[tboyer]

Welcome to the forum!

Regarding the RMS, if you can afford to fix, then fix it now, if you are comfortable with the advice your dealer gave you, then leave it alone until you get back and are able to do everything at once.

I would not drive the car with a leaking cooling system, you are asking for a flat-bed tow there. $900 for a dealer replacement w/warranty is a fair deal, I was quoted $1200 for mine. With your mileage and if you do not have a service record to state otherwise, I'd replace the water pump at the same time as the coolant tank.

Tons of people use their Boxsters as their DD, 10K is a good deal on a used 986, did you get a PPI? From the sounds of it you did not, I would have the car checked out and at least the oil changed before taking off.