Thinking of buying a Porsche Boxster and haven't a clue.
 

Hi Guys,

I have never owned a Porsche but always wanted to! Is this a good deal? What should I be worried about?

I went looking for another Miata to replace one I sold and found this Boxter:

2000 Boxster S 3.2, 6 speed manual with 48,000 original miles for $10,500.

I talked to the owner who bought it in 2005 with 21000 miles on it. He was from NY and now lives in FL. He garaged the car from November to Spring when he lived up north and did not drive it the snow. He has all the service records.

He just did a $5000-$6000 service on the car, to include new rear axle and components as well as new tires. He planned on keeping the car for another 5-6 years but hip surgery made it difficult to shift. He has all the service records. He warned me Porsche's are not cheap if something goes wrong but said he has had no problems with his car.

Is it worth $10,500?
What issues do Boxter's have?
Is it a better choice than a 2012-2015 Miata Gran Touring which I am finding for about 17-20,000 depending on who is selling it.

Thanks guys.

Oh also in the service he did was a new water pump. Forgot to add that in my post.

Have a PPI (Pre-Purchase Inspection) done a by a Porsche specialist and tell us what come up during the inspection. Plan on spending several hundred dollars on the inspection, but it could save you thousands.

Take it from me..bought a Porsche without a PPI and spent 8.8K getting her right. GET A PPI!

That sounds like a good price to me. You don't really find them with that low of miles

I agree, that sounds like a great deal if it's in nice condition and with low miles. I would ask exactly what was done for the 6K he recently spent. Good luck! One more thing ask if the IMS bearing was replaced and the rear main seal, hopefully that was part of the 6K he spent.

To Joecal's point; if you check either the drivers door jam or rear trunk lid, you will find a sticker certifying the LN Bearing was installed, if it's not there, then it could still have a new bearing, just not an LN Bearing.

Also, a dealer PPI runs around $300, and an Independent Certified Porsche Mechanic will charge an Est. $150. Not all PPI's are the same, some do leak down tests, others don't. Some do camshaft deviation tests others don't. So make sure you ask specifically what information the PPI will provide.

I'll start off the list of Items to check for wear and tear:
Water Pump
Serpentine Belt
Pulleys
Coolant Tank
Air Oil Separator (AOS)
Rear Main Seal (RMS)
Ignition Switch
CV Boots
Brakes/Rotors

Try to get a sense from the PO on how the car was maintained. Frequent Oil Changes, Service Records, did PO do any of his own mainteanance, does it have a magnetic oil drain plug, does it have a custom spin on oil filter?

That is a great price.
I would run a soft magnet around the panels looking for bondo as well. I found my a small patch on my car. Would never know from looking at it. Magnet slides off That area.

I went from a '92 Miata to a '98 Porsche. I put more money into the Porsche in 1 year than I did into the Miata in 4. Having said that the Porsche is much more luxurious. Less road noise. Better acceleration. The frunk makes it a practical road trip car, unlike the Miata.

Having said that I wouldn't recommend a Porsche Boxster unless you could do maintenance yourself or know a good independent mechanic that works on Porsche's and did a PPI with a qualified mechanic.

I second what Disaster said. The Miata is more fun to drive at street speeds, but the Boxster is a faster, nicer car.

Just be aware that the Porsche will be far more expensive to keep going.

All great info. The only thing I can reiterate is to get a PPI from an Independent Porsche mechanic. It will be the be money you'll ever spend on the Porsche.

To OP. Seriously get a PPI if you are unsure with cars & even then it's still highly recommended you get one. Sounds like a great deal btw.

That's harsh to have missed a 8.8K repair on a self inspection.

Please read this THREAD before you make your decision. This thread is a sticky and hard to miss, but covers all the points you need to know:

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/14685-thinking-buying-boxster-must-read.html

If you overthink it, you may never buy it; dig in!

PPI and go in with your eyes wide open! Find a good local independent shop that specializes in Porsches for the PPI and your maintenance. If you are handy and can do some things yourself that will be helpful. Give yourself an adequate annual budget for maintenance that takes into account whether or not you can/will do any of the work yourself.

I've owned several Porsche cars over the years and recently purchased a Boxster myself. Extremely fun car and great looking, mine still turns heads. EXPECT this car to cost you a lot of $$$$$. I have spent $2200.00 in the last 3 weeks fixing things that didn't come up in the pre-purchase inspection.

You will spend a lot of money to own a Porsche if it's out of warranty, period, I don't care which one you buy. It comes with owing a high performance car.

FWIW that sounds like a great price to me. I bought an 01 recently. Similar to you, comparing NC Miatas, happened to see a Boxster for sale and my wife told me to buy one of those instead of a Miata - who am I to argue with her?

I am mechanically enough inclined that nothing scares me with it. Parts are reasonably priced (though I had an Infiniti FX before the Boxster and race a 944 so I may be somewhat off kilter ...).

I have no regrets with the Boxster - even with the potential for known expensive problems. Anything can fail in any car. Sounds like with the records you're off to a good start. If you need to take to a shop it's very expensive. I looked at one that had the 60k service done at the dealer for about $3k. I calculated cost to do it myself at less than $1k.

Do read the sticky above - well worth it. Poke around here, much knowledge. Several Facebook groups with smart folks as well.

Most of all, what Ciao said - don't overthink it. In the end, it's just a car!

Thanks guys for all the info. I did call the previous owner again today and asked him if he had the IMS bearing and he laughed and said "I was wondering when you would ask me about that". His take on it was this. He bought his car in 2005 with 21000 miles on it from a Porsche dealer in NY. He believed based on his research from his engine number he was an early double bearing IMS car. He said when he stored the car for the winter he changed the oil and let it sit, did not start the car as per the dealer recommendations because starting them without driving them was not that good. In the spring he would drive the car then repeat the winter storage process. He changed the oil once a year and used Mobil 1. He did not worrying about the IMS issue since he believed he had the double bearing. He knows about all the info about the bearing but just chose not to worry about it and drove and maintained the the car as the manual prescribed. He just did a water pump change, axle change with new boot covers and replaced some hoses that were showing signs of wear. I decided to pass on the car due to I am the person that would worry about if I was sitting on a time bomb. Plus for me I was financing the car (7.9% for 60 months on $11,600 was about $236) and felt if it did go bad I would have a paper weight in my driveway. I did check on an IMS bearing replacement it was about $1,800 and $2,800 with a new clutch. I guess I could just throw it all on a credit card and just go, but in the end at this moment, I passed on the car just out of my own fear and anxiety.

I'd buy it in a heartbeat...but it is not a car to buy if you don't have spare cash. The replaced waterpump and rear axle at only 48k is a bit disconcerting. My Boxster has almost double that mileage and has not had either done. I wonder if this one had the mileage "adjusted?"

In response to my previous post. the 8.8K I spent was spread out over the last year. Not all at once. But she is a roaring lion now :-)