Buba said:
My guess: The M models pee pretty bad on a boxster S...
Buba
That's debatable. That debate doesn't belong into this thread, but I'm still going to form a list of the pros and cons. Keep in mind that the cars I'm talking about here cost about 25 000 euros, are about 4-6 years old, have 50 000 - 95 000 km on them and are equipped with leather seats and the usual stuff you might want to have in a car like this.
Ofcourse the M cars are much more powerful, more versatile, usually have more features and equipment and all in all, they offer much better deals as they have "more bang for the buck". However they look almost like an ordinary sedan or a coup?. The M3 E46 Cabriolet could come into question, but I'm afraid those won't be cheap enough for me to acquire in about 1? years.
The Porsches aren't so powerful, but then again, they don't consume so much petrol. As the M5 gulps about 15l/100km, the Porsche can be kept at a modest 8-10l/100km level. I think that translates into about 18-22mpg versus 26mpg. I would be running the car on a quite modest budget, so if I can get any savings, I want them. The point of the whole purschase is that I would bring a car from Germany pretty much tax-free (The Finnish car tax is about the highest in the whole world), keep it for 3 years which is compulsory for every tax-free car imported here. Afterwards I would sell it and get something more reasonable. That's another big plus for the Porsche, as they keep their value somewhat better than BMWs. I'm sure the Boxster S would satisfy my needs of horse power and ofcourse... A Porsche is always a Porsche.
I have thought this through countless times and I have reached a conclusion that the M5 will be the car to get, if there isn't anything better. There are lots of used M5s on the market and I can always find just the right one for me. But, if I get my hands on a VERY nice Boxster or an M3, they might just pull through. So, it isn't as simple as one might think.