'01 Boxster S Pricing

[Jim S]

Hi guys...terrific forum! I am currently very interested in a '01 Boxster S with Tiptonic and about 54K mi. I've looked at Kelly and NADA and now I'd like some practical opinions. Car "looks" great, but service records are far from complete. Based on CarFax it appears to have had 3 prior owners. The seller is asking $18K and I "think" he's too high. Your thoughts?

PS: I apologize for the typo in the topic header!

Edited September 9, 2011 by Jim S

[rogerjohnsen]

Hi Jim S

It would be interesting to hear the data points and why you think the price is too high to start with.

[N41EF]

My 2 cents. A car is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, books are an idea, but I've seen wild swings in what two different books say. A convertible sports car is worth more in CA than in Maine.

If you are handy with tools and can find a Bently's manual and a durametric cable there isn't much on a Boxster you can't do. You are coming up on the 60k service, which is the sort of thing I do when I buy a used car, replace the fluids and filters just to know they were done. Plugs are also due at 60k and the serp belt. I'd think about doing the water pump and replacing the coolant for piece of mind on a 10 yo car.

Tptronic S cars aren't as hard on cv boots as manual cars. Try to get it on a lift so you can check underneath for leaks and damage.

I think it's high, I'd expect closer to 15k depending on options and colors. Had a friend here in SC buy a base '01 recently for 13.5k with less than 50k miles, it did need tires all around.

As a point, I paid 20.5k for my '03S in '08 with 45k miles on it. NADA book was 22k at the time.

[Dale_K]

I paid less than $12k for a 2000 S Tip last December but it had higher miles. These cars have a sketchy reputation for being expensive to own from a repair standpoint. Car dealers around my area don't want them in trade so they can be hard to sell. Make the owner a lowball offer and tell him you're ready to buy after he finds out how hard it to find a buyer at $18k. I paid too much for mine but I like driving it so I don't beat myself up too much over the money.

[Jim S]

Thanks for the input...just the kind of info I was looking for.

Jim

[gschotland]

It's been a buyer's market for 986s ever since the economy took a crap in '08. You have nothing to lose by low balling. There's no end of cars available. Don't fall in love and be prepared to walk. You can always come back when/if the seller moves into reality.

Always make the deal subject to a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) by a qualified Porsche specialist. That's the best $200-$300 you can spend. Not having a pretty clear picture of what you're buying can be costly later.

I bought my '02 S w/67k miles in May '09 for $16k. Admittedly it was from my brother, but we felt that was realistic fair market value at the time. Today w/80k miles I'd be hard pressed to get $13k. From sources like Edmunds.com and KBB.com I'd focus on trade-in and private party values. For a really clean, inspected car you want to be in that range.

[mikefocke]

I sold a '01S TIP 58k with brand new PS2s and an Optima battery, mid-options, service records, needing nothing in the mid summer for $13.5k. I felt that was reasonable based on the economy and the fact that I wanted to attract people to come to my relatively out of the way little town in NC. I placed a simple 3 line ad in Craigslist. I had multiple people begging me for the car. Sold in 6 hours to the first viewer for cash.

But that says nothing about what the car really should go for in your neck of the woods. And little about what it would sell for if the seller is better located, willing to hold out longer, car is different, etc.

It is later in the season, getting cooler in most places. Converts less desirable. Lots of them available. http://www.autotempest.com/ will get you a list from several sources. Throw out the highs and the lows and see what you think a similar car will sell for considering those are all asking prices.

The best buy is when snow covers the car.....from a motivated seller...with a PPI.

[rodnig1]

i think its a little high as well. I just bought an 02 base 5 speed with 46K on it for under 15K last week. there are lots of these cars out there, and not allot of buyers. simple proof is to look at ebay, and check the complete boxster listings!! you will see that 3 out of 25 of them actually sell, and very few of them are between $13000 and $19000.

i spent 6 weeks looking before i actually bought mine... lots for sale, not alot of buyers right now

[Jim S]

I thought I'd bring my original post full-circle. Yesterday I bought the '01 Boxster S for $16K . Thanks for your comments...Now that I'm a newbee, I'm looking forward to participation on this forum. Lots of great info here!

Jim