[Nickanator8]

There is so much valuable advice in this thread, thank you all so very much. I shared this thread with my partner and she commented that everyone here has been super nice and constructive so hats off to the 986 community.

It seems like there are two primary schools of thought being presented here, but with some overlap. From where I stand the overlap seems to be that the car needs to have been used regularly and recently, and more maintenance is always better. But that seems to be where the paths diverge.

On one side, I see people pulling me towards being patient and waiting to a prime example of a Boxster to show up that basically maxes out my budget. Essentially going down the path of "buy the best example you can afford"

On the other side, I'm hearing suggestions that I just kind of lowball people and roll the dice, so long as there is nothing obviously outside of my capability.

I'll call these two camps Best Example and poobox Casino moving forward.

Here is a quick summary of those in favor of the Best Example camp: 78F350 and LoneWolfGal seem to be presenting arguments for buying the best car I can find. Suggesting PPIs, service histories, and a good record of maintenance and regular use.

Here is a quick summary of those in favor of the poobox Casino: elgyqc, maytag, and 78F350 seem to be arguing that buying these 20+ year old sports cars is inherently a gamble, particularly at my specified price point, and that I should embrace the project car nature of where I'm shopping and try to get something for as low a cost as possible so I have more money leftover to repair what needs repairing, though still being mindful of buying a project within my mechanical capabilities.

The eagle eyed among you will notice that 78F350 is in both camps, this is mostly because he seems to give advise by the adage of "do as I say, not as I do" because by the looks of it, they only buy cars in the poobox Casino category.

Does anyone have any objections to how I've tallied their votes?