Are 986 prices finally on the way up??

[gIzzE]

2 hours ago, Geopat said:

A load of nonsense about perished rubbers etc on low mileage cars although I know mine was garaged and cherished throughout its life (and still is).

Yes, there has been small issues to deal with but nothing unexpected on a 21 year old car.

 

Haha, it is not a load of nonsense. 

The OEM rubber used in the bushes on the 986 and 996 uses a rubber with a Shore Harness of 78a. This is designed to absorb some of the vibrations you get in the car and give a smoother ride for the road, while still being pretty good for handling. 
This rubber has a shelf life of around 15 years, the rubber it self starts to age with the ozone, it may not start to split or crumble or even crack if it has been garaged but it will  have hardened, it starts to harden from day one, but the manufacturers say that it should have a shelf life of up to 15 years. 

Now of course you will get people who spend loads of money on Poly bushes to give a much stiffer, firmer more track car feel hoping for a more controlled ride knowing they are giving up compliance and comfort on the road. So it might not be a problem. But if you changed all the bushes, I bet you would notice a considerable difference. Not saying better or worse, just different. 

Then you have struts, they are gas struts and many do loose some pressure of time, the seals can dry out. My MTB forks are now 6 years old and they have started loosing pressure and need servicing, I have just ordered a seal kit to refurb them as they won't stay super firm anymore. 

If you go back to when the 987 was released and owners swapped their near 10 year old 986's the one thing many kept saying was how much more comfortable the 987 was, it felt a lot posher, it coped far better with our crappy roads. 

However, jump into a 986 now that has had all new bushes fitted and a 987 that has had the same and there is actually bugger all in it. They feel very, very similar. 
The reality was people were jumping out of cars that were just getting older and the characteristics had changed, but it changes so slowly we tend not to notice until we get something obvious, like a clunking. 

I have never heard someone who has had all the bushes changed on a 20 year old car say "That made no difference." Everyone is always amazed at how much it soaks up poorer surfaces once done. 

The rubber bushes play a huge part in how tight our cars feel. 

[deanmr2]

20 hours ago, gIzzE said:

 

Haha, it is not a load of nonsense. 

The OEM rubber used in the bushes on the 986 and 996 uses a rubber with a Shore Harness of 78a. This is designed to absorb some of the vibrations you get in the car and give a smoother ride for the road, while still being pretty good for handling. 
This rubber has a shelf life of around 15 years, the rubber it self starts to age with the ozone, it may not start to split or crumble or even crack if it has been garaged but it will  have hardened, it starts to harden from day one, but the manufacturers say that it should have a shelf life of up to 15 years. 

Now of course you will get people who spend loads of money on Poly bushes to give a much stiffer, firmer more track car feel hoping for a more controlled ride knowing they are giving up compliance and comfort on the road. So it might not be a problem. But if you changed all the bushes, I bet you would notice a considerable difference. Not saying better or worse, just different. 

Then you have struts, they are gas struts and many do loose some pressure of time, the seals can dry out. My MTB forks are now 6 years old and they have started loosing pressure and need servicing, I have just ordered a seal kit to refurb them as they won't stay super firm anymore. 

If you go back to when the 987 was released and owners swapped their near 10 year old 986's the one thing many kept saying was how much more comfortable the 987 was, it felt a lot posher, it coped far better with our crappy roads. 

However, jump into a 986 now that has had all new bushes fitted and a 987 that has had the same and there is actually bugger all in it. They feel very, very similar. 
The reality was people were jumping out of cars that were just getting older and the characteristics had changed, but it changes so slowly we tend not to notice until we get something obvious, like a clunking. 

I have never heard someone who has had all the bushes changed on a 20 year old car say "That made no difference." Everyone is always amazed at how much it soaks up poorer surfaces once done. 

The rubber bushes play a huge part in how tight our cars feel. 

Agree with everything above I have a 2001 Boxster and have renewed every bush,  every suspension arm,all top mounts and bearings plus the 4 shocks and springs and the car now drives so nicely very compliant and goes round corners as if on rails.This was an expensive exercise but it has totally transformed my car.

