I am being given a 2002 Boxster S that has been sitting for 8 years....

[Geof3]

Buy the Bentley Shop Manual, and possibly the 101 Boxster Projects book avail right here on Pelican. If it were me I would take all the engine panels off (2) looking for anything obvious, make sure the radiators are clear and clean and no critters have found their way into anything, then do as mentioned in the other posts above. You didn’t mention manual or Tip, operate the clutch a few times if manual to see how it feels and move the gear shift through the range to see if smooth. If the engine starts it may sound like a rattle can for a few seconds and might possibly tick for a bit as well. I would then check the operation of all of the electronics. The rubber bits, suspension etc is all the easy, probably given, stuff. With these cars it’s the fluids and particularly the electronics that are potentially vulnerable to sitting around. If everything works as it should, change the fluids and take it out for a bit. They are great little cars!