Debating first Boxster purchase - advice appreciated
 

Hey folks,

Been lurking the forums for 2-3 months now, and am close to purchasing a 1999 Boxster (black on black).
It is just shy of 32K miles, being sold by the second owner.

When I saw it today, I was blown away by how fantastic the condition is, especially the interior. Even with the low miles, on an 18 year old car I would have expected it to look way worse. The car has clearly been taken care of. The current owner has only put about 3K miles on it over the last 3 years.

I'm sure I have read entirely too many website articles, forum posts, and random internet musings, and am a bit freaked out by what may or may not happen with the car. The largest concern being the IMS bearing. I spoke with the local dealership, and they will do the PPI for $300, plus additional cost for an oil change that will include some method of measuring the draining oil using a magnet, and cutting into the old filter for inspection. After mentioning this to the seller, he offered to pay for the oil change portion, since that is not included in the PPI.

I'm logical enough to not do anything in terms of an offer without the PPI from the dealership, but now I feel like I have over-analyzed to the point of not even wanting to buy it!

A family member is a huge car guy. Used to run a successful garage (that he sold), and he has owned and driven everything you can think of (Lambo, Ferrari, Vipers, Mustangs, Vette's, Lexus, BMW, Porsche, Mercedes ... you name it, and he's probably owned it.) When I asked his opinion he said no way to anything almost 20 years old and German. Equated it to playing Russian Roulette. One thing can go wrong and it may cost $2500. I take his advice seriously, so I'm even more hesitant after that conversation.

Aside from a few minor imperfections on the car, and the rear trunk shocks not holding the trunk open on its own, there doesn't see to be anything wrong with the car. Took it out this afternoon (not for long, never got out of 3rd gear) and it sounded great, handled great, no noises, had the top down and it was damn fun to drive!

Am I being way too analytical? This is my first foray into real sports car territory. Last 'fun' car I drove was a 2002 Acura RSX Type S, then once the family started it was 4 door sedan territory. Should I just pony up the $300 for the PPI and then make a decision based on the dealership's opinion? Should I find an indy to do the PPI instead of the local dealer? Am I freaking out over the IMS problem that probably exists in a small percent of the population? I don't really want to spend $10K on a car that needs another $3K maintenance before I even get to enjoy it.

Someone talk me off the ledge!

And by the way - great forum around here, I've gotten tons on info from the sticky's on Thinking about Buying and the sources of information that NickCats posted. Thanks to you all for being so helpful!

It is true, one thing can go wrong and it could cost you $2500 or more. After all, it is a 20 year-old German car, just like your family member said! That is the gamble of owning a German car, particularly a Porsche.

My fifteen year-old Boxster had a sticker price of over $50K when new, so it's an expensive car, even though I only paid $4500 for it (it was a project car). The cost of the parts are really high, so now I've got over $10K into it. The saying is that one way or another, your Boxster will be a $10K or 15K or whatever car no matter what the price was to start with.

And that's why a good PPI is almost a necessity (although it can't identify everything that can go wrong). If it were me, I'd use a reputable independent shop, not a dealership. The indie will know a lot more about the twenty year-old Boxster than the dealer, because no one takes their twenty year-old Boxster to the dealer.

32k miles is really low, and cars that sit around do tend to have more issues, however if it has been properly maintained (oil changed every year, etc) that is less of an issue. I would highly recommend a good PPI from a good indie shop familiar with Porsches Also, IMS is not really an issue for a '99, that only became an issue in '00/'01 when Porsche "redesigned" the bearing.

If the maintenance costs are going to be a problem this may not be the car for you, the parts are not cheap, and there are certain items where you must use OEM parts or you will end up with a lot of headaches (like the coolant tank). I love my '99 and some years I spend less than $500 on just an oil change and a few small things, other years I have spent $2-3k, and that doesn't include upgrades. If you are open to DIY, you can save a lot of money and there are a ton of 986-specific guides online.

Despite the nice appearance, it is highly likely that the car has deferred maintenance and/or repairs that previous owner skipped.

Thus, it should be fully expected to spend $2K per year (each and every year) on a 20-yr old high performance sports car.

If this doesn't work for you, then maybe an older German sports car isn't your best choice.

However, if you are willing to put in that $2K per year, I can guarantee that you'll get a car that will absolutely thrill you every time that you get into the car.

You'll wonder why you waited so long to buy a Porsche and you will come to the realization that the driving experience alone is worth 2 or 3 times what you paid. Seriously, you are buying one of the most exciting and best handling sports cars in the world for 1/3 the price of a new Honda - how is that not a great value?