 

[PaulQ]

1 hour ago, deanmr2 said:

Agree with everything above I have a 2001 Boxster and have renewed every bush,  every suspension arm,all top mounts and bearings plus the 4 shocks and springs and the car now drives so nicely very compliant and goes round corners as if on rails.This was an expensive exercise but it has totally transformed my car.

 

How many miles had the car done.? 

I don't think anyone would argue that these cars handle much better when worn out suspension components are replaced. 

[Indi9xx]

Just from my experience with the Porsche value and suspension rubber threads.

With car components I would have to agree that time and more to the point exposure to oxygen and ionised air is a real killer of parts.

Saying rubber is probably a bit of global term, and there are many materials in a car, but soft rubbers and polymers of all kinds do deteriorate with age, or more importantly in some ways with exposure to air.

Over the years, and including Boxster's we have always found that suspension bushes for example, do degrade clearly with time, with many customers who brought low mileage car's to put into air conditioned bubbles suffering an unexpected expense countering their investment over the years as things like suspension bushes have tuned bad.

It is not just a problem with bushes or even old parts that have been installed on cars for years.

The shock absorbers used on 1990's Porsche models for example do not sell in great volumes, with production runs being in many causes decades apart now... Which has had the symptom that if you buy new shock absorbers from the main dealer network, you can find they do not last very long once installed, due to the seals having aged while on the shelf, which Porsche does not seem to monitor stock versus production dates.

With things like brake callipers Porsche used to track production dates on items in stock, and sell them off once the production date was getting old, as "Age expired" at a cheaper price because they wanted them off the shelves before the "rubber" seals became too old.

There used to be a part's manager at Porsche centre Exeter who used to contact specialists with "age expired" stock lists and bargain prices, which he used to obtain from Stuttgart to flip extra parts at an otherwise quiet main dealer, capitalising off of this very effect and the concern at the factory about it.

We often see people who have purchased very low mileage cars which are in the classic range (over 20 years old) thinking they were getting either a better car, or a better investment, only to learn the car could do with every bush, hose and seal replacing.

Engine oil seals are a different material to suspension bushes, but suffer the same kinds of problems of age and exposure to air. Which is why whenever we are working on a car, if we are in a position to change an oil seal which did not need to be disturbed, but the job made it a cost effective time to replace it, I always give the customer the option if I think it is over 10 years old.

A good example would be the distributor drive belt inside the distributor on 964 and 993 models. These are exposed to ionised air due to sparks jumping the gap inside the distributor cap, and despite there being an ozone cap (to limit exposure of the belt to the ozone) these belts can perish and break with age, aggravated by how much the engine has run (exposure to ozone) but killed also with time if the car is never used.

Tyres also perish with age, even if unused, stored inside, away from UV light... Anyone that does not believe me... I have a perfect set of 19 inch tyres which are almost 10 years old... There is no chance I would fit them to a car, especially a customers car, they still have their stickers on... On the one hand, I can't bring myself to throw them away, because I know they cost me £280 at a trade price. But since I rediscovered them in a store room, I know I would never fit them to a car.... However if anyone thinks that rubber does not degrade with age, they are yours for £50 each! lol

Many people feel their suspension bushes or shock absorbers are fine as long as they pass the MOT and they don't have any clonks, but those that for another reason end up having them replaced, they often comment how the car is transformed, despite not thinking previously anything was wrong... They degrade so slowly that many people do not ever realise how much better the car would drive with some parts replaced.

In the workshop we are a little more acute to spotting this during test drives, because we often drive a Porsche, such as a 986, which has just had or recently had everything replaced, compared to other cars where the parts are "not failed" but old, and the difference is night and day.

To the point that if I could count on all customers being completely honest, I would probably say to them "Let me change all the suspension bushes and shock absorbers, and if you can't tell the difference and the car completely transformed, then you don't have to pay for it".... The only problem is, who doesn't like the idea of a free lunch?

Everything ages with exposure to fresh air.

Nylon degrades with moisture in the air, rubber compounds with oxygen, many polymers with exposure to ultraviolet.

