Marc Gelefsky

I had an 01 Boxster S, fantastic car and my 86 Carrera is a whole different beast! if I had only 1 car to drive everyday it would have been the Boxster. If you are looking for a weekend fun car, go for the 911 but as many have said, you need to drive them both and see what will make you happy.

Ed Hughes

That's interesting Pete..I'll have to do some caparison perhaps. I'm probably going on the hunt for a "civilian" Porsche for Christmas, as I can't get my wife in Ruby for more than 3 miles or so. Something about the sound, the top always being off, the ride and the 5 pt harness....

I'll add here is that my experience has been limited to an early Boxster, but also a Cayman when they first came out. I literally drove as much as possible in the DFW vicinity on a test drive, putting about 350 miles on it. I wanted out. It seemed too cramped in my legs, so to get a bit more travel out of the seat, I tilted the back forward more than I liked to get another 1/2" or so out of the seat before hitting the firewall. My guess is the Cayman and later Boxsters should be the same? Maybe not, but its worth taking some test drives!

MUSSBERGER

If I could have my pick of the two as brand new cars I would pick a 1978 to 1989 911 any day over a Boxster. If I was buying a car that I wasn't planning on having to tinker with I would buy an 02 Boxster for 20K. You can get a nice Boxster for 20k. If I was prepared to tinker I would buy the 20K 911.

Peter Zimmermann

I think that you might be in for a treat! I never really enjoyed 986s, but the fun that I had with the 987 almost shocked me - I couldn't get the car out of my mind for days. Not only was it comfortable for me (I think that I actually had one fore/aft click on the seat left), but the steering is so incredible, the brakes are amazing, the handling and shifting... I was up in the Carmel Valley, it was early morning, I was on an empty two-lane road still damp from the night fog; actually wet in places. I was driving very fast, easy to do in those cars with almost 300 hp on tap, and decided to find out just how great the new brakes really are. I buried the pedal, prepared for anything, but...the car just stopped. No fuss, no twitching, no sliding, no pucker factor...it just stopped. All four wheels went from wet to dry and back to wet, I could feel the electronics controlling everything; damn, now I'm going to be thinking about that car (Speed Yellow, of course) again!

Ed Hughes

Sound like you had a blast in the perfect region.

Other than the leg room, I echo the sentiments on the 300+ miles I put on the new Cayman S. Once I turned off the pesky PSM, it was fun making the rear end step out on occasion while tooling around the country roads. I didn't like the intrusiveness of the "driver's aids". Heck, I can't even spell ABS!

Speed Yellow is THE color, IMO.

jakeflyer

MY oldest son has a Boxster and likes it but has to take it to the dealer for all the work. Just looking under the engine cowl scares me. How do you get to anything. It is a nice car and he has it for sale.

My youngest son has a 1983 911SC. We do all the work on it and can get at everything (no A/C). I am wathcing for another '83 when the price is right. We have a spare eng and trans now. This is a car that will be a keeper for years to come. It is not for sale.

Ed Hughes

You got that right about engine access. Removal of my A/C, the stock air box and the heater blower give me pretty darned good (great) access:

tone40

The valves are self-adjusting and the engine oil is replaced from below at 15K (including the canister filter). Spark plugs are replaced at the 60K service. Best accessed after removing the rear wheels. Individual ignition coils at each plug. The air filter and mass air flow sensor are serviced by removing the engine cover after removing the rear speaker and carpeted sound barrier cover (5 minutes when familiar with the process). The A/C charge nipples are under the front bonnet. The battery is below a front access panel under the front bonnet. The accessory drive belt (60K miles) is accessed behind the seats. Remove the front engine cover and carpeted sections first. 15 minutes to remove the carpet sound cover, front engine cover and install the new belt. Front brake pads and rotors are easy to replace. Same as the 911, except the wheel bearings are sealed units. Brake master cylinder is under the front bonnet. A Motive power bleeder works best for bi-annual replacement of fluids.

I only took mine to the dealer for warranty items. I learned the DIY repairs from Porsche Pete's Boxster Board. Many posters have websites with step by step procedures. The DIY items are easily accessible. Not too difficult.

jakeflyer

Great information. I guess an uncommon car is entilted to uncommon service access. I have avoided the Boxster which are selling at some very reasonable prices. Maybe the next $10,000-$11,000 Boxster will get a look see. Not sure I like the 15,000 oil change of MB and Porsche, maybe Beemer but the self adjusting valves are keen.

jwilson95

I am coming from an '02 Boxster S into my '89 3.2 cab. Most of the differences have been covered in previous posts. It boils down to if I had to drive the car everyday/regularly, I would buy the Boxster (S only for me, not standard Boxster, but that is up to you). If I only drove the car occasionally, I would and have gone for the classic 911.

Also, I have always changed my oil in all my Pcars at least once per year vs. the 15k mileage as most us don't drive anywhere near 15k/year.

I believe the correct interval is 15k miles OR 1 year. I'm sure Mobil 1 loves this, but oil does more than just lubricate/cool our motors. It can reach the end of it's life cycle over time vs. a mileage interval.

Jeff

gab997

How to prices compare on 84 narrow body 3.2 to Euro Widebody?

jh225

I think a 3.2 Carrera with 145K miles for $19,000 is pretty high, even if it has all records and was maintained.

I recently got my 85 3.2 Targa with only 55,000 miles on it, in excellent condition, with basically no repairs needed for $16K. Either I stole mine, or the one you are looking at is way too high.

rllevin

$19,000 is WAY too high unless there's amazing geographical price differences. I'll be flamed for this but I don't understand why anyone would spend crazy money on a non-collectable car with such high milage though people on these forums claim to do it all the time. A little patience should find you a much better deal. I bought an '86 Carerra targa in nice shape with 100,000 miles on it in January '07 for $12,500. After it was wrecked I got an '83 cab with 60,000 miles that'd been sitting in a field for 3 years for $5000 and when I got it apart I decided it wasn't worth it to me putting in what it would take to restore it so out it went. I bought a very nice '87 Carerra Targa this May for $16,000. This one had 78,000 miles when I bought it and it's truly a keeper. I didn't think that was a particularily good price but it wasn't out of line for a G-50 car.
The point is that that's crazy money for a car with those kind of miles unless the miles don't count--like if it's a highly modified track car. For that money you should be able to find a well maintained Carerra with less than 80,000 on it in easily, and under 70,000 with some work.
Don't get me started on what some people pay for SC's.