Steve A

I was seriously thinking about buying a Porsche Boxster before getting the STi8 +PPP. Totally different cars but in the end went for the one 'that did it foe me the most'.
BTW the perceived low Porsche depreciation is a fallacy and it is also worth joining a Porsche BB to see how unreliable the car is plus the huge servicing costs.........believe me IMHO the grass is not greener in the Porsche garden

_Tim_

"to see how unreliable the car is plus the huge servicing costs"

Sorry, but that is complete rubbish.

chrisp

You have a 215bhp UK scoob, what about a grey import with close to 300bhp ? Trust me there is also a big difference and I am also qualified to comment I went from a 98 UK turbo 208bhp to an MY00 WRX import 276bhp (now exhausted and filtered).

chrome

a good friend of mine has had his 'S' for two weeks.. I've had my scoob a month..

when it's sunny we are going to go for a play down some local unclassified roads..
he nervously agreed
I told him it'd be fine..

We have also agreed to swap keys and take a drive in each others cars..
I know the route like the back of my hand; cant wait to take him in the scoob'

His view is that the boxsterS is like a fast go kart in comparison to the effortless GT that is the 911.. he likes the class of the the marque, but also like the raw edges on the S..
he likes my scoob, and altho he bought his porsche originally to pose in he has actually turned into a petrolhead like me
I make no bones; I bought my scoob to DRIVE.

**basically yet another excuse to go for a hard blast, AND a chance to nail his S **

Nathan L

I don't know about the servicing costs but I've been to a lot of broken down Porsches on the sides of the A21, M25 etc.

Probably more than any other make of car TBH, recovery operators always say it's the cars that only come out once or twice a year as everything clogs up on them.

Nathan..

Steve A

FAO Tim
Ok why on a Porsche bulletin board do the OWNERS share their grief so much.
One fleet manager reckoned that as a guide a Boxster costs twice as much as a Merc in servicing costs
I studied the UK Boxster Board over a couple of months and drew my conclusions from that.
Personally I thought that was a good guide.
Perhaps you would care to post a factual response rather than..'thats complete rubbish'

Steve A

Re my comment above.........I have kept some of the discussions that I referred to above...here is one.....

Sorry to open this thread back up, but my car is due for its first
yearly inpection service. I bought the car from Lovetts in Bristol,
but they have quoted me a whopping £350 incl for the service and
that doesnt include Mobil 1, but GTX or SLX by Castrol. I was not
aware these were approved oils, but they insisted they were.

_Tim_

I'm not interested in arguing with you over it, but for the sake of a response.

Typical main dealer servicing costs for a Boxster/S: 12k service £350, 24k service £600. Thats not far off Impreza servicing costs. My old A-Class Mercedes was about half that, but again it's a poor comparison.

I've owned Porsches (2.5 Boxster, 911, Boxster S) for a couple of years now and driven approx 30000 miles in them. A lot of which was hard track use. Number of breakdowns: Nil.

The only common failure item on Boxsters now is the Rear Main Seal (betwixt engine and gearbox). Mine started dribbling a bit on my S so it was replaced under warranty - car was taken away, fixed and was back within 24 hours (and I live 80 miles from the nearest Porsche dealer). There used to be a porus block issue on early cars which led to some engine failures but I've not heard of that happening for a long time now.

Your claims just don't bear out experience I'm afraid. <shrug>

matt d

I would get the Porsche for pedigree AND speed. But I would get the scoob if value for money, practicality, ruggedness or ease of driving fast were important.

EVO mag did a wet-weather lap time test at MIRA and a base-spec Boxster set a faster time than a P1. Now the P1 comes with crap P-zeros as standard and would be a lot faster with decent tyres, plus bumpsteer removal. But the Porker time was bloody impressive, seeing as it was RWD in the wet.

Porkers are very good handling & are seriously fast cars, much more so than their power rating suggests. A 250bhp Porker will beat most 280-300bhp cars on a twisty road, and will give even a P1/Evo VI a tough time, as long as the driver is good enough. EVO recently put a 996 C2 on track and it went a fair bit quicker than a BMW E46 M3 despite a 25bhp power deficit. Personally I would always be faster in the rally rep as I don't have the experience to really rag a mid-engined RWD at the limit, and I suspect most of us would be the same, but that's our fault not the car's.