Thermodynamics is a misunderstood science, with most people thinking it relates to temperature, but what it does tell us is that everything in the universe is constantly trying to turn from a complex item into the most simple item, and the more complex the item, the more effort which is required to stop it from degrading. This relates to chemistry,  biology, physics and even civilisation.

Nothing is forever, rubbers want to crumble to dust, dashboards want to crack, metals want to oxidise and our faces want to wrinkle, there is no avoiding any of it. You can protect them to an extent from the things that make them want to degrade, but ultimately they will.

Oh god, I have gone all philosophical .... 

[Indi9xx]

With Porsche values, I have seen many cycles.

I have seen 356's being classed as almost worthless (I used to be able to buy an MOT failure one for £1500 only 20 odd years ago), through to seeing an air cooled 911 being worth only £5k in average condition only 10 years ago to being £50k more recently (and much more for the really old agricultural examples)

Other than financial collapses and recessions, the 986 is at the bottom of it's depreciation curve at worst, at best it is on the way up. The only thing holding it back is owners of them talking down the value.

10 years ago my activity in Porsche 944 forums had people often talking down their values, people saying "A 944 Turbo will never be worth more than £8k whatever it is!" to in recent years seeing a good one sell for anything from £25k to £30k and an average one worth about £20k (crappy ones worth much less) and they have suffered a dip to an extent, but again, that is panic selling owners talking down the values.

About 4 years ago I had two 986's, one silver one was the wife's, and I have a black one, both S models, slightly different spec's, and I decided to sell them under pressure from friends and family who see my car collecting as a mental illness. Both cars were absolutely awesome condition, with money no object condition (Nothing the general public like to see more than a Porsche broken down, and nothing more embarrassing to a Porsche specialist in having their car not being perfect) so both had had things routinely changed, just because they were a "bit old" though their life with me, things like air conditioning condensors, coffin arms, drop links, water pumps... Nothing ever failed on them, they were changed just because those parts made me itch that they were a few years old.

So when I sold them, the average 2001 S was probably selling for £4k to £7k at most... Some people probably thought I was mad when I advertised them for around the £12k mark... I could have sold both those cars several times over and was happy to advertise them as coming with a no quibble unlimited warranty of a year, and an oath to stand by them if anything broke on them after that period.

And I do know that both buyers were happy with their purchases and ended up selling them (in one case) 3 years later for the same money... the other still has it and has not had to spend anything on it for 4 years other other than servicing and MOT testing.

The thing is, there was a big difference between these cars, and the typical $h1tt£r 986 on eBay for £3k, which probably needs another £8k spending on it to make it be a great car.

My point being, there are Boxster's out there that are probably worth only £3k, they might look nice, but the mechanical side is just waiting to become a big problem for someone. 

Whereas there are probably a lot of non anniversary S models out there which should be worth £12k all day long and would repay their owners in reliability and driving experience.

One of the Boxster's I own (last count I still own 5), one of my favourites is probably a 2.5 first model year, with only about 50k on the clock, and one previous owner since new... It's near damn perfect mechanically, but the lacquer is peeling in a couple of places.

Now on the one hand, I think it should be an aspiring classic, as it is one of the first examples of a Boxster, and because they were for a long time seen as the bottom of the heap, they are probably rarer than a later S, however, as long as people are buying them to drive, rather than as an investment, it is worth less than an S for better or worse.

However, compare that to air cooled 911's, to be honest the very early pre electronic injection models are not as nice to drive as Magnus Walker would romance us into believing, but are worth many more times the value of a later evolved model based on rarity and scarceness. Will that ever happen to the 2.5 early Boxster? I'm not sure... I own it because it like it.

Will I sell it? Well with the bits of peeling lacquer I doubt anyone could see past the cosmetics, and I am not sure I want to spend around £5k having it repainted, as I am not sure anyone out there would want to pay what I feel it is worth once repainted... so I guess I am stuck with keeping it and enjoying it... (any excuse)

I think with any classic car there is always the apprentice and boss syndrome.

