Beware 2003 Boxster S, Augusta, ME
 

There is a very low mileage (20K) 2003 Boxster S at Charlie's Honda in Augusta, ME (link below). If you're interested in this car there are some things you should know.

* The front truck will not completely latch down so the light indicating one of the trunks is open stays on.
* The battery is dead. They tried to pull a fast one on me here and brought the car to me while running after they had jumped it. I then proceeded to turn it off and look the car over. When I tried to turn it back on it wouldn't start. The sales person THEN told me that they had to jump it to get it started, and seemed flustered that I was hip to his game.
* The cup holder does not work. You have to bang on it in order to get it to open, and it only opens sometimes.
* MOST IMPORTANTLY: I called the mechanic who serviced this particular car (Ayer European Auto Service, Gardiner, ME) and they informed me that the IMS bearing was rattling around and needs to be replaced ASAP, which scared the original owner into trading it in to this dealership. Don't buy this car unless you plan to upgrade the IMS bearing immediately.

Other than that it is a good car. Low miles. Bose sound. Good tires. No heated seats, which is a bummer. But, I'm quite certain this dealership would sell you this car without divulging any of the problems I outlined above.

Just looking out for the 986 community.
Godspeed everyone.

Used 2003 Porsche Boxster For Sale in Augusta ME | VIN: WP0CB29893U661972

IMS rattling around?

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g2...5503721242.jpg

Maine doesn't have a law against knowingly selling a car with serious mechanical issues and.not disclosing it? In some places, that's called "fraud".

You would have to prove that the dealership knows this issue. Most times when turning in a car on trade, the previous owner will complete a "know issues disclosure" form for the dealer. If the Previous owner didn't list anything... well then the dealer doesn't officially know, and they're not going to go out of their way to find out.

That looks like a very nice car with a dead battery and a bad cup holder. Big deal.
A description that the IMS is rattling around means nothing, Sure, get at PPI, but wouldn't you do that anyway?

If the IMS is actually rattling, then there is probably already bearing debris in the oil and that is "Muy malo". A PPI that includes a filter analysis would be called for. Even then, I would be afraid of this car. It's a HUGE gamble.

Tony

Has ANYONE heard of an IMSB rattling? Not saying its not possible but in reading IMSB horror stories for the last 8 years, I can't recall every hearing about an IMSB rattle.

Could be lots of things that would cause a rattle (heat shields, WP, other rotating stuff).

For me, it was enough that the shop that had serviced this car for its lifetime, which would also have been my PPI shop of choice, which is also the best Porsche shop in Maine, told me that if I bought the car I should replace the IMS immediately. The specific semantics were irrelevant. 'Rattle' may have been paraphrasing on my part.

I DID notice an unexpected ticking/rattling noise coming from then engine when I got out and listened to it idle. IMS or not, that wasn't a good sound either.

The takeaway here is that since I got a very bad vibe from this dealer I wanted to make sure people were aware. I see that it's still for sale, incidentally.

Where I live I've never heard of a "known issues" form.

All we do is state whether we believe the odometer reading is correct or not.