Boxster V TT V SLK

roughan

im changing my car and as it my last year before the Girlfriend starts looking for rings etc im gonna spash out and get a new motor
ive about 28k to speand
so
98 Boxster
02 TT 225
00 3SLK


the boxster -> is my favourite but after watching carzone for ages its seems that they are a mare to sell 2nd hand and would servicing bills for a car with 80k on the clock and no access to the engine be pricy and a constat worry for a 6 year old car ?? UK imports Hmmm not sure had one of those years and reaped the Benifits of the Brits salting the roads ........RUST !!!!! not panel rust but EVERY nut and bolt had rust on it which made it a big worry when applying sever pressure !
other main worry is scumbags wrecking the soft top


TT hairdressers car ?? at least they sell 2nd hand
a new model is out this year so that might lower the price
no sunroof option and the Roadser looks a bit gay

SLK is it s woman Golfers car ?? and im only 27 not 57
roof is good though

impr0v

That CLK model looks very dated and boxy, though I'm sure the Merc purists will disagree, and the TT has lost its wow factor and is now a bit clichéd.

The Boxster is still a Boxster.

I think your gut already knows which one you want to go for and you're just looking for someone to tell you what you already know.

roughan

Hahahaha was it that obvious ?????
im just worried ill be stuck with it in 2 years time !

Anan1

If you're going to buy one of those three, then I'd take the Boxster. To be quite honest, all of them have a bit of a girly image, although that shouldn't really bother you. The Boxster less so than the other two, though, IMO. Probably a far better drive, too. One thing I would caution you against is the impracticality of these cars. I've always found cars without back seats to be a lot of hassle. Have you considered a saloon? 28k will buy a lot of quick, comfortable & reliable saloon car these days.

roughan

im prob only going to keep it for a year and usually its just me in it or me and her on the weekends so im not too concenred about back seat space
i want something with a bit of performance
but i think ive grown out of the max power cars
what do u suggest for saloons?

Anan1

My brother recently bought a 99 Audi A8 4.2 30v quattro. The car has 40k, a full Audi service history, around 320bhp and every extra i can think of. He paid E20k for it. Personally, I think it's a fantastic car but a bit big. For E28k, I'd say the world's your oyster. How about an AMG Mercedes, there's a really good sounding C43 on eBay in the UK at the moment? Or a BMW M3 or M5? Or even a 330i, or a 535i or 540i, if you like auto. (big engines & autoboxes are an addictive combination) Or an Audi S4? There are loads more, but that's all that springs to mind at this hour!

Alternatively, if this is only a weekend toy, you could have a look at a classic, like a (pagoda) Mercedes 280SL. They're not cheap, but you are likely to get all your money back when you get tired of it. You'd probably want a garage for it, though.

RobAMerc

If your a driver, go Boxster if your a poser any will do.
I hate the girly car sh*te, none of these I doubt were designed specifically for girls, pulling them maybe but not driving.
80k is nothing to a well looked after porsche imo, I drove a '80 911 with intergalactic milage and it still felt tight as a drum and sharp too.
But well looked after is the key here.

Anyway as the other lad said your minds made up, and you've made the right descision.

Take the girlfriend for a long weekend to Cologne in it, Nurburgring is only an hour away, you'll be V V V happy you bought the boxster

Fabritzo

The 530d is supposed to be good fun, I'd prefer the 330d though, I saw one on autotrader.co.uk for £20k recently. I dunno if you've seen Ant and Pete's gumball site but they've got some good videos of a 330d (D3 as they call it) in action. www.antandpete.co.uk

MercMad

The SLK does look old, and I'm tired of looking at the TT, so unless you are getting decent specced examples of the above at respectable prices then avoid them.

The new SLK is out a year, the neww TT is coming but delaers havent dropped their prices for used ones accordingly, maybe buy private subject to a thorough inspection !

The SLK's metal roof gives you huge security, and you can leave one anywhere without drawing to much attention from scumbags. The "What'll she do flat out, mister ? " brigade tend to leave Mercs alone ! The downside is that the car is a cruiser, suspension set up for a supple ride and the lack of rack and pinion steering means its has little feel. It IS comfortable though !

I've driven the TT roadster and I just find it amazing how folk describe Audi interiors as high quality ?? Its cheap plastic...........everywhere !! Its a bit wooden to drive to.........I'm not a fan at all !

The Boxster is without a doubt a class or two above either, and with legendary reliability you should have nothing to worry about, but again an expert second opinion and inspection is vital ! The mileage may be a touch high but if its reflected in the price and you intend to keep it a long time then no worries !

Forget about Carzone/CBG inflated dealer prices. The reasons the cars are still for sale is because greedy dealers ask too much !

Enjoy !

smarty

What about a 05 smart roadster coupe brabus? You would still have change left over from your 28k, plus tax is only €150 and insurance is dirt cheap.

roughan

Max Engine size is 3 litre anything else and i cant get insurance

Eoin

roughan wrote:

Max Engine size is 3 litre anything else and i cant get insurance

With regards to the 330D , I saw this one on carzone today - my insurance company won't insure me though

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=387766

elexes

smarty wrote:

What about a 05 smart roadster coupe brabus? You would still have change left over from your 28k, plus tax is only €150 and insurance is dirt cheap.

gets my vote

or that a4 quattro


or what about a s2000 ?

986s

Hi Roughan!