In any era you have the apprentice in a company driving a crappy £500 car, looking upto his bosses nice new sports car with envy... The years go past, the Apprentice earns more, but still can't afford that car... He then has a family and can't justify that 10 year old same car, but another 20 years later his family is grown up, he is earning more, and suddenly does not need 4 doors and a big boot, and what does he go looking to own? What his boss or uncle had new 30 years previous.

I have seen this time and time again, a Porsche hits about 15 to 20 years old and they stop depreciating, because lets face it, if they were any cheaper anyone would have one, which would then make them harder to get, so puts the prices up, so they kind of stabilise... then when they hit about 30 years old they shoot up in value and just keep doing that, recessions excepted.

The Boxster's, all the models, will hit a time when the values are low as they depreciate, normally around the 15 to 20 year mark, and then at 30 years old, mark my words, those apprentices will find themselves getting a few grey hairs, the kids have left home, and they will want what their boss had... If that was a Focus RS, they will go for one of them, if it was a 2001 986 S, they will go for that, as the Madalorian would say, "it is the way."

What are they worth now? Whatever someone is willing to pay for them, but don't expect it to sell over night, wait for the right buyer, because somewhere there is an apprentice from 2001, who has found himself able to buy what his boss had early, and he really wants a great example, it needs to be the colour that yours is, and he is willing to pay through the nose and travel the length of the country for just the right one.

Just my 2p worth!

[gIzzE]

7 hours ago, Indi9xx said:

Tyres also perish with age, even if unused, stored inside, away from UV light... Anyone that does not believe me... I have a perfect set of 19 inch tyres which are almost 10 years old... There is no chance I would fit them to a car, especially a customers car, they still have their stickers on... On the one hand, I can't bring myself to throw them away, because I know they cost me £280 at a trade price. But since I rediscovered them in a store room, I know I would never fit them to a car.... However if anyone thinks that rubber does not degrade with age, they are yours for £50 each! lol

Some great points made in the posts above. 

 

In regard to tyres, from February next years, 2021, it will be illegal to have tyres over 10 years old on lorries, coaches and buses in the UK. 

Nothing to do with mileage, just ageing of the 'rubber'. 

 

 

[Clivescoobydo]

7 hours ago, Indi9xx said:

With Porsche values, I have seen many cycles.

I have seen 356's being classed as almost worthless (I used to be able to buy an MOT failure one for £1500 only 20 odd years ago), through to seeing an air cooled 911 being worth only £5k in average condition only 10 years ago to being £50k more recently (and much more for the really old agricultural examples)

Other than financial collapses and recessions, the 986 is at the bottom of it's depreciation curve at worst, at best it is on the way up. The only thing holding it back is owners of them talking down the value.

10 years ago my activity in Porsche 944 forums had people often talking down their values, people saying "A 944 Turbo will never be worth more than £8k whatever it is!" to in recent years seeing a good one sell for anything from £25k to £30k and an average one worth about £20k (crappy ones worth much less) and they have suffered a dip to an extent, but again, that is panic selling owners talking down the values.

About 4 years ago I had two 986's, one silver one was the wife's, and I have a black one, both S models, slightly different spec's, and I decided to sell them under pressure from friends and family who see my car collecting as a mental illness. Both cars were absolutely awesome condition, with money no object condition (Nothing the general public like to see more than a Porsche broken down, and nothing more embarrassing to a Porsche specialist in having their car not being perfect) so both had had things routinely changed, just because they were a "bit old" though their life with me, things like air conditioning condensors, coffin arms, drop links, water pumps... Nothing ever failed on them, they were changed just because those parts made me itch that they were a few years old.

So when I sold them, the average 2001 S was probably selling for £4k to £7k at most... Some people probably thought I was mad when I advertised them for around the £12k mark... I could have sold both those cars several times over and was happy to advertise them as coming with a no quibble unlimited warranty of a year, and an oath to stand by them if anything broke on them after that period.

And I do know that both buyers were happy with their purchases and ended up selling them (in one case) 3 years later for the same money... the other still has it and has not had to spend anything on it for 4 years other other than servicing and MOT testing.

The thing is, there was a big difference between these cars, and the typical $h1tt£r 986 on eBay for £3k, which probably needs another £8k spending on it to make it be a great car.

