Had to be price with me, although I like the Boxster a lot. There's a guy in my neighborhood who has one and it does sound sweet as it whines by the house.

I'll always have a soft spot for Porsches. I still miss my restored 1982 911SC black/black.

 

When we bought our '01 we seriously shopped the 240bhp M Roadster, TT Cabrio, Vette convertible, S2000, Boxster, and Boxster S.

Since you asked about the Porsche, I'll limit my resonses to those cars.

I have always loved Porsches. Say what you want but they're special cars. Porsche is one of the last, small, independent manufacturers and Porsche has racing in its blood (not unlike Honda). Granted, some past products have not been all that (hey, we all make mistakes) and some future cars look shaky (I hate the Cayanne) but for the most part, they're all great cars.

I was a bit disappointed in the transformation of the Boxster from show car to reality, but still think it's a beautiful car. But I made the mistake of driving the Porsches after I drove most of the cars on my list. The base boxster (2.7L) left me wanting more. The Boxster S was fantastic. It sounds great, handles beautifully, is still very comfy and has some damn fine brakes. In fact, of all the cars on my list, the Boxster S was probably my favorite.

So why did I pick the S. Here's a breakdown

1) Value. With the options that I wanted the Boxster S was coming it at just a hair under $60,000 US (excluding tax, luxury tax, lic., registration, etc.). As i recall, we paid just a hair under $33,000 US (same disclaimer) for our 2001 S. That $27,000 difference was very material to me and frankly the Boxster S just isn't worth that much more. Maybe if it had been $5 -$10K difference (and that was the only reason), I would have jumped at it.
2) Ownership costs. I'm gonna be 30 this year. I have a perfect driving record and just about every discount known to man (own my own house, multi car, garage kept, etc.) and the insurance on the Boxster was way more than the Honda. Insurance can be all over the board, to be sure, but this was the case for me with my insurance company (AAA). That's just the tip of the iceberg. I work with a gentleman who was one of the founders of Porsche Credit here in the US. He put me in touch with the owners of two Porsche dealerships who walked me through the maintenance on a Boxster S. Yes, the maintenance intervals are greater but holy crap are they expensive. Now, that's scheduled maintenance. Once you're out of warranty and something breaks, you are in a whole new world of pain.
3) Exclusivity. Here in S. Orange County, Boxsters are literally a dime a dozen. They're all silver it seems and mostly driven by hot blonde women that are talking on the phone with the tops up while crusing in their tiptronics or older guys who seem to really use and appreciate thier cars. The S (despite the strenght of Team Irvine) is still pretty scarce. I kind of liked that.

When I bought my '02, my decision came down to a 1994 NSX or the S2K, but that's a whole nother story.

 

1. Styling of S2K is the best for a true roadster, you sit far back.
2. $$$ for S2K is unbeatable and you don't lose much (at all) on the performance
3. You can not fit a set of golf clubs in either Boxter/S nor Z3.

(not sure if anyone had mentioned about 3), Hence the choice was clear. S2K.

 

They're both great looking , great performance, but do really want to spend that much money on a Porsche, just so you could look at the back end of an S2000 as it's pulling away from you. !!!

 

If cost was no object than I may have elected a Boxster "S" over an S2000 but with a $22-$25 disparity there was no way I could justify the price difference. These two cars are almost identical on a side by side comparison performance wise. And bring them out to a racetrack with equal drivers and one will edge the other by a couple of tenths. Only the racetrack design will determine the winner.
My other consideration was cost of ownership. I plan to keep my S2000 well beyond its 3-36 warranty and having previously owned 3 other Porsches I know that fixing them ain't cheap and they need fixing on a regular basis.

 

For my generation Ferrari always lead the list, followed by Jag, Porsche, Merc's, Mazer's, etc. in no particular order. I always considered Porsche a real driver's car but outside my price range. Then they introduced the Boxster. It was attainable and easy on the eyes, however, to me it lacked the umph to go with the name and the price tag. I did find the slightly larger interior more to my liking and the dealership treatment better. But after VETC'ing an S2000 I knew it was the car I was looking for. The value was outstanding. Unlike many, I was not knocked out when I first saw it ... no love at first sight thing. When I first saw it, I felt it was lacking something. It didn't make a bold enough statement visually to go with package. But I must say, I love the looks today - it really has grown on me. I think it's a look which will hold up over time. I figure it's every bit the car the Porsche S is at one-half the price and up keep. It will never carry the same respect that Porsche does with the general public but when four-wheel drifting through a twisty corner at speed... like I give a xxxx what the public thinks! I only have to please myself and the S2000 does that in volumes.

 

when i got my x2k last year..... i considered a lot of factors into buying a roadster.

1-engine
s2k - v-tec dohc, 240hp, hi 9000 rpm, 4 cylinder (save gas and honda's are great with 4's), new engine introduced
boxster - 220 hp, hi 6400 rpm, 4 cylinder (save gas)
result: s2k took engine

2-looks
i thought the s2k is a much more beautiful car than the boxster, z3, TT.

3-interior
well, s2k had the optional red interior. i loved that a lot, but figured it would look as nice as it ages. besides, i love all black anyways. i like the s2k's tachometer and speedometer. easy to read and another new thing from honda. so s2k took interior as well.

4-wheels
s2k came with better looking rims and better tires.

5-scarcity
well... if i remember correctly, japan honda is only exporting 7,500 of them a year to USA. it's nice to have rare beautiful toys.

6-weight displacement
the weight displacement on the s2k is 50/50 balanced as the other candidates were poor on this class.

7-handling
the s2k's handling is much more responsive than the boxster's.

8-upgrades
i'm into the import scene and was pretty sure there would be a good amount of upgrades available for this lovely car.

9-price
i was only going to get the s2k if i get it at msrp w/o any markups.

10-options
there are no other options for this car. the s2k has everything complete. the boxster's optionals to be where the s2k is at costed ridiculously too much.

11-old is gold
since the engineering on this car is incredibly out of this world, the sleek design of the car and it's front and rear design follows thru one another. this is my first car purchase so i wanted to be my first love and keep for as long as i can keep. i fell in love with the s2k.

 

There is a Porsche dealer right next to the Honda dealer where I bought my S2000. They had two Boxster S's on the lot and I was half seriously checking it out. I might have considered it more seriously, but when I inquired about a test drive, I was told by the salesman that he could "give me a ride" but I couldn't drive it.

That was the end of that.

 

[QUOTE][Originally posted by rocketman
There is a Porsche dealer right next to the Honda dealer where I bought my S2000. They had two Boxster S's on the lot and I was half seriously checking it out. I might have considered it more seriously, but when I inquired about a test drive, I was told by the salesman that he could "give me a ride" but I couldn't drive it.

That was the end of that.

Rocketman,
Did you buy your Honda at Sport in the Silver Spring Auto Park? That's where I purchased my S, and there's a Porsche dealer next to them.

 

The Boxster S does have the cute little electronic dipstick readout on the dash, and that surely would a nice addition to the S2000, but not worth $20k.