TO buy or not to buy

[Ghostrider 310]

Coolant flush every year? That seems extreme.

[shadrach74]

I think the asking price is dead on and is what I would ask if it were mine (maybe more as I'm in the DC area). As for the IMSB, here's the thing:

I'd bet you dollars to donuts that it's fine. I have an 02 S that I purchased over the summer with 51K. I read all of the horror stories and was pretty worked up to the point that every noise sounded like an impending IMSB failure to me. I sucked it up and did the clutch and IMS @ 53K because I could never really enjoy the car with the thought of the engine grenading hanging over my head.

I was half disappointed to find that my IMSB was in perfect condition and by perfect, I mean no signs of wear, nada, zip, zilch.

This is a nearly new car from what you describe. I speak from experience when I tell you that an extra couple of grand for a pristine example is always less expensive in the long run than trying to bring a more moderately priced car with average wear and tear up to pristine standards...

[thom4782]

My 2 cents...

There is a lot of value in a low mileage car sop paying a premium isn't all that bad.

Boxster parts are really expensive and so is shop labor. By buying a low mileage car, you're avoiding a lot of fixes that come with use, that is miles. On the other hand, the car is old so you'll face replacing parts that degrade in time due to the environment, for example, rubber CV boots. My car was 10 years old before I started having to replace big dollar parts.

The IMS question is a tough one. If it fails, the engine is toast and it's about $20K to replace. I've heard on this and other BBs, from a highly regarded dealer, and from an equally regarded independent shop that one is less likely to have IMS failures in high mileage cars than low mileage ones. I guess the majority of IMS failures happen early - between 30K to 50K miles. Look at the short lived engine thread in the forum to get a sense of when the IMS tends to fail.

If I were in your shoes, I would offer $17K and be willing to pay the asking price if this is a car you really want. I would also plan to replace the IMS bearing right away with the LN Engineering IMS bearing. The IMS Guardian is a good insurance, but given the pristine nature of the car you're considering and the difference in cost between replacing the bearing versus the installing the Guardian, I'd put my mind at ease by putting in a new bearing.

[rayner@r2specracing]

Do a compression test on it. Check the AC and drive it till its properly warmed up.

Lots of cars will behave normal during their open loop cycle (before its warmed up) then when it switches to its normal running period it starts being weird.

That said if it all checks out you might be getting a good deal.

Good luck