My point being, there are Boxster's out there that are probably worth only £3k, they might look nice, but the mechanical side is just waiting to become a big problem for someone. 

Whereas there are probably a lot of non anniversary S models out there which should be worth £12k all day long and would repay their owners in reliability and driving experience.

One of the Boxster's I own (last count I still own 5), one of my favourites is probably a 2.5 first model year, with only about 50k on the clock, and one previous owner since new... It's near damn perfect mechanically, but the lacquer is peeling in a couple of places.

Now on the one hand, I think it should be an aspiring classic, as it is one of the first examples of a Boxster, and because they were for a long time seen as the bottom of the heap, they are probably rarer than a later S, however, as long as people are buying them to drive, rather than as an investment, it is worth less than an S for better or worse.

However, compare that to air cooled 911's, to be honest the very early pre electronic injection models are not as nice to drive as Magnus Walker would romance us into believing, but are worth many more times the value of a later evolved model based on rarity and scarceness. Will that ever happen to the 2.5 early Boxster? I'm not sure... I own it because it like it.

Will I sell it? Well with the bits of peeling lacquer I doubt anyone could see past the cosmetics, and I am not sure I want to spend around £5k having it repainted, as I am not sure anyone out there would want to pay what I feel it is worth once repainted... so I guess I am stuck with keeping it and enjoying it... (any excuse)

I think with any classic car there is always the apprentice and boss syndrome.

In any era you have the apprentice in a company driving a crappy £500 car, looking upto his bosses nice new sports car with envy... The years go past, the Apprentice earns more, but still can't afford that car... He then has a family and can't justify that 10 year old same car, but another 20 years later his family is grown up, he is earning more, and suddenly does not need 4 doors and a big boot, and what does he go looking to own? What his boss or uncle had new 30 years previous.

I have seen this time and time again, a Porsche hits about 15 to 20 years old and they stop depreciating, because lets face it, if they were any cheaper anyone would have one, which would then make them harder to get, so puts the prices up, so they kind of stabilise... then when they hit about 30 years old they shoot up in value and just keep doing that, recessions excepted.

The Boxster's, all the models, will hit a time when the values are low as they depreciate, normally around the 15 to 20 year mark, and then at 30 years old, mark my words, those apprentices will find themselves getting a few grey hairs, the kids have left home, and they will want what their boss had... If that was a Focus RS, they will go for one of them, if it was a 2001 986 S, they will go for that, as the Madalorian would say, "it is the way."

What are they worth now? Whatever someone is willing to pay for them, but don't expect it to sell over night, wait for the right buyer, because somewhere there is an apprentice from 2001, who has found himself able to buy what his boss had early, and he really wants a great example, it needs to be the colour that yours is, and he is willing to pay through the nose and travel the length of the country for just the right one.

Just my 2p worth!

Great comment 👍🏼 And I’ve only got another 11 years to wait for the an S to shoot up in value lol. In the meantime I’ll keep driving what is truly a great engaging car to drive. Modern cars have ironed out that feeling......

[deanmr2]

13 hours ago, PaulQ said:

How many miles had the car done.? 

I don't think anyone would argue that these cars handle much better when worn out suspension components are replaced. 

My car had done about 80k when I refreshed the suspension and was coming up to 20 years old. The car is a keeper for me so didn’t mind spending the cash

[fizz]

13 minutes ago, deanmr2 said:

My car had done about 80k when I refreshed the suspension and was coming up to 20 years old. The car is a keeper for me so didn’t mind spending the cash

Off topic but what MR2 did you run before the boxster?

[kevs]

@Indi9xx two fantastic posts - I was thoroughly engrossed reading them.  Yet another reason to hold onto my 986, which I’ve had for nearly 13 years, for another 13!

[Cheddar Bob]

Interestingly, I carried out an insurance quote yesterday and it pre-populates the expected value, it added £1000 to what I paid for the car... 

Now that is probably a bad algorithm however who knows.  

[fizz]

9 minutes ago, kevs said:

@Indi9xx two fantastic posts - I was thoroughly engrossed reading them.

