[dghii]

Originally Posted by KevinH1990

The tape on the wiring is due to the failure of the biodegradable insulation that Porsche and other German manufacturers used starting in the 1990s. You can read it about it here: https://jalopnik.com/5570865/11-terrible-automotive-engineering-decisions/ and here:http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/58768-boxster-headlamp-assembly-internal-wiring.html

The repair is not too difficult, but it does require opening the headlight and replacing the offending wire.

Here's a video showing how to open up the headlight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sjOnfMHED0

Correct! I'll give the PO a partial pass on the headlight wiring. This issue essentially left me stranded on a trip when I'd stopped for gas. I couldn't get one of my headlights to work and was running out of daylight to try to figure out what was wrong.
I'm sure the next owner of my car might not understand if they ever have to dig into the lights. I used liquid electrical tape and regular electrical tape to insulate the same wires. It's been over three years now without an issue so I can't call it a kluge.

Maybe your PO just used the wrong type tape but I sure understand what they were trying to accomplish.