mile2424

So I have basically narrowed down my choices to the following 2 cars. One is local, the other is about 5 hours away.

Choice A, is a 2003 Boxster S, triple black, the owner is the 2nd owner who bought it CPO'd. It has 65k miles. Bose, Xenons, windstop, full leather. Pretty basic on options, but in very nice shape, and it's the 03 so it has the newer glass window. No link or pictures for this one. $16.5k is what I have negotiated him down to from $19.9k

Choice B, is a 2000 Boxster S, loaded with tons of options. Polar Silver paint, boxster red full leather, aerokit, sports exhaust, full carbon package, speedster humps. Lots of nice options that I know if totally dependent on the buyer, but I myself do love these extra options. 77k miles on this car.

Here is the link...

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

So which would you choose and why?

blinkwatt

Wow choice B looks amazing sans wheels!
If you can get the guy to move to $15k on it I'd go with B.

But the upsides of the 03' to older can't be forgotten,plus I love the stocks styling.....not a bad price either.

Tough choice.

Macster

Tough choice is right.

About all I can add is all other things being equal the newer car is the more desirable car.

The qualifier is of course that all other things being equal phrase.

Both cars are S's.

Does the 03 still have some CPO remaining?

For a Boxster I like the glass rear window.

My 02 has a plastic rear window and even though I lower the top never except to gain access to the engine compartment and then only maybe once a year, the window cracked the one time I opened the top to service the engine. I was careful but when the window gets old and a bit cool... crack.

Honestly, only you can make the decision. Be sure either car is in good shape, good condition. A PPI by a qualified tech/person that knows these cars inside and out is a necessity. The best looking car can be a Frankenstein pieced back together after a bad accident. Rare but they do come up for sale. Could be a flood car or a theft recovery. Neither CarFax or CarCheck is infallible in id'ing correctly cars that have something really bad against them.

Also, another possible red flag is how much you managed to talk the price down. I do not know the current market for Boxsters, so it could be the cars were just over priced and you negotiated the prices down to "true" market value.

OTOH, a below market value always worries me. I don't want to over pay for a car but I am also wary when someone offers a car below what I consider a reasonable market value given the circumstances as I know them. I could still buy the car but I'm on double red alert when checking the car out.

Sincerely,

Macster.

mile2424

more pics of the polar silver....

http://miletichphotography.zenfolio....f1d5#h1c008912

Macster

Don't have time to read all the posts again, but have you seen this car in person?

The pics are nice, but a bit artsy-fartsy for me to evaluate a car like I want to. I want full views head on, from each side, from the rear. I like to see and compare panel alignment, gaps from front to rear, side to side. Only one side show full on. The other side I'm sure ok but I still like to see the same shot from the other side of the car.

I like to see the entire front and rear end shots from far enough back that I see the bumper's relationship to the ground, its position relative to the wheels/tires, the radiator ducts and ideally the A/C condensors inside (to see if one a different color to tell me its been been replaced...). From the rear I like to see how the rear wheels/tires look and how the exhaust exit matches up to the rear bumper.

It would be nice to see each wheel and brake rotor and even each tire to see tread wear.

I may be too paranoid to be of much more value to you, but the pics of the interior and carbon fiber (while impressive) seem too much like their intent is to attract attention and keep one from observing the man behind the curtain.

Like I said.. I may be too paranoid...The car may be, is I'm (almost) sure just fine. It is just the pics are a bit lacking in detail and view for my tastes.

Sincerely,

Macster.

schwank

Damn #2 is a looker. But I love polar silver and the red interior, especially with that carbon. The rest of the car looks nice and it is well kept. The triple black one does sound pretty decent too, but the paint will take more maintenance to have it look great. It has the upgrades of an 03 though... that is huge.

So indeed a tough call.

My 01S cracked the rear window this fall in the cold. I am looking at a grand or so to replace it. Ugh. So I am a bit biased against the older ones at this point

mikefocke

I see two different cars.
One has a lot of "look at me" features, one has more "helps me when I'm driving" features like Litronics and the glass window top.
But the black would not appeal to me...silver shows dirt less easily and you don't have to worry about swirl marks.
I'd keep looking.