Should I buy this Boxster

[sandyman65535]

+1

I bought mine sight unseen and had many added bonuses.

+1

Bottom line, you might get lucky, but if spending $17,000, I'd drop $500 on a plane ticket as the BEST insurance you can buy and just go check the thing out.

I got one bonus: a short shifter that they didn't realise was there. I could tell as soon as I shifted it during a test drive that it was.

I got a PPI done but not by a Porsche workshop. I got lucky (touch wood) this time, and after taking it to a Porsche workshop there appear to be no major issues that you wouldn't expect on a Boxster with 46,000km (28,000mi) on it. But if I did it again or for someone else, I wouldn't buy a second hand car without inspecting every panel and switch with as big a checklist as I can possibly think up, and getting a PPI done by a Porsche expert. A few hundred bucks and some patience now may save you thousands later. You also get the added advantage of being able to make your own mind up about what issues you can/can't live with, based on what the PPI says.
Plus the PPI will help with negotiating e.g worn engine mount... $500 off the purchase price to get a new one installed. That's exactly what I did with a missing key.

Best of luck with it.

Sandy.

[flyfisch]

I looked for my first Boxster for over a year. Looked at a lot of cars both in person and on the internet. Waited until winter in Idaho to get serious. In January I found an absolutly perfect 2002 seal gray with hardtop, tip, new pirelli p-zeros and CPO warranty at the dealer in Salt Lake. Negotiated price $17000. I would take my time there are some great cars out there and some great prices. Biggest challange was finding a window of clear roads to drive it home. Good luck!
flyfisch

[Bobiam]

If you wanted a tip, that's one thing, but if you wanted manual, don't buy it as a compromise.

Otherwise it's not a bad car. Be sure that you are in love with what you see....color, etc.

[mptoledo]

Originally Posted by Kirk

You sir are the exception! I was used car shopping for the last year until I just recently purchased a '72 Porsche 914. I cannot begin to tell you how much misrepresentation I ran into. Where else can you even find more misrepresentation, deceit, and cover-ups than with USED CARS? Okay, maybe in the government, but let's not go there.
Kirk

I should have prefaced it by saying " I have been in car sales for about a decade and my last job was a New car Sales Manager. I am use to looking at trade ins all day long. Looking for and finding defects are second nature after doing it for so long." I pulled the carfax( I know so hush). opened the hood, checked the fluids... i even checked the tires pressure. I did give the seller numerous "OUTS" I let him know that if the car wasn't as presented, we were going to have a problem, so let me know now before I buy my plane ticket. I also asked 4 or 5 questions and requested more pics. I was about as thorough as one could be. I asked what he did for a living and about everything up to a credit check. Now I was extremely nice about it and reiterated the fact that If I get out there and it wasn't as advertised, we are going to have issues. When I got out there we drove the car for a couple hours and made numerous stops. I checked for oil after each stop.

So maybe I was lucky, maybe just thorough or a little of both. I wouldn't hesitate doing it again. It was the time of my life driving it back 2400 miles.

I think the general consensus is, if you wait long enough, you will find what your looking for. My criteria was. 1.) "s" 2.) silver 3.)miles 4.) trip . Other factors come into play like condition, tires(as new ones will run you $700 to $1400).

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by mptoledo

So maybe I was lucky, maybe just thorough or a little of both. I wouldn't hesitate doing it again. It was the time of my life driving it back 2400 miles.

Hehehe.... what we have here is a failure to communicate. You didn't buy your car "sight unseen", what you bought is a plane ticket without seeing the car first. The car you purchased after your own inspection, right? That's what I think most folks are recommending here for this buyer to do. It sounds like you did it right.

Some folks these days truly buy without ever seeing the car. They look at digital pictures, read a description, maybe talk to the seller on the phone, then they buy the car and have it shipped to them. Some get lucky, some get screwed.

Kirk

[mptoledo]

Originally Posted by Kirk

Hehehe.... what we have here is a failure to communicate. You didn't buy your car "sight unseen", what you bought is a plane ticket without seeing the car first. The car you purchased after your own inspection, right? That's what I think most folks are recommending here for this buyer to do. It sounds like you did it right.

Some folks these days truly buy without ever seeing the car. They look at digital pictures, read a description, maybe talk to the seller on the phone, then they buy the car and have it shipped to them. Some get lucky, some get screwed.

Kirk

Great point!! You definately have to do your homework and inspect the heck out of it, as sight unseen=buyer beware. You can always use your inspection to negotiate the price down. Unfortunately Mine was better than I advertised.

Some more points to make when buying, Cash is king!! you hold the cash, so you should control the transaction. If your gut says don't do it, well listen to it as there will be many more out there. Remeber, over 90% of ebay auctions don't sell. So the sellers maybe more open to a lower amount. Email them and ask. You can't get a "yes" if you never ask the question. And don't be afraid to low ball them. I always ad, "I mean you no offense, but I am looking at an almost similar car for $2000 less". Once you bring competition into the equation, all prices usually drop (this works for about everything).

Lastly and probably the best Hint/point. I use this for dating also. 9 out of 10 rejections equals 1 acceptance!!

[ridetheworld]

Great info from everybody, so many things that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. I found a 2001 S, 6-spd, Litronics, Heated Seats, sport design package, 41k, one owner, Eibach springs that make it sit a tad lower. He was asking 19,500 and I offered him $17,500. I may have offered a bit too much. The car just had a 30k service done and they had to replace the bank 2 cat and exhaust manifold. He ended up dropping $2400 for everything that it needed. I spoke to the service tech on the phone, he told me they went over everything in the car and came up with the following deficiencies. I have listed them in order of how much I estimate they will cost.

1. He said there is some minor seepage from the RMS, said that it is most likely due to the car not having been driven much in the past two years and that I should not worry about it until I have a clutch replacement and then do the RMS, he also recommended a new IMS bearing at that time from LN engineering. He said the clutch will probably be done in another 10-20k and that the service for those three items will be about $2800.
2. The front tire sidewalls are cracking from the car not being driven much lately, the rear tires are newer but they all have around 4mm tread depth remaining.
3. They recommended re-balancing the wheels and tires.

He assured me that the oil has been changed yearly and that he has known the guy since he first bought the car there in 2001. Other then that the car has no issues. I found a plane ticket down to San Fran from WA labor day weekend for $60, so I am going to check it out.

Given that information do you think I should offer him less?

Oh yeah, and it needs new floormats

Here is a picture of the car.

[mikes_box]

lets just hope he's not reading the post like everyone on the 986 forum is or he may stay true to his asking price or the price you offered... sounds like a good deal but if you check on the craigslist in san francisco there is an 02s with 28k miles asking 18.8... that's not bad either... newer with less miles...

[ridetheworld]

I was able to get the price down to 17k as the tires are about 75% worn. I am getting four new Sumitomo HTR Z III tires installed for $750 at big-o. I wanted new tires for the 800+ mile scenic drive back to Washington! I'm excited and can't wait to be part of the Boxster family.