[Perfectlap]

Recently I started looking on Ebay to get a sense of the market for used engines. A 30K mile example came up for $4K delivered. The Ebay seller of Porsche parts had a video of the engine running and has excellent feedback. The engine sold quickly. My mechanic would likely have charged about $2k to swap in this engine and I figure I might be able to get $2k for my 100K mile running engine. For $6k net, I'm back to low mileage, and statically at least, less likely to have to deal with a suddenly busted engine and a car up on blocks until an engine with the right price and mileage comes along, that could be months of uncertainty and no use of the car. Imagine missing your Boxster for a whole summer?!!
If I get 8 years out a $6-7K expense (including IMS swap), that math seems compelling.

My mechanic is skeptical about buying engines from Ebay and prefers going through more established sources. He's also a lot more bullish about my engine's longevity provided I maintain strict oil change practices (both in quality and intervals) now that it's crossed the 100K mile mark. Obviously if an Ebay engine fails, that's on me entirely. I'm not sure how long my indy would stand by an engine that he would provide, while certainly better I could experience a failure 12 months later just the same and I'm back on the hook for full costs. Those of use who think that it's just not worth selling our high mileage water-cooled Porsches for $10K, and are looking at long-term ownership (provided the costs don't get ridiculous) keep a practice of changing everything on these cars at some interval, often with rebuilt parts. Why not do the same with the engine while the old one is still worth a few grand? In my mind, if you make it to 100k with these first gen water-cooled engines, you're on borrowed time going forward.