lordretsudo

Has anyone had experience of owning/running these two cars? We're seriously thinking about trading in our beloved MR2 Roadster against one of the two, looking at 2004/05 cars.

The SLK 350 was our initial choice but having test driven a couple neither of us really like the fact that they're automatic (I know there is a manual option, but there are hardly any about and they're supposed to be difficult to re-sell), plus the interior is pretty shoddy I thought for a £30k car (vast expanse of dull black rubbery plastic stuff), little flair or style. We do really like the fact that it has a folding hardtop though.

The Boxster S only has a soft top, but most cars seem to be manual. I like the interior a lot more, but am not so sure about the exterior compared to the SLK. More fun to drive, sounds better, but perhaps less exclusive than the Merc (there's certainly a lot more for sale than there are SLK's)?

Both cars seem to have held their value amazingly well, especially compared to the Scoob! We'd probably be looking at a 2004 Boxster as opposed to a 2005 SLK based on a budget of ~£30k.

Any thoughts/opinions/recommendations would be very welcome as we're intending to do something about it very soon (this weekend perhaps).

The Chief

I've got two friends who own Boxsters - one has a brand new 2.7 with all the toys, including wheels and simply looks fantastic in the flesh, The interior is miles better than the earlier one. I have never driven it so i cant comment on the drive. Another buddy has an older (99) version and i have drove this and they drive great, being a 2.5 you have to rev it a bit but it goes ok, obvioulsy a 3.2 would not have this performance deficit. handling and braking is stunning and has better grip than a Subaru (in the dry anyway)

Also fuel consumption is resonable if you are used to a Subaru - up to 30mpg+

I personally think though the SLK look great but i was not aware that the build quality was that poor, i know the latest Boxster has brilliant build quality.

If you want more of a GT get the Merc, if you want a more sporty drive get the Boxster

Dracoro

And if you want the best of the lot, get the Honda S2000

The Chief

That has to be a joke

darren...

The Boxster changed model on a 54 plate so if you can I'd try and get the later model (987 model). A few cosmetic changes plus modifications to the cab top - you can put it up/down (electric) at up to 30mph

Dracoro

It's just as fast, a lot cheaper, more exclusive, and certainly more FUN. You'll also be seen a petrolhead rather than a badge snob The S2000, the enthusiasts choice.

If it had to be one of the germans then I'd probably go for the Boxster rather than the Merc.

The Chief

Well i'll disagree on two counts there - being just as fast, no way the Boxster is knocking nearly 300bhp and has not the torque deficit of the Honda and is nearly 2 seconds quicker to 100

also handles fantastic, i really cant seeing the Honda handling better than a Boxster, some mags described it as 'Twitchy'

I've never drove the S2000 but this is just my opinion.

a lot cheaper, more exclusive i'll agree with, but imo (again) whilst being a good looking car they dont have the visual wallop of the latest Boxsters.

sbk1972

Becareful with Boxsters, well know issue with the crank seals leaking oil, cuasing big bills.

By your inital description, your not impressed with either the Boxster or the Merc, so perhaps looking else where. Spending this amount of £££, you need to really like the car, and not be persauded into it.

The S2000 is a good car, and a lot of car for the money, with tremendous reliablity. Have you thought about aiming higher, perharps a Merc 300/500Sl, on a 51 plate ? Or M3 conv ?

Personally, with out offending anyone, I see Merc SLK's / Boxsters as very female cars. I also see them as the poor relations to the SL's / 911, like the 330 Sport is to the M3.

£30K is a lot of cash for a car, so without a doubt, buy a car that you complete love, faults and all.

Best of luck

SBK

darren...

£30k is a lot but having just bought a Boxster S (replacement for my wifes car) I can say that it's exceptionally well put together and the handling is amazing

What's also important is residuals and that's an area the Boxster scores very highly on

She upgraded from an SLK that was nice for cruising but very unhappy as soon as bends were involved...

LG John

I had no fear of Boxter S's or 350 SLK's when I had my S2000. The most recent incarnation of the Boxter S will get the legs on the honda if you really wring them out and it does have another number of key advantages but £ for £ I'd probably take the cheaper Honda as well. The boxter/350 et al all sit in a pricing no mans land for me.

