Does color matter when leasing - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Will leasing a speed yellow Boxster cost more than any other color? Also, does anyone have some pictures of this color?

That is a great question. In theory, a smart leasing company will modify the anticipated resale value to coincide with the market values of the car's colors, IF that color makes the car less marketable. I have seen dealers driven away from certain Porsche colors at the auction, as we cannot move them. Green comes immed. to mind! Yellow is an interesting color for a Porsche. I have not handled these precisely because of the risk involved, In other words,' They are not black, silver or blue.

In my search for a used Boxster I have noticed that the most common color is silver followed by black or blue. I was VERY surprised by the low number of red boxsters (which I wanted). I would have thought the famous "Guards Red" would have been right up there. Any ideas why? I always felt red was the proper color for a sports car.

Hi, AGREED...!!!!! :dance:

In the global market place, I would suspect that Guards Red and Speed Yellow are very popular colors. That's why Porsche does not "charge" for these paint colors- because many people want it and it's desirable. Now the local market (the USA) is a different matter, and color may effect residual vale, as Brucelee suggests. I think some buyers go into the color selection decision process thinking, "I bet black, silver or blue will have better resale value". And this thought makes the choice for them, not their "true" desire to have a color other than those. Just my 2 cents.

That some people also choose colors based on other factors: *Black looks great in the showroom *Oops, black is hard to keep clean and shows swirl marks *Red also looks great *Red shows fewer imperfections than black, but more than white, silver or grey *Yellow, that's it...errr...can I handle a color so bright? *Silver or Grey...subtle, undertones the car...easy care, etc. After having several black, silver, pearl white and blue cars...Audi TT's, S4's, A4's, Z3's, etc., etc....I found the silver and pearl white were easiest to maintain and maintained the "just detailed finish," while black looked great at my detail shop...but a few miles later...I could see the effects of the elements... This time, I chose.... Guards Red...'06 Boxster S, Black Leather/Top -Chrome tips -Bose and Changer -Power Seats -Wind Deflector -Bi-Xenon -Heated Seats (handy in the north) -Summer and Winter Tires -Auto Climate -Colored Wheel Crests -and the list continues.... But guess what... The flatter or darker the finish (non-metallic, which is the basis for extra charges from Porsche) the more swirls show. The brighter the color, the fewer cars you see...perhaps the..."the car is sharp in any color, do I need a "look at me color?" influences the choice. For every color to choose, every buyer has a reason for the choice...yet it all comes down to...what you like. I paid $1,200 extra for Pearl White on an Audi...paid more for certain options I liked, etc., yet the resale is based more on retail...what the seller or reseller can get for the car...and that is usually based more on: *condition *mileage *popular options *reasonable color combinations *year *right buyer, right timing On a lease, there is no re-sale value...you are renting the car. You pay a pre-determined amount for a pre-determined term for the use, not ownership of the car. On a purchase, you pay, and when its time to sell, you sell when you either get what you want or when you need to sell or when you find what you want to buy next. If there was a guaranteed money-making color, all cars would be that color, yet how boring would that be? Relax...pick a color YOU want...enjoy!

We got ours in Atlas Grey and LOVE it! It gets lots of questions about the colour and universal praise.

Hi, God I hope not ... Where's the excitement? The Romance..? Is it all about getting out..? Ending before you begin? That concept is about as romantic as a Prenuptial Agreement - you're thinking about getting out before you even get in. Aside from the obvious - availability, violent predisposition to certain colors (like a Bull seeing Red), etc. - you should buy the Color which pleases you and never mind the Next Guy! ... Sports Cars are about Passion , not Practicality... IF YOU DON'T FEEL IT... DON'T BUY IT!!... Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Jim, I agree with you 100%. But, then why are there so many black and silver Boxsters? I am sure there are many reasons, and I suggest one of those is that people think this will help them with resale or trade-in value.

Hi, The real reason there are that many Black and Silver Boxsters is because Porsche Painted so many of them Black and Silver. To be sure there are many Customer Ordered Cars where color is selected, but I bet that Generic Dealer Stock significantly outnumbers them - who picks the colors on these Cars..?? Because of Deals and people's need for Instant Gratification, many will buy whatever color is available rather than wait for a Special Order. Another thing is that Silver predominates in all of Porsche's Marketing and Advertising consequently, many people want one that looks just like it. While I agree that a color like Toadstool Brown might take longer to unload in the future, any of the Normal colors will move pretty well. You can have a color preference when buying used, but many people are flexible if they find an excellent example in another OK color, they'll compromise and go for the Good Example... Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

I can relate to this. When I bought my first car I insisted that it be exactly the same as the one on the brochure cover. Same color, same wheels, same interiod, same everything!

Black and Silver are among the most popular car colors for ALL car makes. I doubt this is all marketing related.