Finally, I'd say that Porkers are more of a complete car - there just isn't the same feel & quality ("pedigree" if you like) in a scooby. A Porsche is quick, great engine noise, great brakes, good gearshift, good build quality, reliable, decent mpg, nice interior and refinement on long trips - basically an excellent all-rounder. A scoob is easier to drive fast, better value for money, and a great hooligan car for gooning on your favourite back roads - getting sideways is a giggle not a scare - but in othe respects it is beaten IMO.

They are both top cars and I would not knock either one. Scooby drivers like to go on about how they get Porsche pace for much less money - to a large extent that is true. But Porker drivers do get what they pay for - the cars are that bit more fun to drive IMO. At the end of the day you just have to drive each car and decide which one floats your boat. The way I see it, if we're spoilt for choice between those two then we're lucky sons of bitches and let's not forget that!

P.S. as for running costs - scooby brakes are sh*te so you'd have to upgrade them, even then the discs warp, brake fluid boils, pads melt. Porkers come with good brakes as standard. Scoob clutches go regularly. No 3 piston goes kaput on quite a few scooby cars. Porker thrashed on B roads still does 23-24mpg - a PPP scooby let alone a P1/Sti is looking at 15-18mpg unless you are a big jessie. Scoob insurance is MORE than a 911 (in London at least). Servicing on a scoob is fairly regular - Porkers have 12k service intervals and normally all that needs doing is oil/filter change and topping up fluids. IMO the running costs are similar for standard scooby vs Boxster, and a P1/STi costs MORE. Don't have ownership experience of a 911, but I gues it would be no more than a P1/STi unless you bought a dog.

[Edited by matt d - 4/25/2003 3:00:40 AM]

mutant_matt

Good appraisal (but the STi does also come with good brakes remember )

Matt

davyboy

Couldn't resist replying

You're not wrong.

DavidBrown

If the Boxster S is a poor man's 911, what does that make a Scoob ? A slightly-better-off-man's Ford Escort ?

Having owned a Scoob and a Boxster (albeit not an S) I still have warm and fuzzy memories about the Boxster, but have absolutely no emotions for the Scoob. It was fast, it did it's job, but ultimately left me cold.

The Scoob may be quicker A-B in the hands of your average Joe, but is speed the be all and end all of ownership ?

OK, so their image conjours "tosser!" (by the jealous) but the Porker has far more class than the now low-rent council-estate baseball cap wearing Impreza.

<flames suit on>

d8ean

good to see that even though some of you own Scoobs that you have decent views on another marque!!

i'd admit in the wet you'd guys would leave a Box S - but in the dry it would be a fair battle!

as for the pedigree - !!!??? equal in different ways i guess!!

reliability, well i have never seen a Box at the side of the road and for that matter never seen a scoob at the side of the road, but i should imagine the scoobs are prone to some hickupps because of all the mods that go on under the bonnet!!

I think i'd like to drive a scooob but not own one! -

Alberick

What's the difference from a Boxster and a Boxster S? Does the S stand for more power, different engine or is that the S has more equipment?
Just asking as I had the pleasure to compete against one yesterday night on a "no limit" zone on a German motorway...and pulled past him with ease, being 3 ppl in my car and he being alone in his.
Soon after, me too I had to move over, some Brabus Benz pulled past both of us at 250+ surely smoking his pipe while listening to classical music.....

Was just wondering if it was an S or normal, it was too dark to spot the difference....

davyboy

Boxters S is 3.2 litre 252 or 260 bhp.

d8ean

Did it have twin pipes at the back!! or one big oval one!!

Alberick

What about a normal Boxster? or is there only the S?
Sorry I'm not too much into Porsche's....

d8ean

normal box can be a 2.5 (early model)

or a 2.7 (newer)

markcp

Dean,

What are you doing here? Are you thinking of buying a Scoob?

Mark.

