Values of 986 rivals

[greenman986s]

As it was a wet Sunday afternoon, I spent too long on AT at the asking prices for 996 rivals in period.

Z3M - £15k up

S2000 - £10k 

Only the SLK 350 (R230) starts lower... but that engine has issues..

 

Just shows what cracking value the 986 is at £5-10k

 

 

[JurassicBGTS]

You missed 2 options.

The Nissan 370Z in both roadster and coupe form are now available in the 10k bracket for a 2010 car with mid 50k miles, with the 350Z being around 5k for a good 2006 car.

I have had both cars and they are also cracking fun machines and are incredible value for money. A very different drive to a 986 but if you are in the market for a big front engined rwd machine that's cheap as chips to maintain and very reliable you can't go wrong with one of these👍

Edited September 30 by JurassicBGTS

[greenman986s]

15 hours ago, greenman986s said:

As it was a wet Sunday afternoon, I spent too long on AT at the asking prices for 986 rivals in period.

Z3M - £15k up

S2000 - £10k 

Only the SLK 350 (R230) starts lower... but that engine has issues..

 

Just shows what cracking value the 986 is at £5-10k

 

 

corrected typo in first post.... 

[True-Blue]

Z4 and Z4M - prices crashing, a lot of value to be had there. 

[JurassicBGTS]

Truly awful ride quality, crashing comes into mind😂, had a 2006 car from new and kept it 6 months before disposing of it. It was so hard the backs of the seats kept falling off😳 and you needed a bionic leg to operate the clutch.

1 hour ago, True-Blue said:

Z4 and Z4M - prices crashing, a lot of value to be had there. 

 

Edited September 30 by JurassicBGTS

[True-Blue]

3 minutes ago, JurassicBGTS said:

Truly awful ride quality, crashing comes into mind😂, had a 2006 car from new and kept it 6 months before disposing of it. It was so hard the backs of the seats kept falling off😳 and you needed a bionic leg to operate the clutch.

 

Which version did you have? I’m guessing you didn’t replace the runflat tires if it wasn’t an M? 
 

My Alpina rides very nicely despite being on 19’s. 

Edited September 30 by True-Blue

[JurassicBGTS]

2 minutes ago, True-Blue said:

Which version did you have? I’m guessing you didn’t replace the runflat tires if it wasn’t an M? 
 

My Alpina rides very nicely despite being on 19’s. 

The 2.5i, I think Alpina are very good at sorting out the cr*p BMW suspension. I can't remember if it was on run flats, which may have exacerbated the problem. We were also living in Istanbul where the roads are worse than the UK roads, if you can believe that.

[nelmo]

3 hours ago, JurassicBGTS said:

You missed 2 options.

The Nissan 370Z in both roadster and coupe form are now available in the 10k bracket for a 2010 car with mid 50k miles, with the 350Z being around 5k for a good 2006 car.

I have had both cars and they are also cracking fun machines and are incredible value for money. A very different drive to a 986 but if you are in the market for a big front engined rwd machine that's cheap as chips to maintain and very reliable you can't go wrong with one of these👍

My son had a 370Z - for a week! He really didn't like it, mainly because he felt it didn't have much go below 3k rpm and because of the tramlining, which was horrendous. It had new tyres - maybe it needed a wheel alignment?

However, I really liked it - great looking inside and out, nice gearchange, good brakes; DESPERATELY needs an after-market exhaust because it sounds like a hoover stock but I could have one. Watching a few experts on YT (Chris Harris and a couple of others), they weren't great fans but they were driving at levels well beyond where most of us would be.

[½cwt]

51 minutes ago, nelmo said:

My son had a 370Z - for a week! He really didn't like it, mainly because he felt it didn't have much go below 3k rpm and because of the tramlining, which was horrendous. It had new tyres - maybe it needed a wheel alignment?

However, I really liked it - great looking inside and out, nice gearchange, good brakes; DESPERATELY needs an after-market exhaust because it sounds like a hoover stock but I could have one. Watching a few experts on YT (Chris Harris and a couple of others), they weren't great fans but they were driving at levels well beyond where most of us would be.

We had 350Zs at PalmerSport for a couple of years (avoid red ones with an 05 plate...) with the Nismo/Brembo big brakes and Nismo sports exhaust (which were taken off when they went back to Nissan).  Great fun, particularly in the second year when they ran as drift cars.

