jtt99

Ok, OK, here you go guys. Like I said, just love this car.

grc0456

I'll admit, any time I see a "this is the under-appreciated car you should but NOW" article about the 986, I get a little excited and the thought of my car one day being "valuable," but I really don't care. I bought, own and drive my car for the sheer joy it provides

My car is nothing special as 986 cars go. It's an '03 Base 5 speed, built in Finland, that I've owned for going on 8 years, It was pretty high miles when I bought it at 109,000, but it had a newly rebuilt M96 installed with a Direct Oil Feed IMSB (yes, the original suffered a blown IMSB at high mileage - it does happen). The care was pretty nicely optioned when ordered, but nothing crazy with Boxster S II wheels, colored center caps, embossed headrests, and BOSE. Of course, it had the other goodies that make the facelift 986.2 a little nicer - heated glass rear window, glove box, restyled fascias, "S" suspension, etc. As far as appearance, I think it has one of the nicer color combos of Midnight Blue Metallic/Savanna Beige partial leather/Metropol Blue (it also gas Graphite Grey carpets (of which I've never seen on another Savanna interior car). It's really a peach, and the only one of all that I looked at that my wife liked. The only thing I would improve is to substitute Natural Brown full leather. I've done countless of what I call OEM-style tasteful mods, and I have replaced the top and reupholstered the seats. It's a real peach.

I have driven this car far and wide - putting about 56,000 miles on it. It gets all the love and maintenance it needs and deserves (but not excessively) and has never left me stranded. Yes, it's not a "fast" car by any means, but it's certainly enough for spirited street driving. And, oh what a spirited experience it delivers - analog with no nannies other than ABS, mechanical steering, wonderful balance, naturally aspirated sound - with glorious intake right behind my left ear -and throttle response. Each time I drive it I smile. Will it ever be worth something someday, maybe like a '73 914 2.0? Who cares! At times I think I do want to replace it with a 981S - a truly beautiful, more modern, comfortable and faster car - but I know I'd regret parting with this little beauty!

Jack-Porsche

This is a great thread idea, and I find it interesting that so many people shunned the Boxster to begin with. As a lifelong fan of the brand, I can say that I have never experienced any type of judgement being passed on anyone for driving one, and my local PCA, where I am member, has plenty of Boxster owners who also own other models (myself included). Anyone who would criticize someone for driving such a well balanced, true mid-engine sportscar, doesn’t know much about cars.
I also don’t see any real value rise as many of you are mentioning. Other than a brief rise due to the global pandemic and car shortage where all used cars rose, I haven’t noticed anything. Just the other day on BAT an early Boxster with miles in the teens, sold in the teens! These cars remain unbelievably cheap, and are probably the best value in the sports car world. If the front engine cars of the 80’s and 90’s are any indication, I think these will remain relatively cheap for a long time, and that’s a good thing!
My experience with cars as investments is that there is almost always a better option. Even cars like the Carrera GT which were $500,000 15 years ago…..the same amount of money money put in a smart real estate buy would have likely yielded a much stronger overall return.
Bottom line for me is that these things are meant to be driven! It’s almost a shame to think that these are being tucked away in garages. I have driven mine in all conditions including snow. I have taught my 16 year old son to drive on it (grind ‘em til you find ‘em). Drive the wheels of them, learn the quirks, do some work yourself, and have fun. If it gets too beat up where it’s nickel and diming you, move on and buy another. The fact that you can buy these for less than the price of an old Honda Civic is a gift….enjoy it!
Like many here, I had the posters in my wall as a kid. I would daydream of DRIVING Porsche’s, not staring at one in my garage.
Admittedly, my low mileage “mint” Cayman gets babied a bit more, but these 986 Boxsters are amazing fun and should be driven. You can find really nice examples for around ~$10,000…that’s crazy! You won’t get rich hoarding them, but you might regret not driving the hell out of them!

Here’s my 2001 arctic silver over metropol blue with the sport techno wheels.

RENN GTS

Love the Sport Techno's on your car! Im looking for a set for mine currently and needed a reference pic. Thanks!

Jack-Porsche

Thanks, I appreciate that.

eddieb4

Same regarding the Sport Techo wheels. All I’ve ever seen are the marketing shots from back in the day and none actually on any cars.
I’ve actually never seen them in person and I’ve been to many Porsche car shows.

I was about to pull the trigger on a new set of Turbo Look I hollow spokes, but seeing your’s has me thinking.

Do you mind posting some more pics … from the front to the back and back to front?

I’m trying to get a sense of what the offsets look like and how much more the fill the wheel wells.

Thanks in advance!

Jack-Porsche

heres a few quickies I took today (in the rain)

RENN GTS

Rear definitely looks beefed out!

