Few questions....PLZ HELP (updated +1 legal question)
 

Hi,
I am thinking of buying this 1997 boxster but i have few questions.

1. Dealer says its a factory AeroKit......is it?
http://images.autotrader.com/images/..._A.562x421.jpg

2. On the website it says it has side air bags....i dont see it do you?
http://images.autotrader.com/images/..._A.562x421.jpg

3. When i drove it, it felt like the car wasnt planted it was folowing every dip and bump on the road.....time for new shocks?

4. It has wood trim inside and its starting to peal, i was just wondering where i could buy new one, but not wood, just want to see the price and what im getting in to.

Thank you very much for your help

no; it's an aftermarket kit that added side skirts and winglets to the STOCK front bumper.

'97's don't have side airbags.


can't say without driving it. could be tires, shocks, alignment, etc.


junk yard. you can replace the wood trim w/ stock plastic for about $100

1) Bumper isnt correct for that year, Thats a boxster S bumper from a newer year but the wingets and side skirts are aftermarket

2) 1997 didnt come with side airbags... I know i own a 1997

3) Wood grain isnt that good looking, I would look for another boxster. Possibly one from a dealer that actually knows what is and isnt stock and if there are or arent side airbags. Not a good sign.

4) It can be worn tires if the car is steering into every crack or grove in the road. if the steering is really shakey on the road, could be alignment, worn shocks, and worn suspension bushings on your front and or rear track arms especially if theres alot of chattering in the suspension.

FYI, look under the engine for oil leaks, any oil leaks could be the dreaded Rear Main Seal leak... some people say its a factory engine defect that sometimes comes back in under 15k miles. Get a Point of Purchase Inspection of the car by your local porsche dealer before paying for the car, it costs about 235 bucks and the dealer will go through the entire car and point out anything wrong with it.

the bumper is actually a correct 1997 bumper for a tiptronic car (plus aftermarket winglets)

Ah your right, But we can agree that its not the original bumper that came with that car since its a manual... possibly an accident in its past.

very good catch, my friend. me thinks you are correct; this has been hit.

The car actualy has quite few parts replaced....updated head light, rear lights, and if it was hit it must have been a very small accident...because hood seems to be original with all the stickers....one way or another i inspected the car and it seemed very good...accept the shocks and the price was good...so its pretty much mine! my first porsche!!!! i will post pics at the end of a week when i come back to Caifornia

how many miles and how much did she cost?

Auto transmission cars had a center opening in the bumper? News to me. This is a 97 Tip without the hole.

http://imagehost.vendio.com/preview/st/stlmotorgroup1/b1porscheboxster97008.jpg

http://imagehost.vendio.com/preview/st/stlmotorgroup1/b1porscheboxster97002.jpg

Yeah how many miles and what's the asking price.

man, i could have sworn the tips had a transmission cooler up there. i checked the PET and i'm completely wrong, the atf cooler is mounted near the transmission and looks like the oil cooler. i'm totally wrong about the bumper. my bad.

I know other members have pointed out that the '97 MY did not have side airbags. But should you look at a MY that did have side-airbags as an option here is what they look like in the door. They are very obvious.
http://i17.tinypic.com/6d00qac.jpg

Get a PPI and have an expert look under the car. The front end action you describe could be something as small as bad tires or signs of a major wreck that has been restored.

Be very very careful with this car.

I only have a holding deposit on this car so far. One of the members was nice enougth and will meet with me to look at the car next week. If there will be any suspicion of accident or other problems i might drop it. But if i will get it after all i will post more info about it here. The car has about 60,000 miles so i assume RMS problem should be out of it.

Don't assume that the RMS is fine and don't buy this car without a PPI.

Having someone go to look at it is not suffficient to judge whether the car OK.

Please do a search on PPI and you will see what I am referring to.

Caveat Emptor.

