Well, I guess I shall now be lumped into the group of individuals that had their heart set on the RX-8 only to back out at the very last second. I know I know, I am a loser and a chump, but other things have taken priority.

First off, I have moved out and am living on my own (cha-ching!)

Right now the plans are to hold on to my car (1988 Acura Legend LS) for another year, and then after a year, keep that as my daily driver (350 miles a week) and then for fun, find a nice used Boxter :D . I have tried, but cannot resist the siren's call of a Porsche in my price range. There is no substitute don't you know :p . I will still be here, it seems every other forum is filled with obnoxious jerks, I hope this doesn't happen with the release of the car.

Also, does anybody know of any Boxster forums on the net? It would be extremely helpful. Thanks, and good luck with the rotary!! :cool:

You are not a loser nor a chump. Circumstances changed - that's all. Good luck on your own. But, maybe you could get the RX-8 and move into that! Cheers and enjoy your new car.

Don't put yourself down for not buying a certain car... the Boxster is a GREAT car. Believe me, I should know, my father had one for 3 years. Man was that a fun car to drive. Anyhow, good luck with the Porsche and I hope you love it. I know I did...

Hehehe, don't worry guys, I was only kidding about being a loser and being hard on myself.

I am extremely happy with my decision. My co-workers always got annoyed with me because I seemed to change my mind as to what my car situation was going to be weekly. I have been all over the map.

But I have made up my mind... I think... :p

Good luck!

I have to say this though, I've wanted a boxster for a while. I found 2 for $40k cdn! With VERY low mileage, but after actually seeing the interior UGH!

I went to the porsche dealer and I don't like the interiors at all! I know it drives great but if I can't stand the interior I can't sit in it :(

I can't blame you- in fact, come tomorrow, I'll be driving one for the next week. I've been hanging onto a demo car from my company for a couple years now, but since I'm getting the car I want, I thought I may as well use the demo- so tomorrow, I'm going to pick up a bright yellow 2000 Boxster for the next week. I've never driven ANY kind of Porsche, so I'm looking forward to it.

The ONLY thing I would caution you on is the price of upkeep- something goes wrong with a Porsche, and it's 10X worse than BMW to fix- I've got a couple friends with them, and they are complete money pits if anything goes wrong. But you probably already knew that anyway.

Elara-

Sounds like a lot of fun. I'd be eager to hear a little personal road test after a week with the car. Is it a Boxster or a Boxster S?

As for the upkeep, believe me, I know and it terrifies me. Not only is repair bad for Porsches, but its especially bad for Boxsters since the only way to the engine is from below!

I have heard that they are pretty reliable though, which is a good thing. Plus this is going to be a weekend fun car, I'm not going to be racking up hundreds of miles on this car.

Enjoy the Boxster! Wish my company had cars like that. :cool:

I hope you enjoy the Boxster. There is a forum in the UK.

http://driverscar.com/


Or try this


http://www.flat-6.net/phpBB/index.php

Originally posted by tallguylehigh
Elara-

Sounds like a lot of fun. I'd be eager to hear a little personal road test after a week with the car. Is it a Boxster or a Boxster S?

As for the upkeep, believe me, I know and it terrifies me. Not only is repair bad for Porsches, but its especially bad for Boxsters since the only way to the engine is from below!

I have heard that they are pretty reliable though, which is a good thing. Plus this is going to be a weekend fun car, I'm not going to be racking up hundreds of miles on this car.

Enjoy the Boxster! Wish my company had cars like that. :cool:


Just a Boxster, if a Boxster can be called "just" anything. I'm limited to a car $35k or under, and even older used S's go for more. There's also a 911 on the lot, but since that's going for $50k, I didn't have a chance in hell. Same for the Corvettes. But it should be interesting, that's fo sure- especially since I usually drive my mom's ancient taurus station wagon (had to drive SOMETHING while I was waiting for the 8). I'll let you know how it goes! I've never read anything but good stuff about the driving experience with Boxsters, so I'm expecting it'll be pretty fun.

(I'm especially looking forward to rolling into my mother's church on Sunday and seeing my ex-boyfriend's eyes pop out when he sees it. I'll bet I'm now going to hell for thinking like that.)

Nothing wrong with a porsche my man. Hell, even their suv hauls ass. (looks like it too, IMHO, but that's a topic for another day)

For a U.S.-based forum try Porsche Pete's Boxster Board. It's quite active.

http://www.986board.com/board/986board.htm

Good luck with whatever you decide. :)

Although the Boxsters get good ratings for handling and performance, I've read more than a few magazine articles and Internet posts about the actual build quality, long term durability, and some mechanical / electircal issues being a common problem for Boxsters with and without the "S".

