Help me put a price on a 99 with 11K mi.

[psjoe]

Hello-
While shoveling out my driveway yesterday I met an older neighbor who has a 99 Boxster with 11k miles he would like to sell. I have not had a look at the car all I know right now is what he told me, and he did not know much about it. So what I do know is that it's a 1999 Boxster with a hard top and is "fully loaded" with sport pkg. and special wheels. It's not much to go on and I am unfamiliar with Boxsters. He told me he paid $26k for it two yeas ago and that he purchased it from the original owner, his friend. I told him that the market was soft and it was most likely worth in the mid teens. I did some searching around this morning and it looks the the 99 model had issues with the cylinder sleeve, which I am not to sure I would want to get involved with. I also noted that the mid teens might be too high and the low teens is probably where the car should sell.

Thoughts?

Thanks - Joe

[mikefocke]

When I look at
www,cars.com and ask for 97-99 Boxsters with less than 20k miles I get one asking $17k. But I see all sorts of warnings flashing at me over a 11 year old car with 1k miles per year. Maintenance, tires, all the little things that age over time and need to be done to it...not big things, just fluids and the like. Brake fluid is full of water, transmission needs a refill, belt needs replacement, rotors rusted, etc. Tires because of age. And so the little things start adding up. If a mechanic were to do it all, $3k would be my bet. I'd rather have a 50k car showing steady use. This car could have its factory oil fill still in use!

If I bought this car, I'd have a thorough Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) done by a trusted Porsche mechanic and plan to do at least the 90k service on the car.

I owned a '99, great car. Zero trouble with it.

[Wayne 962]

Low teens. I bought my wife's Boxster 3 years ago for $17K with 65,000 miles on it (it's a Tiptronic). I figure that the car today (with about 73,000 miles on it) is worth about $10-$11K maybe?

I would probably stay away from this, for the mere fact that your neighbor is going to want big bucks for it.

-Wayne

[J2Hanson]

The market is soft and it's winter so you should be able to find a great car at a good price. My wife's is a 99. We bought it with 30K at six years old. Its got 55K on it now. No engine problems at all. The only problem we've had is the need to replace the driver seat belt clip since a wiring connection failed and the SRS light came on.
Keep looking.
John

[psjoe]

Thanks Guys-.
Low teens looks like the range. I am new to the area and would not want to offend with what might appear to the owner to be a low ball offer. Plus my wife really does not want me getting into it with the new neighbors.
Thanks again - Joe

[txhokie4life]

Originally Posted by psjoe

Thanks Guys-.
Low teens looks like the range. I am new to the area and would not want to offend with what might appear to the owner to be a low ball offer. Plus my wife really does not want me getting into it with the new neighbors.
Thanks again - Joe

If you are interested -- pull up the Kelly Blue book website
print it out and show him.

Traditionally I have found KBB to be priced way higher than
Edmunds which I have found to be pretty reasonable.
But for the Boxsters the KBB has them pretty low.

But this would at least show the owner that you thought about it
and weren't lowballing him.

I always prefer data over emotion.

You might even comment that at this price -- you might not
be interested in selling -- but this seems to be what the market
is offering.

Sort of deflects the focus from you to the current owner and whether
he thinks the lower price is still worth him selling.

BTW, still a great car and a lot of fun.

M

[mikefocke]

And that hardtop alone is worth about $1000-1400 or so over the cost of a car without one. Were you to buy the car and want it for just the summer months, you could recover some of the cost of acquisition by selling the hardtop around October-November when they are in prime demand.

[Aron in Toronto]

Kelley Blue Book gives a "Private Party" value for a '99 with sport pkg, hardtop and premium wheels with 11,000 mi, in "Excellent" condition in your area = ~ $8,435.

I don't think KBB prices accurately reflect the Boxster market but in this case it could work in your favor.

[jcb986]

It's a buyers market...start low and offer cash because it is too old to finance. The Blue book price $8700 is a fair price. Remember, it's a 10 year old car.