I'm happy with sub £30k S2000's, 350z's, Impreza's and Evo's until I can afford the jump to 911, M5, RS6 or 2nd hand 360M territory. I just don't see the added value in the Boxter S (+ required toys)

The Chief

RMS (rear main seals) do go but you get them checked out - you either get a good 'un that never goes, or a bad un that needs sorting. My buddies 75k mile example has (touch wood) never had any issues over this.

yeah everyone harps on about Boxsters being the poor relation to the 911 - yeah fair enough but The Boxster was designed as a sports convertable from the ground up, The S on a lot of tracks will actually lap quicker than a 911 (not a GT3 or Turbo) due to its superior handling balance.

As for a girly car - Nah.

I dont own one btw - i own a Scooby but having drove one a few times i am well impressed. The new shape in my eyes looks just great.

If i could afford one - i'd have one tommorrow

The Chief

Bloody hell Saxo Boy i wondered how long it woudl take.

do you have an in built alarm everytime someone posts something about an S2000


Only messing fella

LG John

It's more like a radar There a new Boxter S in the car park at my work and I was behind another on the way into work this morning (1.0 fiesta no match!). They are nice cars but I'd probably rather pay much less for 95% of the performance or much more for a really interesting car

sbk1972

Audi RS6. Mmm now that is a nice allrounder. I was looking at these on pistonheads classified section. A chap I know has one, and there's issues with the suspension. Not sure on the details, but the specialised suspension leaks and has had a lot of recalls.

I suppose all cars have issues, regardless of cost. Its down to your heart. Sometimes you see a car and think "****, thats lovely".

What ever the case, £30K in the your pocket, your certainly going to have some fun test driving a whole load of cool cars :-)


Have you got £30K in readies, or avialable monthly £££ which allow you up to £30K car ?

SBK

The Chief

Fair comment Guv

lordretsudo

Thanks to all who've replied. TBH, I had dismissed the S2000 as not really being in the same league as SLK/Boxsters, but having read all these positive comments I had a look on the net to see if there were any locally we could go and look at. Our local dealer had a very nice 06 S2000 and we both really liked the interior and exterior. We're going to test drive it tomorrow. The advantage would be that we could afford a new one (with hard top) rather than a 2-3 year old SLK/Boxster.

With regards to other points raised, the car is officially my wife's, although I look after it and drive it quite a lot. Mine is the Scooby (for now at least...). I agree that they're all somewhat effeminate cars, but must admit I love the feel of driving a 2 seater convertible.

The £30k we have to spend is in terms of what we can comfortably afford to spend per month rather than cash. I'd prefer something that depreciates slowly after my experiences with the Scooby, which all these cars seem to do.

LG John

Very Important

Frame of mind at the test drive: If you expect the S2000 to be the last word in comfort, speed and easy driving then prepared to be disappointed. It’s a focused and yet liveable car. Think of an Elise that most of the population can use every day - that's not to say it’s watered down but rather that it’s not quite as raw.

Don't drive it expecting to be impressed by the 2nd gear pull between city junctions from 3000rpm. Think in terms off, 'this is potent enough for pottering about in', which it is. Treat 6000rpm as some sort of trigger - stay below it and you have a fairly comfortable, quiet, nippy enough little sports car. Venture above it and it instantly transforms into something far more focused and raw. You really can't drive an S2000 at 75%. It's 10-30% and then it jumps to 90-99.99999% Actually, in this regard its quite like my Impreza - it's either off-boost and normal or on-boost and like a ballistic missile

The next consideration is the length of the test drive - any less than a day and you'll probably be left a little flat and especially if you have the pressure of a salesman beside you. You simply won't be able to get a feel for the handling or the way in which the engine delivers its power. You'll almost certainly change gear too early. To really get a feel for its pull you need to a) have the roof up! and b) change up within 50rpm of the limiter in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. It usually about the top end of 3rd that you start thinking to yourself......"this thing is bloody relentless!" The Impreza is savage and makes no secret of it. It's the big hard guy at school that everyone was afraid of. The S2000 isn't so. It's that quieter guy that seems nice, can run pretty fast and plays Saturday fit'ba in for a fairly hard under 15s team. There are the odd whispers that he's had a few altercations before and levelled boys from 2 years above but nobody - and certainly not him - has made a big deal about it Get me?

