[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1388184879' post='153914']

new boxster - trunk space?

[/quote]

Edmunds lists the storage space in the new model as 4.6 cubic feet, and the previous one at 9.9, which seems strange, and definitely going in the wrong direction.

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[flash]

that indeed seems wonky. gonna have to check that out.

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[Cloud9...68]

I imagine the Boxster's trunk's shape is pretty odd, which may be behind the strange numbers. But on the other hand, storage space doesn't seem to be a big priority in newer cars, from what I and others who are currently shopping for cars have observed.

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[flash]

i'm just having a hard time imagining such a big change from one year to the next, especially since the car got bigger. what did they do with the space?

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[JTP]

Maybe Edmunds only measured the rear trunk and neglected the frunk?

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[flash]

i just read the brochure. the rear only has 4.59 cu ft. but, the front has 5.29, making a total of 9.88 cu ft, or essentially an unchanged amount.

i think maybe i need to go and spend some time with this car

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[JTP]

I used to go shopping with my 986 Boxster S, people were amazed I could fit a completely loaded shopping cart full of groceries in that car. Very practical.

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[Eric_Oz_S2]

I had to remind myself of how much cars cost in the US compared to here in Australia. Take the base X5, US$48,000, AU$100,000. A 2008 X5 sells for about $45k here - similar to a new one in the US.



Cloud - why wouldn't you just get a used X3/X5? Surely it is much better value to buy used. BMWs make an awesome used car deal in my experience. I wouldn't worry about mechanical repair costs, for what you save buying used you could spend a lot on mechanical repair and still be well ahead.

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[Cloud9...68]

Flash,



Thanks for clearing up the Boxster trunk space question. It just didn't make sense that the space would be so much smaller on the newer model. The Boxster is definitely a nice car - I wonder how much the dealer would give you in trade for the 968? <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.png" class="smilie" alt="" /> I know, not funny in the least - ducking now - lol.



Eric,



Actually, she was looking at a 2011 X5 diesel which has pretty much everything she wants (amazingly), but the X5 is kind of over the line as far as the size of vehicle she'd want to use as an everyday driver, especially coming from an E90 3-Series. And a used X3 would definitely be worth considering, but she's incredibly picky about what she wants on the car, and we haven't been able to find one with the options she wants in a color she'd like, but we're still looking.

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[Rap]

Cloud, I really meant no offense and apologize if I did. It was more of a sharp tongue in cheek. Again sorry!

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[Tom030]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1388104102' post='153874']just stopped in at the dealership today. was stunned myself. not a single one on the lot, and they said there would be no more. first the Z8 and then the Z4 - definitely a trend with that company, just like porsche. they only want to build bigger, heavier, and duller cars.[/quote]



Are you sure you weren't talking to a misinformed employee. If you go to the BMW web site you can

still order a 2014 Z4 if so inclined. They may be doing the same thing Porsche did several years ago and that is severly limiting the number of cars the dealer can floor on spec. Since Dec. is not really a great month for convertable sales in most of the U.S. it would make sense. In addition doing a search shows no articles on the Z4's demise.

On another subject, a friend of mine (yes Rap, I have a few) just ordered a new

Porsche Macan. This may be a candidate for my next car.

~tom

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[Rap]

Tom am I missing something here? The East Tech Tactics that Porsche holds each year is highlighting the Macan. I'm not a truck or SUV guy but I suppose it will be interesting. Of course this event is a blatant sales pitch but otherwise interesting.

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='Rap' timestamp='1388204003' post='153928']

Cloud, I really meant no offense and apologize if I did. It was more of a sharp tongue in cheek. Again sorry!