[greenman986s]

5 hours ago, JurassicBGTS said:

You missed 2 options.

The Nissan 370Z in both roadster and coupe form are now available in the 10k bracket for a 2010 car with mid 50k miles, with the 350Z being around 5k for a good 2006 car.

I have had both cars and they are also cracking fun machines and are incredible value for money. A very different drive to a 986 but if you are in the market for a big front engined rwd machine that's cheap as chips to maintain and very reliable you can't go wrong with one of these👍

Good Shout - missed those as I set the filter to 2 door /2 seat convertibles...

[JurassicBGTS]

9 minutes ago, greenman986s said:

Good Shout - missed those as I set the filter to 2 door /2 seat convertibles...

Strange as they are both 2 door/2 seat convertibles!

[greenman986s]

2 minutes ago, JurassicBGTS said:

Strange as they are both 2 door/2 seat convertibles!

Unexplained

 

Also missed Lotus and VX220...

Edited September 30 by greenman986s

[JurassicBGTS]

1 hour ago, nelmo said:

My son had a 370Z - for a week! He really didn't like it, mainly because he felt it didn't have much go below 3k rpm and because of the tramlining, which was horrendous. It had new tyres - maybe it needed a wheel alignment?

However, I really liked it - great looking inside and out, nice gearchange, good brakes; DESPERATELY needs an after-market exhaust because it sounds like a hoover stock but I could have one. Watching a few experts on YT (Chris Harris and a couple of others), they weren't great fans but they were driving at levels well beyond where most of us would be.

Agree they needed an aftermarket exhaust, a bit like the 4.0 Boxsters😉

My 350Z had a Fujitsubo Titanium exhaust.

and my 370 had an Ark exhaust

Both cars sounded awesome afterwards.

My friend still owns my old 370Z along with a 991 2, the one car he won't sell is the 370Z!!

I never had any issue with tramlining on either car.

Edited September 30 by JurassicBGTS

[JurassicBGTS]

Got quite nostalgic then, suddenly remember how much I loved that car!

If I were in the market for a £10k sports car, this is where my money would go...and I am a die hard Porsche enthusiast.

Edited September 30 by JurassicBGTS

[greenman986s]

Interesting

 

Never driven a 350/370...although sat in 1 o2 2...what is good and what is...not so good ?

[JurassicBGTS]

1 hour ago, greenman986s said:

Interesting

 

Never driven a 350/370...although sat in 1 o2 2...what is good and what is...not so good ?

If you like the traditional British front engined rear wheel drive format nothing much. Quite heavy on the front end leading to understeer when fast cornering but enough oomph to bring the back out if you want. Not the quickest but entertaining to drive.

Very reliable and cheap to run (excepting fuel which they DRINK), do benefit from an aftermarket exhaust, don't suffer from water ingress from the soft tops, do need oil channel timing chain cover gaskets changing from thin paper to upgraded compression gaskets (a cheap and easy job), do suffer front stone chips to the low front end, cross brace at rear rusts badly, but is a bolt on part £220 for a new one which you just wax oil and fit.

The 370 is much nicer inside and has a mohair roof whereas the 350 is a poorer material and tends to crack/split.

Edited September 30 by JurassicBGTS

[Ol' Shatterhand]

There's a facelifted S2000 currently on Pistonheads advertised for £24k. 38k on the clock, but even so, that's stoopid munny!

Curiously, there's also a Mazda RX-7 Turbo II convertible on auction at the moment, current bidding is £6100 and I would expect the final bid to still be within the Boxster 986 price range.

Other rivals to consider are the TVR Chimaera and the Lotus Elan M100 (a more realistic rival than the Elise/VX220 which is a very different proposition).

NA MX-5s are getting rare as most have rusted away and are currently changing hands for 986 money. I guess a BBR-spec NC could be considered an interesting Boxster alternative.

I'm sure Z4s with better dampers and non run-flat tires are pretty decent, but you have to like the looks, and steering feel is apparently a let-down, as in the S2000.

If I lived in the US I would seriously consider a C4 Corvette as an altenative choice. 

