New to this forum and soon to be (hopefully) Porsche owner
 

I'm looking to get a 986 as I just generally think it's a gorgeous and modern classic car. The one problem is that I'm working with a initial purchase budget of around $6,000 I'm thinking a 1999 is my best bet but if I could get a decent 2000 S for that id do it in a heartbeat. One obvious concern is the IMS bearing.. I know I'd have to spend a chunk of change on maintenance an occasional repairs and I'm fine with that but I'm ready to buy my 986 now! Advice? Tips? Tricks? Etc.. Thanks!

Wait until you can afford one. You buy a $6,000 used Porsche and you will pay more than that in the first year on neglected maintenance and repairs.

You don't think it'd be possible to find one good one within that? I mean I could spend more like 10-12k but that's all I have to spend at the moment and I'd have more limited funds for repairs

You are talking about buying a 15 or so year old car.....it's going to need some TLC at that price.

No such thing as a cheap Porsche. Pay for it upfront or pay for it down the road, but rest assured, you will pay for it.

If you really want to experience a Porsche properly, you will want to refresh the suspension, motor mount, want to have good tires on her.....if you find one that has much of that done, you will pay more that $6K.

Much depends on who you are and what you are really looking for. Counting what I have now and the one I sold in February, I have had five 1999s that were all originally purchased for under $5,000. None were perfect. I have been happy with all five. (My $3,500 2000 S is not quite so happy, but that's another story.)
I buy them because: I like to learn and work on them myself. I love to drive them. I like to make them eventually look good, but I am not trying to impress anyone with my 17 year old Porsche.

My first Boxster was $5k. It had some minor hail dimples and the top had to be operated manually. I did minor maintenance such as oil changes and replacing a few suspension parts. Never had any serious problems and sold it for a little bit more than I originally paid. Probably paid about $1,500 in maint and mods/clean-up over the year and a half I owned it.

My most recent purchase was about $2k and needed a little work: http://986forum.com/forums/show-tell-gallery/62701-oh-no-another.html

In between there's: http://986forum.com/forums/show-tell-gallery/60775-a.html

...and another I haven't really posted much about yet.

My point is, Yes, you can get a {potentially} good Boxster for $6,000. It may need some work to get it up to par, but if you can do it yourself it can be affordable and rewarding. :D
You can get a bad one and pay a lot more even if you try to do everything right:
http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/62744-hammerhead2501-what-happened.html :eek:

You've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk? :cool:

That's so awesome!! This is what I've been looking for! I thoroughly enjoy working on cars and I like to think I'm pretty knowledgeable working on cars even though the mid vehicle boxer will be a little different. I want to learn as I work on the car myself. It would be a weekend warrior and I would keep VERY good and meticulous care if it. Hopefully it'll turn out well. Even if I do have to do repairs every once in awhile and do all the oil changes etc myself I think I'd actually enjoy it

That's so awesome! This is exactly What I've been looking for!! I love working on cars and while the mid vehicle boxer will be new to me I am willing to learn! I really wouldn't mind doing repairs and oil changes etc myself if I could, plus the car would be more of a very well maintained weekend warrior.