[/quote]

lol - none taken. If anything, I'm the one who probably offended the truck/SUV owners out there! As I said, I, like many, struggle with the whole personal freedom vs. doing-what's-best-for-society argument. My attitude is generally that there should be as much personal freedom as possible, as long as you're not harming anyone else. Huge vehicles are just something of a hot button for me - the vast majority of people who own them never seem to use them as intended (kind of like buying a 968, and then only using it to go to and from the grocery store), so I see people commuting in huge vehicles as driving up the demand for gas, and therefore driving up the price for the rest of us. Plus I hate having to grope to see around the dern things! But on the other hand, things get messy in a hurry when you try to come up with schemes to "discourage" things like truck/SUV ownership (e.g. who decides what else should be restricted, and based on what criteria?), so I guess this pretty much falls into the "pick your battles" bucket for me.



Next time I or my wife talks to someone from the local BMW dealership, we'll ask if the Z4 is really being discontinued. I wouldn't be surprised, since it doesn't seem to have been a big sales success for BMW, but this is the first place I'd heard about it being discontinued. But I suspect that cars like the Boxster and Miata, due to their sales success as a result of their brilliant execution, will be around for awhile.

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[Tom030]

Rap,this would be a replacement for my wifes daily driver. Not a fan of suv's either but a small, sporty one with cajones and the practicality of a Subaru without the stigma of a tree hugger appeals to me in some perverse way.

~tom

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[Bulti]

Over here we get taxed annually according[sup] [/sup]to the CO[sub]2[/sub] emissions of the car, so more (theoretical) thirst means higher taxes. Which means I have to pay close to 800 €/year without driving a single meter. Off course, an SUV owner driving a petrol V8 will cry an eye out when paying up for his little toy.



As a result, downsizing is the trend, the small turbo charged petrol engines are getting more popular. Diesel is still king though.



Most people can't have big inefficient engines for a long time anymore, fuel prices here at the moment are about 1,5€/liter for 95 RON (91 US octane) . That's about 7,82 USD/gallon.



Fuel prices in France, Holland and Germany are even steeper.



Ask Cadillac how well a car sells in Europe that needs too much of the black gold, with no diesels and/or small, efficient petrol engines in the catalogue.

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[Rap]

I just bought a huge gas guzzling SUV because I felt my manliness being questioned by not having one. So now I drive up the cost of gas for us all but yet fell real manly like. No tree hugging for me.

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[flash]

lol - i loved that car. i didn't mind the gas guzzling. i would happily have paid more to be able to use it for the reason we bought it. once that reason went away though, it was irresponsible, selfish, and counter to the logic of anybody concerned about the environment (read: our future) to keep it. hence it went to a home where it would be used for what it is best suited (dragging a 968 to the track)



bulti - exactly my point. raise the price of fuel, tax the guzzlers and polluters, and you immediately get the desired results of more responsible and logical cars in the market. continuing to be selfish and stuck in the thinking of the 50s is no longer an option. people prove time and again that they won't make the logical choices by themselves, so the government is going to have to step in and require it.



back to the boxster though, as much as i like the idea of a new car, given the performance numbers i wonder if it is not just a lateral step for me. i am already faster than that car, about the same weight, and have all the creature comforts. it does get better fuel economy though, and a warranty and no service is attractive. due to the inability of the SL550 to carry wine, golf clubs, and luggage, all at the same time, and the inability of the boxster to do that as well, i think i may have to hang onto the 968, even though it's a manual trans.



i think i need to go drive the boxster

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[Rap]

Have to? Man I hope the gov't isn't somehow involved in that decision! After the first the order will go in for the trailer so I won't have to drag the 968 to the track. Lol

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[ryker]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1388256564' post='153943']

i think i may have to hang onto the 968, even though it's a manual trans.

[/quote]



First, I like to hear that. Second, don't you have a "backup" 968 tip? <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/tongue.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[968Syncro]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' timestamp='1388243776' post='153934']

... to use them as intended (kind of like buying a 968, and then only using it to go to and from the grocery store),

[/quote]

That is unfair and a gross misconception. I also use it to go to and from the Home Depot. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/icon_lol1.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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