1997 Boxster. Need help. Should I pull the trigger based on this information...

[BoomerRoadie]

Hello all,

I'm sure this type of question has been asked many times and in many ways. I have read through a lot of posts and this forum seems pretty good at giving good advice. I'd like your take on this scenario.

I have a good friend who is looking to sell his 1997 Boxster. It has 32,000 original miles on it and he's the second owner. The car obviously is not driven a lot and when it is driven, it is not driven very hard. He is been very good about oils changes (once per year regardless of miles). The Clutch is ok now, but for me, this will be a daily driver. So I expect I'll need to replace the clutch in 12 months from purchase. At that point I would expect to do the IMS Bearing upgrade. All told, that should run about $3,000 for a new clutch and IMS (based on my research). Other than that issue, the car is perfect. 10/10 exterior and a 10/10 interior. He also has a hard top for it too and a cloth cockpit cover.

Here's my question.

I have heard many opinions about Porsche and the Boxster. It seems like people who DO NOT own a Porsche tell me they are super expensive to maintain and break a lot. Then, existing Porsche Boxster owners tell me they are great daily drivers and very reliable. Sure they cost a little more to fix, but not dramatically (like double any other average care). The general numbers I have determined is about 1.5X the cost to maintain compared to Japanese imports like a Toyoda 4Runner (I have one of these). Consumer Reports and Edmonds both gave the 1997 Boxster very good marks on reliability and overall design.

Where is the truth?

Am I getting myself into a money pit? The purpose of the car is for me to finally have a fun car to drive to and from work (50 miles mostly highway, round trip) and have a fun car for the wife and I to cruise around in from time to time. I really don't want an unreliable money pit that happens to be fun to drive. But who wants that!!

Thoughts?

[356 Cee]

With 32k miles it should be very reliable, if the price is right I'd buy it.

[BoomerRoadie]

Hello. Thank you for the reply.

One concern I hear a lot of is "seals". Being the car is old and lives in Arizona, many of the seals may be worn and brittle. After driving it daily, I might find puddles of oil and fluid on the floor.

Thus far, his car has not experience this and has been very well behaved.

As for seals, even if that were true, how many seals are we talking about that might fail? Is it a lot? Are they all costly to replace? What is a reasonable case scenario here?

Thanks!!

[Giller]

The car is 18 years old. 18 years. That's getting up there for a daily driver. An 18 year old Honda Civic would still require a lot of finger crossing, let alone a high performance sports car.

These cars can be extremely reliable, but still.....18 years!

I would strongly recommend you set aside at least $2000 per year for maintenance. If you can do that, can do some of your own wrenching and are okay with the car potentially being out of commission from time to time, then go for it.

[JayG]

Low mileage is not necessarily best.
These cars like to be driven and also like to be driven hard from time to time.
It is a good think to get close to redline or even hit the rev limiter every now and then.

Frequent oil changes is very good as sitting oil starts to turn to crap and running it hard burns off the crap. DIY oil changes are really easy and depending on what oil you use, oil and filter is $65 to $150. I don't want to turn this into an oil thread, but you can get Mobile 1 0w/40 at Wallyworld for around $26 for 5 quarts. Drink whatever kool-aid you like as far as oil.

If you are driving 50 miles every day, it will get fully warmed up each way and that is a good thing

Depending on how and where it has been driven, the clutch could last way longer than another year. I have 75 k on my 04 and it is the original clutch and I have 6 track days and 4 AX in the last 9 months as well as lots of canyon carving on the great back roads here in San Diego.

There is basically no indication the clutch needs to be replaced until it starts to slip

your should probably flush and refill the brakes, unless it was done in that last year. In any case, it needs to be changed every 2 years.

Much of the maintenance is easy DIY. For example, it takes longer to jack up the car and remove the wheels than it does to actually replace the brake pads.

What is the asking price and what are the options?

Lastly, even if it is your best friend and there are complete service records, you should have an independant PPI done

Oh yea, without pictures, it ain't real

[BoomerRoadie]

HAHA! I love how you guys keep it real about posting pictures!!

I posted this question in the "Introductions" forum initially thinking this was the place, as an introduction to the car kinda place. After doing so its not really that. HOWEVER, I do happen to have a few pictures! My friend needed a hand putting the hard top on. So these pictures show a slightly different view than you might be used to seeing.

But I'd like to follow up with the last couple posts and also say thank you for the feedback. I really need your thoughts on this based on your experience to be sure its a good idea to jump into this car.

JayG, I agree about the longevity of the clutch. My thinking is, being that the car should have the IMS bearing addressed sooner than later, best get into the clutch early. In addition to that, the last thing I'd want is to have to add a new flywheel to that bill. So in the interest of risk mitigation, I would err on the side of changing out the clutch sooner than later.

The car was just serviced at the dealer. They did a second 30,000 mile service. I say second because he had the 30k check done when it had 28k on it. But has then since decided to sell it. So at 31k asked them to basically go through it again so he'd know what to tell the future buyer.

DIY projects I agree are a necessity. At the very least I would need to do my own oil changes and break pads. I'm not very experience with wrenching, but I'm not at all intimidated by those two tasks. Looks fun actually.

