Sold a Boxster to get a S2000
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 597
Likes: 1
From: 213
sad to say but, i've experienced a lot of problems with my S. More than i would have liked actually..
to list a few.... malfunctioning EPS, tct replaced, leaky roof, eats up a quart+ of oil every 3k miles... some people say this is normal on an S, i say it's not as reliable as most people make it seem
oh and the car only has 20,000 miles.
but hell i still love it.
to list a few.... malfunctioning EPS, tct replaced, leaky roof, eats up a quart+ of oil every 3k miles... some people say this is normal on an S, i say it's not as reliable as most people make it seem
oh and the car only has 20,000 miles.
but hell i still love it.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 9,551
Likes: 0
From: Nashville to Knoxville
wow, it seems as though you are an excellent addition to the s2ki community.
expect for your brain to be picked regarding many, if not all, of the cars you've owned, and probably in comparison to the S. With a writeup like that, you should get paid to do it.
but if you think your S is fun, hop in an AP1.
expect for your brain to be picked regarding many, if not all, of the cars you've owned, and probably in comparison to the S. With a writeup like that, you should get paid to do it.
but if you think your S is fun, hop in an AP1.
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,549
Likes: 0
From: Altus, OK
definetly a good writeup....my feelings of the S2000 mirror yours exactly i havent owned nearly the cars you have, but working for an expansive dealership have had the opportunity to drive A LOT of cars and none reach in comparison to the S
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
From: Portland OR
I really want to thank everyone for your comments and the warm welcome. This place - meaning, all of you - is amazing. I've been part of many forums (with 97 cars, I've had the chance to sample just about everything), and the perceptiveness, insights, thoughts, knowledge, experience, and just plain fun in this community are absolutely the best. I never imagined that my introductory post would result in so many comments and views. It will be so much fun, and such a privilege, to interact and share ideas and experiences with all of you.
I think it's a reflection of the car. The S2000 is truly an enthusiast's car, a car for the real connoisseur. A simple sign? The S2000 is only available with a manual transmission. How many other cars on the market come only with a standard? Even many so-called "sports" cars now have the majority of their sales in slush-box abominations. Maybe I'm old-school and not into the whole 'paddle-shifter' orgy, and maybe computer-controlled auto-boxes are more efficient and maybe faster (under some conditions) than a do-it-yourself stick, but to me, having the skill and foot-hand-eye coordination to drive a stick properly will always set the true enthusiasts apart from those who see cars either as only transportation or as status symbols (93 out of the 97 cars I've had were sticks). And to me, handling a stick with skill will always be more fun than electronics making the decisions for me, no matter how efficient they might be.
I think that symbolism and perception are also a reflection of the S2000, and the kind of people who buy them. So many people buy cars for snob appeal, as a "lifestyle" thing (cough cough, like many - not all, but many - BMW and Porsche drivers). Sure, there are still enthusiasts who buy German cars for the fun of driving (but with >75% of BMW's going out the door with slushboxes, and a significant proportion of Porsches now also blighting the world with only two pedals, one has to wonder what the buyer's priorities are....) (in past years, the magazines for Porsche owners were filled with technical tips, power and handling modifications, track experiences, etc. They're still out there, but now when you buy a Porsche you get a complimentary subscription to that laughable rag called "Christophoros", which is totally about the 'Porsche lifestyle'. Instead of technical articles on engineering, performance mods, etc., it's filled with stories on fine wines, 5-star restaurants in Europe, high-end hotels, $15,000 watches, etc., all the trappings of what most Porsche buyers are most interested in). But so many people seem to care more about what the neighbors will think, or how cool it sounds to brag to co-workers about their car, or to cruise past the bars at night and imagine how cool the commoners on the sidelines must think someone is profiling in their 911 cab (with an auto trans! NOT!).
I don't think anyone buys a S2000 for brag value. Someone in another post shared their very prophetic experience about how they were looked down on trying to enter their S2000 in a casual car show, with the people at the gate saying 'it's only a Honda'. One doesn't buy a S2000 to impress crowds at the mall or show off to neighbors (unless they're also car enthusiasts). It seems to me that most people that buy a S2000 do it because they like to drive. And that's the bottom line, and the whole point, at least to me, and it seems to most of the people here too. The S2000 is made for driving, pure and simple, and it attracts people in the know who can appreciate it for what it is - one of the few pure sports cars on the market (not the fastest, not the most powerful, but still a pure sports car).
longislander1, you're right, Boxsters (and pretty much any new car) depreciate steeply (especially Porsche's). I did buy my Boxster new, and sold it for about 20% less than I paid for it. I got past it because the simple reality is that a new(ish) car is never going to appreciate in value. It's only going to go down, and each day and each mile it's going to be worth less. A used car is never going to be worth more than it is today. It's the cost of driving. Whether you lease, buy it on payments, or pay outright, there's a cost to owning. The "loss" I took on selling my car was actually much less than what it would have cost me if I had leased it for 3 years. So, I took it as being ahead of the game, my cost of owning it was less than any other way I could have driven a Boxster for 3 years.
I was also looking at the warranty expiring in the next year, and the realization that the depreciation was only going to get steeper once it was out of warranty. The word is getting out there that German cars are a b!tch to own if you have to pay for repairs yourself. They're worth more at sale time if there's still factory warranty remaining, and less if there isn't. So, it was a window of opportunity before the depreciation curve got even steeper (I also was patient and sold it myself, which took more time than selling or trading to a dealer, but got a better price as a result).
I also got past it from just the feeling of what would I prefer to drive? Life is short (shorter for me at 50 than for those of you half that age). How much time did I want to let go by driving a car that felt like a millstone around my neck, and not driving a car that was a blast? So in the end, the answer was easy.