I doubt you'll push it too hard on a test drive but, the Honda rewards precise and smooth driving. No matter what happens don't panic, it's NOT going to do anything crazy like the press would have you believe. If the car ever feels unsettled make a small adjustment and you'll feel your way around as to whether it was enough. People put them through trees because the rear end gives a wiggle in the wet and they just come completely off the gas causing a weight shift.

Most of all have fun DBM and I have both noticed on a number of forums that many people (including myself) are/were a little flat after the first test drive as most have had a turbo car of similar performance and find the S2000 slow and a real effort. It just takes a little time to learn - I find it to be a kind of 'in the know' car. It really bugs me that a lass at work has one and it’s clearly because she likes the colour or something. I'd bet my house she doesn't 'get it'. Officially jealous now - I'd love for a sunny day tomorrow and the S2000 at my disposal. Since I have the Impreza though I'll be begging for ice and freezing temperatures so I can get her sliding and take advantage of the lower charge temps

P.S. Go see Imola Orange Pearl in the flesh

LG John

Oh yeah.....personally I'd not waste my money on a hard top. When I was looking at the Honda I was determined to get one but once I got the car I realised that would have been a big mistake. The roof is so damn fast that I'd take every and any advantage to have it down including in below freezing conditions (heater is powerful) and in light rain and light snow. People that have HT's on for 5 months of the year miss out on some of the best roof down driving experiences there are

lordretsudo

Wow, thanks for taking the time to type those very useful comments/bits of advice - quite unusual on Scoobynet to get such a worthwhile response...

The test drive isn't for a day or anything like that and the dealer made it clear that we wouldn't be able to drive the car on our own, so one of us would have to go out at a time with him. I didn't know they would offer a full day's test?

We like the dark grey and bright blue colours best, not sure about the orange and yellow, but I'm sure they'd look better in the flesh so to speak...

As for the hard top, we have one for our MR2 Roadster and really appreciate it in the winter months. As it's her car, she'd never have the roof down on a cold day anyway (she's always cold)! I do take your point though.

Do you have any idea why they're such rare cars? I think I've only ever seen one or two on the road that I've noticed, yet they always seem to get glowing reviews and don't seem too expensive to buy/run (though I was amazed that they're a higher insurance group than a Boxster or an SLK!)

Acker

Yes manuals are harder to find but they are out there.
Don't believe the dealer re. resale.
Oh, yes I ordered a manual cos I just prefer it over the auto (for now).
Funny, everyone I've given lifts to remarks that they like the interior. And people keep telling me that I shouldn't consider going back to the lower grade Subaru interior.
The folding hardtop is definitely a draw.
And don't believe the people that tell you SLK's can't handle.



Just get out there and try them all. Only you can decide.
But it does read like you've already disregarded the SLK.


Oh just for background:
My current car is a manual SLK280 with Sports suspension.
I've previously had a Terzo, a P1 and an STi Type UK

LG John

For rarity I'd guess it has two principle problems that make it unpopular with the great unwashed masses.

1) Badge. It's just a Honda and to a lot of people that sadly does matter when spending near £30k on a 2 seater roadster. Some people simply like to say they have a Porka, Merc or BMW!

2) Pub Talk. The car does most things really well but nothing brilliantly! A spec-c or MR340 will thump it in a 0-60 and most other straight-line drag races and for handling the elise will beat it in the twisties and around a track, etc. For practicality and refinement a Z4 3.0 will again score points on it and for GT like touring the 350z is probably superior.

It's quite a targeted car that will generally only appeal to people of a certain kind of temperament. My mate, who's tastes and knowledge in cars are IMHO a little less developed than my own, just couldn't leave the fact that his 120bhp elise was quicker 0-60. No matter how many times I demonstrated the everyday usefulness of the S2000 or the fact it walked the Elise after 40mph, when we talked cars in the pub he'd start quoting EVO stats at me. To some people stuff like that is important but not to me. Right now I have a car sitting in the car port that I know (given the way I launch the thing) I could get to 60mph in very low 4 seconds. In this regard it would beat most supercars but I never quote that or even claim to have a particularly fast car. To me its about the way it drives when I want to have some fun out on the open road and whilst techically the subrau is faster the S2000 was much more rewarding.

If you want to talk turbo's, bhp's, torques and the evo you kept up with in the snow then an S2000 probably isn't for you. If you want to come back from a sunday drive with your heart skipping beats with excitement because you really strung some nice corners together then you should love it.

