rwheelz

Boxster Spyder gets my vote! It will always be unique.

TheDonEffect

Hmm the spyder is appealing to me more...

JonBoy

I could deal with the Spyder, personally, but your wife will probably hate the top within a few days.

I say go with the 2013 Boxster. Great looks, easy to drive, decent space, light, nimble, will draw less attention than the 911 and probably handle better than any of them as well.

Otherwise, go with the blue 911 Cabriolet.

vader1

+1

jeffbrig

Can't disagree that they are great cars. I think one would make a pretty awful daily, especially for my wife. Based on that we've eliminated the Boxster Spyder from consideration.

Right now we're strongly leaning towards the 997.2 cab. We already have a Cayman (aka Boxster coupe), so it's a lot more variety. Plus, it's a 911, with a 380hp motor. Since it's my wife's daily, it's not exactly a bad thing that it's a heavier, more luxurious car. If I'm going to a track day, I'm still gonna take my Cayman. For date night, the 911 would be a nice change of pace.

jeffbrig

Okay, today was a heck of a road trip. We took the Cayman and drove to Tampa and back to check out the 997.2 Cab. Yeah, the car looks just as good in person. My wife loved it. Enough that we put down a refundable deposit to hold the car, pending PPI and final negotiation. On the PPI, I'm specifically looking for a DME report to check for possible overrevs, and any other stored codes. And I want a pro to go over it to look for evidence of whatever rear damage the car might have sustained. To my eye, it was very clean. Panel gaps were even, paint color completely uniform. I even peeked under the car, and the engine compartment was surprisingly clean. No evidence of oil leaks or anything (all Porsches leak oil, it's just a question of when, lol).

Driving impressions - the car feels incredibly taut. The engine sounds awesome with the top down. It's quick when you get on it. Not as fast as my turbo Cayman (which has a fairly significant power:weight advantage), but still plenty. My wife prefers it, saying she doesn't feel like it's trying to kill her (which she often jokes about mine). The PDK (IMO) shifts earlier than it needs to in regular driving - no doubt in the name of fuel economy. This particular car doesn't have the Sport/SportPlus buttons, which is a shame, but they could be added (I've already priced it out, but my wife says I'm nuts). The paint is in great shape overall, a couple of chips that were poorly touched up, but nothing I can't fix with some detailing TLC. Tires are older Michelin PS2s and the inside of the rears are at the wear bars, so I'll work that into the negotiation.

We'll be working the phones tomorrow to get a PPI set up, and go from there...

Anybody looking for a clean 1-owner S2000? Lol...

arsenal

Does she have to earn everything?

jeffbrig

Wow, I hope that was said in jest...

My wife is a cool chick. We met in college, and have been married for 18 years. She likes cars. She's the social co-chair for our local PCA chapter. She loves college football. She puts up with all my crap, and is fully supportive of all my crazy hobbies. So when I say she's "earned it", it's a bit of a lighthearted statement. I don't take lightly dropping $50k on a car, but she absolutely deserves it. She is freakin' awesome, and I'm lucky to be married to her.

jeffbrig

Quick update....we had the PPI done yesterday. No show stoppers found. DME report shows no over-revs (not likely with PDK, but you never know). They checked out the rear of the car, and everything was clean, straight, and true. No shoddy repairs, really nothing evident at all. Seems like whatever was done was very minor. They noted some general maintenance needs, but nothing out of line for a car of this age. The only significant finding was the possibility of a little "dampness" at the rear main seal. Like I said earlier, all Porsches will leak oil, just a question of when. Heck, my Cayman has seeped just a little for 5 years, but has never put a drop on the garage floor. Now we're just negotiating on price to account for that finding and new tires. With any luck, we'll strike a deal and go pick it up Saturday.

WolfpackS2k

Don't think you can go wrong. Will be exciting to have another P car in the stable!