Hi, We live in a Mass Marketed Society. Any thought that we are Individual is an Illusion . We wear the same clothes, eat the same foods, drive the same Cars, read the same Newspapers and Magazines, see the same Movies and watch the same TV Shows. How many out there are wearing Levis or Nikes right now? How many started their day with a Sip from Juan Valdez and a Munch from Pillsbury, General Mills, Pepridge Farms, Smuckers, or Quaker ? Advertising and Marketing Firms have only one Product - US! They deliver US to their Clients - the Manufacturers. They do this by giving us what we want... after telling us what that is. The Color Charts for Porsche Cars are determined long before the Buyer is even in the equation. It has to be in order to get bids from Suppliers and allow time for them to produce their Paint stocks. To be sure, Focus Groups and Marketing trends are used in this selection process, but this is merely a small sampling which is then used as being representative of the Market as a whole. Whether it is accurate or not is immaterial, because once decided, this is what we're stuck with, like it or not. Just look at Cars through the years. In the early 90's everything was either Pearlescant White or Metallic Earth Toned Browns. Did people like them? Well, they bought them in droves. In the '60's and '70's, Red, Blues and Green Metallics were the rage (oh and let's not forget Gold). In time, in order to stand apart and capture a little greater Market Share, Companies will produce alternatives and a whole new wave of Colors gets a Run . I'm afraid that to a LARGE extent, we are buying those colors which Porsche WANTS us to buy. This may all sound a bit depressing - that we have so little control in our lives, but Mass Marketing and Mass Production is the only way to efficiently provide for the 6 Billion or so Souls existing on this Spinning Rock. It is not to Like or Dislike, it is simply what IS ... Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

You want to see Speed Yellow? Just look above. It's not a color for everybody. It just screams "LOOK AT ME!" When I started whining about selling my '81 911SC (a nice conservative dark metallic blue) to get a Boxster, after two years of wheedling my wife finally said, "OK, buy a damn Boxster, then. But it has to be Speed Yellow." She's the extrovert in the family.

Hey, I LOVE Speed Yellow and have ever since I bought my '72 240Z waaay back in 1972 - Pre-WaterGate - Did they even Have Cars then...? Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Sweet yellow Z!

MNBoxster wrote: "LOVE Speed Yellow and have ever since I bought my '72 240Z waaay back in 1972 - Pre-WaterGate - Did they even Have Cars then...?" Not really. They were mostly oxcarts like that Z. Seriously, my oldest son had a '73 240Z that he just loved. Three 40mm Weber side drafts on a Cannon manifold. We traded it on a new '90 Metro convertible. How's that for stupid?

I don't entirely agree with this because it doesn't taking into account all of the products we simply don't like that fail. For instance, even though there was extensive marketing, nobody drinks crystal pepsi. Also look at the entry level hatchbacks from BMW and Mercedes that didn't make it in the US because we decided we didn't want them. I agree that marketing has some influence but it is not as great as suggested. Also, we have the choice to have all of our products custom made (including paint) but we will choose as individuals to capitalize on the economies of scale. And the argument also suggests that individuals are solely comprised of posessions which I also find flawed since brains and personality isn't accounted for and I believe it is this that truly differentiates us. Of course there is a finite set of products but it is our demand or wishes that often creates the next products.

Jim, Think about this. At no time in history has there been a broader array of products and services available to us to purschase and use. Although you deplore the lack of the individual, we as consumers have more choices than ever before. To wit, when I was a teen, the only real "brand" of jeans to buy were Levi's and you had two colors to choose from, no variety of fit or cut. Go to the mall, today, and look at your choices. Same with autos. The array of autos, SUVs, etc. is dizzying. Sorry, the fact is that as much as the ad companies would LIKE to have the power you ascribe to them, they do not.

Bruce, I have to respectfully disagree. I think you're confusing SELECTION with CHOICE . To be sure there is a much Broader Selection than in day's past, but our Choices are still limited to those goods and services which producers produce. Our input is becoming increasingly Limited and often limited to after-the-fact. If the product doesn't sell, it fades away, but that didn't prevent it from being produced in the 1st place. Consider for example, that even many of the selections (the Automobile World in particular) are simply thinly disguised base units with different wrapping. Cars today are manufactured using standadized components ranging from Chassis to Engines, Interiors, Ancillaries, etc. Wrap it all in different Sheet Metal, slap a different Badge on it and advertise it to different Market Segments and you have a New Product (but underneath it all, it's largely the same thing). I am not some sort of LUDDITE, I recognize this is the way it HAS to be. I merely pointed out how illusionary it all is. The vast array of selections merely means that there are fewer Individuals EXACTLY like us out there. And, the higher the price of the Goods, the more limited the Number of Customers. The Guy wearing a Breitling has many fewer compatriots than those wearing a Timex . I guess many take Comfort in that fact... Happy Motoring!... Jim'99