nkgosselin

OK -

I've bought lots of cars, (7 porsches) but never a Boxster and am in the market now.

It seems to me that there are a ton of Boxsters that sit around for months at the KBB prices. And many owners I offer Edmunds value(which is very in line with the selling and top bids of ebay) they think I'm crazy. The ones at the edmunds values sell very quickly.

On a $17k 1999-2000k Boxster what is the lowest you would take if the guy showed up with cash in pocket which is exactly what I do. I know there are a million variables that can't be accounted for but trying to get a better handling on the psychology of the sellers.

For example, Guy asking $17.5. 50k miles, red black overall good condition. Edmunds is $13.2. KBB is $17.5. I would go up to $14 cash. Would you take it?

fast1

In my case I always focus on getting the car that I want, rather than getting a rock bottom price. If you can buy the car that you want for a thousand under KBB, and it's in great shape, you are way ahead IMO.

Macster

different responses.

Sellers sell for many different reasons and base their asking (and selling) price on as many different reasons.

All you can do is learn the used Porsche market as best you can and learn how to select or reject cars for consideration and then of course assign a value to the car or cars you've selected as buy candidates.

Then make your offer, of course starting out below your final price.

You can't help it if you're dealing with someone who's got an overinflated idea of what his car's worth, just as a seller can't help it if he's having to deal with someone who's looking to 'steal' a car for thousands under market.

Remember, price is an opinion, not a fact. And there is always another car.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Todd Holyoak

As someone who is trying to sell a 3.6L Boxster, I can tell you it is a buyers market. Albeit this is a rather different case due the the engine. I am asking $24k and if someone showed up with $22k I probably would have a hard time saying no.

-Todd

pl

what KKB price you refering to?
trade-in, private sale, or retail price?
its' all depending the seller's status as to how soon thehy need to sell their car.

RyanPerrella

Todd,

PM sent about your car.

EddieC

That sort of pricing difference doesn't make a lot of sense to me. There's no way that there should be that big of a difference in "average" value. I recently sold a 2000 Boxster with 20K miles on it for $19.5K. I thought it was a good deal for both of us and so did the buyer.

So to answer the question on a car with 50K miles, I would think the $13.2K price would be for a car that is sort of beat up with few options. I would expect new tires, better than average wheels and at least a few options on a very clean car for $17.5. I'd expect to have a good maintenance history on either.

That's my two cents.

Good luck with your pruchase.

racer

To me, there is a big price rift between the 1999 and 2000 model years. 1999 fall under the worisome "engine fail" header. 2000's have a few more features and more HP too.

Too many variables here but when I sold my 2000, I was asking $16,5 and sold it for $16,3. I had offers in the $14K range and declined.

I think unless you can point out issues (like tires are shot, clutch is failing, needs new shocks, ripped/faded top etc) a $3k difference between your offering and his sale price is a hard "sell", especially if the seller is NOT in touch with the current market.

atr911

I'm shopping right now and I can tell you for certain that there are some tremendous differences in what individual cars are 'worth'. Asking prices are usually inline with market but with a Porsche you can option it to the **** and nearly double base price of the car with options. This will affect resale prices marginally in most cases. The other side of the equation is that there are MANY poorly maintained Porsches out there. Let me give you two examples:

2000 Boxster Black/Black 45K mi.
original window sticker, one owner, speedster humps, factory hard top, full maintenance history.
Asking $23K - probably 'worth' $21K but only to the right buyer

1999 Boxster Burgundy/Tan 100K mi.
third owner, needs oil separator, ignition, top, tire, unknown airbag issue.
Asking $13.5K - Probably 'worth' $9K but would it really be worth it?

At the end of the day there are too many variables to look at book value. Maintenance history is worth it's weight in gold as well as knowing the vehicle is mechanically sound. I would determine what options you absolutely need and go find the car you want. At the end of the day, the difference of a few thousand to find the right car is peanuts compared to the mess you might get into shopping for price alone.

A top alone is over $3K!

pologuy

Asking price is what the seller says it is; but selling price is what the buyer says it is...

lol

In other words, the selling price is the price a buyer is willing to pay...

pologuy

In the last week on ebay...

Only 2 of 22 2001 Boxsters sold...

And the 2 that sold did not meet the asking price, they were best offers...

jrgordonsenior

FWIW... I bought a 02' S yesterday with 34k miles on it in excellent condition from the 2nd owner for the past 3 years. Well optioned, it was on E-Bay and Autotrader but within a few blocks of my house. It had been hit on the LF corner causing $14k in repairs which caused concern among most buyers. I know the repair shop, they've worked on several of my cars so I wasn't overly concerned. He was originally asking $24k for the car which is roughly what it would have been worth without the accident. I bought it for $20k....