I was looking for a convertible in 205. I was thinking something from 60's, maybe a Mustang. (Midlife crisis stuff.) Tough to find, good ones are big money and I really didn't want to put a big pile of cash in my garage. My pickup was closing in on 100K miles but running great. Then I realized I should buy something newer that I can enjoy whenever I want and put some of the miles on and extend the pickups life. Anyone see the price on new half-ton pickups? Ouch.
So I was searching for convertibles, under 20k, less than 45k miles. Among the sea of BMW, Merc, A4's and Mustangs a Boxster would show once and a while. I called my 911 purist friend and asked him what he thought about them. Well, it's a hairdresser's car and I will call you a gay dentist going forward...but every event I go to people love them, and to be honest, I can't keep up with a good Boxster driver in S turns, just get the IMS upgraded. So I did a lot of research, what to look for and such (thanks to all you here for a lot of good info).
Then I found one at a dealer, an 05 base with PASM. I went for a drive, in about a half mile, my search for what type of car ended, it must be a Boxster. That wasn't the right one. Shortly after I found the 04S I eventually wound up with at a PA Porsche/Merc dealer with every option I wanted. He wanted 21,600, he's nuts, but I kept watching the listing, along comes November, price drop to 18,6 Took it for a drive, did my version of the PPI on the spot myself. Told them it needed an alignment, the RMS was leaking and there is no record of the IMS being done. I made my offer, they fix the alignment and any parts required, I will take care of the RMS...sales manager comes over, I went up a bit and said hey it's November, do you really think you will find a Boxster buyer and one that wont look it over and find the blatant RMS leak, besides you are moving 6 figure cars, how long do you want this thing around?
The car was cherry, now the RMS/IMS/clutch is done, and I drive it like I stole it every chance I get and don't worry about some mega investment in a car that I am afraid to drive.