changing tires
 

I just bought a 2001 silver Boxster 10 days ago at a great price. The car's in great shape and has 17,500 miles on it. the previous owner changed the oil, and I don't think any other maintenance is needed. I do wonder when I need to change the tires. any thoughts? any other significant maintenance concerns I need to worry about at this point? thanks.

Tires - I change tires when they wear out. I look at them about once a month.

If the new oil was synthetic you have 7,500-15,000 miles until the next change. This can be done at the same time as the 30,000 mile dealer recommended service. If the new oil was standard oil, I would change it soon. You should check your oil level every 1000 miles or so. Sometimes Boxsters burn oil and sometimes they don't. Adding a quart of oil every 3,000 miles would not be unusual. On the race track, one can use up a quart of oil in 500 miles.

If your brake pads get low, there is an idiot light that comes on.
If your brake fluid gets low there is an idiot light. If your MAF is fouled, your idle is rough, the gas is bad, your gas cap is loose, etc there is an idiot light .
I check the electronic oil display about one a week first thing in the morning before starting the car - mostly for the entertainment value.

I never check my water level.

I check brake lights about 3 times a year.

I check tire pressures about once every 2 weeks (I really CARE about my tire pressures)

Porsche recommends you flush your brake fluid once every 2 years. I flush brakes every spring and bleed brakes before a track driving weekend.

Basically, you are pretty safe driving it and enjoying it as long as you make sure your tires don't go bald, add oil when it gets low, and you do a warrantee service every 15,000 miles.

Thanks for the reply. Another question: how good is the alarm system in the Boxster? Would you recommend that I purchase lojack or a comparable system. I live in the DC area.

Alarm system? basically no one will steal your car unless they use a tow vehicle to tow it away.

So will LoJack help? I dunno. If your car gets taken - AND the police want to track it - AND LoJack is what they use - AND the police arrive before the chop shop finds and smashes the LoJack, then I guess it would help.

I suspect the risk of having your Boxster stolen is quite low.
Of all the complaints I have heard on various message boards, a stolen boxster doesn't seem to come up very often.