Hi there everyone, first time poster. I hope this is the right subforum. I found this site a few months ago when I was shopping around for a new car. Browsing around, I noticed there are a few common problems with the Boxster but that's really no different than any other car. And after looking at a bunch of photos and performance data, I was very interested. I've owned several RX-7's and I really love those cars but I was ready for something a little newer. The '00 - '02 Boxster S seemed to fit the bill and was in my price range.
I went to see a 2000 S with 56k on it at an exotic car dealership in Greensboro, NC that specializes in Ferrari, Aston Martin, Maserati and Porsche. All I can say is wow! Not only did it feel great in terms of performance, it was just nice all around. I loved how quiet it was inside and how solid it felt. 56,000 miles was a lot but I was intoxicated by the atmosphere at the dealership and the car was exactly what I was looking for otherwise. It was the right color combination and had zero options (I like that) other than the upgraded 18" wheels. It was super clean and felt very good on the test drive. No wierd noises, good power, handling was tight, etc. It had brand new tires too. It seemed like a winner and I was getting excited.
After the drive, the sales consultant and I went back to his office to talk. Even though there were six figure cars outside, he still took his time and treated me with a lot of respect. We started to look through all of the paperwork and I was very disappointed when I found out the car had no service records whatsoever. They told me when it was traded in, they changed the oil but it didn't need anything else. They also showed me a clean carfax report but we all know how much stock we can put into those. I had read about PPI's but I didn't know anything about the area I was in and it was getting late. I was nervous and thought about walking but I was too caught up in the situation and just didn't have the will power to leave the car. I thought about how good it felt on the test drive and decided to gamble.
I drove the car for a few weeks and all was well. I thought I heard some strange noises coming from the engine area that I hadn't heard before, especially at idle, but I thought I was being paranoid so I dismissed them as normal. After spending more time with the vehicle, I also started to hear something coming from the drivetrain. At 57k, I decided to take the car in early for the 60k mile service at a reputable Porsche dealership near where I live. The next day I get a call from the service manager. He tells me that they found an RMS leak, another leak around the spark plugs(?), they wanted to replace the clutch and the front brakes because they only had about 1000 miles left. With the 60k mile service, I was looking at around $4500! Yikes...
Get a PPI!!
With that said, would I have still purchased the car even if I had gotten a PPI? Probably. Yes. Even after all this, I still feel like it was a good buy and I'm extremely happy with it. But I probably could have used the information from the PPI during the negotiation. Now I'm just looking forward to getting the car back and having the piece of mind knowing that everything is good to go. Happy Motoring everyone.
Cheers
