UK Preferences - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Just found 986Forum and signed up. I'm a UK Boxster newbie with a recently acquired 986 with 5 years on the road. . Very interested to see how North American tastes differ, - especially in choice of colour. Possibly due to brighter weather conditions, it encourages owners to show brighter colours ( Yes, that's how we spell it!). White looks great, but is a big no-no in Uk right now. Yellow is a dream colour, but doesn't hold it's value. Seal Grey is the biggie right now, and Black is also desirable but really difficult to maintain (as I have just discovered). The other big push at the moment is the replacement of all amber indicators with white. Every young driver in the UK is swapping out reflectors for white. I'm not in agreement with this. I love the cars in their original form. I hope to be able to take part in the Forum and look forward to learning more about the car from fellow members. Best wishes from across the pond.

Welcome aboard mate! Happy to have you as a member and hope you enjoy our forum. Thanks!

Welcome...... this is a great forum. How's things in Torquay?? My Grandfather is from that part of the country... luvly place.

Congratulations on the car. We have a pretty large number of Boxsters in the UK now, and I agree that black, grey and silver are the most popular by far. I've recently changed the lights for the clear ones, front, side and rear. It's all about preferences, but I think it makes the lines of the car look a bit cleaner. Doing this certainly suits come colours better then others.

What are the related costs of ownership over there? My 01-S registration is about $50 annual....insurance about $800yr ....a 5% sales tax at time of purchase (some states have a yearly tax...some none at all) and fuel has gotten 'real' onerous recently at about $2.25gal. (it's easy to be a sodded drunk if your booze is cheap..) Jim

Not sure what the exchange rate is at the moment, so I'll put it in GB£. Purchase cost of 2002 Boxster S, 20k miles, silver with 18" wheels, sports suspension, wind deflector and uprated stereo (excluding tax) from OPC Porsche dealership = £26,000.00 in December 2004 . VAT at purchase (17.5%) = £4,550.00 Insurance (for me and wife, both 30 years old) = £900.00 per year Road Tax = about £160.00 per year Unleaded fuel (95 ron) = £0.85 per litre (about $7.50 per gallon) Unleaded fuel (98 ron) = £0.92 per litre (about $8.10 per gallon) Porsche Warranty = £750.00 per year Stolen Vehicle Tracker (most insurance companies insist of having this fitted) = £300.00 initial installation and £100.00 per year subscription OK, I'm stopping now because it's starting to worry me! No more complaints from you guys in the States, especially about fuel costs!!! Still, it's worth it just to hear the flat-6 howl.

Why does a yellow porsche not hold its value? Mike

PAH: That VAT jumps off the page! ....and needless to say, your fuel taxes are stuffing the larder for your politicians to redistribute. We used to hear in the old days about 90% income taxes but I gather they pulled back on that to keep some of your income generators at home. Would the figures have been a lot different if you bought a Brit-make or micro like a Smart? jim

Sorry to be drifting off the thread topic slightly here... With the demise of MG Rover, there are no British owned makes left (other than very small specialist manufacturers). I think France have tax benefits for buying French cars such as Citroen and Peugeot, but unfortunately there is no such scheme here in the UK Income Tax is currently at just below 25% for the first approx £40k you earn per year and then 40% on the cash above that. There are plenty of other taxes on top of this though. For a start, you pay VAT on everything except food and childrens clothes. It's 17.5% on everything. Fuel tax is a complete joke, and the prices are getting stupid. My wife and I are considering emmigration at the moment, and with the prospect of another term of Labour government, I guess we're not the only ones!!

Supply and demand. There is simply not that much demand for a Yellow Porsche. I would never buy one on spec for my dealership. Too hard to move!

While I do not *hate* yellow boxsters, I will say this color has been spoiled by the consistent use in certain kinds of vehicles: Taxi cabs and school buses. If anyone wonders why a bright yellow car is so hard to sell, this is why I think it is so. But then again, any ridiculously bright colored car will be hard to sell... hot pink, neon green, bright purple, etc. Anytime I see young people buying their first new car and get one of these colors to make a statement and stand out in a crowd, I say to myself, "You, my young friend, have just lost your ability to get rid of this car when you tire of its color, which will be in about six months to a year from now... but you will be too upside down in it to do anything about it for a long, long time."

Well I have a pastel yellow boxster and this was the colour I was looking for, and it was VERY difficult to find, as I think porche's look gorgeous in this yellow Silver is nice, but soooo many cars are silver, but the silver with red leather looks spectacular. I am very happy with my yellow boxster and would never trade it for another colour I think some cars look good in yellow, and porsche is definetly one of them. I personally don't especially like the speed yellow as I find it too bright, but I think the pastel yellow is a beautiful colour. To each his own Mike

"To each his own " Amen!

Welcome, Harris. By the way, we know of Torquay from its most famous resident, Basil Fawlty. Black and silver are the two most popular colors, with seal grey in the next tier. I thought that the clear side lights were now standard issue in Europe. It's here in the US where we have to switch out the amber.

Basil Fawlty...now that is quality British entertainment. John Cleese is a genius. Welcome Harris! Chin up 'ol chap and Cheers! That what everyone kept telling me in the pub when I was visiting London so I thought I would throw my best "British Speak" at you. Welcome to the Forum!

I've always noticed a general color/colour difference across the Atlantic. Clothing is more subdued, especially during the winter months, with the Brits & Europeans going for more black/dark grays/dark navy's in their suits, etc. It also extends to cars - fewer bright colors. Mostly Black, gray, silver, dark blue, with some reds occassionally. Question: VW new beetles are selling well here in a variety of bright colors - about the only maker to do so. Are they doing the same in the UK? Speed Yellow - the color of my car and I love it. My first sports car was in high school - a Jasmine (Triumph color code 34) GT-6. It was Triumph's version of Primrose. Resale? Yup, I'll probably take a hit but in the meantime I have the car I want. Still get a buzz each time I open the garage. Being seen in it important? Not really, I drive it mostly early on weekend mornings when few cars are on the road. That and the track, where frankly you do see some bright paint jobs and no one notices much if you have a yellow car. Anybody notice they used a speed yellow S in Excellence for the test car?

I think it was the PCA magazine Panorama that tested a Speed Yellow 911 recently. The article called yellow a "friendly" color, and noted that people didn't seem to have any reluctance in approaching the occupants of a yellow Porsche and engaging them in a conversation about the car. The implication was that this was not so with the more conservative blacks, grays, etc. My own experience has been similar. I had a black 914 and a dark metallic blue 911, and very seldom had a "civilian" ask me anything about them. Not the case with the yellow Box. I also don't have any trouble finding Boxster models in my color. If it's made in only one color, that color is usually yellow.

Bienvenido Harrisg!!!! I hope you find this forum as interesting and informative as I do......keep a close eye in the threads, we like our cars so much that digressing from one topic to another in the same thread is very common......as far as the color goes in Puerto Rico brighter colors have a higher demand than darker ones....red, white, silver and the amazing speed yellow.....they look so cool, like pieces of gold nuggets in morning traffic.. ...although the black, seal gray and lipiz blue are very elegant colors that certain conservative group prefer on their porsches.