My W204 ownership is coming to a close

[C300Kid]

I mentioned this in off topic so may be a repeat.. I've been casually planning on getting a new car this fall/winter, test driving a few models here and there. On Sat I test drove the new 2013 Porsche Boxster and made up my mind instantly. Such a perfect car and infinitely better than the previous gen imo. After the drive (which was surprisingly comfortable and daily drivable), my w204 felt like it handled like a minivan. This is to be expected though, obviously two very different cars. I'm gonna wait a few months to get settled at my job, then place an order. I'll still stick around here indefinitely though, still a MB fan for life.

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[caligreenzzz]

ok...

[MDMercedesGuy]

Congrats, Kyle!

I'm going to a launch party for the 2013 Boxster here in a few weeks at the local dealer - I've been there a few times poking around and got the invite. It's a great car.

[C300Kid]

Originally Posted by MDMercedesGuy

Congrats, Kyle!

I'm going to a launch party for the 2013 Boxster here in a few weeks at the local dealer - I've been there a few times poking around and got the invite. It's a great car.

It really is. I loved the SLK but I was never certain I wanted to drop $50k on one. When I drove the Porsche I didn't want to get out and I knew it would be worth every penny to me.

Like I said, not rushing anything though. It's a big purchase for me, first car I'm doing completely on my own.

[MBRedux]

Absolutely stunning! Test drove one at my local dealer when it first came in and was simply blown away by this car. The neutral steering took a little getting use to, especially in the twisties, but once you get the feel of the car, it gets to you! Excellent choice and best of luck in your new ride! Cheers!

[C300Sport]

Have never been a big Boxter fan and while the redo is easily recognizable as the next generatin of the Boxter, it looks awesome. If I were in the market for a two seat convertable, this would be the one.
Congrats.

[RLE]

Originally Posted by MBRedux

Absolutely stunning! Test drove one at my local dealer when it first came in and was simply blown away by this car. The neutral steering took a little getting use to, especially in the twisties, but once you get the feel of the car, it gets to you! Excellent choice and best of luck in your new ride! Cheers!

None of these comments surprise me in the least. Every single road test of this car praises it to the skies, worldwide. Porsche is really on a roll now with more new models coming and even at stratospheric prices business is picking up. Sales of the current Boxster have dropped into the basement since the world has known about the new Boxster S and the 991 Carrera S.

BTW, in a road test this month in two magazines, the Boxster S whipped the new SLK55 thoroughly, despite it's twin-turbo V-8. The SLK being a cruiser rather than a handler.

My friend ALC picked up his new 991 S (yellow) just last Thursday. He traded his 2006 997S with only 12K miles and said he doesn't care what the new one cost because he's buying one anyway.

[MDMercedesGuy]

The Boxster has always been a sweetheart of a car in the corners... I got my first taste of driving one back in 1998 shortly after I turned 16. Between the sound and the handling, it doesn't matter that the early ones aren't that fast - it's an experience.

[RLE]

Originally Posted by C300Kid

I mentioned this in off topic so may be a repeat..

I've been casually planning on getting a new car this fall/winter, test driving a few models here and there. On Sat I test drove the new 2013 Porsche Boxster and made up my mind instantly. Such a perfect car and infinitely better than the previous gen imo. After the drive (which was surprisingly comfortable and daily drivable), my w204 felt like it handled like a minivan. This is to be expected though, obviously two very different cars. I'm gonna wait a few months to get settled at my job, then place an order. I'll still stick around here indefinitely though, still a MB fan for life.

As a Porsche owner for longer than I care to discuss, I have a few suggestions based on recommendations from "those that know."

Buy the Boxster S because the differences between the base model and the S are substantial although an extra 12 grand might not sound worth it, but is.

Even at the hellish extra cost, specify the 7-speed PDK transmission, not the standard 6-speed. There is a huge difference and will pay off at resale time. Look very carefully at the suspension options which are new. Torque vectoring is one and another is a limited slip diff.

If you can, look at colors on real cars, not color chips. At these prices you don't want to make a mistake. If I had the bucks I would choose Macadamia (dark brown metallic) with the Natural Leather (light brown) interior ($$$) because I've seen a 911 Cab this combination and it's eye watering.

Properly optioned, it's easy to exceed C63 prices (scared yet?) but you get what you pay for without the steep AMG depreciation slope.

As to owning a Porsche, it's entirely different than MB ownership and I've owned more MBs than my six Porsches. People do not buy/lease new Porsches and immediately start changing things except for items for track usage such as brake pads (sometimes) and tires. There can be such variety in speccing out a Porsche that you don't have to worry much about seeing yourself coming the other way every day. And, all models are respected by other owners these days. In fact, if you had kept your old 356 or early 911 model, you could be in the chips now.

Porsche owners can take advantage of all the various driving events offered by the Porsche Club of America (108,000 members now, the largest car club on the planet with an excellent relationship with Porsche AG, now VWAG I must add. See www.pca.org and www.pnwr.org.

Porsches have always been able to go to the track on weekends for years with no worries about mechanical failures or accellerated wear. My 944 was a DE car from nearly it's first day for about 20 years and the engine and trans have never shown signs of abnormal wear and it's seen hundreds of laps at our home track, Pacific Raceways.

You can see that I'm an enthusiastic owner but still love my Mercedes.

[C300BLK]

Congrats man! Definitely a great little car!

[K-A]

The new Boxster is SICK! Really one of the nicest cars out there right now I think. Too small for me and I don't like Convertibles, so I'm gonna wait for the fixed roof version (Cayman) and think about whether I can muster living with a car of that size (6'4" tall and safety paranoid), and take a serious look at it.

I didn't even know dealers had them yet....

[ferrariyellow44]

I just still can never get over the fact that the boxster just seems like a very feminine car. Even Clarkson and Hammond brought it up while driving one in the "under 10,000 pounds" bargain car episode where clarkson ended up buying a CL600

[Scat01]

Originally Posted by RLE

As a Porsche owner for longer than I care to discuss, I have a few suggestions based on recommendations from "those that know."

Buy the Boxster S because the differences between the base model and the S are substantial although an extra 12 grand might not sound worth it, but is.

Even at the hellish extra cost, specify the 7-speed PDK transmission, not the standard 6-speed. There is a huge difference and will pay off at resale time. Look very carefully at the suspension options which are new. Torque vectoring is one and another is a limited slip diff.

If you can, look at colors on real cars, not color chips. At these prices you don't want to make a mistake. If I had the bucks I would choose Macadamia (dark brown metallic) with the Natural Leather (light brown) interior ($$$) because I've seen a 911 Cab this combination and it's eye watering.

You can see that I'm an enthusiastic owner but still love my Mercedes.

This is all great information from an experienced expert and I am sure you mean well, but reading the OP's posts it really sounds like he is squeezing his budget to get into the 49.5K base model (which is a beautiful, dream machine for many), why tease him with the PDK trans, susp upgrades, extra 50 hp, and .7 off the 0-60 time when the "hellish extra cost" is most likely not a choice...??

Congrats C300kid, good luck with purchase and come back with pics...

And holy crap, ever look at the list of options available for the Porsche cars, there are literally 60-70 different options/packages for the Boxter you can choose from, wow, good luck with all that...could be lots of fun if you had lots o cash...

[tanktube67]

Good choice, the new Boxster is a beauty, total new design with more HP.

[JasonHu]

Sorry to see you go! I was never a fan of the boxter but the recent ones I've seen were great!

Stick around and hopefully we'll see you back in the near future =)

[C300Kid]

Originally Posted by ferrariyellow44

I just still can never get over the fact that the boxster just seems like a very feminine car. Even Clarkson and Hammond brought it up while driving one in the "under 10,000 pounds" bargain car episode where clarkson ended up buying a CL600

The previous Boxster was "cuter." The new one isn't feminine at all. Anyone who thinks otherwise is insecure and should seek help.

[ggms16]

The new boxster is awesome, I hope you can get one!!.. Sadly (and happily) for me, still have 2 little kids to carry with me all the time..

[C300Kid]

Originally Posted by Scat01

This is all great information from an experienced expert and I am sure you mean well, but reading the OP's posts it really sounds like he is squeezing his budget to get into the 49.5K base model (which is a beautiful, dream machine for many), why tease him with the PDK trans, susp upgrades, extra 50 hp, and .7 off the 0-60 time when the "hellish extra cost" is most likely not a choice...??

Congrats C300kid, good luck with purchase and come back with pics...

And holy crap, ever look at the list of options available for the Porsche cars, there are literally 60-70 different options/packages for the Boxter you can choose from, wow, good luck with all that...could be lots of fun if you had lots o cash...

Thanks, i'll def post pics! I'm not really squeezing my budget, I would never do that, I just have other priorities. Right now I want to save and invest as much as I can at a young age. The base Boxster is already an impractical gift to myself, spending $15k+ extra would just be silly at this point in my life. I'm 25, I need something to move up to! Coming from a C300, any Porsche is a major bump in performance and I'm very very happy with the base model. Also, I drove one with the PDK and didn't love it. It's most likely because my last 3 cars have been manuals so the automatic would take some time to get used to...but at over $3k, it's not something I want to take a risk on when I already know I'll love the manual.

I spec'd one out with the essentials (bigger wheels, xenon headlights, auto climate control, heated and ventilated seats, sport design steering wheel, etc) and I'm looking at about $56k which I think is the most I'm willing to spend this time around. I'm sure I'll become a bigger Porsche enthusiast once I'm an owner and will probably want everything RLE mentioned, but at this point I'm comfortable with my decision.

[ferrariyellow44]

Originally Posted by C300Kid

The previous Boxster was "cuter." The new one isn't feminine at all. Anyone who thinks otherwise is insecure and should seek help.

Yeah the new one is much more masculine, but I just cant seem to remove that cute image of the boxster from my head. If they called it something rather than the "Boxster" I may like it more

[Tjohnson4845]

Originally Posted by ferrariyellow44

I just still can never get over the fact that the boxster just seems like a very feminine car. Even Clarkson and Hammond brought it up while driving one in the "under 10,000 pounds" bargain car episode where clarkson ended up buying a CL600

lol agreed

[C300Kid]

Originally Posted by ferrariyellow44

If they called it something rather than the "Boxster" I may like it more

Haha, I think a lot of people would agree with this.

[C300Kid]

Originally Posted by K-A

The new Boxster is SICK! Really one of the nicest cars out there right now I think. Too small for me and I don't like Convertibles, so I'm gonna wait for the fixed roof version (Cayman) and think about whether I can muster living with a car of that size (6'4" tall and safety paranoid), and take a serious look at it.

I didn't even know dealers had them yet....

DO IT! When I get to LA we can start a Porsche club. Haha jk. The car is surprisingly roomy though, I'd encourage you to check it out. I was amazed at how much bigger it felt inside than the previous model (which I found to be claustrophobic). The Cayman will even be roomier I assume.

[Tjohnson4845]

You're gonna need a lot more than a base Boxster to be noticed in LA kid, just saying.

[C300Kid]

Originally Posted by Tjohnson4845

You're gonna need a lot more than a base Boxster to be noticed in LA kid, just saying.

Did I say I was trying to be noticed?

[LILBENZ230]

I'd say that anyone concerned with whether a machine is "feminine" or not is insecure and needs help.

But yes, the new Boxster is gorgeous. I didn't care for the old ones at all. Congrats on the upgrade!