Black/Silver Contrast, Sport Bucket Seats, Full Leather/Alcantara, PCM, XM, SP+, Park Assist, Xenons, PDK, Sport Chrono+, Auto A/C, Auto Dimming Mirrors, Rain Sensor, Alcantara Sport Design Wheel, Silver hood emblem, "Copeland" Mesh, Carnewal GT Exhaust mod.

CPO does have a positive effect on the value of the car. This is mostly the result of the extended warranty.

I would go for a C6 Z06, it would take a lot of money to get that kind of power in a Cayman S or Boxster S platform and even then it would ruin the overall balance/feel of the car.

The Z06 handles every bit as good as the 987 even if the feel/balance and other subjective parts of it don't feel as good.

It does cost a dealer around 3K to certify a car. Part of that is the fee they pay to Porsche to have the warranty extended and part of it is the parts/labor it takes to get a car into certain specs to meet the CPO standards (replacing tires, maintenance etc). If you want to stay the Porsche route I would try and private sell your car and then look for a private seller on a Cayman S. I just picked up an 06 CS with 33K miles under CPO warranty for another year for way less than 43K.

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06 Arctic Silver Cayman S
06 Canyon Red Lotus Elise Supercharged
07 Space Grey BMW 335i Coupe

I agree completely however I don't believe he is focused on the power. If you like the Porsche experience and just don't care for the look of the boxster then go for the CS. Having owned both and being a true Vette (and now Porsche too) guy, the Cayman will be more fun on a day to day basis and it sounds like it'll be your sole vehicle.

Well all of this is such great input. I am so thankful for the knowledge base that is here! Thank you all for your advice and ideas.

I am still browsing the internet trying to find the perfect Cayman for the best price. I ended talks with the Porsche dealer in Dallas unless they drop the price more. They seemed unwilling to move. I think they are playing me cold right now to see if I will come back and buy it.. maybe not though. That's not a big deal.

To throw more fun into the mix, I woke up today with an email from my girl telling me that if I was going to spend that kind of money she thinks I should get a BMW M5 or an M6 with several links to some for sale.

Something about a button that goes from 400hp to 500hp is pretty enticing.

I am in a similar situation as you. I have a 2005 Boxster base model. I love it, and everything about it. My problem is that it is a stick, and I have a horrible commute. When I bought my car my commute was great, I moved 3 months ago and now it sucks. I go 7 miles, it takes me 45 minutes and I never hit 5 gear.

I have started eyeing C6 vettes, and M5, M6 cars with auto transmissions. Driving a stick is so awful in that traffic.

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2005 987 5 speed Lapis Blue, Black top and interior

1966 Mustang GT convertible, White with Red interior

Back in October, Park Place gave me $41500 in trade for my lightly optioned '08 CS with only 16,000 miles. The car was pristine but needed tires and had approx 8 mos of warranty left. They certified the car and reoffered it at approx $45,000. Sounds like time is on your side and I would try to buy the car at around $42 if that is what you want.

Norm

You are doing exactly what my buddy and I did on our last tour in Iraq. You will probably change your mind about 6 times like we did. We looked at everything from building Factory 5 cars to buying 996 turbos. Ultimately we came home, he bought a BMW e30 track car, then I bought a Cayman, then he went and bought a Cayman S.

Though, neither of us have women in our lives who want M cars. I don't know it that's good or bad.