New member from AZ - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Mossimo · 11-17-2019, 05:07 PM

Hello all,
I’m new to the forum. Initially looking for information to determine which early model Boxster I should consider. My biggest factor is price, but know that low price may mean I need to layout for common maintenance items or potentially neglect. That’s okay within reason as I am handy and actually want something with a little work needed to keep initial cost down. Car with a story or history doesn’t scare me. This will be a weekend car primarily. Manual preferred as I want to enjoy it without worrying about using it as a daily driver in rush hour. Keeping my eye out, not in a rush, waiting for the right deal/car. Max budget would be 6-7k. But those would need to be perfect and need nothing major. Let me know if you see something, in the mean time, I will thank you all in advance for the knowledge I will be soaking up while I wait to officially join the Porsche family.

Regards
M

bg305 · 11-17-2019, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mossimo

Hello all,
I’m new to the forum. Initially looking for information to determine which early model Boxster I should consider. My biggest factor is price, but know that low price may mean I need to layout for common maintenance items or potentially neglect. That’s okay within reason as I am handy and actually want something with a little work needed to keep initial cost down. Car with a story or history doesn’t scare me. This will be a weekend car primarily. Manual preferred as I want to enjoy it without worrying about using it as a daily driver in rush hour. Keeping my eye out, not in a rush, waiting for the right deal/car. Max budget would be 6-7k. But those would need to be perfect and need nothing major. Let me know if you see something, in the mean time, I will thank you all in advance for the knowledge I will be soaking up while I wait to officially join the Porsche family.

Regards
M

Hi Mossimo, welcome!
I am new myself, but spent quite a bit of time looking before i pulled the trigger a couple of months ago.

I do not know if seasonal differences in price matter in AZ as they do here in NY and also consider I don't know much about the market there in general as you read the rest.

I think you will be hard pressed to find anything other than a 986 for your price range although a 987.1 is possible, but i don't think it would be much more than a roller for that price.

986 S's start around 9-10k where i am and go up to about 15 (but that is for a super nice one). I was on a similar brain wave shopping for mine, not minding some mods / work, but overall I wanted a reasonably solid car. I ended up getting my 01 S with 50k miles for 10.5$ albeit with the knowledge it had been modded (but not mods I was opposed to), and had no service history (lots of ppl care a lot about this). I did end-up replacing the AOS within 2 weeks but to be fair I do not think the previous owner knew it was failing, it seemed to happen suddenly. Overall I was very pleased though, the body is a 8/10, no dents just really minor surface scratches (going to get a nice detail in the spring), and the carfax had no impacts at all. The mods were tastefully done (fabspeed headers / exhaust) and good quality.

986 base cars I could find running for 5k ish and drove some. They were more work than i wanted. One i found out had a tree fall on it, another had mods that were not great (one thing to look out for on these cars in drone in the exhaust, the low quality ones sound horrible, at least to my ear). They were all high (i know, not for the age) mileage as well 100k +. You could tell driving them too.

I started where you are. Thinking 5-7k weekend toy that would be fun to turn a wrench on, what I found (at least for me) is that I was only going to be turning wrenches on them and the end cost would likely be more than I wanted to spend on a meh car. After searching for some time, I finally changed my approach, went for the 10-12k$ s market (goal was under 65k mileage, which are surprisingly easy to find here) and very happy I did. I still intend to (and have already) turned a wrench on the car, but I know when i get and turn the key and everything just works that it was worth it.

Good luck with your search! Check in and let us know how it turns out!
-Brian

maytag · 11-18-2019, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mossimo

Hello all,
I’m new to the forum. Initially looking for information to determine which early model Boxster I should consider. My biggest factor is price, but know that low price may mean I need to layout for common maintenance items or potentially neglect. That’s okay within reason as I am handy and actually want something with a little work needed to keep initial cost down. Car with a story or history doesn’t scare me. This will be a weekend car primarily. Manual preferred as I want to enjoy it without worrying about using it as a daily driver in rush hour. Keeping my eye out, not in a rush, waiting for the right deal/car. Max budget would be 6-7k. But those would need to be perfect and need nothing major. Let me know if you see something, in the mean time, I will thank you all in advance for the knowledge I will be soaking up while I wait to officially join the Porsche family.

Regards
M

Welcome, Mossimo. Glad you're here.

Finding a manual in the $6k-$7k range that doesn't need a ton of deferred maintenance means you're looking for a unicorn of an early car, 2.5 or 2.7. NOT AN S. Shame that. But I understand budgets. (Hell, I understand 'em so well because I destroy budgets every day!)

In my own opinion, you'll need to be pretty handy with DIY to find the car you've described, under $7k. A $6k 986 will likely need some things to make it right.

Although, i HAVE seen a few, here and there. I pissed off a woman here in SLC on FB Marketplace one day, because I told her that the car she was selling for $8k "FIRM", was so nice that it would likely fetch closer to $11k in a more convertible-friendly market, all she needed to do was list it broader. yeah... she thought I was trying to "scam her", and started dropping F-Bombs at me, hahaha.

So yes, they're out there. But not common. You might want to watch the colder states..... look for something someone doesn't want to store for another winter.

bmaharg · 11-18-2019, 12:44 PM

I can echo what everyone else has said. I bought one (which is for sale) put tires on it, had an oil change, and air filter put in. I knew the top was manual and it needed some work, but I found that the rear struts are leaking and the AC does not work too. Its currently in the shop getting a trans fluid change and a PPI for a potential buyer so I can go with a 987, but on the flip side I am going to end up spending 3x on that then I did on my 97. Mine is for sale in the classifieds here and on PCA, I currently have someone interested, but if you are interested let me know and I will let you know if it falls through. They are supposed to decide after the PPI is completed tomorrow.