This is more of an information page about the things I discovered along the way when I was evaluating the purchase of a Boxster. This is probably a great area for waiters and soon to be waiters. (top of page)

First Boxster Glance
The Purchase/Questions/Decisions:

"Too expensive"
"Insurance too high"
"Roadsters have no storage"
"A two seater?"
"Not a good only car"
"Convertibles are noisy"
"There is no room in a convertible"
"What about your hair?"
"That's a dangerous car!"
What would have made not purchase this car.

I want it, and I want it now! aka Pool cars are cool.

Buying in Southern California

Where I got my car
Other good dealer experiences
Who I will avoid from now on
List of what So Cal dealers who I contacted

First Boxster Glance. I have always been a huge Porsche fan since I saw a 911 when I was in third grade. As I got older, Porsches still looked good, but not good enough to justify a purchase. Then, there it was on the cover of a 1997 road and track, the Boxster. I have always wanted a Porsche and a convertible and this was both. (top of page)

The Purchase:

I decided to look into a Boxster when the lease on my Maxima was running out. As I told people of my plans, they quickly brought up reasons why I could and should not get a Boxster. Here are some of the comments and the research I conducted on each of them.

"The Car is Too Expensive": My first though too. I was also looking at A6's and GS400's which come damn close to the Boxster. But, I never realized that. I had no idea the Boxster started at 41K. Also, I lease cars for the tax breaks. After sitting down and working the numbers, my 50K Boxster would cost me in lease payments $3600 a year more than my Maxima. I could justify that. (top of page)

"Insurance is Too High": A simple call to my insurance provider answered that. I went from $1,000 a year to $1,400 a year for the Boxster. I am not saying you will get the same deal, but, it was not the $1,000+ extra dollars I expected it to be. (top of page)

So, I am looking at $4000.00 a year to have this car, my dream car. Well, I could easily afford it, the question now was practicality. (top of page)

"Roadsters have no Storage": Wrong. The Boxster has front and rear storage. If you looked at my car photos, you will know that you could easily pack a set of clubs in the back, hit the market on the way home from the course and even have room in the passenger seat for lets say, a person. Although, a large tour bag would not fit in the trunk without removing your clubs first. (top of page)

"A two seater? Don't you have friends?": Yes I do, but, thinking back on my Maxima I can only remember one time someone sat in the back of the car. Usually I am with my husband or a friend. If its the husband and the friend, I have two other cars (theirs) available that would store us all. (top of page)

"A roadster is not a good for solo transportation": Or the "You should have another car to fall back on". I was concerned about this at first. But, then I got to thinking. I have a husband with a 4 door Toyota and I can fall back on him when I need to run an errand and store a large item. I also have my folks 15 mins away and they have 2 cars one of which is an SUV. Before I purchased my car, I made a deal with my mom that we could trade cars anytime I needed to haul things (servers, large luggage, etc.) So far, I have kept my Maxima. In the 6 weeks I have owned my Boxster, I have used it once. I do not like having the second car because it is left outside. Maybe I would feel different if we had a 3 car garage. If you are not married and plan to use this as your only car, think first about who you can fall back on if needed. (top of page)

"Convertibles are noisy": This was an issue. I was concerned that I was not going to be able to carry a conversation with my passenger or on the cell phone with the top down. The test drive helped answer this question. With the top down, the windstop on and the windows up, you can carry on a regular tone conversation on the cell phone and with the passenger no problem at all. I have friends with Miatas and Z3's and both commented on how quiet the car is even with the top down. You will have to speak up if you lower the windows or pull out the windstop. (top of page)

"There is no room in a convertible": I have been in Z3's and Miatas and I always felt cramped. That is not the case in the Boxster. My tall friends (6' 3) were very surprised with the amount of room. In fact, I forget I am in a two seater. I look behind me and expect to see two more seats. (top of page)

"What about your hair?: This is the one thing that has been worse than what I expected. I have long hair. During the test drive I wore a baseball cap that I had been wearing all day. I took the cap off and was surprised that my hair stayed pretty still. This went away when I took delivery of my car. My hair flies all over the place. I am not sure if it is the seat location, who knows. What I do know is a simple scrunchy does not help because the front of my hair is shorter and cannot be pulled back. The best solution for me is a baseball cap, scrunchy and a brush and some hairspray in the side storage area for when I get to my account. (top of page)

"That's a dangerous car": My mom was very concerned with this. Visits to the highway safety website offered no crash results on the Boxster. Posts on boards with this question pointed to no physical data. Here is what I know about the safety of the Boxster so far. Dual airbags, front and side. Roll bar behind you and your windshield acts as a supplemental roll bar. The insurance companies consider it a somewhat safe car, that is one of the reasons my insurance was not as bad as I thought. Many Boxster accident reporters mention how they were impressed that damage was localized only to the area of the accident. So, a side front hit had no impact on the door and the door stayed intact. (top of page)

What would have made me not purchase this car?

Well besides the obvious price, there are a few other factors besides the one listed above that would have made me not purchase the car.

Dress Code: I am lucky that I get to go business casual to most of my accounts as well as work from home occasionally If I worked 9-5 in the same location and had to dress up, I would have not purchased this car. As I mentioned this is my main mode of transportation and would have to do my hair, keep the top up on hot hot days and not wear as much silk. Too many things that would happen 5 days a week. Obviously, this would not be the same situation for the short hair non silk wearing guy! (top of page)

Falling Back: I would not have purchased this car if their was not another car to fall back on, for me, my husbands and parents car. If I lived alone, away from my parents, I would not have purchased this car. (top of page)

I want it, and I want it now! aka The Boxster Pool Car.