I would recommend the boxster without doubt as I have driven all the other cars our your list and finally settled on a boxster S myself. However I would stay away from the earlier 2.5 litre versions and go for the newer 2.7 litre version. The 2.5 litre while it handles brilliantly, feels a little underpowered which is more or less rectified with the 2.7(although you have to work it to keep it in the rpm red zone).

As regards servicing there are plenty of good independents who will definately do a better job than the idiots up in Belgard. If you wanted to keep it with a porsche service history travel up to belfast and get it serviced by people who know what they are on about.

As regards purchase I travelled to the U.K to get my boxster S, bought privately, paid a porsche garage to do a 111 point check and bought a full manufacturers warranty as an extra. Worked out very well as I got a well specced car with some piece of mind.

Best of luck whichever one you decide

colm_mcm

smarty wrote:

What about a 05 smart roadster coupe brabus? You would still have change left over from your 28k, plus tax is only €150 and insurance is dirt cheap.

how could you spend €28k on a toy car

bmoferrall

roughan wrote:

im prob only going to keep it for a year...what do u suggest for saloons?

It goes without saying that you'll lose big money on any performance car (incl. the Boxter) if you plan on keeping it for only a year.
This chap seems a bit optimistic with his price for a 3yr old (high-power) RX8...pity.
This S4 seems good value for 18K (or this one).

full forward

I read a survey once about what cars hairderssers drive. A guess what was number 1. It was the VW Golf.

ambro25

If it's only for a year and (i) you're not bothered about rear seats, (ii) you're not bothered about the thing being too sporty (re. a bit of performance but not Max Power), (iii) 3L is your limit, etc., [biased] go for an 1.8 or 2.0 MX5 tbh.

Plenty change left from your €28k, RWD fun, cheap + reliable to run, cheap to insure, no more hairdresser factor than the others (well, admittedly maybe a tad more than the Boxster ), constantly rated above the other 3 all things considered (incl. driveability). Depreciation is not so much of a factor with these either.[/biased]

Or an S2000, that gets my vote too.

My €0.02, based on the well-known truism that advisers are not the purchasers and owning + running (and keeping, post-ring and post-kid) a "week-end car" for several years.

Not to mention, you'll have plenty more left to splash on that ring

avicbebaldemelt

hi,
does anybody know who can replace the rear window (plastic) on a boxster as belgard the robbing bastards only want 3500 grand!!!

ButcherOfNog

avicbebaldemelt wrote:

hi,
does anybody know who can replace the rear window (plastic) on a boxster as belgard the robbing bastards only want 3500 grand!!!

Price it with the porsche dealer in belfast, it'll probably work out cheaper to drive down and get it done there.

http://www.porsche.com/all/uk/?belfast

986s

Hi Avicbebaldemelt!

Im travelling over to a company in Wales called Bas international that do a glass screen replacement for the boxster, so no more "boxster chop" on the earlier plastic screen version. The price is 695 sterling inclusive of fitting and VAT. It takes about 5 hours to do and a lot of people in the UK are getting it done with good reports on quality.

For all boxster related issues log on to www.boxa.net for an excellent UK based boxster forum which has plenty of pictures of pre and post hood modifications, as well as lots of very useful information.

Regards

avicbebaldemelt

hi 986s,
thanks for the help. maybe you would let me know how you get on in wales etc if you get a chance.

TCP/IP

i can fully recommennd BAS they do fantastic work I am getting my TF redone by them in the near future. People I know that have used them have glooing praise for them.

avicbebaldemelt

Tryed porsche in belfast- won`t replace the screen but the whole hood the same as belgard,BUT for 1000 euro cheaper! they also said that the glass screen won`t fit on my 00 boxster,something to do with a different type of roof on newer boxsters so i wonder does the BAS job work??

986s

I can assure you that the BAS glass screen will work on earlier model boxsters. I am travelling over to Wales to get the glass hood conversion on my 2001 boxster S done on the 12th May next, en-route to a driving trip around Italy. When I return you are more than welcome to inspect the new hood and if i can figure it out how to post pictures I will show some pictures of such a conversion. Have you registered with www.boxa.net as they have quite a few posts about the Bas hood conversion?

Cyrus

if you want performance there are loads of options, 225bhp tt is quick but not uber fast, slk is a definate no no, my mum wants one and boxsters are nice but unless you goto the uk you'll prob struggle to get a decent one here

how about the following:

BMW M coupe - no price here could be more than 28k (prolly is) but omg what a car, http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=367255

nice boxster here: http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=302423

c70 t5 http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=273557

altho not in green, can also get convertible, very quick

BMW Z3 M - 3.2ltr so maybe no good but quicker than anything else listed i think - http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=391560

two nice bmw 330s

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=305410

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=398905

loadsa choice if i had 28k tho for some silly reason this is what i would buy

Alfa 147 GTA

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=373962

Oh yes!

Ernie Ball

If I had 28K and performance was the only concern (and not, say, image or practicality), I'd buy an MR2 roadster like this (but not in red) and then put on chassis bracing, coilovers and a TTE (Toyota built) Turbo from these guys.

Such a car will perform better than anything on the road up to more than twice the price. It's small and light, mid-engined, RWD and eminently throwable in the corners. It'll be as quick and nimble as an Elise but a lot more comfortable. And it will smoke most of the cars you mentioned in the straight (including the Boxster but not the Boxster S) and all of them in the twisties. And it is completely impractical.

I am biased on this question, however.:D