Resale value with or without a hard top
 

I have an opportunity to buy a hard top for my 986. They are asking about $ 2,000 and the top is in great shape.

I am wondering would the hard top make that care more saleable ? or do you feel a lot of buyers out there would either take it or leave it and not put any premium in purchase price for the hard top ?

The tops alone look like they are fairly hard to sell due to the shipping headache and price.

Thanks in advance for your opinion !

I would love to have a hard top for my 986 but they are all over $2500 and over 12 hours away.

Consider where you are. That adds to the value of a car with hardtop.

But a buyer may be an occasional driver. Hibernating the car in winter. I bought my senond Boxster, put spinlocks on it and never added the hardtop. I stored it outside under a Noah fabric cover and just broomed off the snow when I wanted to take it out. I did use it 90% of the time to commute 20 miles but I had a 4WD for those days when the snow or ice was too much. Wash DC area.

A buyer may have nowhere to store the hardtop.

At $1k, it is a different gamble than at $2k.

Agree with this if I'm understanding your meaning...

If it is valuable to you, then $2k for a hardtop in nice shape is a pretty good price (if you don't have to ship it, etc.). New ones are about $3k...I usually think of used parts as half the value of new. But used are hard to find, so $2k close by would be worth it to me.

I wouldn't buy one thinking it would add more value to your car. Maybe another way to think of it is like selling a house with good landscaping...does it add "value"? ..probably not. Does it make it more sellable? ..more likely yes.

FWIW I had one on my second '99 Boxster and loved it. Of course, I drove that car as a daily for all seasons in Cinci, OH. Four - five months of the year it had the hardtop and a winter set of wheels / tires. Totally worth it to me.

Also FWIW if I had the opportunity to buy a nice hardtop for my current Boxster for $2k, I'd jump on it. But I originally wanted a Cayman, so I'd be fine driving it with a hard top for six - eight months of the year, only removing it during summer.

You could always separate the hard top when it comes time to sell the car. Or make it an alacart item.. Car is $xxx but its $yyy if you want the hardtop too. Buyers come from all over.. your next buyer might be from southern cali and have no need for the hard top. A local buyer might drool over it.