What did you find on CL today? - Page 32 - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

garv214 · 06-28-2018, 07:16 AM

I saw an ad on CL in the SF Bay Area for a 2000 Boxster S (Lapis Blue, Blue Top, Tan interior). The IMS and clutch had been replaced at 110K, the car had 114K on it. Top and plastic window appeared to be in good shape, body was nice, interior was nice (at least in the pics). Also, it had just passed smog. The seller had about 9 pics of the car with a pic of the LN Engineering label for the IMS bearing and a pic of the smog certificate which had the correct vehicle license plate showing. All for the princely sum of $5600.

I saw the ad 2 hours after it posted, but I think I may have been about 1 hour and 58 minutes too late on it. The ad came down about 6 hours later. I took a screen grab:

I had a bunch of red flags in my mind when I saw the price, but as I read the ad, it seemed like a legitimate ad... Even at that price, I would have wanted a PPI, so I guess I would have never actually gotten the car because I know there are some out there that would jump on it quicker than a 12 year old on a bag of halloween candy... But I will always wonder... "What if..."

Opinions, if it were your money... Would you take the risk and buy the car without a PPI or would you insist on a PPI and risk losing the purchase?

husker boxster · 06-28-2018, 09:11 AM

garv214 - Chances are it was a fake ad, marked prohibited, and taken down. Price is too good to be true. The CL community is pretty good about policing the ads.

Scammers work on your greed and want you to react w/o using your common sense. Even if they get a $500 down payment, that's money in their pocket. You forget your common sense when you think you have to hurry to beat someone else to a "great deal".

As far as a PPI, if you're not into cars, then get one. If you don't know how to look for paint work, check gaps, look at brake pad depth, know how to check for wheel bearing failure, know what a good engine sounds like, etc, you're better off letting the experts do the work for you.

itsnotanova · 06-28-2018, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsallean

Not CL but searching for parts on the Bay and came across this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Muffler-PORSCHE-BOXSTER-02/292314387128?hash=item440f4b92b8

Glad I wasn't in the car when whatever happened to it happened!

I look at vehicles like that all day. The worse Porsche I've ever seen was a 996 that got T-boned by a dump truck as it was doing 140mph. The only salvageable part was the calipers. My wife wouldn't let me buy it because 3 teenage kids died in it. I've only bought one death car. I bought a B5 S4 that I think someone died in as there was a big dried pool of blood in the back seat foot-well. The trunk was smashed all the way up to the front seats.

garv214 · 06-28-2018, 09:16 AM

Totally agree Husker Boxster. I do not have the experience/expertise to self-perform the inspection. I can spot obvious stuff, but I am very aware of my limitations.

I guess the old adage, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is... applies here.

husker boxster · 07-01-2018, 06:52 PM

Just had an interesting ebay experience. Saw an auction yesterday for an 06 Boxster S w/ 24K mi. Marked the auction on my watch list, with it ending at 9pm Sun.

So at 6pm tonight I get the reminder from ebay that the auction is ending soon. The current bid is $17.2 w/ 3 hrs to go. That's a good price AND there's no mention of the reserve not being met, so it's worth watching.

There's a phone # listed in the ad and I want to know if it has 2 keys + manuals, so I call. Leave a msg and 15 min later get a phone call from the guy who says yes to both (upon closer inspection of 1 of the photos, I see 2 keys). He says the tires are good & it's perfect car from Atlanta. He's in Brooklyn, NY. Then he asks me what the auction is at and I say $17.2. He says something about it's on his website at $25K and I wonder if he forgot to put a reserve on his auction and would he sell it for $17?

About 20 min later I get a text from him. He asks if I'm interested in buying it NOW for the $17.2? I responded with don't you have to let the auction finish? Plus I wanted to do a bit of research before the auction finished. His response:

"No, I don't have to let the auction finish. I can end the auction any time. The auction means nothing. I won't make a deal on ebay anyhow, so last bid doesn't matter". Hmmm... LOTS of red flags immediately pop up.

So rather than doing research on the car, I start investigating the seller. He only has 150 transactions (which in itself isn't bad, as I only have 42), but has 0% positive feedback and 12 negative comments in the last 12 mo. Oh, oh. I look at the comments and they all say he's a scam artist and the auction meant nothing. Some commented that he wanted more money than the auction price. OK, that confirms the red flags.

The car finishes at $21.6, which is a good price but more than I was going to bid. Wonder what fun the new "owner" is in for? Glad I'm not going to find out.

Here's a link to the ad. He has other cars 'for sale' on ebay, so be careful.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/123204999423?nordt=true&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l10137

garv214 · 07-02-2018, 08:09 AM

Husker Boxster

I always read the seller's feedback when purchasing on EBay. As a buyer/seller, you live and die by your feedback score. I wouldn't touch that guy's car with a 10 foot pole. He has very consistent feedback (all negative and all for the same tactics...). I would rather reward a straight-shooter with my money than some "trick-shot" artist whose car may/may not be worth it...

