1997 high miles

[78F350]

I see that you are in the LA area. Here's a quick look at the "less than $7,900" Craigslist selection:

los angeles for sale "porsche boxster" - craigslist

Here's a 'great deal' on an '01 S that could easily cost you another $10K in parts and labor and still be worth under $10k: ** 2001 PORSCHE BOXSTER S ** ...Or maybe if you have the right parts car, tools, and knowledge it could be cheap fix and a great daily driver for another decade. Any one of these 12+ year old cars is a roll of the dice. Being an educated buyer can mitigate some of the risk, but not eliminate it.

If you can't afford for it to be a mistake, don't do it.

If you love these cars, continue to educate yourself and don't buy a particular one on a whim. There are plenty on the market.

If you read thru a lot of the stories here, you will see that for many of us, the ownership cost can be higher than the buying price, but we still don't regret having the car(s).

Welcome to the Forum.

[Run]

I must agree with everyone else on here as an example I was quoted 1600.00 for an alternator granted it was from the stealership but that should give you an example of cost of maintenance.

[BoxsterSteve]

^^
What he said.
Do like this fella's username...
Run!

There are tons of Boxsters for sale, save some $$ and buy one that's worth keeping. If you had to replace the top, you'd be in for over half of what you paid for the car, not to mention whatever else will bite you in the @$$ on an 18 year old car with well over 200,000 on the clock.
That is unless all you want to do is drive it until it needs repairs and then dump it, but hey, that's up to you. Best of luck whatever you choose.