 

[brillomaster]

i'm working my way through most of these... started with an NB MX5, which was too slow for me... had a 350Z for 4 years and loved it - only got rid cos of a bit of rust starting to show and poor mpg on super unleaded fuel was making it quite expensive as a daily. otherwise, spot on. needed a nice exhaust to hear the v6 howl, but was a good steer, and had a great ride on very sensibly sized tyres. perhaps lacking ultimate pace but very, very enjoyable to own.

then switched to a E85 Z4 3.0i as a fun weekend/track car - paid just £3k for a high miles one a few years ago, and it was great. felt familiar as i'd had loads of E46 3 series, which share a lot of components, but the z4 was a lot more nimble and sporty. even got on ok with the EPAS. did 12 trackdays in it before i moved it on.

then had a 986S, and now in a 987S. both porsches are more focused, and faster than the z4, but... actually... not necessarily better... that might be because my z4 was pretty well optimised for what i wanted to do with it. don't get me wrong, the 987s is still very good, feels very grown up. when its warmed through and up in the rev range its awesome, though it is a bit tiring round town - very heavy clutch, quite heavy steering at low speeds.

i am keen to try a 370z - as i say, loved my 350z, and now it'd only be a weekend car i can deal with poor mpg. and would be faster still, another 40bhp up on the 987S. and they're good value now - can get a tidy example for £12k or so. only mods i'd do are decent pads for track work, and a sportier exhaust. they do look good too... been a while since i've had a coupe, though my wife would rather i got another convertible - which unfortunately the 350z/370z look a bit cr*p as a convertible IMO. though... ruinously expensive tax puts me off somewhat, i deliberately chose my 987S as an 05 model with the lower tax.

 

[JurassicBGTS]

15 hours ago, brillomaster said:

i'm working my way through most of these... started with an NB MX5, which was too slow for me... had a 350Z for 4 years and loved it - only got rid cos of a bit of rust starting to show and poor mpg on super unleaded fuel was making it quite expensive as a daily. otherwise, spot on. needed a nice exhaust to hear the v6 howl, but was a good steer, and had a great ride on very sensibly sized tyres. perhaps lacking ultimate pace but very, very enjoyable to own.

then switched to a E85 Z4 3.0i as a fun weekend/track car - paid just £3k for a high miles one a few years ago, and it was great. felt familiar as i'd had loads of E46 3 series, which share a lot of components, but the z4 was a lot more nimble and sporty. even got on ok with the EPAS. did 12 trackdays in it before i moved it on.

then had a 986S, and now in a 987S. both porsches are more focused, and faster than the z4, but... actually... not necessarily better... that might be because my z4 was pretty well optimised for what i wanted to do with it. don't get me wrong, the 987s is still very good, feels very grown up. when its warmed through and up in the rev range its awesome, though it is a bit tiring round town - very heavy clutch, quite heavy steering at low speeds.

i am keen to try a 370z - as i say, loved my 350z, and now it'd only be a weekend car i can deal with poor mpg. and would be faster still, another 40bhp up on the 987S. and they're good value now - can get a tidy example for £12k or so. only mods i'd do are decent pads for track work, and a sportier exhaust. they do look good too... been a while since i've had a coupe, though my wife would rather i got another convertible - which unfortunately the 350z/370z look a bit cr*p as a convertible IMO. though... ruinously expensive tax puts me off somewhat, i deliberately chose my 987S as an 05 model with the lower tax.

 

Interesting you don't like the Z convertible looks, I think they have done a great job with the design and they work better than most coupe to vert styles (Boxster obviously the exception)

[brillomaster]

i generally find it depends on what came first, the coupe or the convertible. if a car was originally designed as a coupe (nissan 350z/370z, Audi R8, 911s), then converted to a soft top, the coupe looks better. if the car was originally designed as a soft top (boxsters, mx5s, s2000), then the soft top looks better.

the one possible exception is the z4... coupe and convertible both look great.

 

Edited Wednesday at 07:55 AM by brillomaster

[½cwt]

8 minutes ago, brillomaster said:

i generally find it depends on what came first, the coupe or the convertible. if a car was originally designed as a coupe (nissan 350z/370z, Audi R8, 911s), then converted to a soft top, the coupe looks better. if the car was originally designed as a soft top (boxsters, mx5s, s2000), then the soft top looks better.

the one possible exception is the z4... coupe and convertible both look great.

 

Metal folding roofs help.