Wow, I have never bought a car in my life thinking it was an investment. Every purchase I make, I know it is bound for depreciation. If you've been looking for a car for a year now and afraid of all your stress points, STAY AWAY FROM AUTOMOBILES PERIOD!!!

Jake Ok is right, maybe the Pcar is not for you.

And I'm with Ray S, where's the 10 samples of Boxters under 10K.

I hate to say it, but it seems that you're waiting to take advantage of someone who's had their car on the market for awhile, desperately vulnerable because of the economy and capitalize on it drving away with a smile.

 

Don't get me wrong fellas, none of these points stress me. It was just a break down to make the point that although there are some great cars out there, more often then not you shouldn't look for a perfect car as the premium you'd pay usually isn't worth it. Only exception being limited production collector cars (that you'll never drive, and who wants that!).

Yeah, i've been looking for a while but only browsing adds. I've only been financially prepared for about a month now. Not looking to take advantage of anyone, just take advantage of a good market right now on these 996s. If the car's been on the market that long, and the owner is desperate, it's probably because he's asking too much. If he weren't, he'd have sold.

My first 911 was bought after I saw it in a parking lot. It was a 78 911. The guy was asking $22K almost 10 years ago. We started talking and I walked. He was adamant that the car was worth it and based on my research he was way off. One thing lead to another and he called me 8 weeks later saying he was ready to talk. I had the car appraised for insurance and the bank before we made a deal and it came up at $15.5K. That's what I gave him for the car and I walked away with a smile. Nobody got fleeced did they?

 

First off, I wouldn't be looking at cars showing interest with owners asking too much for their cars.

Still get the vibe of a low-baller.

 

All cars depreciate- fact of life. If I worried about that with every car purchase I'd never buy anything!
Best you can do is take your time, price shop appropriately for the current market and buy the right pcar for your means and budget- Then just enjoy every day of owning it. Sell it when you are done with it. Buy something else you want, repeat process. Work hard / play hard, "just do it", and all that stuff.. These cars are about fun, fun and more fun.

I take excellent (obsessive) care of my cars, but you won't find any "garage queens" here - If it costs me a few grand in depreciation + mods + maint every year to drive it, to me it was still money well spent .

 

My Dad was looking for a big flat screen TV - he kept waiting since prices kept going down, new ones coming out, etc. Not exactly the same as buying a P-car, especially a used one, but the point is look around for a nice one and buy it! What is a couple grand here or there? And there are so many to choose from! I told my Dad if he kept dicking around he'd be dead before he got one...he bought one 2 days afterwards.

 

They'll continue to depreciate but I think good ones will find a floor in the mid 20s to low 30s (depending on year, options etc). It's conceivable that you find a rough one for low 20s, maybe less, but personally I'd stay away from those examples ...

 

As a life long Porsche fan, and buying my first at what i would consider a young age, I will probably never get rid of this one...im already looking for a second(Targa this time) due to the market prices. I learned a very important lesson father...he bought his 2nd hand 1967 Vette in 68 with almost no miles on it...he sold it a few years later for 5500....today it would be worth 100k+....patience is a vertue...so is storage...if you have both then buy them and keep them....they will go up

 

AGREED!

 

If you want one, get one.

It is a lousy investment.

Repeat line 2 many, many times.

Drive it as much as possible.

Realize that a clutch or spark plug job is big bucks...


JB

 

Yes! That's the way to do it!

 

makes sense to me

 

so he should have kept it for 40 years in storage then sold it for 100k?

 

Here are a few that could be had for $10k or under (assuming you know how to negotiate enough to get a grand taken off the price)
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/search...=false&systime=

 

In other words you couldn't find any.....

Oh, except for these two...

$9,600 - this car needs engine work and the body is in perfect condition...

$7,995 - THIS CAR HAS A BAD ENGINE AND DOES NOT START 1998 Porsche Boxter convertible. This convertible has had 1 owner in New Jersey. It has a consistent mileage history with no indication of an odometer rollback.

My point is that an under $10k Boxster is not as easy to find as some in this thread seem to indicate and when you do find one beware, because it's probably a piece of **** that was driven hard and put away wet.

 

1- That $5500 invested 40 years ago in a decent return fund would have gotten you over $350,000. Therefore the car would not have been a good investment. (Consider that over the last 40 years the interest rate would have doubled your money every 7 years, joys of compounding)

2- Any of those $12K boxsters will have enough repairs to enable you to negotiate the car for pretty damn close to $10K. Asking price mean nadda considering the current market for lux cars. They don't even sell on flea bay for buy it now prices.