981 options you wish you had (not) specced and why?
Discussion
cibble10 said:
Yup! That is exactly what I wanted in my BGTS and was not able to spec it. As mentioned previously I consider the sports steering wheel looks a bit cheap and basic (my view) and why should it lack all useful buttons because it is a sports wheel, or conversely, why can't the MF wheel be specced with paddles (per your picture)? My BGTS is fully specced for track use (occasional only but the SS and PTV are there) so why can't I have paddles!!!!!!! For £800 I can have them retrofitted and the buttons replaced with blanks...
It is supposed to be "coming soon" based on the conversations that I've had (albeit some time ago) and I agree that it's the one I'd have over any of the others it was availableMoog72 said:
It is supposed to be "coming soon" based on the conversations that I've had (albeit some time ago) and I agree that it's the one I'd have over any of the others it was available
Sounds like the 'coming soon' is likely a new option for subsequent cars. I wonder if anyone other than Techart will offer a retrofit upgrade?I am over in the UK in February and am considering having the Techart paddles fitted while over there but it seems Liverpool and maybe Essex are the only two fitting centres...
bcr5784 said:
That's true of some options - like PCCBs which some might want and others might consciously avoid. But there are options which are in demand and which hold much of their value for quite a while - like PDK, and others (like PCM, climate, parking sensors) which the market expects(and the absence of which make a car hard to sell) and also hold their value well. If you subscribe to Parkers guide prices (the paid for option) the uplift in secondhand value which various options command is very interesting.
don't buy that at all - they don't hold their value, they just speed up a sale and ensure you get an ok resale value (options massively depreciated) without having to heavily discount, many will just pass on a car without PCM for exampletake two identical cars, one year old but one has PCCB, it will be £1-2k more after negotiation IMHO, depreciation of 60-80%
Adam B said:
don't buy that at all - they don't hold their value, they just speed up a sale and ensure you get an ok resale value (options massively depreciated) without having to heavily discount, many will just pass on a car without PCM for example
take two identical cars, one year old but one has PCCB, it will be £1-2k more after negotiation IMHO, depreciation of 60-80%
That IS what I'm saying about PCCB. Some (like me) will actively avoid it because of the subsequent service costs and so the option will lose MUCH of the cost on resale. Other options (or the lack of ) will make it easier to sell and you will lose LESS of the original cost. I have no way of knowing whether the figures Parkers quote are in line with the actual uplift in secondhand prices with each of the options quoted - but the general trend is in line with what I found when buying. take two identical cars, one year old but one has PCCB, it will be £1-2k more after negotiation IMHO, depreciation of 60-80%
When I was buying the lowest (dealer) price I saw for a low spec 981 3.4S manual was 40k, the lowest price I saw for a mid-spec PDK was 50k. In fact that difference is almost exactly the difference in the new price, suggesting that the options chosen were very much in line with what the market wanted.
Edited by bcr5784 on Friday 9th January 12:56
Adam B said:
bcr5784 said:
That's true of some options - like PCCBs which some might want and others might consciously avoid. But there are options which are in demand and which hold much of their value for quite a while - like PDK, and others (like PCM, climate, parking sensors) which the market expects(and the absence of which make a car hard to sell) and also hold their value well. If you subscribe to Parkers guide prices (the paid for option) the uplift in secondhand value which various options command is very interesting.
don't buy that at all - they don't hold their value, they just speed up a sale and ensure you get an ok resale value (options massively depreciated) without having to heavily discount, many will just pass on a car without PCM for exampletake two identical cars, one year old but one has PCCB, it will be £1-2k more after negotiation IMHO, depreciation of 60-80%
Edited by BIRMA on Friday 9th January 16:01
bcr5784 said:
That IS what I'm saying about PCCB. Some (like me) will actively avoid it because of the subsequent service costs and so the option will lose MUCH of the cost on resale. Other options (or the lack of ) will make it easier to sell and you will lose LESS of the original cost. I have no way of knowing whether the figures Parkers quote are in line with the actual uplift in secondhand prices with each of the options quoted - but the general trend is in line with what I found when buying.
