Scottish Elises

I know it has nothing to do with Elises, just a quick question to see what other people would do in this situation.

My current car : 2001 Honda S2000 ,50k miles. Had it for one year now, it's about to be serviced, I reckon the servicing will be pretty expensive. It has a new roof and refurbished wheels. Quite a lot of small scratches on the body, a few small dents. I had the car on the market for 3 weeks and absolutely nobody was interested for 9.25k.

Found a Boxster S 2002 car with 46k miles on the clock, very good looking state. The guy wants around 4.5k quid to exchange the cars. Both of the cars are about to be MOTed and serviced, both of us had the cars for 1 year now.

Should I do this? The tires on the Boxster would need to be changed out, so I'll try to knock off some more, idealy 4.2k.

Is it worth it?

Can't really comment on either of the cars or their values (other than to say I wouldn't want a Boxter) but in the current climate its fairly difficult to do too well financially if you have a car to sell / trade. In that regard if you feel fairly happy(ish) with the deal and the sums then you should go for it and once its done, its done

Boxter services can be fairly expensive, does it have a service history? Maybe worth spending the 30ish quid to have the car HPI checked as well to make sure it's not a cat d/c repaired car / no outstanding finance etc.

Full porsche history, I will get warranty for it from Porsche if I opt to go ahead. The guys sais it's HPI clear, will double check .

- you're worried about your Honda needing servicing etc but you're looking at getting a Boxster ?

I'm sure the extra £4k would pay for a fair bit of servicing and a couple of paint corrections on the Honda

..... £0.02

I really want to change the car so I thought it's better investing (servicing) another car that I like better,if I have to.

Not sure why you think that similair age and mileage boxster service will be any cheaper than your S2000.

Unless you know of things needing done on yours - like consumables and or brakes etc...........but then so might his Boxster IYSWIM.

I personally wouldnt do it if I were you.

If you want to change it for a Lotus then do it, but dont do it for a Boxster.

Get the S2000 serviced and drop the price a bit..........that will be better than forking £4k out for a Porsche that might need the same or more work done to it than your own.

dlogan wrote:
If you want to change it for a Lotus then do it, but dont do it for a Boxster.

an Elise was top priority on my list, but cant quite sell the Honda.. so started looking for a px.

Ciprian wrote:an Elise was top priority on my list, but cant quite sell the Honda.. so started looking for a px.

I'd wait for the Elise then if that's what you really want, otherwise you'll be in the same situation in 6 months time trying to sell a Boxster rather than a Honda.

Don't do it !

Bide your time until the right deal comes along on the right car (ie the Lotus that you really want)

I don't like the porker....sorry!

I wouldn't either

The most important thing to check for on a Boxster with 46k on the clock is has the major 48k service been done? If not that'll set you back a grand easily and some of the work you certainly wouldn't want to miss having done. Full set of tyres will set you back the best part of £1k also although you should be able to knock a couple of hundred quid off by shopping around/online.

Personally I wouldn't touch the Boxster (been there) and would rather spend any cash on the S2000. It sounds like all that's needed is a decent service (can't be that expensive unless there's obviously something wrong and the Honda engines are bullet proof) plus some TLC to the bodywork. Small dents and scratches can be easily corrected. Full paint correction by a professional would set you back around £300-600 depending on where you go but would put the car back to a showroom condition which is probably what is putting potential buyers off. People love shiny things.

One last thought....why on earth would the Boxster owner want to swap his motor for an older model Methinks he knows something that you don't about his motor. Stick with what you've got, shine it up, private sale or trade-in for an Elise/Exige. You know it makes sense.

IMHO the porker is nicer than the S2000....

I think if its in the condition you say it is and you want a change then do it.

In the nicest possible way, I can't see anyone with an Elise calling you up wanting to swap for an S2000 (sorry).

My 2p