Was about to right exactly the same thing mate. Excellent post and if i had enough likes left to give i would have added them too! 

[fizz]

8 hours ago, Indi9xx said:

In any era you have the apprentice in a company driving a crappy £500 car, looking upto his bosses nice new sports car with envy... The years go past, the Apprentice earns more, but still can't afford that car... He then has a family and can't justify that 10 year old same car, but another 20 years later his family is grown up, he is earning more, and suddenly does not need 4 doors and a big boot, and what does he go looking to own? What his boss or uncle had new 30 years previous.

pretty much this all day long... So in 2003 working for Provident Financial on IT support at the time. I was driving a 15 year old Toyota Celica GT ST182 (lovely pop up lights) when i had to drop something in the underground car park and saw a boxster for the first time up close and personal. 

Took pics on my then Sony Ericsson P800i phone and i still have both the pics and the phone in my possession till this day.

Fast forward a few years and now im looking to buy a 986 S as the cycle continues... 

 

[fizz]

20 minutes ago, fizz said:

 

Wow... the same guy still owns its and its VERY low mileage... how apt for this thread.

https://www.freecarcheck.co.uk/free/?NFJKQS0=-NDo0Ng%3D

[Indi9xx]

The other thing worth mentioning, which I forgot to add.

There is a vicious cycle during this phase of depreciation and appreciation in car prices of any model.

On the one hand, you have owners being told by specialists "The car could do with XYZ doing, and it will cost around £2k" with owners answering "I don't want to spend that much on the car, it's only worth £Xk"

These cars are doomed... They will either have something really expensive break in a big way, and end up being broken up for parts. Or while still working the owner will move it on... Normally putting it on eBay, at only £Xk or less"

Someone will buy it on eBay, be told by a specialist it will need £Xk spending on it.

And the cycle continues until either it ends up breaking in an expensive way, or someone comes along who decides to love it.

At some point during this phase of depreciation, stabilisation and eventually appreciation, Jeremy Clarkson will strap rocket launchers to one, make fun of it now being a mobile Scud launcher, but will mention in passing, that secretly he always thought they were an amazing car.... Another car off the road, and suddenly a lot of people thinking "Those Boxster's are kind of cool"

Over this phase, more and more cars end up on the scrap heap, making the ones remaining less common, which eventually everyone will look around and say "Not many Boxster 98X models being advertised these days" and then the prices also start to go up as people begin to realise finding one, especially a good one is harder and harder.

All this goes on in the background while the apprentices from when the car was new rise up through the ranks, have their families and eventually are in a position to buy and justify a really nice one to be able to say "I did it! the 21 year old me would be so proud!"

 

 

[EXY]

2 hours ago, fizz said:

pretty much this all day long... So in 2003 working for Provident Financial on IT support at the time. I was driving a 15 year old Toyota Celica GT ST182 (lovely pop up lights) when i had to drop something in the underground car park and saw a boxster for the first time up close and personal. 

Took pics on my then Sony Ericsson P800i phone and i still have both the pics and the phone in my possession till this day.

Are you looking at your bosses I-phone 26 with envious eyes though 🤔

[fizz]

11 minutes ago, EXY said:

Are you looking at your bosses I-phone 26 with envious eyes though 🤔

dont think it works with mobiles funnily enough... 🤔

[Indi9xx]

I think the bosses i-phone, wife, suit or even his 18 year old daughter are all things that may have looked good at the time, but do not look so great 30 years later

Car's on the other hand, if they are slightly worn it's "Patina"  and with some love and attention can look as good as new... His wife on the other hand was probably traded in for a younger model years ago.

 

[Scubaregs]

1 hour ago, Indi9xx said:

I think the bosses i-phone, wife, suit or even his 18 year old daughter are all things that may have looked good at the time, but do not look so great 30 years later

At 57 I'm willing to bet if the daughter looked good at 18, she still will at 48. 😉

Great post on age deterioration btw, spot on.

[deanmr2]

7 hours ago, fizz said:

Off topic but what MR2 did you run before the boxster?