I thought about safety too (my wife was almost killed in an accident a few years back and only airbags made the difference between her walking away, and a body bag). I liked the Boxster's 6 airbags, and was worried about the S2000's only having 2. But, real-world crash experiences and crash-test ratings are driven by more than just how many airbags a car has (though that certainly is a big factor). I was reassured that both the Boxster and S2000 had similar crash-test ratings, regardless of how many airbags they have (and like someone said, if you're going to get squashed by a Hummer, all the airbags in the world won't make much difference).
Life is short. Drive what you like, and like what you drive (if you don't, get something else).
I think it's a reflection of the car. The S2000 is truly an enthusiast's car, a car for the real connoisseur. A simple sign? The S2000 is only available with a manual transmission. How many other cars on the market come only with a standard? Even many so-called "sports" cars now have the majority of their sales in slush-box abominations. Maybe I'm old-school and not into the whole 'paddle-shifter' orgy, and maybe computer-controlled auto-boxes are more efficient and maybe faster (under some conditions) than a do-it-yourself stick, but to me, having the skill and foot-hand-eye coordination to drive a stick properly will always set the true enthusiasts apart from those who see cars either as only transportation or as status symbols (93 out of the 97 cars I've had were sticks). And to me, handling a stick with skill will always be more fun than electronics making the decisions for me, no matter how efficient they might be.
I think that symbolism and perception are also a reflection of the S2000, and the kind of people who buy them. So many people buy cars for snob appeal, as a "lifestyle" thing (cough cough, like many - not all, but many - BMW and Porsche drivers). Sure, there are still enthusiasts who buy German cars for the fun of driving (but with >75% of BMW's going out the door with slushboxes, and a significant proportion of Porsches now also blighting the world with only two pedals, one has to wonder what the buyer's priorities are....) (in past years, the magazines for Porsche owners were filled with technical tips, power and handling modifications, track experiences, etc. They're still out there, but now when you buy a Porsche you get a complimentary subscription to that laughable rag called "Christophoros", which is totally about the 'Porsche lifestyle'. Instead of technical articles on engineering, performance mods, etc., it's filled with stories on fine wines, 5-star restaurants in Europe, high-end hotels, $15,000 watches, etc., all the trappings of what most Porsche buyers are most interested in). But so many people seem to care more about what the neighbors will think, or how cool it sounds to brag to co-workers about their car, or to cruise past the bars at night and imagine how cool the commoners on the sidelines must think someone is profiling in their 911 cab (with an auto trans! NOT!).
I don't think anyone buys a S2000 for brag value. Someone in another post shared their very prophetic experience about how they were looked down on trying to enter their S2000 in a casual car show, with the people at the gate saying 'it's only a Honda'. One doesn't buy a S2000 to impress crowds at the mall or show off to neighbors (unless they're also car enthusiasts). It seems to me that most people that buy a S2000 do it because they like to drive. And that's the bottom line, and the whole point, at least to me, and it seems to most of the people here too. The S2000 is made for driving, pure and simple, and it attracts people in the know who can appreciate it for what it is - one of the few pure sports cars on the market (not the fastest, not the most powerful, but still a pure sports car).
longislander1, you're right, Boxsters (and pretty much any new car) depreciate steeply (especially Porsche's). I did buy my Boxster new, and sold it for about 20% less than I paid for it. I got past it because the simple reality is that a new(ish) car is never going to appreciate in value. It's only going to go down, and each day and each mile it's going to be worth less. A used car is never going to be worth more than it is today. It's the cost of driving. Whether you lease, buy it on payments, or pay outright, there's a cost to owning. The "loss" I took on selling my car was actually much less than what it would have cost me if I had leased it for 3 years. So, I took it as being ahead of the game, my cost of owning it was less than any other way I could have driven a Boxster for 3 years.
I was also looking at the warranty expiring in the next year, and the realization that the depreciation was only going to get steeper once it was out of warranty. The word is getting out there that German cars are a b!tch to own if you have to pay for repairs yourself. They're worth more at sale time if there's still factory warranty remaining, and less if there isn't. So, it was a window of opportunity before the depreciation curve got even steeper (I also was patient and sold it myself, which took more time than selling or trading to a dealer, but got a better price as a result).
I also got past it from just the feeling of what would I prefer to drive? Life is short (shorter for me at 50 than for those of you half that age). How much time did I want to let go by driving a car that felt like a millstone around my neck, and not driving a car that was a blast? So in the end, the answer was easy.
I thought about safety too (my wife was almost killed in an accident a few years back and only airbags made the difference between her walking away, and a body bag). I liked the Boxster's 6 airbags, and was worried about the S2000's only having 2. But, real-world crash experiences and crash-test ratings are driven by more than just how many airbags a car has (though that certainly is a big factor). I was reassured that both the Boxster and S2000 had similar crash-test ratings, regardless of how many airbags they have (and like someone said, if you're going to get squashed by a Hummer, all the airbags in the world won't make much difference).
Life is short. Drive what you like, and like what you drive (if you don't, get something else).
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 169
Likes: 0
From: Jackson, TN
I have lurked this board for years and will probably sell my 2.7 986 (Boxster) within a year and buy an ap2. The major issue driving me to the s2000 is maintenance cost/reliability. However, as others have chimed in and said, Porsche ownership is not as bad as Seeker makes it out to be. While the engine failures and whatnot are not fun, check out Rennlist, 6speed, ppbb, or any number of Porsche boards to behold the ranks of satisfied enthusiasts that are really passionate about their cars. While many do buy the cars to pose, many also buy the cars for what many here would believe are the right reasons. I have had my fair share problems with the Boxster (for instance, right now my top does not work because some component in the top transmission gave way), but overall the owernship experience has been great and has given me lots of joy in the years that I have owned it.