[Perfectlap]

Without the PPI you have no way of knowing the fair value of the car.
The mechanic will tell you everything that is wrong with the car, which you should point out to the seller when you make an offer accordingly. If he balks, move on. There is no shortage of 987's for sale. There is no shortage of 986 for sale. There is no shortage of any water-cooled Porsches. It's 100% a buyer's market. Sometimes people new to Porsches fall in love with the Porsche they test drove. Makes no sense, there are thousands of others like it.

by the way, engine wise, the 987.1 a.k.a. pre 2009 (or 2005-2008) is not all that different from a 2000-2004 Boxster engine. One our resident engine experts called the 987.1 engine a glorified version of the 986 engine. Boxsters from 2009 to the present (987.2 and 981) are the whole new ball game engine wise from Porsche. If you can swing a 2009 or newer financially, you'll be a lot better off than buying a low mileage 987.1 unless you score a screaming deal on a 987.1. But Most likely a low mileage 987.1 seller will not be looking to sell cheap, which makes sense for him but not really for you.

If I were giving advice to potential first time buyer I would say go for a S model from 2000-2002, preferably one that has already had the IMS issues addressed with an upgraded bearing (extra points for a longer lasting dual row bearing over the more common single row in 2000-2004 cars), or dig deep and get a 2009 or newer. The 2000-2002 S cars have five chain 3.2 engines like the 96-99 2.5 but come with some stronger cylinder walls and are less prone to certain lifter failures like the 2003-2004 (three chain). Basically 2000-2002 S engines check a lot of boxes you want while giving you a good discount on price over the 987.1 that has a fairly similar engine at the end of the day. I don't think a more Audi sedan like interior and revised exterior styling is worth paying a lot more imho, a bit more just not a lot more.

Bottom line, these cars get nearly all of their value from the engine, and will eventually depreciate down to just the replacement cost of just the engine itself. Don't pay up a lot for options or special features. Eventually depreciation will erase the value of these things entirely. It's simply a case of too many cars for sale now. And lean towards cars from climates that have year round mild weather. Extreme heat or cold, wears out parts much faster.