Besides, if you are going to get another Boxster, it has to be better than Ruby, otherwise what was the point of selling her ...

husker boxster · 07-03-2018, 04:01 AM

Got a text late yesterday from the guy. He said the auction fell thru. No, really? He was wondering if I was still interested. I said I'd found a different car that I was now focusing on. It took several more texts to get thru to him I wasn't interested.

garv - Ruby was a Wheeler Dealer car. She was very nice but won't be the last one I buy to sell. Thought I had a deal worked out to help someone locally sell his beautiful 2011 C2 S Cab (Meteor Grey / Carrera Red), but he decided at the last min to have a local sports car dealership help him. So the search continues...

Dubaday · 07-03-2018, 06:06 AM

NO AFFILIATION ,

https://seattle.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=986%20porsche%20boxster&sort=rel

Shawn Stanford · 07-03-2018, 11:31 AM

To my understanding, 'clear' means there are no liens.

maytag · 07-03-2018, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn Stanford

To my understanding, 'clear' means there are no liens.

If that is the case, then it sounds like Lucy got some 'splainin to do! :-)

I've always taken "clear" to mean no liens, no judgments, no branding.

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Cunningr · 07-04-2018, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawn Stanford

To my understanding, 'clear' means there are no liens.

My dad was a car rebuilder and I used to help him out. A clear titlle generally means the car was totaled by the insurance company then resold at auction In a state like Tenn. where there is no rebuild or totaled indications on the title. when my dad was rebuilding a flipping he would sell the car with a clear or clean title because he bought them from Tenn auction. So when the car is resold there is no indication it was totaled. He would give verbal disclosure, but affects loan value.

Can also mean no lien on the vehicle. But cars in the 986 age group normally would not warrant a loan or possably be eligble.

78F350 · 07-06-2018, 07:00 PM

I want this.... I don't have space or time... Damn.

Edit: Content deleted while I see if there's any way I can buy it...

RedTele58 · 07-12-2018, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 78F350

I want this.... I don't have space or time... Damn.

Edit: Content deleted while I see if there's any way I can buy it...

Hey Jon! So what happened with this? Inquiring minds want to know.

Starter986 · 07-13-2018, 01:43 PM

This is very, very rare. And only 160K on a rebuilt.

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/d/1991-porsche-boxter/6641388570.html

78F350 · 07-13-2018, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedTele58

Hey Jon! So what happened with this? Inquiring minds want to know.

Well... I figured that I could make space and time and showed the ad to Vi. She agreed (and I think I owe her a kitchen and bathroom remodel now).
I contacted the seller. It is still available, but he's busy and does not want to be bothered. ...and I may have contacted him one too many times before he made that clear enough to get through my obsession.

Still hoping he contacts me back soon, but concerned there may be a restraining order filed if I reach out again.

MWS · 07-03-2018, 12:21 PM

Two words I've always seen applied to titles..."clear" and "clean"; both of which I suspect have no actual legal meaning, however I've always assumed "clear" meant no liens and "clean" meant no suspect items (salvage)....but ya know what they say about assumptions.

Before agreeing on any purchase, I'd always like to SEE the title.

maytag · 07-03-2018, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MWS

Before agreeing on any purchase, I'd always like to SEE the title.

+1

I passed on a bucket - list car once, because when I told the seller I needed to see a scan or picture of the title, front and back, he called me a "crook and a scammer", and said "there's no reason anyone would ever need to see that to buy a car".

I countered with "there's no reason I wouldn't show someone the title of a car I wanted to sell"

Then he started cursing, hahaha.

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JBauer · 07-03-2018, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maytag

+1

I passed on a bucket - list car once, because when I told the seller I needed to see a scan or picture of the title, front and back, he called me a "crook and a scammer", and said "there's no reason anyone would ever need to see that to buy a car".

I countered with "there's no reason I wouldn't show someone the title of a car I wanted to sell"

Then he started cursing, hahaha.

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He wasn't in Lexington Ky. was he? Same thing happened to me. I was going to buy the car if it checked out but Its a 5 hr drive and he didn't want to give me his name, address or a copy of the title. Said I didn't need to know that yet. I didn't make that drive.

TeamOxford · 07-03-2018, 05:18 PM

There are so many red flags popping up all over the listing, that it's not worth any educated Boxster enthusiast's time.

Just sayin'........

TO

Realtormike · 07-06-2018, 07:36 PM

The yellow 2000 boxster s was advertised for $6500.00 I spoke to the guy who bought it as a flood car from up north. It needed the imobilizer etc. etc.key etc. He said he bought to flip, but did not want to pursue the water damage electronics. So this add shows up for the same car, as a one owner clear title boxster s? I contact the guy and ask him if he was the original owner etc, he said he was, I told him it has a rebuilt title and he said it did, I then asked him what was the damage, and he said it was hit from behind??? So obviously, he knows its a flood car, and is trying to say it was hit from behind and has a clear title now? Buyer beware, this was a flood car from new england, if you need the text, I have it from the guy who brought it down from up north.....