Now that CPO has been cut down to almost nothing, $2200 sounds pretty reasonable to me. I'd take it on an M3.

No doubt.

With an engine that complex I would too.

Frankly, it has been incredibly reliable for what it is. Some cars are pushing 5 years now and a few have many tens of thousands of miles, and except for a few modded cars, nothing of substance to report. To be honest, the E90 M3, all thing considered, is a very reliable car as well.

Ok, so I know I have never been the Porsche enthusiast that a lot of you guys are, but the more I look at what will replace the 1er, the more 'sensible' the idea of a boxster/911 is.

The next car has to be a soft top convertible. As of now a manual is required, but that limits the population of cars so much that if something perfect came along in an auto, I'd consider it. The car *should* be my primary daily driver, but I could also get something that sat in the garage the majority of the time and a cheap daily/commuter. It needs to be emotionally engaging.

My heart says AMV8 at all costs, but the voice of reason says "DON'T BE STUPID... you won't be able to drive it regularly, it will break a-lot and cost you tons of money, and no matter how pretty it is, you'll resent the space it takes up in your garage after a month of sleeping on the floor next to it." But then the other half of my brain says"JUST LOOK AT IT! myyyy preciiiioousss." If we went this route, reality is we'd probably keep it for a year, try to keep miles low on it and sell it for close to what we bought it for because it probably wouldn't fit longer term.

The boxster/911, on the other hand, would make a solid primary driver and check all the boxes in my wants list, except I am not nearly as in lust with it. I'm trying to warm to them.

I have been browsing classifieds trying to get my head around what is out there and for the life of me, can't figure out 911 features/options etc. Is there a VIN decoder like for BMWs? Are there website cheat sheets I should be studying? Other than IMS bearings (which are older than I'm considering anyway), are there things I should be wary of or specificly require?

Currently, this is the one that I am most fond of:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...ckType=listing

This one is also interesting:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...ckType=listing

This is just my starting point, I'm probably 12 months from doing anything, but its a slow friday at work and I want to start learning

I don’t really like the interior color on either of those but wow. That second one is very pretty on the outside.

What I dont get is for $15k more, the 981 S’s I want are running around $50 for 2014’s, I could have a WAY cooler and from new a WAY more expensive car.

I really don’t get the inflated 981 S pricing. It’s stupid silly right now.

I've mentioned before, I won't do black interior in a convertible. It just gets too hot in the sun with the top down.

Some 981's have ventilated seats.

I didn't think 981 values are that high, if I thought they were absurd I'd list mine. I think they are fair for what the car is (practically irreplaceable short of a 3.8L spyder).

I happen to think 991 values are absurdly high. I shopped for them in April/May 2016 and they have almost not budged (while going out of warranty and what not).

So no VIN decoder then?

The top link is the better car for sure, it’s an ‘S’ which holds its value and is much more desired than the non S plus it has the sport chrono and sport exhaust which imo are must haves.

I would go for a non S just not for that price and just a few tips, you could always add the sport exhaust in the future they install it like it was factory and red brake calipers means it’s an S unless the calipers are yellow which means the car has the optional ceramic brakes regardless of being an S or not.


Also not sure if you know this but if it has the sport plus button it has sport chrono though you would also know this by the clock up in the center of the dash.