That's a long story really Jim. I might start another thread on how I ended up here, but the short story is a bit of both.

Budget started out at around 5K, I went round and round in circles, even to the point of saying I wouldn't bother.

I ended up handing over 9.5k for the Box, which was pretty much the cheapest one I could find anywhere in the country.

There was another, broadly similar, car in Scotland, but it had a sand interior, (which I hated), and slightly more miles. There was also no chance of realistically viewing it and then the travel expenses getting there and back. It also had more miles on it than my car.

The next examples ramped up in price by anywhere from 1-4K.

So, all things considered, I got what I wanted, in the colours I liked and I only had to travel 9 miles to do so, so I do believe I got a bargain in all honesty.

I'm very lucky I have a very understanding Mrs ;-)

Sounds fantastic. Just for, ahem, research purposes, I looked for similar cars on Autotrader and that suggests you've done a very good deal. May you, Mrs TBirdx and the Boxter enjoy many sunny days!

Well I took my first trip up the motorway with the Box. It handled it very well. Noisy, yes, but you could still hold a decent conversation at the speed limit without having to shout.
It also gets to the speed limit very quickly, I might've strayed just over it once or twice ;-)

Despite everyone seemingly wanting to wipe me out, had two, lets call them, people, just pull out of side roads as if they hadn't seen me. I assume they were buried in their Iphones. Be careful out there folks.

SO far, I'm very impressed with the Porsche.

Looks like a good price! I am sure you will enjoy it - the handling is fantastic.

I had the 18" wheels on mine - I wondered how the ride is on the 19s?

I have to say, it changes direction like nothing I've ever driven before. N rated Goodyears all round with plenty of life in them yet, seem very good.

I don't really have anything to compare, except for the brief ride in the 2.7 and I don't know what size wheels they have, but I would say the ride is very good for a full on sports car. It takes bumps and uneven road without jarring your fillings loose or kicking you in the coccyx and doesn't rattle or bang or creak at all.

I don't know if its just me, but when you get out after a spirited blast, it even smells like a proper sports car :-)

Bung a bit of Castrol R in there and you'd have the full set!!

Sounds like you are enjoying it.

The 2.7 has 17in wheels, but I had the 18in. If you are still getting a decent ride with 19s, that is great - like you said, considering its performance, the ride is very good.

Well, we're 6 months + into Porsche ownership and so a little update is probably due...

First, the painful bits...

Major Service inc new plugs and brake fluid change £475
2 rear suspension springs and drop links £400
2 Bonnet struts £15
Set of Osram Nightbreaker Headlight bulbs £15
Roll of compressed foam £6
MOT £35 (passed, no advisories)

So spend of just under £1K thus far. Which is pretty much in line with expectations...or at least the accepted ones.

I also purchased a set of Zunsport grilles, to protect the front rads, £50 2nd hand from ebay.

Issues.

Well, one headlight blew, hence the Osrams, the compressed foam was to fix the internal door seals, which had perished and caused the bottom of the doors to get soaked. A cheap and not too difficult fix in the end.
I've cleaned and cleared the oh so important drain holes.
I also discovered, in a bit of a frightening way, that the car had a denison gateway fitted, which is a £500 addition to the Porsche PCM that allows me to play and control an ipod, from the steering wheel controls. Result.

The reason it was a bit scary was because I didn't RTFM, as is the way of blokedom, and thus was blissfully unaware of the very important switch you need to flick over when you wish to use it, because if you don't, it confuses the hell out of the canbus and causes the PCM to constantly restart itself. No harm done in the end and one very relieved Tbird :-)

The car itself...well, what a machine. It goes well, turns well and sticks like the runny stuff to that proverbial army blanket.

In a fit of, well, god knows what, the Mrs urged me to tick a bucket list item and pay the Ring a visit.

What started as a simple ring trip morphed into a 4 night/5 day 1400 mile trip through France, Germany and Belgium.

We took in the Schlumpf collection in France, a visit to the Porsche Musuem with factory tour in Stuttgart and then onto a two day visit to the ring. Coupled with a 150mph blast along the autobahn (and yes, I had Kraftwerk playing as we did so :-) ) I also had 2 laps of the ring, one of which was the VLN layout, which means the ring plus the GP circuit combined. To borrow Mr Martins phrase. It was mega.
The car, shrugged it's shoulders at it all and took it all in it's teutonic stride with ease.

We did 25 hours in the seats of the Boxster and I fully expected to get crippled by them. It's a testament to the whole car that neither of us suffered in any great way after such an amount. The only bother being I missed cruise control on the long stretches. If I were doing that sort of thing regularly, I would have it retro fitted for sure.

Following that, I took it on a track day to Snetterton. Blasted it around all day on its very sticky Goodyear eagles and melted one of the brake pad wear sensors!! Quite common apparently. Another simple fix.
The pads were fine and I had no fade in the pedal at all.

Now, were coming into 'top down' season and just last weekend I was on a Pistonheads' run out of east anglia to Aldeburgh. Lovely sunny day and we were top down all the way there and back. Great fun.

Lined up. World Rallycross at Lydden on the 23rd. (watching not driving ;-) ) Simply Porsche at Beaulieu on the 7th, which is also soft top sunday at goodwood but cant do both.
Theres an event at our local (ish) Porsche dealer in Colcheter coming up and others as and when they pop up.

So far, it's been everything I wanted and more. I'm stunned at how usable and practical it is (my first lap of the ring was done with both boots full of luggage and you'd never have known) and yet how bootable it is. You can drive like a hooligan and chances are, you will run out of talent before the car does, or you can drive it like its made of cheese and it won't complain.

In short, I still smile just as I walk by it in the morning. I smile when I fire it up, when I give it a bootful and when I get out.

Bring on the summer..can't Wait.