Day One

[shsmith]

They say a journey begins with a first step, and so mine began today. I have set a target date of March 31st to buy a Boxster but plan on following the buying advice I have found in these pages. I don't know if I will drive ten cars or not, but more than one or two.

The VW GTI was the first car I have ever purchased where I felt like I paid a fair price for the car I wanted. That involved walking away from more than one deal. A plan I will follow this time around as well.

After a few phone calls I made a trip to Marin to check out an '01 S Model. The price was over my max of 30 grand but the two other cars I found on line were already gone and I at least wanted to touch if not drive one today.

Drove up to California Motors where I met Deborah. She informed me the car was on consignment and let me inspect the car in their showroom. Although I am jonesing big time to actually drive one of these things I managed to maintain and settled into the seat and give it all the touchy feely test.

Several years ago I was aiming to get a Mazda Miata having heard nothing but good things about them. When I dropped into the seat of one at the dealers lot I discovered that the top of the windshield frame was square in the way of my sightline. I could squat down a bit and sorta see where I was going, but it was a deal breaker.

Not so with the Boxster (he said wiping the sweat from his brow). All the controls were right where I would want them and the seat was firm and supportive.

The next step is to drive one of these bad boys which I hope to do later this week.

Last a question for those who have come before: dealer vs private. All my car purchases have been with dealers as I like to combine the trade-in with the purchase and tie it all up with a nice bow at the end. Am I paying too high a premium compared to buyind and selling privately?? Thanks.

[cease]

I bought a used '01 S 3 years ago from a private owner. It had 2K miles on it, came from TX, I lived in MN at the time. I did online research on pricing, price was in line with recommended ranges; I did the check of previous owner(s) using CARFAX (http://www.carfax.com). No issues, so I flew to Austin and bought it. No issues what so ever. It's a great car.

[rbb1955]

I too took many avenues in my search for the perfect Boxster. I found a dealer that buys specifically through Auto Auctions, and for my daughters I bought two program cars for them. During those searches however I also was looking for a Boxster [I grew tired of my CLK].
He downloaded the list from Manhiem and emailed it to me. There were several lease vehicles, still with low mileage, and plenty of warranty. The best prices were found during December of '04. At these auctions there were several Boxsters and "S" generally 2-4 years old with less than 20,000 miles. Of the list, on average there were 40 to choose from.
The irony? After searching several months I actually found a Speed Yellow 2004 on EBay. The dealer had the car for almost a year. The car was an Auto Show order and it had every option available in yellow trim [except yellow seat belts]. The list price was $63k and the dealer invoice was $54k.
He settled for my bid @ $46.5k and I flew down to Houston to pick it up in February.
The car has 2,000 miles on it. The first 91 was at the dealership and 1900 miles were driven with the top down. Oh, the remaining 9 miles, it rained that morning that I took my son to school.
So, in closing, if you look in other places besides the dealers and individuals you might just walk away with a bargan.