[southernstar]

Perfectlap, my indy (actually, both that I use) have no problem with me providing the parts. If you are already getting the brakes done and the rotors require turning - typically only a one-time thing and not even that if you are tracking your car, there is no additional labour cost involved in replacing the rotors with new rather than machined ones.

I agree fully with your analysis of the current market - at least in certain areas where Porsches are quite common. I am not saying that the cost of future repairs should not be taken into account - it should. However, I also think that the purchase of a used Porsche involves a weighing process as we are rarely comparing two identical cars, or two purchasers with the same priorities.

Color Scheme: This may sound trivial to some, but if you live in a hot climate and cannot tolerate a black interior in a convertible, that may take some cars right out of the equation. Even if a purchaser's preference has no practical basis, you will be living with the car and if you hate a certain colour scheme it may not matter how many items have been replaced.

Equipment: Certain option packages are important to some buyers and, as we all know, they can be very expensive to retrofit. For example, optional wheels, the wind deflector, cruise control, etc.

Cosmetic Condition: We all take pride in our rides and what value are we to put on the relative cosmetic condition of two cars? Road rash can be expensive to repair on wheels (and significant damage there should cause concerns about how the vehicle was driven and whether there was also damage to the suspension components etc.). What value do we put on an absence of knicks and dings in the doors, etc.? A tear in the rear window may seem like a minor cosmetic issue, but as we all know, water leaks in a Boxster that get to the passenger side floor can lead to very expensive damage to the immobilizer. Regardless, in my experience, cars that are kept cosmetically perfect tend to show an owner who took pride in his/her car. That owner is, in my experience, much less likely to abuse his car. That will have bearing on the life expectancy of various components, will it not?

Mileage/Age: All things being equal (and they seldom are), the newer car with lower mileage should have less problems than the older one with higher mileage.

Intended use: If you intend to put on very low annual mileage, that will impact positively on the life-expectancy of various components. For example, my car has averaged about 7000 km ( 4600 miles) yearly since new and continues to be driven at about the same rate by myself. This year I replaced the serpentine belt and inspected the water pump for leakage and bearing wear. There was zero signs of either and, according to my Indy, there is no reason to believe that it can't last me for another five years (or more); of course, in five years I will still only be approaching 80,000 miles. If I were driving the car 12,000 miles a year, I would be reaching that mileage in slightly less than 2 years.

The perfect used Porsche would be one with the purchaser's preferred color scheme, options, with low mileage and in perfect cosmetic condition. All components that are failure prone (clutch, waterpump, AOS, MAF sensor, brakes, tires, battery, coolant reservoir, suspension arms, struts, top, etc.) will have been replaced by factory original equipment in the last 6 months prior to purchase, not because they had failed, but as a prophylactic measure. The only non-Porsche parts would be, of course, the new tires and an ugraded RMS bearing. And of course, the price would not reflect these expenses, but be typical for a Boxster of that vintage.

No one is going to find that car, are they? Even if someone does, the rest of us will have to balance price as against the condition, mechanical and cosmetic, and our individual preferences and intended use. For most people, the closer you get to optimal, the more you should be prepared to pay.