I'd like advice on this 2001 Boxster S

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Forgot to add that - $25000. Although I think I might be able to negotiate a little. Seems to be in-line with book value.

I agree there a lot better choices if I was stateside but over here in Germany there's never more than a handful of any type for sale at any one time. I could of course buy off the internet and have it shipped as some others have done but it's 50/50 if it'll arrive without damage so I'm inclined to try to stay close to home. I don't mind putting a little work into it, I just don't want to put a lot of money into it.

[spine911]

TRIPLE check for oil leaks...IMO,A higher mileage (>45k mi.)986/996 with a complete maintenace service history is better than an extremely low mileage one. RMS leaks commonly occurs within the 1st 45k miles.

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I agree with everything you said. I also asked them to check for water under the seats - indicating clogged drain, and water in the rear trunk indicating an expensive coolant resevoir crack. They're probably hoping I'll go away rather than having to answer all my questions. But hey, I'm not buying a Ford Focus am I? .

[djomlas]

looks like a nice car, hopefully everything goes and you bring it home.
as for the exhaust tip, dont worry about that. it looks just like a surface rust kinda thing, same as it happens when you wash your wheels and the rotors turn all rusty looking.
we had a thread on cleaning those, pretty simple.