When I was buying the lowest (dealer) price I saw for a low spec 981 3.4S manual was 40k, the lowest price I saw for a mid-spec PDK was 50k. In fact that difference is almost exactly the difference in the new price, suggesting that the options chosen were very much in line with what the market wanted.
Was the Manual the exact same age and mileage as the PDK? (I think you said the Manual was older and a higher mileage than the PDK, but this seems to have been edited out?).When I was buying the lowest (dealer) price I saw for a low spec 981 3.4S manual was 40k, the lowest price I saw for a mid-spec PDK was 50k. In fact that difference is almost exactly the difference in the new price, suggesting that the options chosen were very much in line with what the market wanted.
Edited by bcr5784 on Friday 9th January 12:56
FrankCayman said:
Was the Manual the exact same age and mileage as the PDK? (I think you said the Manual was older and a higher mileage than the PDK, but this seems to have been edited out?).
No it was older (6 months) and higher mileage. And while I accept that does factor in, clearly both cars had lost around £10000 in a year or less, and the options had retained most of their value - which is very much in line with what Parkers would predict for those options (PDK/PCM/telephone/heated seats) and a few other bits and bobs (Parkers doesn't cover all options)BIRMA's experience doesn't at all surprise me for the reasons I give and I would expect similar things to apply to some of the trim options, particularly the marmite ones.
I bought a second hand, sorry pre-owned 981 Boxster last year. I'd never bought a Porsche before and was somewhat astonished at the number and cost of the extras. So much so I had to draw up a spread sheet with all the Boxsters for sale on one axis and all the extras on the other, along with their cost. It was the only way I could calculate value for money on the cars for sale.
The first thing I discovered was that the difference between an S and a 2.7 was must less than the new cost, so an S made more sense, for value. Plus people who bought the S put more extras on them.
The total cost of the car when new was well over £60k, I bought it from an OPC for just over £40k, so presumably the seller got far less. I can't afford to lose that sort of money in a year. So if you want lots of extras, buy second hand, if not buy new.
Are they worth it?
Well my daughters Ford Fiesta communications system does pretty much what the PCM does and it was standard on her car.
I'm not going to get involved in the PDK v Manual battle
The Bose sound is okay, but if you're tall like me you'll have the seats all the way back which muffles the rear speakers
The Dynamic lighting is fun, but really just a gimmick to me
Parking assist is reasonable value and useful
Seat heating is necessary if like me you have the hood up only when it's raining. Heated wheel, well you're better off wearing gloves; for £182 you can get some pretty good ones
Multi function steering wheel excellent, I know the sport wheel looks better and yes, the gear change system is irrational and non intuitive
Cruise control I only use through average speed cameras and driving in France, where the roads are quiet enough for it to make sense.
Just my twopennyw'th
My Boxster
Boxster S £45,384
PDK £1,922
PCM £2141
Telephone module £526
Bose sound £801
Park assist F&R £599
Wind deflector £182
Dynamic lighting £1060
Cruise control £267
Seat heating £283
Multi-function steering wheel £356
Heated steering wheel £182
Full Leather interior £2631
Electric seats in leather £2550
Painted roll bars £344
19" alloy wheels £971
Metallic paint £558
The first thing I discovered was that the difference between an S and a 2.7 was must less than the new cost, so an S made more sense, for value. Plus people who bought the S put more extras on them.
The total cost of the car when new was well over £60k, I bought it from an OPC for just over £40k, so presumably the seller got far less. I can't afford to lose that sort of money in a year. So if you want lots of extras, buy second hand, if not buy new.
Are they worth it?
Well my daughters Ford Fiesta communications system does pretty much what the PCM does and it was standard on her car.
I'm not going to get involved in the PDK v Manual battle
The Bose sound is okay, but if you're tall like me you'll have the seats all the way back which muffles the rear speakers
The Dynamic lighting is fun, but really just a gimmick to me
Parking assist is reasonable value and useful
Seat heating is necessary if like me you have the hood up only when it's raining. Heated wheel, well you're better off wearing gloves; for £182 you can get some pretty good ones
Multi function steering wheel excellent, I know the sport wheel looks better and yes, the gear change system is irrational and non intuitive
Cruise control I only use through average speed cameras and driving in France, where the roads are quiet enough for it to make sense.