Boxter lovers, please don't jump on me, it's just what I've read. ;)

I'm actually somewhat of a Porsche fan myself, but my tastes in the Porsche line of vehicles are unfortunately higher up the price scale. ;)

I think if it came to an "exotic" sports car purchase for me at some point, I'd personally lean towards the Lotus Esprit Turbo as my first choice, unless of course the new 350HP 2600 lbs twin turbo RX-7 were available! :D

Originally posted by tallguylehigh
...and then for fun, find a nice used Boxter :D . I have tried, but cannot resist the siren's call of a Porsche in my price range. There is no substitute don't you know :p

Well, with some 1998 and 1999 Porsche Boxsters to be had for $22,500 - $24,500 with sport package and other premo goodies, I can't say that I blame you. The Boxsters are good cars and you can even drop in a 996 engine and have the thing top out at more than 315 hp, so I have to say, have fun with it.

Also, you seem far too young to worry about the "Four Door Sports Car". Me on the other hand, after pressure from my wife and 2 kids, I just sold my 2002 Porsche 911 Turbo and ordered by 2004 Mazda RX-8. Not sure that this car is really targeted at my age group (almost 40), but having owned Miata's, BMWs, Porsches, etc. I have to say that my 1999 Miata was much more fun to drive than any Boxster and I can only hope that the "Zoom-Zoom" spirit in the Miata lives inside the RX-8.

Only time will tell...

Originally posted by G-man


Well, with some 1998 and 1999 Porsche Boxsters to be had for $22,500 - $24,500 with sport package and other premo goodies, I can't say that I blame you. The Boxsters are good cars and you can even drop in a 996 engine and have the thing top out at more than 315 hp, so I have to say, have fun with it.

Also, you seem far too young to worry about the "Four Door Sports Car". Me on the other hand, after pressure from my wife and 2 kids, I just sold my 2002 Porsche 911 Turbo and ordered by 2004 Mazda RX-8. Not sure that this car is really targeted at my age group (almost 40), but having owned Miata's, BMWs, Porsches, etc. I have to say that my 1999 Miata was much more fun to drive than any Boxster and I can only hope that the "Zoom-Zoom" spirit in the Miata lives inside the RX-8.

Only time will tell... I think a good deal of the fun-to-drive factor in the Miata comes from its lightweight and nimbleness and the RX-8 in that regard, should not dissapoint.

Hopefully anyway! I am still waiting to drive! :D

Originally posted by DTECH-RX
I'd personally lean towards the Lotus Esprit Turbo as my first choice

It'll have to be 'pre-owned' because Lotus stopped making them this year.

Originally posted by Elara

(I'm especially looking forward to rolling into my mother's church on Sunday and seeing my ex-boyfriend's eyes pop out when he sees it. I'll bet I'm now going to hell for thinking like that.)

LOL, that is funny! Good old-fashioned entertainment...


Rob

Originally posted by Digisan


LOL, that is funny! Good old-fashioned entertainment...


Rob

Yeah, I'm very much looking forward to it!


Tallguylehigh- all I can say so far is GOOD CHOICE! I am half in love with the car, and I've only been driving it for a day! If it wasn't so completely impractical, and if I didn't desperately need more useable space in the cabin (not even a glove compartment , but TWO trunks- one in front and one in back!) we'd be buying this one. And my husband will need a new car in the next year- maybe we'll get one of these! All I can say is 45 minutes of twisty hilly roads in the mist at 11:30 at night with the top down, blaring Voodoo and Serano...WOW!!!! I'll post a real review of our driving impressions later, but we're off to my Mom's 100 miles away in the mountains for some fun with it.

If anyone is interested in seeing different aspects of a Boxster up close(which I'm sure most of you already have), let me know and I'll take some pictures (which I was going to anyway, but if anyone has any requests I'll get those as well).

Elara, which "hills" did you drive thru. I'm now at Ft. Lee, VA and I'm looking for good routes where I can drive "vigorously" with a minimal chance of obtaining tickets.

Hey Elara, I'm glad you are enjoying the Boxster! I just have a couple of questions about the car.

First off, does the regular Boxster have the spoiler that rises up at speed? Is there a way to do it from inside the cabin?

Also, how are the interior materials? I have heard people comment about how horrific the interiors of Boxsters were before their update in 2000. I was wondering if it is really that bad or are these problems nit-picking?