I bought a silver 2001 MR2 roadster,it was brand new and my first introduction to a mid engined sports car,really liked the handling of that car but it could have done with a bit more power. I was only planning on keeping it for 3 years but ended up selling it 7 years later in 2008 because I enjoyed it so much.

As much as I liked my mister 2 my 2001 Boxster S takes the roadster concept to a new level does everything that the MR2 did well x2

 

[fizz]

13 minutes ago, deanmr2 said:

I bought a silver 2001 MR2 roadster,it was brand new and my first introduction to a mid engined sports car,really liked the handling of that car but it could have done with a bit more power. I was only planning on keeping it for 3 years but ended up selling it 7 years later in 2008 because I enjoyed it so much.

As much as I liked my mister 2 my 2001 Boxster S takes the roadster concept to a new level does everything that the MR2 did well x2

 

They were deffo under powered thats for sure. The only mk3 mr2 i drove was supercharged and had circa 220bhp and that was nippy and fun. 

I owned 3 mk2 mr2's over the years, 2 turbo and one NA and im hoping to move into a 986 s next. 

[deanmr2]

9 minutes ago, fizz said:

They were deffo under powered thats for sure. The only mk3 mr2 i drove was supercharged and had circa 220bhp and that was nippy and fun. 

I owned 3 mk2 mr2's over the years, 2 turbo and one NA and im hoping to move into a 986 s next. 

You will love the Boxster S take your time till you find a nice well cared for example. Check on here in cars for sale section as members are enthusiasts in general who properly maintain their cars.When do you plan on buying the 986?

[the baron]

7 hours ago, Indi9xx said:

The other thing worth mentioning, which I forgot to add.

There is a vicious cycle during this phase of depreciation and appreciation in car prices of any model.

On the one hand, you have owners being told by specialists "The car could do with XYZ doing, and it will cost around £2k" with owners answering "I don't want to spend that much on the car, it's only worth £Xk"

These cars are doomed... They will either have something really expensive break in a big way, and end up being broken up for parts. Or while still working the owner will move it on... Normally putting it on eBay, at only £Xk or less"

Someone will buy it on eBay, be told by a specialist it will need £Xk spending on it.

And the cycle continues until either it ends up breaking in an expensive way, or someone comes along who decides to love it.

At some point during this phase of depreciation, stabilisation and eventually appreciation, Jeremy Clarkson will strap rocket launchers to one, make fun of it now being a mobile Scud launcher, but will mention in passing, that secretly he always thought they were an amazing car.... Another car off the road, and suddenly a lot of people thinking "Those Boxster's are kind of cool"

Over this phase, more and more cars end up on the scrap heap, making the ones remaining less common, which eventually everyone will look around and say "Not many Boxster 98X models being advertised these days" and then the prices also start to go up as people begin to realise finding one, especially a good one is harder and harder.

All this goes on in the background while the apprentices from when the car was new rise up through the ranks, have their families and eventually are in a position to buy and justify a really nice one to be able to say "I did it! the 21 year old me would be so proud!"

 

 

Good analysis and mirrors my thoughts, being a classic car enthusiast.

[fizz]

1 hour ago, deanmr2 said:

You will love the Boxster S take your time till you find a nice well cared for example. Check on here in cars for sale section as members are enthusiasts in general who properly maintain their cars.When do you plan on buying the 986?

I've got a seal grey one lined up like you but its a manual and on a 03. A old work friend of mine owns it and it has FSH with 74k on the clock. Hoping to grab it off him in Feb as hes bust over xmas and the car needs a MOT. Im going to take it to a local porsche indi for a pre sale inspection before i commit.  

[deanmr2]

1 hour ago, fizz said:

I've got a seal grey one lined up like you but its a manual and on a 03. A old work friend of mine owns it and it has FSH with 74k on the clock. Hoping to grab it off him in Feb as hes bust over xmas and the car needs a MOT. Im going to take it to a local porsche indi for a pre sale inspection before i commit.  

I love the seal grey think it looks great on a 986. It definitely helps knowing the owner of a prospective purchase and your doing the right thing getting an indi inspection who should highlight any issues and give you an idea of any repair costs. Good luck and I am sure you will love owning a Boxster as much as I do 👍