'99 Boxster w/ 80k on it... what's a good price/things to look for?
 

Hello all,

I'm looking at buying a '99 Boxster with about 80k miles on it. I'm wondering what a good price would be for this car and also if 80k miles is too many, or if there are any major things I need to look for as far as maintenance is concerned with a car with that many miles or from '99.

This will be my first Porsche, coming mainly from the Japanese sports car world... so I'm not sure if there are any "Gotchas" to look out for.

I appreciate any help! Hopefully I'll be an owner soon.

Try to find one with lower miles. 80k seems to be alot,

Mileage is a terrible measure of the condition of a vehicle. Don't be scared off by just a car's odometer. Search around the board, there's been plenty of information on the "gothas" of this particular vehicle.

I totally agree...Most RMS leaks will occur in the first 5k-45k miles. IMO, a 986 or 996 that does not leak within the 1st 5-45k miles has less chances of leaking later on.
Maintenance is the key and not mileage.

I bought a 97 with 84k on it three years ago for 15k. I had to put nearly 5k into it to get all the bugs worked out of it.

A 99 with 80 is not the car you want IMHO. My advice? Buy a much newer car with much fewer miles on it. Get one that's 5 years old or younger. Preferably, a 2003 Sbecause they had glass windows at the back.

What you save today by buying an older, high mileage boxster you will pay for in the next year or two to fix it up and keep it running well. I wish I had waited and saved my money up to buy a 2000 S in 2004....

No one ever regrets having a larger engine and more refinements. Every year, Porsche made the car better inside and out.

Moreover, some of the 98's and 99's had engine problems and had factory replacement engines that had cylinder sleeves not found on younger models.

The most recent edition of Excellence magazine has a great write up on boxster pricing. You should buy it and read it before you settle on any particular boxster.

It sounds like your car wasn't very well cared for by the previous owner. Did you know it was going to need all that work before you bought it? Did you have a PPI?

A neglected or abused car can go for a while without needing work. A well maintained car can go much much farther. That's why you shouldn't go by mileage.

You're right... I didn't get a PPI, but most all the stuff that needed fixing after the purchase broke, cracked or wore out after the purchase. The PPI would have only shown the main radiator needing replacement alone. The horn pad, O2 sensors, the tranny (developed a bothersome noise in 1st gear), the AC, the radiator overflow tank, the oil filler tube, etc. all failed within 18 months of ownership due to the age of the car and the mileage on it.

So mileage does matter. A porsche owner only fully understands this when he owns a high mileage boxster... which is not like older porsches because it has so many more plastic parts compared with the older 911's.

Like I stated before, if I had a chance to rewind time and do it over again as a first-time Porsche owner, I would have bought a much younger boxster with less than 25k on it and I would have bought an S with the larger engine. And yes, I would have gotten a PPI. ;) Live and learn.

Of course, my next Porsche will be a CPO car with a Porsche warranty to 100k. That's the only way to go for me in the future. I'll let Porsche pay for all their poorly made pastic parts for a number of years next time around. The $3,500 bump in price to get a CPO car is a small price to pay considering I spent that the first year or so on my car.

I was one of those typical buyers who had never bought a Pcar before, wanted one my whole life, and had no money to spend. I bought the first boxster I found in my low low price range and I learned a valuable lesson typed here on this forum many many times:

"The lowest-priced Porsche you buy will be the most expensive Porsche to maintain."

Words by which to live. That's for sure.

I'd argue that the problem prone plastic parts of this car are more sensitive to age than mileage. Any time you buy an old car, you've got dried out parts to replace. But normal use will more often help to keep these parts in operational condition than one that sits most of the time.

buying a boxster
 

this is a good link: http://www.iwantaporsche.net/BoxsterBuyersTips.htm