Re: Time with the F 360 / Your Next Boxster

Yes, call me impulsive and even a little nuts. Remember last February I found the perfect 05 S CPO car, 16K miles for $31K....then sold it in 2 weeks without even registering the car and bought a Ferrari 360? Well I put 1000 miles on the Fcar but really missed the practicality and driving of the Boxster. So I sold the 360 in August, got every single penny back, including taxes and shipping and now am thinking of getting another Boxster S and keeping it! The IMS issue scared me a lot so I am leaning towards having the LN Engineering upgrade done as soon as I get the car. I'm in no rush and ideally will buy in February/March timeframe unless a fantastic deal pops up.

Great job on the board. Glad to be back!

--JK

Pedro Bonilla

1998 Boxster 986 - 200,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

First, congrats on buying an F-car and welcome back to Boxster world. I'm sure there are lots of folks on this board (at least me) who think about what it would be like to own a Ferrari. I would be interested in learning more about your experience with the 360, i.e. your likes, dislikes, and your strategy for doing so well on the purchase and sale.

Per the next Boxster, have you considered a 2009 S with the DFI engine and no IMS? At the end of the day, it might be cheaper to buy a 987.2 than buy a 987.1 and immediately upgrade the engine with the aftermarket IMS fix. Magazine tests of the 987.2 Boxster S have shown "Ferrari-like" acceleration and handling. I think a PDK S tested out at 4.1 seconds to 60mph for Road and Track.

Good luck in your search.

Quote
AS2003
First, congrats on buying an F-car and welcome back to Boxster world. I'm sure there are lots of folks on this board (at least me) who think about what it would be like to own a Ferrari. I would be interested in learning more about your experience with the 360, i.e. your likes, dislikes, and your strategy for doing so well on the purchase and sale.

Per the next Boxster, have you considered a 2009 S with the DFI engine and no IMS? At the end of the day, it might be cheaper to buy a 987.2 than buy a 987.1 and immediately upgrade the engine with the aftermarket IMS fix. Magazine tests of the 987.2 Boxster S have shown "Ferrari-like" acceleration and handling. I think a PDK S tested out at 4.1 seconds to 60mph for Road and Track.

Good luck in your search.

Hard to describe the 360. One of those things that unless you have experienced it, you wouldn't unerstand. It is absolutely in a completely different world when it comes to cars. The look is so exotic, the sound (after Fabspeed exhaust and hi flow cats) was like a race car, it sits so amazingly low to the ground, fast doesn't do it justice and everywhere you go people stop, stare, take pictures and ask questions. The car was/is awesome. There is pletny of proof out there that the cars do much better when driven and used rather than bing a garage queen. I'd dare to say, if you can afford it and get away with it for work (whcih I can't as a sales rep) these cars can be driven more times than not. Especially the 430 with timing chain rather than belt.

Here was my plan....buy a low mile 00/01 360 red/tan 6sp manual, keep it for a year and at the end of the year see if I really liked it and wanted to keep it or move on. Finding a 360 with 8400 miles and just coming out of the major service with belt and fluid change helped me a lot. I could drive it about 3,000-5,000 miles and hopefully get away without doing any work to the car.

Only downside to this was I really missed using a car more often. Found myself running a lot of local errands in the car and going to the local cars and coffee meeting 3 miles away. Even though I put 1000 miles on it in 5 months it felt like I could never use the car. Plus, all that money tied up in the car got to me after a few months. Believe me, if I can swing it again sometime i like to think another Ferrari would be in my future....even if it is 10+ years away.

The Boxster is just an awesome car. In all the ones I have had there were no issues. Guess being naive about the RMS and IMS issues has it's blessing. Now it's all I can think about when it comes to another S. Budget says 30K for an 05 S as the upgraded 09's are still in the very upper 40's. We will see what happens come late winter, maybe prices will come down.

All I can say is I have been lucky with all of the P cars I have had as well as the F360. All have been reliable and with zero issues. Would I have the same opinions if I had an IMS failure or a $10K Ferrari shop bill.....I doubt it!!

I'm at a point where I can afford a few hobbies, and thought about getting a couple of the lower priced F-cars to fill up the garage. In the end, I just couldn't give up the practical and everyday fun of a Boxster. Besides, I thought it would be over the top to drive an F-car to work. I'll keep this 05 base for now, and maybe move to a 2011 S at some point.

Tried to attach an image, what's the trick?

Where do you work that driving Porsche is not over the top? My garage at work is full of Benzes, Audis, BMWs, Lexi, etc. I'm the only Porsche. Even when I had a Boxster, everybody knew my car. When I met people at work that I didn't know they's say, "Oh, you're the one with the Porsche. Love that car/color." When I showed up last November in my new 997S Cab, word spread very quickly that I had a new car. I'd bet that even though people may not be saying it to you directly, they know you drive a Porsche. So, what's an F-car, then? Life's too short. When I go, I want to go with no regrets, and so far, so good on that front.

so did i until the saleman ,who was too busy to get off the phone,told some goffer to see what i wanted.....i said i,ve seen enuf and left

I live in Bellevue, on the Eastside of the Settle area. Every second car is a Porsche, MB, BMW or some other premium car. A Boxster is considered very modest. In my 3 mile drive home, it would be very unusual to not pass 3-4 911's. Even F-cars are fairly common, 2 people on my block own them. I should mention that the Eastside of Seattle is where Microsoft and several other tech/dot-com companies are located. Lot's of new money.

anyone who can buy a Ferrari then resell it and recover all his costs deserves a medal...