Wow...

I have an ad in the cars for sale. It is my cherry 2005 Boxter, based in Idaho. I'm asking $27,500 for the car.
I have had no responses. This car is a jewel, with 8,100 miles and no dings scratches or mechanical problems.
Am I asking too much. If so, what would be a reasonable asking price?

... what someone is willing to pay and you to accept.
$27,000 for a mint-condition, 2005 Boxster seems to be in the ball park, but you have to understand that there is a lot of competition out there.
Many, many great used Boxsters are available at this time, so it's a buyer's market and sellers need to adjust their price if they want to move them.
At $27,000 you may have to wait until someone looking for exactly that car comes along.
At $17,000 you'll probably sell it very quickly.
You have to find the median point that you can accept.

Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"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

At $17,000 I'd come get it ;-)

a guy that works in the shipping department. How else would we be get things into boxes?

i mentioned on his ad that he spelled boxster wrong and he doesn't seem to get it.

--
MY 2000 S, Ocean Blue, Metropol Blue, Savanah Beige.
Bought June 2000 - Sold May 2010

Back in the winter, a gentleman on this board picked up an '05 Boxster S with 25K miles for around 26K. I've seen 08 and 09's (think warranty) in the high thirties.

I wish you luck but my opinion, for what its worth, is your car is worth 22-25K.

dghii
2000 Boxster S 6speed 112k miles

how can anyone take you seriously if you can't even spell the name of the car you're selling?

--
MY 2000 S, Ocean Blue, Metropol Blue, Savanah Beige.
Bought June 2000 - Sold May 2010

... I didn't even know frogster's computer could type in CAPS
This, I think, needs to go to the museum.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"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

And the typical thing about people like this is that they post but don't even come back and respond to people's replies. Something about this guy that just isn't serious.

--
MY 2000 S, Ocean Blue, Metropol Blue, Savanah Beige.
Bought June 2000 - Sold May 2010



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2011 01:27PM by frogster. (view changes)

low/med/high private sale and retail sale numbers and pick a number.

Since you're a private seller and the car based on your description is in good to excellent with the emphasis on excellent condition that's a starting point.

If you want to ask for more, supply in your re-written ad the justification. Lower than average miles, garage kept, never driven in bad weather, one of a kind, and so on. That all services are up to date and tires are in good condition and so on you can stress in the ad the car's buyer can expect to drive the car for thousands and thousands of miles with no need to worry about any servicing.

Alot of used car buyers appreciate that.

Check out other used car ads and copy their format. Be more descriptive, post VIN, and post pics.

Front and side and rear views. 3/4 views. Show each wheel/tire and in the background the brake rotor. Take pics to show the interior door panels, seat bottom, sides and back. The carpets, the dash and gages and accessories.

Be sure mileage is visible/legible in one pic. Take a pic of the interior of the front and rear trunks. Take pics to show the excellent condition of the top.

Use a high res digital camera, no cell phone pics allowed.

You want the pics to show the car and give anyone who comes across the ad and the pics the feeling they know the car very well and know its condition is as described simply from the pics.

And post the ad in various locations. Here is good, of course. Renlist. www.autotrader.com. Post in the PCA Panorama used car section. The more places you place the ad the better chance you have of getting the car sold.

Oh, and be accurate in your spelling of the car's model and maker name, all Porsche options and so on. It seems like a minor point but you want to make a good first impression with the car and the ad and be inference yourself as the seller.

Best of luck.

Sincerely,

MarcW.

I think MarcW has the best answer. You need to market the car for its strong points, especially the fact that when the '05 was introduced, it was considered one of the world's best handling cars regardless of price. Go back and look at some of the original road tests and quote from them in the body of your ad. Link to some of the most favorable video road tests on YouTube. If you have a friend who's in marketing or PR, ask him/her to take a look at what you've written. I also agree that you need to go to Panorama as well as regional PCA sites. You should also be on autotrader with a slew of photos. Just advertising your car on this board simply isn't enough. And you should be clear that your asking price is negotiable. You should also take your Porsche to car shows and put a "for sale" sign in the window.