Asking price....I think he will let it go to a friend for $7500.00. Options...IDK...cruise control, DVD w/CD changer, PW. I'm not really sure. It has the computer readout for mileage and fuel burn.

I completely agree that a PPI is required. No question!

Giller, yes you are right. 18 years old. I hate you for reminding me about that dark fact, and thank you for reminding me about that fact!!!!

Yes, it is hard to get past the fact that cosmetically the car in immaculate. It seems as though aging stopped many years ago. This is my dilemma and why I am seeking your advice on my proposal.

So yeah, daily driver. I would set aside 3k to have the clutch and IMS addressed at the end of the first 12 months and would be willing to drop about $1500 bucks each year. BUT, I don't think I have the appetite for more than that.

Thoughts?

[kk2002s]

You need to have a back up car. If this is to be your sole means of transportation, not a good idea. These cars can stop working for some pretty small stuff, for that matter, any car 18 years old can.
The parts that time kills will need some preventive replacement, Water pump, Expansion tank, AOS, fluids
At 37k the wear items are probably in good shape. This car most likely has the Dual Row IMSB, that's a good thing

As mentioned, these cars run better when they are driven regularly, and stressed from time to time

Oh and you may want to check out those radiators - It appears they are leaking pretty bad
At least you don't have to move the steering from the wrong side to the left side

[Kurt V]

If that car looks as good inside as outside, and he can provide proof of the "second" 30K inspection done at the dealer, I'd buy that car in a second at $7500 and drive the crap out of it. Unless the owner just lets the car sit for months at a time, I bet the seals are just fine. As for the clutch and IMS, that clutch probably has another 30k miles left to go, if not more. As the car is a '97, with the dual row ISM, I'd just drive as is and enjoy.

As an aside, I don't care for the chrome wheels, but that is just me.

[BoomerRoadie]

Hello,

Yes it looks as good inside as it does on the outside. And yes he showed me the 30K check. It was a page and a half of stuff they look at. I honestly did not look at the details at the time. Regardless, I'd do a PPI. The mechanic that I was referred to said that will cost $120.00 for the PPI. I told the mechanic my plan would be to drive it for a year and then replace the clutch/IMS/RMS. He agreed that was a good plan and suggested that I NOT WAIT for the clutch to start slipping as that is a better indicator that the flywheel will either need machining or worse yet, replacement. Best NOT mix a flywheel bill with an IMS/RMS rework job. I'm fine with that. The only other thing he said that should be done immediately is replace the water pump ($750.00) unless it was recently replaced. He strongly suggested replacing the water pump as a preventative maintenance item and NEVER waiting for it to fail. Other than that, I believe it may also need brakes soon if not right away ($800.00 for 4 wheels). So, it's entirely possible on day one I could be looking at $1600.00. I don't feel comfortable changing out the brake (yet). I need to get my feet wet first. Still, $7500+$1600=$9100.00 seems somewhat reasonable even though I'd have to drop another $2500.00 on a clutch/IMS/RMS job in about a year. Now I'm up near 12K, but I've had it for a year by that point.

By no means is this cheap. Question for you all and based on your experience, does this sound like a reasonable scenario? The car is immaculate. The pictures don't do her justice. It is amazing. The only flaw is a tiny little dent in the rear wheel curve on the drivers side. You have to look for it.

I would say, this car, its history, the cost, and the required maintenance in front of me make this deal borderline acceptable, but favoring a thumbs up.

In terms of "upgrades" the only thing I'd really like to do is replace the stereo deck with something more modern and that will give bluetooth connection for phone and music. I'd really need to lose the 4-cassette hold slot!! LOL!

If the crystal ball showed me another $1000.00 in medical bills in the first 12 months, I'd regretfully have to pass. My gut is still a thumbs up.

Oh and yes I would have a backup car. My son is going to start driving and he'll take my 4Runner. In a pinch, we'll share. In reality, my wife would share. I think she'll take the Porsche from me after the first few days. I'll get to drive it and wash it on weekends. Pretty sure that's how it will roll. :ah:

Who in this forum will feel bad for me??

[BoomerRoadie]

Hi.

I responded with a reply yesterday afternoon but it did not get posted for some reason. So I posted this message and then the original one posted. So I have a bit of a double post with an edit.

I misspoke. I talked to him (the owner) last night. He had the 30k check done at 27,000 miles. He just took it to the dealer for general servicing. I had said he had a second check. That turned out just to be a dealer visit and oil change. Not sure what else the did. He's does have the paperwork for the 30k check. He also had the water pump replaced but that was a few years ago.

I don't think any of this really changes anything. The PPI is what's important at this point. Everything is kinda on hold now until March at the very soonest. He leaves town for Italy in a few days. I may have the PPI done while he's gone.

Thanks all for the help. If you can think of anything specific that I should make sure I have checked, please let me know.

[nowacuein]

So how did the story finish eventually? Are you riding / washing your Boxster on weekends now?

[professorman]

Originally Posted by nowacuein

So how did the story finish eventually? Are you riding / washing your Boxster on weekends now?

Yea, that was a pretty nice Boxster. Hope its still right side up and racking on miles.