It turns out that the car actualy did have an accident years ago. "Right from impact with a guardrail, Airbad deployed" But it is not Salvaged. So im just wondering would Porsche Inspection be able to tell me how bad was the damage. O and one California law question....When i asked the dealer if a car had an accident or is salvaged..he sed "no the CarFax is clean". Well its not clean, it had an accident and it is on carFax. So the dealer has small holding deposit that is "non refundable", but it was given with an impression that the car had a clean carfax! Is that against the law for dealer to lie about accident and not refund deposit? Or just too bad so sad?

It's possible that the repair could have been done by someone who knew how to D.I.Y. or maybe an insurance claim was never filed and that's why Carfax never picked it up. Try to look at the whole picture,not just going straight to the Carfax.

If the dealer says the carfax was clear but in fact, the carfax was not, you have justification that the car was mistrepresented. If you don't want the car, you could go and demand your money back with the carfax report in hand. He'll give you the deposit back. If not, take him to small claims court. There's no leg for him to stand on.

Go get your money back. If he declines to give it to you, simply tell him you will call the DMV and ask about his license status, whether he knows about the new cooling off period mandated by law in CA and the like.

That should get your money back.

DONT BUY THIS CAR! This is your final warning.

I agree with BruceLee. Don't buy this car. If the dealer lied or didn't bother to look at the carfax you don't know what else may be wrong that he doesn't know or is not telling you. Don't worry, there are plenty of Boxsters for sale.

Can the dealer inspection tell if the car's been wrecked? Maybe and maybe not. It's not always easy to tell visually and they don't have the chassis measuring facilities to check mechanically.

I would disagree with this statement.

It is fairly easy for an experienced Porsche mechanic to tell if a car had been hit, esp if they get underneath it.

Moreover, they should have done the paint with a meter which will always reveal if the car has been repainted.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW- car fax is VERY VERY poor at revealing accidents. It should NOT be used in this fashion. It is mostly useful in finding title issues and mileage issues.

Also tells you how many owners and where the car has been.

PPI is mandatory.

So I went to the dealer and told them that there is a problem with CarFax. So they thought I checked a wrong VIN. After a while they realized that they were looking the one of the CarFax reports for the car that they sold already, and the car I was going to buy did have an accident back in 2000. So immediately they sed its all up to me…. I asked for a deposit back….they gave it back without any more questions.

Im happy for you! Wrecked, just like i thought.

Now keep an eye out for boxsters, there are alot of them out there to choose from. Let us know what else you find.

I am looking for other ones now....there are a couple that i have in mind just havent seen them in person. One thing is for sure interior must be red!!

Remember that you dont see too many red interiors with silver painted peices, so if your planning on painted interior silver... it wont look so hot on a red interior.

I painted my interior silver then ocean blue like my exterior.

FYI, if you can afford it, get a boxster S with the glass rear window and clear (non-amber) headlights. I wish i did!

Good move, don't settle for any Boxster, buy the right one.

If you do a search on this forum, you will find a ton of tips on how to buy smart.
Good luck.

Heres one, they are cheaper to buy outside of summer, and cheapest during the winter.

At this moment there are almost 100 Boxsters for sale on eBay. Who knows how many on the other web sites. I see you are from SoCal. I was just in LA and was amazed at how many Boxsters there were. During peak hours I think I was seeing 2 or 3 a minute. They were mostly 987's so there must be a lot of used 986's out there. I went by 2 dealers right next door to each other on LaCienaga and between the 2 of them they probably had 60 (or more) Boxsters. I am convinced that LA is Boxster heaven. Remember-there is always another one right around the corner. A car like this is a major investment. Take your time and you will be glad you did.

It's nearly impossible to tell the difference between well repaired accident and a simple repaint. If it's well done, you definitely can't tell by a simple visual inspection.

Re-read what I wrote. If you look underneath the car, the damage repair is fairly obvious. I know, I have been under quite a few with the mechanic showing me what to look for.

Re: the paint, you need a meter to really tell. I said that too!

I disagree. I've seen some incredible damage repairs.

the aero kit (front scoop things and side skirts) is actually a Tech Art type I (or copy of said kit) added to a stock boxster S front...