2002 Boxster base- need your help and advice with VIN Check

[icedude]

Hi everyone,

I am in the market for a 2002 Boxster and have found one locally through a used dealership (non porsche). It's silver with blue interior and blue top. 36,000 miles and firm on the price of $24,500. It looks very clean and I will have a PPI done on it first.

However, I wanted to know if there was any resources (other than Car Fax crap) where I can give the VIN number and they can see if any major maintenance or body work has been done. Do Porsche dealers have the ability to punch it in and find out any maintenance records even though it wasn't maintained at that particular dealer?

I saw a Boxster S that was in perfect shape but new where it was bought new and maintained. When I called the dealer, they told me it had over 8000 dollars in body repair work and the guy told me it was smashed up pretty good. So, had I not had that information, I would have never known it was a wreck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Even if you think the price or mileage is not good, etc. You guys are the experts in my book.

Thanks

[FrayAdjacent]

PPI should be able to catch any major body work, and it's probably the best thing to do before buying a pre owned Porsche! Carfax isn't BAD, it's a decent thing to have, but the PPI is the best.

[docdyh]

I agree that PPI is best resource. Carfax only lists what has to be reported. Only dealer that did the work has history, unless it was a warranty item-is my understanding.

[jci-joe]

Carfax is worthless. I bought it for the 30 day trial period before I bought my 99 box. For fun, I checked out my minivan that I wrecked in 2000, had a police accident report done and $7000 of repairs done at a GM garage and paid for by State Farm. None of this showed up on the carfax report. I therefore have no confidence with them. The PPI is your only option unless you are an expert.

[RandallNeighbour]

The carfax will have cities and states where the car was titled and/or retitled. Call the stealerships in those cities and ask the service guy to run the VIN and tell you if his dealership did any work to the car. Sadly, Pcar dealers aren't connected like Lexus and BMW and Mercedes nationwide for VIN number searches in repair records.

I'd also have the PPI done like everyone else is recommending for you... PLUS a 4 wheel laser alignment. This will detect subframe damage that a PPI will not uncover.

You may want to negotiate a 1000 mile return policy if your experience any problems that cannot be fixed for under $200.

[2000SoCalBoxsterS]

I would recommend joining the Porsche Club of America at PCA.org and using their Tech Q&A advice section. A Porsche Boxster mechanic will answer all your questions by email. The membership is only $42/year, cheaper if you buy a longer term membership. My next advice is buy a Boxster S if you possibly can. Based on the posts on here everyone loves to Mod their Boxsters and squeeze out more HP and handling ability. Start with an "S" model it's cheaper than buying a Boxster 2.7 and then Moding it. You can still Mod it but you will be starting out way ahead of the game. Just my opinion. I absolutely love my Boxster S.

[RandallNeighbour]

One cannot become a PCA member until he or she owns a Porsche and has a VIN number for the application.

Well, that's the rules and I'm sure if you could get your hands on any non-member linked VIN number, you could become a member, but anyway, that's how they operate PCA.

I must say though, I'd much rather buy a Porsche from a long-time PCA member who has babied the car vs. someone who bought it as their next car and is on to a 350z or a M3 now after 3 years of thrashing the Pcar.

[Ronzi]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Call the stealerships in those cities and ask the service guy to run the VIN and tell you if his dealership did any work to the car. Sadly, Pcar dealers aren't connected like Lexus and BMW and Mercedes nationwide for VIN number searches in repair records.

???
This has not been my experience in either case.
I called (several times) the original selling dealer of my car to check on their service records, and never even got the courtesy of a return call from the service folks. Not a yes, no, go-to-hell, nothing.
Come to think of it, I guess I did get the go-to-hell response.
With regard to a local dealer being able to access service records from another dealer, they can if was warranty service. Any dealer can enter the VIN and pull up warranty service performed by any authorized dealer.
Whether they will or not is another question. They may plead company policy, privacy, or some other bs reason, but they can do it.
It may help to be standing there in the service office with a big check for some maintenance service when you ask. That's what I did, and they printed out the warranty records form the original selling dealer.

What the dealer cannot do is pull up non-warranty service records from other dealers. At least that's what I was told.

[Brucelee]

I have purchased about 20 P cars as a dealer.

The experience in recreating the service history on these cars is mixed.

Sometimes, you get lucky in that the car was serviced at one dealer since new and that dealer will cooperate. Sometimes it is several who will.

Sometimes, the seller has the invoices.

Now, this just tells you service performed.

Certain things may be withheld also so if the guy went through 4 clutches, don't expect HIM to tell you that.

Re: accidents. The only way to know for sure is:

1-Use a paint meter.

2-Have an expert go under the car.

Otherwise, there is always a chance a repair was done well and you can't spot it with the eye as you look at the paint.

Such is the life of a used car buyer!