TO buy or not to buy

[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.