Step back from the ledge. I paid $11K for a 97/Tip in Aug 2015 with 16K on the ODO. It was/is very clean and has some nice options on it. I was able to talk to the indy who had done the most recent work on it. I was satisfied. No PPI.

I have put 10K on it in 22 months. I drive it regularly and hard when I can. I have spent about $3K on needs and $800 in wants during that time. I had an indy X/O the AOS plus other stuff to the tune of $1,100 and I just put $600+ worth of tires on. I have done all of the regular maintenance myself. I have read on the forum, multiple times, to set aside a $1k a year for maintenance. How much work can you do yourself? Mine is 20+ years old also. I have had to replace both window regulators. Expensive and annoying. But it is more than worth it to me.

The 99's IMS has a +/- 2% failure rate? You are more likely to get in an accident driving it than the IMS coming unglued. I got rear ended in March in the parking lot at work by a kid texting.

If you over think it, you won't be able to enjoy it fully. Safe = Corolla. More fun than you know what to do with = Boxster. Safe travels.

Every nice day I wish I still had my Boxster. Sold it as dealer or indie was 40 miles away, got tired of juggling cars around single driveway, and I was ~70 and not as limber as I once was. I owned two, a '99 I totaled and a '01S that is still running around at 95K miles for its fifth owner.

Both mine were wonderfully reliable. I drove probably 35k total miles (daily driver and then fun car) and went in for unscheduled service only twice in 6 years. Loose hose CEL and typical problem seatbelt ground. Which is not to say I didn't do some things like Optima battery, two new sets of tires, 2 new O2 sensors, new brake rotors and pads, some updated tail lights and side lights, alignment, of course fluids and filters. Exceptional? Probably. Cheaper than my same era Hondas per mile? Yes. Could I have had a $10-30k failure? Yea.

Budget for some failures as the car is now 10 years older than mine and parts age as well as wear.

But take it out on the proper back roads and you'll not regret it. My wife would know I'd go to the store that was 5 miles away and not expect me back for an hour. I didn't have to take the most direct route, now did I?

You are considering buying at the point in life I bought into the sports car thing again. Alfa, Alfa, 914 and then kids. Once all the schools were paid for, 2 Boxsters. I still smile when I see one. Probably a day hasn't gone by when I haven't visited the classifieds.

Reality check for Actual Sales prices -not Asking Prices
boxster S in Cars & Trucks | eBay

Found a local shop today, and the owner is a master Porsche technician. Not open on Saturday's, so I will call them next week to see about the PPI and any other recommendations they may have.

Also good to hear about the 99s maybe not having as high a percentage of IMS issues.

Maintenance costs aren't the issue, I don't have a problem with ~$2K/year, and would probably have a want list as well (such as upgrading the light kit). I guess I should have somewhat of a reserve in place, since as RacerBoy said, it is a 20 year old German car, and even if I buy it for $10k, then I should expect some immediate maintenance may need to be done.

DIY I am OK with. I have never worked on much outside of my old Accord that was totaled in March. I did a lot of the normal maintenance on that - some oil changes, brakes, spark plugs, even replaced the power steering pressure line.

Thanks rexcramer - you're the second person that's mentioned the 99s IMS at a low percentage. And yes, my safe daily driver is a 2011 Accord that I just got used in March, with 42K miles on it. The purchase of the Boxster would fully be for more fun that I know what do with!

Thanks for the comments mikefocke. I can almost hear my wife calling me 30 minutes into a trip to grocery store that's 2 miles away.

Gelbster - Thanks for the reality check! I checked those completed listings, and I would only put 3 in line as comparable with what I'm looking at. On the listings, there was a 2000S with 21K miles that went for $10K, a 2002 with 30K miles that went for "best price accepted" with an amount around $16K crossed out, and lastly, a 2001 with 42K miles that went for $12K.

I'm looking at somewhere around $9K-$10K for this '99 model with 32K miles. So I'm comfortable with the price.

Thanks again to everyone for their valuable input!

Another view...The Boxster is a street legal go-cart. You'll never have so much fun as you will just buzzing around the hood in it. My advice if you want reliability and peace of mind is to budget about $3.5K - $4K into the purchase price. Figure on replacing the water pump and thermostat, RMS, IMS, AOS, clutch, add a spin on oil filter, magnetic drain plug, filter magnets, chain tensioners, change the trans fluid, and check/replace the coolant tank. If done ahead of a failure you can avoid the stress and drive like you stole it. Get off the ledge and behind the wheel... When you leave this life you take your memories, not your wallet.

911 986 doesn`t matter.
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