Thank you all very much for the information, time, and concern. I think looking at it as beneficiaries of the depreciation is a good way of putting it. It's a Porsche, and getting into one so cheaply can spoil one's sense of what exactly it is they are driving. I didn't have as much respect for Boxsters until I sat in one and started the engine. It's a Porsche alright.
I'm usually one of those people on another forum that helps folks, and rarely tells them to search, so maybe it's being paid forward. In dealing with newbies to forums for over a decade, and I like to help sum up the latest overview of an issue, and all the most relevant data, because it's more helpful than people realize. Putting together a disjointed, or outdated picture from posts all over the internet can sometimes do more harm than good. There will always be hand-holding on forums, and without that, they die. I've seen it happen on several occasions. Everyone says "beating a dead horse" when new users join and negativity grows until everyone is turned off and leaves cause of a few elitist a**holes. Thanks for being cool, each one of you.
Yeah, the video is partially disturbing due to set and setting. We've got beautiful country, and some people just enjoying one trip of a lifetime and bam, no warning. A mechanical orchestra of inconvenience. If it had been a track vid, I'd have a different view of it. I'm used to watching those and seeing everything go wrong. lol
OK, I'll stop worrying as much ,and just enjoy the car. I am just not a gambler, but life is one.
Will just go ahead and do the IMS without the clutch, unless my indy indicates it's worn. Maybe he can tell by pedal travel without inspecting.
One question: has there been a way to determine, based on the latest knowledge, which bearing (single or double row) I might have in an '01 S? Older posts seemed to indicate that at one point everyone thought they had figured it out for that year model, since some do and some don't, but then realized they were wrong in their theory. Oy!
ATX boxster: any local mechanics you've had recommended to you so far? Still trying to track down a list from forum members of people who specialize in these here. The kind of people who can do an IMS swap in their sleep. Saw one person mentioned in an older thread, and I've PMed them for contact info. I'll let you know.