Need advice

[kennedi]

Hello. I am new to the world of Porsches but am looking to procure my first Boxster. I have been reading much about it but have to admit that I am getting a bit leery about it. With all the things I read on the forums I am starting to wonder if the Boxster - or any Porsche for that matter - is going to be reliable. I'll be the first to admit that it drives like a dream but am I going to need to be rushing this thing to a dealer (the closes one is about 1.5 hours from my house) once a month?

I have been looking online at a Porsche Certified pre-owned 2004 S manual transmission with 13,200 miles on it. The dealer is asking $40K for the sweetie but I noticed in the service record that it already had the left valve cover gasket seal replaced at 2976 mile mark. Is this a sign of more problems to come or is this "normal"? The car is located 8 hours away from where I live so I would like to weed out any problems on paper first.

I am only looking a Porsche Certified because I need the extra piece of mind of having a possible RMS (or any other seal) problem be covered by the warranty. Any advice you guys could give would be very much appreciated. Sorry for asking so many questions!

R/
Kennedi

[peakpro]

Remember that most people post problems on a forum like this looking for help.

Your not going to post everyday that you car is running fine.

I don't think the gasket is an omen of more bad luck.

I think as long as its CPO'ed you should be fine. But I do think you should do better than 40K...

[Brucelee]

It is very fair to say that the Boxster is no Honda or Toyota. By that standard, these cars are fragile and require repairs at a rate much higher that the Japanese standard.

This could be said about all German cars in my mind.

Having the CPO warranty is a very good thing IMHO.

However, if you are the kind of guy who loves the Lexus experience, you will likely be disapointed with the Boxster experience. The dealers are nowhere near the Lexus way of life, so all in all, it feels like a comedown.

Having said that, we love our Boxes here. We simply don't lie about them.

PS-the valve cover gasket means nothing in my mind.

Good luck.

[super66]

woah....I believe Dr. Burton has his 987S on this board for sale at about 43K......that price may be a little steep......I would spring the extra 3K to get Dr Burton's S.....but that's just me....

Secondly, I am on year #2 of my 987.....and so far fairly bullet proof....the little problems it does have I think are more a dealer that is too sloppy to fix a car than the car not being reliable....

2 years and the only cost of ownership was my 20K mile service so far.......

[Perfectlap]

CPO is the way to go in my opinion. I lucked out and found a car with barely 10K miles in showroom condition. In 40K miles I have only had one repair that cost over $300. That's nearly as good as my previous Japanese cars. But the problem is that if something does go wrong the parts are much more expensive and the labor is not cheap either, although Japanese car labor is now well over $100 per hour at some dealers too.

That being said I think you're dealer is being way optimistic with that price tag.
This market is terrible for car sales and particularly sports cars. All these years of unsustainable leverage have bitten the banks and credit markets in the butt big time. Now its hurting car sales. A 15% cut wouldn't surprise me for that Boxster.

I would agressively pursuit this CPO car, but start your offers VERY low. There is absolutely no point in negotiating lightly when you have EVERYTHING in your favor.
They can't afford to let a four year old previous generation car just sit around and they need to get rid of all this old inventory otherwise it will hurt new sales which is where they make their real margins.
I'd take at least $6K off my initial offer just to test the waters. They will surely say no and come back with $39K or something. If they go lower than $37K you know they are feeling pain. Which means you have them right where you want them. Offer $500 more each time they say no. Even if this goes on for weeks its worth it. That car aint going anywhere. I think most people in a position to buy a luxury car now are buying new not used. Whatever happens demmand they stick to the CPO...no compromise.

[baseball]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

otherwise it will hurt new sales which is where they make their real margins.

While I agree with the rest of your analysis, dealers actually make money in this order:
1) Parts & Service (contributing over 70% of operating profit)
2) Used Car Sales (contributing over 25% of operating profit)
3) New Car Sales (contributing less than 10% of operating profit)
Source: NADA.org

Also you may find a better deal on a new car than a used one right now. In recessionary times, new car sales decrease while used car sales increase. According to Automotive News, franchised dealerships sold 675,100 used cars and trucks in January 2008, an 8.0 percent increase from the year-ago month.

If the dealer comes down substantially from 40K (which I agree is too high), make sure you're still getting the CPO. I had one dealer drop the price on a used one I was considering, only to discover he was trying to recoup his profit by dropping the CPO on me. Read the fine print and good luck.

[dj1]

I can appreciate your concern. When I was shopping last summer I became obsessed with the RMS situation after spending a lot of time on this forum. But like they say, the nature of the forum is to discuss problems, so its easy to get paranoid. I'm about as cynical as they come, but I decided to throw caution to the wind, and bought my '01 sight unseen thru the internet. Maybe I got lucky, but it's been extreme pleasure everyday since last July. I didn't get a CPO, but I bought a car that had just had a major service, and also had a long talk with the Porsche service dept...that put me at ease. Try to find a good local inde P service shop and then go for it. You won't regret it.

(by the way...an RMS service isn't the most expensive thing that can happen...so don't waste time worrying about it.)

Good luck!!

[dcporsche99]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I would have to agree with Bruce though regarding expectations. From my 2.5 years of ownership (pre-owned, now w/ over 60K and no PPI), I've had to fix quite a few things, but it comes with the territory of Porsche ownership and higher mileage. I've learned a great deal about my car and how to fix / maintain it w/c I have truly enjoyed. I have also come to appreciate what it means to get "bitten by the bug"....but, I do have to say that nothing beats the permagrin from driving one of these cars!

Just make sure you get a PPI!

Good luck!

[TorpedoZone]

But what do you do if you are negotiating the price and the salesman does this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGZxaDKmtwE

Joe