Bush Pilot

I don't agree with the "not a fast car" statements in this thread. I left a loud, rubber burning C7 Z51 Vette far behind on a twisty mountain road not long ago. He came up on my behind and then I said goodbye in the twisties. Sure, he caught me in the straights but going fast in a straight line isn't where the fun is in my opinion. After this experience, I gained a newfound respect for the Box....ster..IT AIN'T A "STER".

jtt99

OK, let me guess. You were heading up to the General Store at the top of Mt Lemmon for an ice cream cone.

Bush Pilot

The price for going off the road on Mt. Lemmon is extremely high. There’s no shoulder and steep cliffs most if not all the way up. I’m not saying cars and motorcycles don't accept that risk there; they do and some have paid the price. With regard to where I left a modern C7 Vette that thought it was fast, in the dust, I ain’t sayin. I believe that racing should be done in the racetrack.

JJJMCD

Interesting thread topic. I bought my 2002 Boxster S after 20+ years of air-cooled 911 ownership (see my other thread for pics and the list of mods to my Boxster).

I decided that I wanted something more refined than the alr-cooled 911s, but, after driving them, found that the 996 and up 911s were a little too large and heavy for me. I’ve loved the 986 Boxster’s roadster shape (particularly the rakish look of the “baseball cap” convertible top and double haunches of the rear fenders) since seeing the original Boxster concept car in 1998. Although some may buy Boxsters because they can’t afford 911s, that wasn’t the case for me.

I wanted something light and nimble, but also refined and modern enough to take for long drives and not feel beaten-up at the end of the drive, emerging smelling like gasoline and oil, as was the case with my air-cooled 911s.

I drove a base model 986 and found it underpowered, but I’ve found the 3.2 liter “S” engine in my car, which has a Borla exhaust and performance chip, paired with its 6 speed manual transmission, to be more than powerful enough.

The discussion of market values is pretty funny to me. In the winter of 1999, I bought my first 911 - a 1991 Carrera 2 cab (964) - off the used car lot of the local Porsche dealership when 964s were considered the “ugly duckling” of the 911 world and you couldn’t give them away. Of course, they’ve since gained substantial stature in the Porsche world and their values have steadily risen, particularly recently. However, I didn’t then and still don’t consider cars to be investments, Porsches included. I buy cars because I love looking at them and driving them, not because they may someday increase in value.

It is nice that 986 Boxsters like mine have probably stopped depreciating so, if I were to decide to sell to get another Porsche, I likely won’t lose money and so have funds to roll into the next Porsche, as I did with my 911.

zoomster1776

For RENN GTS: as a person "who has specialized in arbitraging collector grade Porsche's" I have a question for you. What does a M96 engine rebuild from a respected engine re builder ( e.g. FSI) do to the value of your car? I do understand there are a lot of variables involved but give it your best shot :-)

JJJMCD

Question not addressed to me, but I think that the conventional wisdom in Porsche circles is that, unless you’re talking about a very high mileage car or a type of 911 known for soft valve stem guides or SAI ports that tend to clog causing CEL issues, where the presumption is that a rebuild is either necessary now or will be soon, rebuilds do not add incremental value - the car with the rebuild is worth the same as a comparable fully operational example without the rebuild.

I guess that types of water-cooled Porsches with engines that have known issues like IMS and RMS could fall into the same camp (i.e., presumption that a rebuild will be necessary sometime soon), in which case there could be some incremental value to a rebuild having been done that addressed those issues.

There is always the fear with rebuilt engines that they weren’t done well - not up to factory standards - and will fail again over time, which could be mitigated to some extent by the rebuild having been done by a known top flight shop. Not sure where the shop you mentioned is on that spectrum.

RENN GTS

Great question. I recently had to go through this exercise after a forum member reached out via PM to purchase my car (and subsequently vanished into the ether). If we're taking into account an average cost of $20,000 for a Boxster S with a standard 3.2L vs the same exact car + an upgraded 3.6L / 3.8L engine, I would say that should bring a premium of at least 10-15K more considering the cost of the rebuild and the scale to which the rebuild was completed. I know some shops & tuners have their own pricing, and having purchased and sold modified cars in the past, I don't subscribe to the ideology of upgrades being passed along to the subsequent owner free of charge like most have come to accept over the years, and feel that modifications in general should at the very least bring in close to 50% of their retail investment. I try to be fair in my dealings with sellers when attempting to place a value on their modified cars, and know first hand that selling a heavily modified car can not only scare potential buyers, but can also enable some serious lowball bids in an effort to score some free mods. I've dealt with a few inquiries on different cars I've had listed on Rennlist where the lowball offers completely negated the 50-100K in modifications (Carrera T and 991.1 RS).

In short, an upgraded engine should bring $$ over a standard car. Keep in mind, a 3.8L Boxster that puts down close to 330-360bhp, is an exceptional value at $35,000 when compared to a 981 with similar output.