[Edited by markcp - 4/25/2003 10:14:35 AM]

d8ean

just trying to see how you guys think about boxsters....

CarpetCleaner

thing is let's be fair any old muppet can drive a scooby quickly...that was/is the point of the car...accessible performance for the masses

the Porker is going to require more skill to get the most out of it so naturally chances are if it's a case of two equal drivers one in the Boxster and one in the Porker the scoob will no doubt win because the Scooby driver can get more out of the scoob for their skill level

NobbyPorker

I'm very impressed with the comments posted on this topic. Thought that the Boxster may get a slating! Very imotive comments. Nice one scoobynet regulars, I will visit again.

silver-sub

Came across one racing the new M3 the other night, so decided to join in with my STi version 6 few mods (dyno'd 342bhp) and had no poblems taking them both, M3 was quick on the straights, Boxter S was really struggling to keep up and only caught up at the lights. Yes we were all trying especially the Boxster as he went through red tryng to get a headstart.
(late night and empty roads of course)
Definately have to agree with Chrisp, standard UK wagon is not your average Impreza you see on the road

Alberick

Two drivers, one in the Boxster, one in the Porker, the scooby wins.....?

Dbean...honestly I can't remember.
Didn't think to check the exhaust (being not too knowledgeable about Porsche's), but I think I saw a double exit, is that a normal one?
I believe it was a normal one (2.5 or 2.7), an S would surely have given me a harder time.
Whatever model it was it was fun. nice long stretch slightly downhill....until that 600 bhp Benz showed up (oops pair of Xenon lights approaching fast from behind, better move over)....passing both of us, without any whistles or bells, already going at 135 mph or so... too bad that a speed limit cam up again

d8ean

double exit would of been a S - but he could of modded the car?? if your not a 100% sure then who knows!

The benz is a top car!!!

as nobbyporker said - i'm well imprssed that i can take off my flame suit on here and get so real answers for such a big forum!!

Alberick

Yes, maybe he modded his car, but the driver didn't seem to be an enthusiast, rather somebody who bought the car just to impress his friends & female co-workers.
I also think the majority of people buying a Boxster are not too much into modding.
I maybe wrong but I think the Boxster is for Porsche what the Compact is for BMW (not a real Beemer that is)

Whatever it was, it was fun to give him a lesson, as he surely didn't have a clue what just went past him. (a medium sized family trolley with an ironing board attached to the trunk).

NobbyPorker

Porsche are a bit funny about warantees etc when the car is modded, not a problem so I understand with the scooby as so many are modded it is almost the norm.
I have been in markcp's subaru before he swopped to the boxster and the two cars are just not comparable. The subaru delivers it's power at such a rate it is truley bewildering, where as the boxster is much more linear esp the "s"
I recently managed to roll my 4 month old "s" three times whilst avoiding a pheasant on a country road, loss of traction in the rear as got onto the loose stuff on exit of fast corner and not enough road to correct the ensuing tank slapper. Not sure it would have happened in a subaru. Now looking at a carerra 4 as a replacement, will be happier with 4WD.
If anyone is interested there will be pictures posted on boxanet ready for next week. It is testiment to the build quality that myself and passenger both walked away from it esp as we had the hood down at the time. Maybe I will ask markcp to post a tread to you guys.

The Zohan

Nobby

Subaru UK (IM) - Take a dim view if modding their cars and usually it invalidates the warranty, the only approved mods are from Prodrive.

AS for Boxter vs Scoob - comparing apples with oranges

I love porkers, would love a 911, most models considered. believe the Boxter starts at around £ 34K? so alot more money that a Scoob, the scoob has 5 seats the Porsche has two so different animals. I do like the Boxter and would have one over a BM Z3/4 or TT any day.



[Edited by Paul Habgood - 4/25/2003 8:41:38 PM]

Lemmy

"Typical main dealer servicing costs for a Boxster/S: 12k service £350, 24k service £600. Thats not far off Impreza servicing costs. "

The 10,000 mile service on my STi7 was just over £100, although I did supply the oil (£45). So that is less than half Boxster servicing costs!

Alan