So a bit of a taste thing really. My problem is I like too many things so if I had my way I'd have an S2000 for the reasons above, a highly modified EVO or Impreza for the stupidly quick point to point stuff, a supercharged vette for straight-line drag racing an atom for track and fast road outings, a veryon to p*ss on bikes and a F430 spider to make panties drop. So I guess you should take everything I say with a pinch of salt as I can usually see the good in most performance cars

DavidBrown

I've owned both Boxster and SLK350.

As a drivers car the Boxster handled best. As you say, the SLK interior is this weird rubbery plastic which is so easily marked by fingerprints it's annoying.

With the AMG kit the SLK looked better IMO and comes with more toys.

We had our SLK for 6 months and didn't lose a penny on it, which was a surprise.

If you want looks/toys/roof go for the SLK350, if you want better driving dynamics go for the Boxster.

They're about the same straight line speed.

ScoobySnack

Owned a S2000 for 18 months and was an incredible car.. bulletproof an good to look at in yellow epecially with the aded GT hardtop. Saxo Boys comments are on the mark, as its when you push the car it feels great. Had to go down the HKS exhasut route to unleash some more character

Now have the SLK as its a true everyday luxury GT. Yep i love the heated seats, Harman Kardon, tin top and all extras for my 20K miles a year. My only comment would be :

- Get the manual gearbox
- Test the feeling of the car through bends to see if you like the suspension handling..
- dont whatever you do test drive the SLK55 AMG, you will buy it..... i did


J

andys

yep my next car is going to be a slk 55 amg after driving them all. Just need to finish saving up the extra 20 grand

Flatcapdriver

Despite some assertions on here, the S2000 is not in the same league as a Boxster and most definitely not in the handling department. As a fun weekend car it has its place but in everday driving terms its seriously flawed and although proponents of the marque like to kid you that you have to be a driving God to appreciate it - that's simply not the case.

As you say, twitchy handling (particularly in the wet) plus an engine that has to thrashed within an inch of its life to get the best from it doesn't make for a useful everyday car. Around town and on motorways, the lack of torque is at best a pain in the backside if not downright embarrassing as some farmer fuelled hatchback leaves you in a cloud of smoke whilst you search for the right cog to get you going.

The cabin is cramped and why Honda insist on tacky digital readouts I don't know.

It will compete well against the Mercedes but then what doesn't but against the Porsche - forget it.

I'd rate them Boxster S, S2000 and lastly the 350.

Cosworth427

The rear end twitch is only a characteristic in the pre-02 models in the wet, and often lambasted by drivers or car journalists such as that twit from Autocar fresh from the FWD and AWD brigade, I guess the S2000 is a 1st taste for some in driving a real old-fashioned drivers car in a modern reliable package.

If the S2000 had a Porsche badge, I'm sure many people will overlook its "flaws" by saying it has character.

Half the people who say you have to thrash the engine within an inch of its life has obviously not driven a healthy one, the car accelerates with mild throttle travel at 4th and 5th at traffic speeds just like any other car.

In fact, the S2000 makes more torque over a wide RPM than many other modern 2 litre saloons and even some 2.5 litre engines from the 80s, how many of you had to thrash such cars to get going then???

People who complain about the cabin space, its a compact roadster! Just like the MR2, MX-5, Fiat 124 and MGs - its supposed to be that way! - its not a turbo bus to carry your hooligan mates to the pub!


I guess this thread has turned into another battle between those who actually drive the car s with an open mind against those who just read up on opinions that match their ignorance

Flatcapdriver

Yeah. You're right. I only did about 40k in the thing, so most of my experience was based on what others thought of it and yet there's plenty of room in a Z4/MX5/Boxster etc so quite why Honda couldn't manage it, I don't know.

AudiLover

Get a MK2 TT instead. Much better car than both the options your looking at.

I can provide evidence to back up this statement also. Go test drive one

LG John

As you all know my last car was an S2000 and my current one is a full decat 300bhp STI-5. I can assure you that the turbo lag from the Impreza on gear changes and the fact that it is total devoid of any performance below about 3500rpm is far more annoying than the S2000's so-called 'lack of torque'. The cabin is a bit tight though and the digi readout not to everyone's tastes. It's a far more appealing car to me than a Boxter though

Wish

iTrader: (2)

check out Welcome to BoXa.Net...
Well worth a mention over there.