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Old 06-20-2007, 09:42 AM   #1
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Question I'd like advice on this 2001 Boxster S

Hi all,

First post here although I've been hanging out reading for a while. It's a great forum and I've learned a lot and seen a lot of great cars here!

I got the Porsche bug after driving them all weekend in Leipzig last August and think I might have finally found an appropriate first car. It was traded at the American side of the Wurzburg BMW dealer. It's over an hour away so I haven't laid eyes or hands on yet and I should have more details on history and options tomorrow. What I do know is it's had some paint touch up on the scratches in front, 59000 miles and was driven some in the winter. Based on Randall Neighbor's fantastic guide for newbs, I've emailed a laundry list of questions to the salespeople and anticipate an answer tomorrow. If the answers appear favorable I'll test drive it and if that goes well I'll probably ask that they have the 60000 mile service performed and count that as a quasi PPI. I'm thinking that since I'd have to perform it soon anyway, it would be out of the way for some uninterrupted summer driving and would uncover any major expensive faults that I could use to negotiate final pricing. My biggest concern so far is the rusted exhaust tips - no doubt due to winter driving and lack of good cleaning. I've bought from this dealership before and they did a good job detailing before I picked it up.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or feedback you have and thanks.

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Old 06-20-2007, 10:07 AM   #2
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How much are they asking for it? I think you can find one with less milage on it if you keep looking.
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Old 06-20-2007, 10:31 AM   #3
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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.
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Old 06-20-2007, 10:38 AM   #4
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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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Old 06-20-2007, 12:06 PM   #5
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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? .
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Old 06-20-2007, 12:34 PM   #6
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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.
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Old 06-20-2007, 12:38 PM   #7
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A PPI focuses on things differently than a scheduled service.

The PPI should be done by someone other than the dealer you are buying from. It is a knowledgeable look by an uninterested party and should give you a good idea of if you want to buy the car. The PPI should cost ~25% of the service cost.

Do I agree with doing the 30/60/90k major service just so you know where you are with everything? Yes, I did that. But after the PPI and the purchase. Costs more that way but would be a shame to do the 30k, pay 4x times for it and then find out there was a problem that would make you not want the car.

A good PPI should tell you what besides the 30k the car needs.
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Old 06-20-2007, 01:45 PM   #8
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I would look for another. Black does not age well. It requires lots of special treatment. 60K miles is not that low either. I'm not sure what the German market is these days but I've seen cars with 30-40K miles for about the price you listed.
If there are as many Boxsters for sale in DE as there are for sale in USA, take your time. Lots of good examples going up for sale every day.
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Old 06-21-2007, 01:16 AM   #9
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@mikefocke - you're right of course. I guess I was just thinking it would be sort of a PPI replacement. BTW, where are you from? I was born and raised in Hampton. I'm going to be in the east coast area the first week and a half of July.

@Perfectlap - I'm with you and I always said I'd never own another black car but since the neighbors do a good job with keeping theirs clean, I started reconsidering. I also agree it's not the best deal around but our selection is limited. I attached a scan of our local newspaper classifieds from today (www.estipes.com, electronic European edition). In addition to those 4, there are 2 at www.cars-intl.com (which is the official outlet to us for US spec models), 1 at www.usmilitarymart.com and the one I'm considering. Lots of German spec models but since the euro is at least 30% stronger than the dollar it makes them ridiculously expensive. Here's a local Porsche dealer, the site is also partly in English: www.porsche-regensburg.de. The one I'm looking at appears to have the Litronic headlights but I just noticed it has an aftermarket, I believe, exhaust so maybe it was driven hard. Anyway, if it doesn't work out there's a saleman ready to deal on a new 2007 RX-8 or I could look at a BMW.

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