[Ted C]

when you will really miss

My very first car was a Toyota Celica, rock solid and reliable. I took the reliability bit for granted and moved to a Merc. Biggest mistake I ever made. After a while of owning a Lexus/Toyota, you start to assume that all cars are just as reliable. wrong! especially European cars. If you get a Porsche, keep your tow truck phone # ready and get used to being stranded. All the time I had the Merc, everytime I start a trip, I never forget that I could leave me stranded. sad. That's why I went back to a Lexus

 

[Ted C]

No argument re how the Porsche feels. These cars are wonderful when they run. I loved my Merc C32. Just felt fast and handling wise, it communicated so well with the driver. My brother had an Audi TT and it was a nimble little car. Problem is that pure performance doesn't do you much good if you are stuck in traffic (I am assuming this is a daily driver for you) and after a while you just got to weigh the cost vs the benefit. Is the fun of carving the back roads outweight the vacation days spent bringing the car to the dealership, check engine light going on at the worst times etc. On the average a Porsche is a higher maintenance car than the Lexus. Also check youtube for problems with PDK, DSG, M-DCT, TC-SST, GR6 etc. Getrag and Borg-Warner make these dual-clutch manumatics and they seem to have a lot of problems. sorry if I come across as too negative

 

[Ted C]

choices?

Have you test driven a SLK55 AMG or a Lotus Elise? both are lightweight, exotic, high performance cabrio that would out handle or out muscle a Boxster. The SLK55 has an intoxicating engine/exhaust sound. If it wasn't for Merc's questionable reliability I could have gone for it. The Elise was out of the question for me because I needed a daily driver during the winter.

 

[Ted C]

Boxter Spyder. Wikipedia says that "the Boxster Spyder will be the lightest Porsche on the market, weighing 2,811 pounds (1,275 kg), a full 176 pounds (80 kg) lighter than a Boxster S. This has been achieved through the elimination of the conventional soft top's operating mechanism, the radio/PCM unit, air conditioning, storage compartments..." Dude, are you sure you don't need the air con in Austin? I mean handling is one thing but you'll be driving it in Speedos in the summer.

 

[Ted C]

On the topic of buying an alternate fun ride. My neighbor bought a Ferrari 328GTS. The thing only has about 20K miles on it. Not bad for a 20 year old car. It is pretty underpowered by today's standard but still looks and sounds gorgeous. Ferraris do hold their value though because he got it for the price of a new BMW 323i! I am sure its expensive to manitain but is pretty cool other than the fact that everyone makes the good ol' Magnum PI comment. Has anyone ever thought of scooping up one of these beauties form the 80's.
I remember window shopping in the local Ferrari-Maserati dealership last year and spotted a 288 GTO, that was amazing. A 328 on steroids!