RajDatta

1st off, you will have a real hard time getting top $$ for your cabriolet. I would love to see us get max for our cars but the recent drop in prices is pretty pathetic. Our cars have dropped a solid 20-30% in value in the last yr or so. Is it rock bottom, not sure. Unique and rare colors will always command top $$ but standard colors are taking the most hit.
H2 recently started a poll on this. It would be interesting to see his findings. Unfortunately, its just opinions, so take it for what its worth.
Regards.
Raj

H2

I placed the poll in the 924/944/951/968 Forum hoping to get a broader perspective from the guys driving the older front engined four-cylinder cars since, in theory, they may be the buyers who would step up to a 968. Or will they choose to step "over" to a newer and more common car? Dunno. It's all guesses in the current economy.

H2

RajDatta

Excellent point H2. I see a lot of 944 guys being potential 968 owners in the future.
Recent prices have been very low and I hope this is more a reflection of our current economy.
Raj

Neverendz

I picked up my 968 in June at a very fair price. I'm a 944/951 guy. I always wanted a 928 or a 968 but they always were about $5000 more than I wanted to spend. Until now. Just recently I have noticed that alot of nice Boxsters are popping up. I never considered a Boxster before because they were always "to new" and overpriced for what I would be getting.

I agree that I probably would not get what my 968 is worth and I know that I will never get what my 951 is worth unless I cut them up into pieces. However, I believe that this spring to summer that the economy will level out. In other words now is the time to buy. So my best option would be to buy the Boxster and see if I like it. My dilemma is that I already have 5 cars and I work from home! I drive a total of about 5000 miles a year!

What will really bake your noodles is that I'm considering getting an automatic. I've been using the 968 for local stop and go heavy traffic driving which is definately not what it's made for. Before I use 6th gear I have to dust the cobwebs off.

, Bill

Giacomo

The '95 968 cab will always be more unique than the BoxsterS for reasons already mentioned. Although I have never driven a 968 cab, I would still have to go with the BoxsterS as a more inspiring drive.

StewHatch

Giacomo - from one ex-pat Canuck to another: Ya hafta love that shelter in the background!

ehall

Did you get a sex change?

ehall

I always wanted a slower car!

H2OJazz

Boxsters are OK but I like German cars.

Giacomo

$50 bucks or so from Home Depot's online store a few years back, I bought two. I think they were actually a clearance item. Not too shabby, although I doubt they sold too many outside of Canada.

smshirk

The cars are so different I don't think it's fair to rate one "better" than the other. The Boxster is easier to drive, the clutch won't wear you out in traffic, and you feel like you can drive it cross country without getting tired. Always a smile on your face. The 968 feels more traditional, feels like there is more low end torque, but I'm not sure that is true. Fourth gear in the 968 at 80 on the interstate feels like you can do anything, much more powerful than the Boxster S, though the numbers may not bear that out. The 968 definitely looks better to most everyone, but like was said earlier, can be a real downer in heavy traffic day in and day out. Mine stays parked unless I'm going North, away from Atlanta, whereas I like to drive the Boxster to work. I may have liked my 97 better than the S I just bought. You could go wide open all over the place, kind of like the Miata, but you are actually going fast, and not just feeling fast.

Driving the 968 is more of an experience than just going somewhere. It's almost like deciding to ride a motorcycle instead of driving a car. It is exhilerating, much like driving an older 911 Targa, but with a decent air conditioner.

Every porsche is wonderful in its' own way and every generation gets better in some ways, but maybe not as good as the old ones in other ways. The 996/997 is as good as a car can get, but is not as good in many ways as its' air cooled brethren. That's how you wind up with four Porsches at the same time and keep 3 battery tenders rotating on constantly. I had to install electrical outlets all over the place just to keep their little batteries warm.

H2

That's a good assessment. I can't argue.

H2

Todd951968

I don't know.... I've looked into a newer Porsche including the Boxster & 996 as a possible replacement or maybe a 3rd Porsche. From what I gather in my research, they all scare me with LOTS of potentially expensive problems, like RMS, and other more catastrophic engine failures ( I think something to do with too thin cylinder walls and bad crank issues).

Owners on the Boxster and 996 forums acknowledge the problems and either say they'll "dump" the cars before they come out of warranty or justify the cost of a new engine! Others downplay the risk.

Those issues are too big for me to invest in a newer car that is out of warranty or about to get out. I've had my 968 for almost 10 years and it still has much of its appeal to me. I'd like any new purchase to deliver the same longterm enjoyment.

I'd vote for keeping the 968.

smshirk

Like every Porsche, the M96 has a few common issues. The RMS is way overblown, in itself,a minor oil leak easily repaired. There was a tolerance issue that resulted in a number of engine replacements, at Porsche's discretion. Certain range of months builds 98 Boxsters had a number of engines that were sleeved due to a shortage of blocks and experienced catastrophic failures. There are the cars who have had engine replacements due to a couple of deifferent problems, and a few that have horror studies, but a very small number compared to the cars. Porsche made engine replacement the only fix by not selling internals until just recently. You can now buy parts to rebuild the 986/996 engines.

All that being said, every Porsche model cycle has its' own peculiar issues that become pronounced, primarily because you hear about failures was more than you hear about year after year driving with no problems on a properly maintained car. For instance; the pinion bearing problem on 968, top end issues with 993s that keep the check engine light on, an 8k top end rebuild just to pass emissions at times. 911 3.0 chain tensioner issues could be catastrophic, etc etc etc


My 97 986 had 107k and no major issues ever when I sold it. MY 2000 996 has 66k now and I've had no major issues. The worse thing was the water pump. MY 2001 986S I just bought had an RMS replacement under warranty at 10k miles by the PO, and a few other maintenance fixes, but pretty much predictable problems on any cay during the first 7 years of service. I have all the records. During the 4 or 5 years I've had my 968 I've spent more dollars on maintenance than I've driven miles. That may not be fair since I've only driven it 4k miles, and some of that is cleaning up after the PO who had a lousy indy.

All Porsches are great cars, the newer the greater. The worse car was the 2.7 litre 911 in the 70s, then came the revamped 3.0 litre, considered by many to the most bullet proof engine ever, but even it had a chain tensioner problem that has been repaired and updated on most every SC still on the road. Don't let the hype scare you away from the newer models, they are great cars and if you do diligence before purchasing and proper maintenance regularly, you will not likely be disappointed. Boxster prices are cheap and I think mostly because there are so many, but the Boxster is consistently rated as the best open top sports car available year in and year out by most everyone in the evaluation industry. Only the Miata get more raves, and it's great too in its' own way, but it's not a Porsche!

Luis de Prat

As long as you can still buy a decent 944 Turbo or 968 for less, the Boxster is a waste of money IMHO.