Sometimes you get to ask yourself where should I put all this money? For most of us, being car enthusiasts means that the usual answer is to buy a car or truck that will, hopefully over time, appreciate in value. Some of the best investments of the past decade have been in air-cooled Porsches, the 911, 912 and 914 models having seen their values skyrocket in that time. It’s not just the Porsche name however, as while people have been fighting over the opportunity to throw cash at the air-cooled cars, the water-cooled Porsches haven’t seemed to enjoy the same attention.
In fact, while the 914 has seen values double in the past decade, the 924 – a car ostensibly intended as that model’s replacement – has tended to travel in the other direction, and in fact for a while the junk yards were littered with these unwanted models. Today, the older water-cooled 911s – the 996 model – track significantly lower in value compared to their immediate predecessors, the air-cooled 993 and 964. Step down a rung on the price ladder and you come to the subject of today’s question, the entry-level Boxster, which in its initial form shares much of the 996’s front architecture, its mundane dash, and water-cooling for its engine.
You can buy Boxters on the cheap today, usually way under ten grand. The question however, is should you do so as a good place to park your money and potentially see it multiply? Those who rolled the dice with the 924 never saw that rise occur, and the 928 has for some time been impossible to nail down with values all over the board. What about the Boxtser, do you think it is a future classic which makes it a good investment now? Or, is it a future 924?
Image: Government Auctions Blog
Hooniverse Asks: The Porsche Boxster – Future Collectable or Future 924?
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Not a collectible. It’s a usable fun car, like a Miata.
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I think that they will become moderately collectible, but it is going to take a long time for them to see any appreciation in value, and it will be decades before that appreciation outpaces inflation. It’s therefore not a great candidate as an investment…unless you plan to use it. While the prices aren’t rising, prices on the earliest Boxsters don’t have far to fall, so you can drive it and enjoy it without losing money.
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It wasn’t so long ago that those 914s were dirt cheap. Hell, when I was in high school (just over a decade ago), you could pick up a decent 60s 911 for Golf money (it’s closer to the cost of an entire golf course these days).
There’s hope for the 924 still, if the 928 starts rising in value, bringing up the other front-engined cars (I’d put the biggest four-cylinder money on the 944 though).
Likewise, there’s hope for the Boxsters in 20-30 years, once the 996s start rising in value as well. It’ll never be huge, but the Boxster’s a handsome, fun car that was legitimately the first shot in the turnaround that led Porsche to the success they have today. -
I may have told this story before, but if not, enjoy:
I’m in college (2003) and there is a bar right off of campus that is and Irish-themed loud music kind of place. Whenever we went we went in a group and a few of the girls in this group were impressively attractive.
One girl, Christina, was very pretty and very sweet, but she wasn’t too quick so sometimes she would say the wrong things without even realizing it. Anyways.
We’re in the bar one Thursday night and she and I went over to order the next round. While she’s waiting an older guy (young 40s, in a college bar, you know that guy.) starts chatting her up. They get through the formalities of foolishness that these guys put themselves through when trying to hit on a 23 year-old girl. Then he went for the kill, “I have a Porsche.”
Wow. We’re going there.
So she plays along, “Oh yeah, I looove Porsches. What kind?”
“A Boxster.”
“Isn’t that like the Porsche Miata?”
You could see his shoulders just drop as the chest became unpuffed. He turned on his stool back to his beer.
She turns to me, “Did I say something wrong?”
“No. No you didn’t.”-
Must have accidentally ticked the “Cockblocker” trim-level checkbox instead of the “Limited Edition Pantydropper.”
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Spec Boxster is helping to keep these relevant locally. It must be cheaper to keep a Boxster as a racer than to keep it maintained for street use.
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Two or three p-car price bubble’s and this will be a collectable car. Until then use thesee things as intended and enjoy. For me not like anything vert I would much rather a cayman.
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Don’t these have an issue with the engine giving up the ghost relatively soon? That could just make them junkyard fodder, as people don’t want to bother fixing them and just throw them out.
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I think they share the same IMS problem as early 996s. Based on the reviews, these are very good cars when new, but with the high production numbers and the ticking-time-bomb engine, I don’t think they’ll be considered collectible anytime soon.
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Future 944. Porsche Club Racing will be full to bursting with these in another five years, like it was with the 944 during the peak of its Spec series. This is a very good thing, as it will fill the gap in the enthusiast racing market between reasonable/slow (ITA/ITB) and expensive/fast (american iron, Formula Ford) classes.
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Excellent comparison: too good to ignore, but too expensive for the third owner to maintain it properly, and too common to get exotic bonus. Consequently, there will be many tired ones in a decade or so.
Zund’s rule of ownership says that for a 944 you’ll pay 10kUSD within the first two years: it’s up to you if you get a good one, or buy a sorry one, it’s only WHEN you pay. Fun addendum: starting price aside, the Boxster is cheaper to own, they say.
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They made far too many of them to ever be collectible. They are, however, a ton of fun to drive. Luckily I’ll be keeping my beater Boxster until I die, so I don’t let depreciation get to me.
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One day, though, an original, well kept, numbers matching, 924 will be worth something. I mean, that day is in the distant future, but when the supply is close to gone it’s bound to happen.
The Boxster will follow. Might take a century or two, but they’ll be worth something one day. -
I’m a corvette guy but the allure of the boxster S does often call for me to buy one. I like the car…figure a clutch job and the IMS bearing replacement is not too expensive. Fun little car that one day I’ll buy as a new toy in addition to my vettes…
Pretty car that boxster S. -
Collectible no….but a great sports car pure bred for not a lot of money… Will never appreciate in value for resale but for driving enjoyment….I think it’s a smart investment.
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