Boxster S with a Salvage Title
 

Hello,

I am new to the Porsche world, looking to buy my first Porsche.
I found a 2001 Boxster S with 75k miles that I like with a salvage title. The owner is asking 11.5k. I probably can get him down another 1k. The car was salvaged because of theft. Apparently, the top was cut into, and they had to replace the whole top.

Just wanted to get an opinion on what you guys think of buying a car with a salvaged title. The car seems to be in very good condition, obviously i would have a ppi done on the car. Do you think this car is priced right? Ive seen Boxster S here in Cali listed for $15k-20k.

Would I have a problems registering this car, or putting full insurance coverage on the car.?
Thanks.

I think you are answering your own questions...

I can't imagine a damaged top would cause the car to have a salvage title (less than 6% of the vehicle value?); must be more to the story.

Kind of reminds me of one of those carfax ads where the car was underwater in a flood and the ad reads "new interior".

There's going to be more to that story than you are hearing today. I wouldn't touch it.

The rule of thumb here in KS is a car with a salvage title usually brings about 1/2 normal value. If you could get it for under 10k, you'd probably be doing ok. Keep in mind though, you WILL have a hard time selling it and forget about ever being able to trade it in. Also, I don't know the Cali laws or insurance policies. I have a friend with a salvage titled car that they use as a beater. His insurance company would not put full coverage ins. on it. Have you done a carfax on it? Sometimes they'll give details of an accident or damage.

good luck
sean

If you do your due diligence and it checks out to your satisfaction, you better then consider how long you plan to keep this particular car. If you can't keep it for 4 yrs, for whatever reason, you better pass. Trying to resell a salvage title car shortly after you purchase it will be impossible unless you want to take a huge bath. Prospective buyers will wonder why you're selling it so soon and will probably shy away figuring there's something wrong with it (even if there's nothing wrong). If you plan to keep it for a while and it checks out OK, then there's no reason not to buy it.

However, it's still a buyer's mkt and you should be able to find some lower mileage, clean titled cars for an additional $5-6K. You don't have to buy the first one you see. Boxsters aren't rare.

Good luck with your pursuit.

Is Tennessee an area to beware of "flood" cars? I saw an '06S, 30K miles, adv. for $32.500. That seem a bit too low to be true.

If you decide to go with the S, ask the dealership that performs the PPI to check for signs of accident damage. If there are signs of an accident and you see a batch of new suspension parts on one side of the car, dont buy it.

I've heard that salge title cars have no real value. Meaning if it gets stolen, the insurance company could get away with only giving token value. I'm not sure this is true but it has kept me from even considering anything with a salvage tile - regardless of how well it may have been repaired.

The good news is that if you find a problem, Boxsters are easy and inexpensive to fix...

An eight year old Boxster with 75K miles will need work. If it was well cared for, it might still need a lot of things done (standard maintenance and repairs). An 8 year old with 75K miles with a salvage title?

Honestly, I'm not sure I'd take it if they gave it to me for free.

In my opinion, forget it.

Words of wisdom, there.

I was looking at an '01 Boxster S in New Mexico back in early February, and I had pulled up a CarFax report on it, before heading down. The report showed that there was an accident reported back in '04 on the car in Wisconsin, which was far away from the owner's state of Arizona.

The car fax report showed that after that accident, it was still used, and had various parts replaced over the following years. In fact, after the accident, it had 60k more miles added to it. So I figured that if that many more miles were added to the car, the damage must have been fixed properly.

When I actually got to see the car, it looked fine from 50 feet.
Once I got up close and personal, it went down hill from there.

The hood, the right front fender, and the passenger door were all replaced.
They took the build sticker from the hood, and badly glued it to the new replacement hood.
The door that was replaced was badly painted, and the paint was transferring off of the door on to the rubber seals.
The front bumper was not properly reinstalled, and was drooping more on the right side of the car than on the left.

Then I actually took the car for a test drive.
To say that the car was in poor shape would be kind.

The shifter was sloppy, and it popped out of gear several times when my friend was driving it.
The top screached and screamed as you opened it, and I was afraid it was going to break during the test drive.
The steering was crap, and off center, and extremely heavy.
The brake pads were recently replaced, but they must have been the cheapest pieces of crap they could find, because the brakes felt like they did absolutely nothing when I stepped on the brakes.
The motor mount was shot, and so was the suspension.

The only thing that felt decent on the car was the engine.

Between the damage, and the over all condition of the car, I put an entry into the CarFax report for that car. Someone has bought that POS, unfortunately. Oddly enough, the other two Boxster's on their lot are still there, unsold. One had a mostly dead battery, and they refused to charge the battery so that I could take a look at the car. The other one was a tiptronic, and I wasn't interested in an auto.

So yes, always look for damage on cars you are buying, new or used.
You never know what happened to that car before it got to that car lot.

BC.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

:barf:

If it checks out and you can save a few $$$ and are going to keep it for a while go for it ,I did ,I bought a salvage title 98 box three summers ago and have had great luck with it ,and here in MN if a car is ten years or older they clear the salvage off the title so now it reads clear

In this economy, you can find a NON Salvaged 01 S around the same price, mileage. This is too steep of a price. It is a buyers market out there, take time and research

It will bite you in the end
 

Salvage general means that this was rebuilt from a major hit. It cost to much to repair compared to the wholesale cost the insurance company is going to pay. Plus a little extra for low miles, how clean it is, etc. A fix it guy buys it a special auction for parts or rebuilders. Basically you just don't know how it is going to do over time after the repair. Bought cars like this and rebuilt them and sold em at auction or private owners who wanted a low mileage car at very good price.

The unibody design of the Box seems to disinvite a damage based rebuild.

I have bought salvage vehicles and have reconstructed them, but I usually bought cars that were totaled due to engine or interior fires.

I have done a couple of flood cars one of which I drove for years.

Stay away from cars with unibody damage. Fenders and bumper skins are no big deal.

I picked up my 2000 boxster s for 12k. Clean title and runs great except grinding in 2nd gear occasionally. You can find a better deal. I wouldn't go for salvage. It will most likely cause big hassles down the road.

In my opinion, if you are under a budget I suggest getting a regular Boxster (not an S) with a good clean title. You will get 95% of the fun, and without all the worry of having a car that might have a million things wrong with it.

Do that PPI and check if there are major issues, my dad got a salvaged Nissan Altima years back, and it's had so many problems with it I could almost call it a Mini Cooper.

Caveat emptor !!!