After researching the Boxster, I found that most Boxsters are special ordered and usually take 3 months (even more) to be delivered. I thought about waiting and ordering one, but there were a few things in my way. First, by the time my name would hit the top of an order list, the plant would be closed (they take some time off in the summertime) and I would be looking at 4-6 months at least for my car. That would leave me with a lease up and no car. Also, there was a rumor of a 2K price increase (actually did not happen) and there is still a current rumor that the money rate will be much higher in August.

I also discovered that I did not want a ton of options. In fact, the options I wanted are shipped often to Porshe dealers in what is known as a Pool Car. Pool Cars are cars that are sent to the dealer from Porsche to fill inventory. I am not sure if the dealer configures them, but generally, they come with basic options which makes it more affordable/attractive to the person just walking in off the street. Calling around Southern California, I discovered almost every dealer had the car I wanted coming in the next few months (Arctic Silver, Sports, 17 inch wheels, Tiptronic.)

So, if you are looking for a Boxster with some basic options, call around, you just might find it in the shape of a pool car. Most dealers seem to have information on cars they had coming in for the next 3 months. (top of page)

Southern California Dealers:

As I mentioned earlier, I live in Southern California and in the process of purchasing my Boxster I dealt with every Porsche dealer from Palm Desert to Santa Barbara. My main question to the was if they were willing to match a price I got from Walters in Riverside. The following is a list of Porsche dealers in Southern California (that I know of) and if they were willing to deal or not as well as if they were nice, etc. Also, this is obviously not my feeling about the entire dealership, just my findings when I did business with them or called them.

Where I got my car: Ogner Motors In Woodland Hills, CA. I called just when they received two Boxsters that met my options. I worked with Rick Black (the only person I will mention in this list.) I told him my price and he honestly said he did not know if he could meet it, but would try. He faxed over the invoice so I could look at the option list. One car had $4,000.00 worth of additional options (full/supple leather and electric seats) and the other had $2,500 of options (full leather/supple leather). (top of page)

I went to the dealership the next day and discovered they were also a ferrari dealership. This worked in my favor, because when I was there, a guy walked in and purchased a $250,000 Ferrari Maranello. My husband and I went to lunch when Rick worked out the sale. We returned to see what would be my Boxster getting detailed. He matched the price I got from Walters. Same price and full leather/supple leather.

Where I would never buy another car as long as I can help it: Rusnak Porsche, Pasadena CA. Oh man, talk about horrid. I do not want to go into the whole experience here, but, it was hideous. Lets just say they could only come within $60.00 a month of the price initially and put every fear tactic on the table to make me walk out with the car. They kept calling me with a lower price and then, when they matched it, sold it to someone else. Although, I do get my car serviced here and that is one great group in service! Quite happy there.
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Other places that it was real fun to try to do business with: Walter's Porsche in Riverside CA. and Circle Import in Long Beach CA. Walters was great, very laid back, very honest and the price was great. Many online car brokers could not match it and many lease companies I went to trying to get a lower lease would tell me to keep with Walters, they were not going to be their price. The only reason I did not go with Walters was because it was going to take 3 months to get my pool car. I would get my 99 one month before the 00. As for Circle, they also had just a politeness and honesty which I love. They had a car coming in within 3 weeks of Ogner, and would match Walters price. I just ended up getting more and getting it sooner at Ogner. (top of page)

The following Southern California Porsche Dealers I only worked with on the phone. I note if the salesperson offered discounts or not (when applicable). Also, a word about this whole discount thing. I never meant to go out looking for a cut throat price. I simply asked Walter's to give me a fair price. I found out it was more than fair when I did some comparison shopping. Most places could not match the price or even come close to the price. The though of paying considerably more was not a pleasing one. So, I decided that if I was going to get it before August, I would want to get it for the same price that Walter's quoted me.

Also, many of these dealers I simply talk to on the phone. I am providing this information based on only my one time or limited experience with them. Links go to porsche.com site which I have nothing to do with nor do they have nothing to do with this site.

Beverly Hills Porsche: Left message, asked them to call if they were willing to match price or come close. Never called back.

Cutter Automotive Galleries: Did not have anything due in like my car until MY '00

Circle Import: More information above. Very nice and willing to negotiate. Matched my initial quote.

Desert Motorcars: Very nice! Even willing to match the price. He could not find anything due in close to my car until september.

Hoen Motors: Seemed like a nice place to deal with. Everything they had due in was sold until September.

McKenna Motors: Left message. No one returned call.

Newport Auto Center: Provided no discounts. Have also heard bad things about their sales and service departments.

Ogner Motorcars: Home of my Boxster. Rick Black. There, I said it. Go see him.

Pioneer: One of PPBB favorite places. Many people rave about Chris Huck and Chris even provided me with valuable information eventhough he could not offer me a discount (in fact, I owe him a drink at TBHL III).

Porsche of Downtown LA: Willing to negotiate. Even faxed over information about cars due in. Followed up with phone call.

Rusnak Pasadena: Da Best in service. Lets not talk about my sales experience.

Rusnak Westlake: Were kind enough to return call but would not match quote.

Steve Taub Inc: Not only do they not discount, they charge $1,000 prep fee to pick the car up! Sheesh!

Vasek Polak Porsche: Had nothing due in.

Walter's Porsche: More information above. Great place to do business with.

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