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Originally Posted by Racer Boy
If it were me, I'd use a reputable independent shop, not a dealership. The indie will know a lot more about the twenty year-old Boxster than the dealer, because no one takes their twenty year-old Boxster to the dealer.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rick3000
I would highly recommend a good PPI from a good indie shop familiar with Porsches Also, IMS is not really an issue for a '99, that only became an issue in '00/'01 when Porsche "redesigned" the bearing.
If the maintenance costs are going to be a problem this may not be the car for you, the parts are not cheap, and there are certain items where you must use OEM parts or you will end up with a lot of headaches (like the coolant tank). I love my '99 and some years I spend less than $500 on just an oil change and a few small things, other years I have spent $2-3k, and that doesn't include upgrades. If you are open to DIY, you can save a lot of money and there are a ton of 986-specific guides online.
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Found a local shop today, and the owner is a master Porsche technician. Not open on Saturday's, so I will call them next week to see about the PPI and any other recommendations they may have.
Also good to hear about the 99s maybe not having as high a percentage of IMS issues.
Maintenance costs aren't the issue, I don't have a problem with ~$2K/year, and would probably have a want list as well (such as upgrading the light kit). I guess I should have somewhat of a reserve in place, since as RacerBoy said, it is a 20 year old German car, and even if I buy it for $10k, then I should expect some immediate maintenance may need to be done.
DIY I am OK with. I have never worked on much outside of my old Accord that was totaled in March. I did a lot of the normal maintenance on that - some oil changes, brakes, spark plugs, even replaced the power steering pressure line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rexcramer
The 99's IMS has a +/- 2% failure rate? You are more likely to get in an accident driving it than the IMS coming unglued. I got rear ended in March in the parking lot at work by a kid texting.
If you over think it, you won't be able to enjoy it fully. Safe = Corolla. More fun than you know what to do with = Boxster. Safe travels.
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Thanks rexcramer - you're the second person that's mentioned the 99s IMS at a low percentage. And yes, my safe daily driver is a 2011 Accord that I just got used in March, with 42K miles on it. The purchase of the Boxster would fully be for more fun that I know what do with!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikefocke
Every nice day I wish I still had my Boxster.
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Both mine were wonderfully reliable.
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Budget for some failures as the car is now 10 years older than mine and parts age as well as wear.
But take it out on the proper back roads and you'll not regret it. My wife would know I'd go to the store that was 5 miles away and not expect me back for an hour. I didn't have to take the most direct route, now did I?
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Thanks for the comments mikefocke. I can almost hear my wife calling me 30 minutes into a trip to grocery store that's 2 miles away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gelbster
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Gelbster - Thanks for the reality check! I checked those completed listings, and I would only put 3 in line as comparable with what I'm looking at. On the listings, there was a 2000S with 21K miles that went for $10K, a 2002 with 30K miles that went for "best price accepted" with an amount around $16K crossed out, and lastly, a 2001 with 42K miles that went for $12K.
I'm looking at somewhere around $9K-$10K for this '99 model with 32K miles. So I'm comfortable with the price.
Thanks again to everyone for their valuable input!