I am instilled with confidence about buying a Boxster

[nasomi]

Thanks for your replies. I'm not sure what the IMS is though. I'm pretty mechanically minded but I don't think I've heard the term. Also, PPI is Point to Point Inspection?

In my head at the moment is a C5 vette, audi tt, and 986 boxster, all in the 20k range for the bells and whistles. The audi, a bit more consumer-ish, with it's practical awd, makes good power and handles well. The vette goes with the mentality of an all american garage queen, and the guy that couldn't afford a porsche. The Boxster goes with the poor man's porsche mentality, to a person who knows porsche, but over all I like hte styling, and as said, smiles per buck is extremely good.

I'm completely set on a manual transmission, but what other features should I look for that if I didn't have, I'd find out about 6 months from now and say "damn, i really wish i had that." For instance, my truck has xm radio, and it's diesel engine, my rv has hydraulic leveling jacks, which no rv should be without, and my bike has 100lb of torque. I wasn't able to find a good spec sheet of what options were offered. I did find one convertible that came with both the cloth top and hard top, which I thought would be nice. Anything else out there I should be looking for?

[blue2000s]

About once a month or so someone's first post on the board is exactly the same as yours, they thought about buying a Boxster, read the forum, got scared, and looked for comfort from current owners. It's kind of amusing.

[Lucky]

PPI = pre-purchase inspection. This is a thorough going over by a qualified Porsche mechanic looking for accident repairs and any mechanical flaws.

As far as options go, there are many and they vary by year. Big ones are xenon headlights (litronics), updated stereos, 18" & 19" wheels, and full leather.

If you share your price target, we can guide you to the best years and options that fit your budget.

[sd_boxster]

I've had my '03 for 2 years (bought it certified pre owned from a dealership with 22K miles on it) and love it more than the day I bought it. I autocross it, drive it harder than most, and maintain it rigorously, and it's been trouble-free so far.

Maybe it'll last for 100K miles, maybe it'll grenade sooner than later, but either way, it's been worth it for me. I bought a $60K car for $25K, and I figure I've gotten $1K a month in fun out of it since, so everything from here on out is gravy!

[ekam]

At least he's not asking "Can I afford a boxster for $500 a month? Ok what about $600?"

Worse case scenario, have $10k in your bank account so if the engine blows you can get another one put in.

Or just have the IMS retrofit done.

[nasomi]

I was looking in the 20k range price-wise. However I don't like to put hard numbers on things, it sometimes makes you compromise on what you want, and I'm not a big fan of compromises.

Yeah, I have to have 10k set aside at any given time in case my truck engine grenades.

So the IMS retrofit solves the weak point in the engine making it much more reliable?

[harryrcb]

I'm surprised no one mentioned to get a Boxster "S" or did I miss it. I got an 04 S 2 years ago, have over 51k on it, track it every DE session drive really hard, take it to every Auto Cross, drive really hard, I think the secret is to drive it often, change your oil and filter often at least every 5k and you should not have problems, if you are really afraid you get the IMS (intermediate shaft) bearing changed
A friend of mine has the same year S and he tracks it with me only his has nearly 100k on it without an IMS upgrade
So I say go for it, the only options really worth anything are the litronic lights and the bose speaker system IMO. then you can go crazy like me and put on every mod ever made ( I also had 2 AOS failures but finally decided to go with the motorsport AOS) so far so good.