There are two forces in finance that you don't want to be on the wrong side of: compound interest and depreciation. This blog aims to get readers on the winning side of both of these by highlighting the great used car bargains available today. By buying the car you want on the pre-owned market rather than new, you will have smaller (or no) car payments (and pay less interest) and be exposed to less depreciation.
Welcome to Depreciation Appreciation, the blog about used car bargains. Some of my posts will be about cars I have owned and may include an in-depth review of my specific car, while other posts will bring attention to cars for sale around the internet that represent terrific value to the car shopper. While the cars profiled will likely skew European in origin, they could end up being from anywhere.
Now that we've got that introduction out of the way, strap on your seatbelt for our first drive.
Year: 2000
Make: Porsche
Model: Boxster S
Mileage: 55,900 miles (89,900 kms)
Price New: $51,430 (base price)
Asking Price: $9,950 US
Depreciation: 81%
Since I already had six cars including a convertible I wasn't in the market for anything else. However because I live in a small city where most people shop GM/Ford/Chrysler or Japanese brands, I do have an alert setup on kijiji.ca in case anything with an interesting European pedigree crops up for sale locally. When I got an email notification that a Porsche Boxster S in Arctic Silver Metallic was available for an asking price of $9950 ($12,900 Cdn) I took notice. A quick look at comparable cars in Toronto told me that the seller was well under market - by about seven or 8 thousand dollars. There were no obvious problems with the car in the pictures, and the write-up claimed it was clean and mechanically fit. I had to see this car.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Boxster, it was introduced in the mid-1990's as the "affordable" Porsche. A mid-engined two-seat convertible designed to compete against the similarly-sized BMW Z3 and Mercedes SLK, the Porsche is the most performance-oriented of the trio. Initially powered by a 2.5L flat-six that produced 201 hp and took 6.7 seconds to get to 60 mph, by 2000 Porsche had gotten more serious about performance and offered the S version with a 3.2L engine producing 250 hp and a impressive 5.6 second 0-60 time. The S version is the car under discussion here, so let's get back to that.
The kijiji advertisement included the approximate location of the car so I went for a ride to scope it out. It was easy enough to find but was sitting under a car cover. The other car in the driveway was a late model MINI Cooper S. It was clear this guy was something of an enthusiast.
I connected with the seller and we set a time to meet and see the car. Since I already had too many cars I was hoping the seller would be interested in doing a trade. I picked the car I thought might be most interesting to him (a 1990 BMW 325i M-Technic II from Japan with 38,000 miles) and headed out to see the Porsche. When we met he informed me he was selling the Porsche because he had too many toys. Clearly there would be no exchange of cars here. I was still interested however so he gave me a tour of the car.
It was in excellent condition. No stone chips, no rust, no fading. Clean underneath and inside. Only slight wear on the driver's seat seat bolster. He had clearly taken care of the car and had spent considerable money on extra rims, tires and add-ons like a carbon-fibre spoiler and clear taillight lens. He had even replaced the plastic rear window with a glass unit. The car had been optioned with the premium sound system and came with the S-only 6-speed manual transmission. When I fired it up the aftermarket exhaust was extra-thrilling.
The test-drive revealed a very taut handler with tight suspension and smooth acceleration. The only other Porsche I have owned - a 1988 944 Turbo S - also had about 250 hp. If you look up "turbo lag" in the dictionary however you'll see a picture of a 944 Turbo S. Being normally aspirated the Boxster laid down its power without any hesitation. A trip up the curvy, hilly road in the area that is commonly used for thrill rides revealed no signs of it having led a hard life over 16 years.
This was definitely a 'buy'.
I took the car to a local import specialist who inspected it and said it needed rear tires, rotors and wipers for mechanical fitness. With his $1500 Cdn estimate in hand I made a deal with the seller: $11,000 Cdn As Is. When all was said and done I was the happy owner of a 2000 Porsche Boxster S for $12,500 ($9,668 US) certified.
They say the two happiest days of a Porsche owner's life are the day he buys the car and he day he sells it. That must have been based on the ownership experiences of an earlier era. In the 8 weeks that I have owned the Boxster it has been my go-to ride whenever I don't need to carry anything bigger than a breadbox or take the kids anywhere. My wife loves it (and even encouraged me to buy it despite the six cars already on hand) and drives it nearly as much as I do.
Everything works on the car including the air conditioning which blows very cold. The check engine light needs frequent resetting, though, but the previous owner tells me it is the mass air flow sensor that needs cleaning or replacement. Google agrees that this is a common bug with these cars. I plan on swapping out the aftermarket exhaust for the stock unit (which the previous owner also supplied) as it tends to drone a lot at 2,200-2,400 rpm. I removed the rear aftermarket spoiler which wasn't to my taste.
About 3 weeks ago I took the Boxster to the track. I've been four times before, two times with a BMW E34 M5, once with the 944 Turbo S and once with an Alpina B10 BiTurbo. Every visit has been a joy. If you haven't been to the track with your car, you probably haven't experienced what your car is capable of - no matter what you drive. So I was excited to take the Boxster out for a rip.
Turns out, when you put the engine of a car in the middle instead of the front it will behave very, very differently in the corners. Especially if you've put old tires on because you don't want to wear out your new ones. Who knew?! After spinning out on seven different occasions I started to lose confidence. I had a chance to drive other cars on the same track and the BMW 135i, M5 and Z3 were all a blast. They behaved exactly as I expected them to. Guess I'm going to have to practice more with the Boxster, or take a different car on track days.
Bottom Line
For less than the price of a new entry-level Hyundai or Kia you can drive a fast, good-looking, almost entirely depreciated Porsche convertible. If you keep this car long enough it will probably start going back up in value. In fact many Porsches from the 1980s and nineties are already well above their used values from 5 years ago. Granted the Boxster is not as collectible as a 911, but even if this car depreciated 100% you would lose less money than you would pay in tax on a new Porsche purchase in most countries.
By spending less than $10,000 on a car, many people who would otherwise have to finance a vehicle purchase can instead pay cash. No financing means no interest payments. It also means lower insurance costs as you can forego the collision coverage and just go with liability, if you're so inclined.
Not everyone has room in their driveway for a car as impractical as a Porsche convertible. But if you're in the market for a fun vehicle with affordable running costs and lots of style, you can do far worse than pick up one of these gems.