Finally, how are those brakes? Is it true what that say about Porsche brakes (i.e. amazing?) :D

rxtreme: we went up to Ashland and drove down 33- there are couple of ways to go down 33 and then circle back to Richmond, and a lot of ways to make the trip even longer- in fact, yesterday we drove from my mother's in Madison county up 230 to 15 to 33, and back to Richmond. GREAT drive. Beautiful, lots of hills and curves. If you're up for a fun afternoon drive, take 95 to Fredericksburg, take Route 3 towards Culpeper, then take 15 towards Orange till it hits 33 and take 33 all the way back. A LOT of fun.

Tallguylehigh: yes, it's got the spoiler, whether or not it went up at 75 I couldn't tell you since it's set so low that unless you crawl over top of the roll bars you can't see it. It's got a button you can push to open it, but it's supposedly to be used if the spoiler doesn't come up on it's own. I'll give it a push tomorrow and see what it does.

The interior: it's great. The leather is perforated in the seat area and the back, but the little side bolsters are not. It's really beautiful inside, in our opinion. Very classy and elegant, nothing out of place. However, this is a 2000, so maybe the problems you're referring are out of place. It was also very comfortable- we spent 3 hours in it yesterday (top down the entire time) and were ready to go another 3 hours. The stereo is a little annoying, since 1) there are no speakers behind you since you're sitting on the engine, and everything comes from in front and 2) the controls are confusing. But this IS a VERY base model- no power seats, only 3 settings on the windshield wipers, etc.

The brakes are weird- they don't grab as quickly as I would have though- they don't fit with the acceleration and the handling. The service department may have put new brake pads on, but I'm not smelling any of the normal new-brake-pad smells. So I don't know what's going on with them. If you stomp on them, the car stops immediately- but for normal braking they're kind of weird.

Other stuff: It drives VERY much like you'd expect a German car to. Feels solid, but you can throw it around any corner you want at practically any speed you want. It hugs the road beautifully. The clutch and the accelerator almost push back at you. Acceleration is ok..doesn't throw you back in your seat, but it doesn't need it (the S would probably solve that, if anyone found it lacking). Makes a great noise as you get close to the 7k redline. The shifter throw is a little longer than I'd like, and there's a bit of a dead spot on the accelerator. You can really feel the road- my husband says "it makes you feel like you're part of the car."

Even with the top down, noise isn't that bad. We were able to hold a conversation at normal levels, though we had to turn the stereo up a bit. It's a little noisy with the top up, but it's not that bad. It's also a little claustrophobic with the top up, and it's rather hard to see out of the rear with the top up. However, the mirrors are great, and if you set them correctly, everything's fine.

This is NOT a car for really tall people. I've now had two people sit in the car who were over 6 feet, and their foreheads were level with the top of the windshield. They would have to drive the car by looking OVER it.

It has two trunks, one in front and one in back. The one in back is wide, but shallow, and the one in front is deep, but narrow. No glove compartment, but a little slide back compartment behind the seats at head level. There is no place for me to put my purse except behind my seat.

Overall, it's a GREAT car. Managed to make me change my mind about the color yellow on cars, too. If we do wind up getting one (my husband now says he wants a Boxster S or a Z4 for his next car) I want it in yellow. We are having a blast, and it's going to be VERY hard to give it up on Friday.

Here are a few pictures we took yesterday, and you can see the spoiler (unopened) and the interior, and a few others.

back (http://www.elysianplains.com/Porsche/DSC00008.JPG) (spoiler is that little double line under the trunk)

side (http://www.elysianplains.com/Porsche/DSC00011.JPG) (that's me before my hair went berserk from the drive)

straight on (http://www.elysianplains.com/Porsche/DSC00012.JPG)

interior 1 (http://www.elysianplains.com/Porsche/DSC00013.JPG)

interior 2 (http://www.elysianplains.com/Porsche/DSC00014.JPG)

side back (http://www.elysianplains.com/Porsche/DSC00015.JPG)

front (http://www.elysianplains.com/Porsche/DSC00009.JPG)

Thanks for the awesome write up Elara!!

It will mainly be a weekend driver for me so I am not all too worried about the practicality of the car.

As for the height thing... grrrrrrrr! I was worried about that, and now that you say that will have to examine that closely. I am 6'4 so I may not be able to swing it, we shall have to see. I will keep my fingers crossed.

Enjoy the car for the rest of the week!

There's a good chance that if you get one with power seats it may go lower. Since this doesn't have power anything, the seats do nothing but slide back and forth, and the back raises and lowers. It looks like there's about 3 inches (at least) underneath the seats. And as a weekend car, this would be amazing- it really is a lot of fun to drive. Just don't take any long trips unless you plan to pack light!