Just my twopennyw'th
My Boxster
Boxster S £45,384
PDK £1,922
PCM £2141
Telephone module £526
Bose sound £801
Park assist F&R £599
Wind deflector £182
Dynamic lighting £1060
Cruise control £267
Seat heating £283
Multi-function steering wheel £356
Heated steering wheel £182
Full Leather interior £2631
Electric seats in leather £2550
Painted roll bars £344
19" alloy wheels £971
Metallic paint £558
Warning - Thread Resurrection 
I'm looking to buy a 981/981S Boxster to keep in Europe, where I do quite a lot of miles, and just stumbled across this old thread. And, yes, it does amaze me how many mis-spec'd 981 Boxsters there are out there.
Granted, some things are personal, but most of these cars would have listed at £55-60k new, yet quite a few nice examples seem to be bereft of Heated Seats, Cruise and most especially - Dual Climate - when the combined cost added only c.£1000 (2%) to list.
Just my rant - but very frustrating for buyers in the secondary and tertiary market
I'm looking to buy a 981/981S Boxster to keep in Europe, where I do quite a lot of miles, and just stumbled across this old thread. And, yes, it does amaze me how many mis-spec'd 981 Boxsters there are out there.
Granted, some things are personal, but most of these cars would have listed at £55-60k new, yet quite a few nice examples seem to be bereft of Heated Seats, Cruise and most especially - Dual Climate - when the combined cost added only c.£1000 (2%) to list.
Just my rant - but very frustrating for buyers in the secondary and tertiary market
Twinfan said:
…. each car is unique, and always in a good way...
Surely you mean "not always in a good way".I often leaf through the ads and see nice 981s, only to be surprised by the omission of certain fundamental conveniences. Some, like cruise control and the sport exhaust, can be re-fitted by the dealer, at a price, but most can't.
I do think that many first owners must have misunderstood the significance of the automatic dual zone climate control over the fiddly basic system - even in a roadster.
Koln-RS said:
Some, like cruise control...can be re-fitted by the dealer, at a price, but most can't.
OP here 
I had cruise on my 981 GTS, so when I was px-ing for a 997 GTS without cruise from a Porsche main dealer, I just made it a condition of the deal that they retrofit cruise for free in the new car. It's the sort of thing that is very expensive for the punter (think it comes in at £700 or so?) but relatively cheap for the dealer to do (prob only costs them a couple of hundred £).
Mario149 said:
OP here
I had cruise on my 981 GTS, so when I was px-ing for a 997 GTS without cruise from a Porsche main dealer, I just made it a condition of the deal that they retrofit cruise for free in the new car. It's the sort of thing that is very expensive for the punter (think it comes in at £700 or so?) but relatively cheap for the dealer to do (prob only costs them a couple of hundred £).
Cruise wasn't on my radar, hence why i haven't specced it. IMO why buy a drivers car that drives for you I had cruise on my 981 GTS, so when I was px-ing for a 997 GTS without cruise from a Porsche main dealer, I just made it a condition of the deal that they retrofit cruise for free in the new car. It's the sort of thing that is very expensive for the punter (think it comes in at £700 or so?) but relatively cheap for the dealer to do (prob only costs them a couple of hundred £).
anonymous said:
[redacted]
My car had heated seats and they are cetainly nice if you have leather seats. That said my wife never used hers even when I though it a good idea to use mine. Personally I'd hardly consider it a basic option and wouldn't be fussed at all with alcantera or Sportex seats.I can't believe climate control wasn't standard fit on these cars (although thankfully my Porsche specced car does have it along with pretty much everything other than auto dimming rear view mirror). And I'm equally surprised it's still not standard fit - the 718 loan car I had didn't have it and it was a right pain!
drcarrera said:
I can't believe climate control wasn't standard fit on these cars (although thankfully my Porsche specced car does have it along with pretty much everything other than auto dimming rear view mirror). And I'm equally surprised it's still not standard fit - the 718 loan car I had didn't have it and it was a right pain!
I am sure Porsche actually removed standard climate control and fitted only manual a/c, then charged an additional £300 for auto a/c (climate). Unbelievably stingyGassing Station | Boxster/Cayman | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff