[smcgeary]

I am kind of with you on the negative bias to the forums. I am not however of the belief that many OEM motors are designed to last 200k trouble free miles. I think most cars today are designed to last the warranty period + a have a good chance of making it through a CPO process. Also the water cooled M96 was designed and built at a time of high stress, and increased accounting meddling at Porsche. They almost bought the farm in the nineties for slow sales and margins (unlike the idiot financial engineering that caused it this go around). This was also the first go on the water cooled flat six in high volume. I would expect some problems with any large change like this. That said there are some undeniable weaknesses in these motors. Porsche should have adressed several of these sooner than they did with the evolution into the new 09+ MY motors.

However I have seen several higher mileage M96 motors that get beat repeatedly on the track tick along quite well. One example has an estimated 300+ hours of door to door racing and DE's under its belt and still pulls along well. Another with a similar usage has well over 100k and is completely trouble free. All of these examples are fastidiously cared for and get new oil frequently.

I would say buy one, maintain it well, do an IMS update from LN / flat six, and drive the crap out of it. Also have a good PPI done by a reputable Porsche mechanic. If the PPI is really cheap it isn't worth it get someone that digs a little deeper.

Looks like a few after market vendors have risen to the needs of these vehicles and is starting to supply both seriously uprated choices, as well as economical choices given the vehicles values.

I don't know where else you could find such a cool and rewarding car to drive in this price range. There are several cars cheaper, and more expensive but few have the overall package of the Boxsters.