There's also nothing to prevent you from putting up a Facebook page on your car and posting about the wonderful experiences of owning it (posting the link to the Facebook page in your ads). You can also set up an accompanying Twitter account. I'm doing those things right now as part of my effort to sell my home. I know all of this sounds like a lot of work, but it's not always easy to sell a car privately.

I also think you're feeling the effect of something that will hit all owners of '05s -- the potential for serious engine problems. You probably know that if you go to Consumer Reports, you will see "much worse than average" ratings for the '05 on major and minor engine issues. A newbie who sees that might very well want to stay a million miles away from your car. I know I would. And most Porsche enthusiasts will probably already know about those problems. I've been roundly criticized about the effect of the engine problems on resale values, but I think your situation is a perfect example. You have a car that is, by all other measures, an incredible machine, yet you'll probably have to let it go in the low $20K range (if that), when it would be worth so much more without the IMS stigma. I got $20K for my 10-year-old 968, but I bet you probably won't do much better with your six-year-old Boxster. It's really a shame. Nevertheless, I'm sure there are some people out there who are willing to overlook the engine issue -- or are still unaware of it. You may also want to go to Planet 9 and ask advice there. That forum also has some good folks and the view of IMS failures over there is a little more balanced and far less emotional. (Plus, I doubt any of the folks over there will call you "slow." It's supposed to be "about the people" on this board, but . . . well, sometimes not.)

Best of luck with your sale.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/2011 12:13PM by longislander1. (view changes)

The reason why the Cayman site may seem a little more balanced and far less emotional is because they came into existence in 2006.
Boxsters hit the market 10 years prior, so their history is much longer.
Give the Caymans till 2016 and then tell me if they're still balanced and less emotional.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"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

Maybe - if we are lucky - the 2007 "fix" on the engine by Porsche has reduced the IMS problem. Only time will tell. With 37,000 miles on my 2008, I hope so!

I was talking about the fact that you can comment on the issue over there and not face personal attacks. And the OP isn't immediately labeled a whiner, a troll or a shill for aftermarket repair outfits. There's actually rational discussion. Plus, there are a lot of Boxster owners over there. But, you're right. The Cayman is not immune to engine failures, as evidenced by the story of this '08 (still under warranty, fortunately): [www.planet-9.com].

I also think it's unnecessary to call someone "slow" if they come here for advice on how to sell their car and inadvertently misspell the name. As I said earlier, I don't think people would do that over on P-9. At least I haven't seen evidence of it.

I looked at the story on P-9 - doesn't appear to be IMS failure but a bad cylinder casting. Unfortunate, but can happen with any car.

I don't recall saying that this was due to IMS failure. I'm not sure how the cause would minimize the event. An engine failure is an engine failure. What it could mean is that the lore about Porsche improving its engines after '06 or practicing better quality control may be nothing more than a myth. Yeah, I guess this could happen in any car, but I've never experienced one in over 40 years of relatively hard driving with a wide variety of brands. I've never had anything even close. Maybe I'm just lucky. I should go out and buy a lottery ticket!

While an engine failure for any reason can be a disaster for the owner, this particular failure hopefully is an aberration as I have not heard of similar failures for later model Boxsters. Once upon a time, I was very involved with a number of automobile dealers (either as a service writer when I was younger or providing legal representation to dealers in later years) and no car is immune to such major failures. I have never had an engine failure myself (other than a 1946 Desoto when I was a teenage), but I did have a total transmission failure at about 50,000 miles on a GM product a couple of years ago. Such anecdotal failures do not concern me much; I worry about lightning more. On the other hand, systemic problems such as the IMS are certainly more troubling. We will have to just wait and see if this is as much of an issue on later model Boxsters. In the meantime, I plan on driving the heck out of my 08 Boxster and not losing any sleep over it.