Good buy?

[js/sj]

I am planing on purchasing a 1997 Red Boxster. The guy who currently has it lives in MI too and is very helpful. The car has 81,000 miles and is very clean. The guy bought it from a Porsche collector. He is asking $11,800 for it. Very helpful guy and he sends the pictures when i request them. Car looks like it is in perfect condition. Does this sound like a good car?

[js/sj]

Some more pics.

[Kianfar]

buy it if it's clean, price will just keep going up at least until August, early September.

[js/sj]

I was told the suspension on the 97's were horrible and you cant put bigger rims on them. Also was told the 97's had the biggest IMS failure rate. Also the highest sleeve slipping rate. So i am kinda hesitant on it. Let me know what u guys think. I will install the IMS guard soon.

[pothole]

It's correct that the 97s are not officially compatible with 18 inch rims, reinforcement for the rear came in 98.

The rest is mostly bull****************, I suspect. At 81k miles, if the IMS bearing is still good, it's probably one of the OK ones. It'll be double-row - I reckon the later single-row bearings are dodgier.

My main objection to that car is that it's a Tip. Firstly, it's a sports car, so you want stick. Secondly, the 2.5 isn't exactly a rocket ship and the Tip saps power.

Here's my guards '97 2.5 on 17s to whet the appetite:




Good luck!

[Botoxster]

I wouldn't buy a tiptronic Boxster, I think the 5 or 6 speed is about half the fun of driving the car.

IMHO, its also priced a bit high unless it has immaculate records and a lot of upgrades that you have not mentioned.

[particlewave]

I'd try to get it down to 10k since its a '97 with 81k miles and tiptronic. I paid exactly 10 for a '99 stick with 67k miles last summer from a private seller.

Thats a great looking machine and the price isn't bad if its showroom immaculate...but you could probably talk him down a bit. Dont forget to get a PPI...

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

Too much money for a '97. Look for the better cars made in Stuttgart in '98 or '99.

[Leeper]

A month ago I bought a VERY clean MY 2000 81K miles 2-owner car (he's owned it for 10 years now) here in S. Cal in excellent condition - recently had the alternator, IMS bearing, brakes, water pump, new rear window, control arms, and other items replaced at a reputable specialty shop nearby. He was meticulous on maintenance. I got it for $7900 as it need a new clutch (cost me $1400 installed). He had all receipts, its a very desirable color combo and 5-speed.

The car you're looking at is a less desirable color combo in a less desirable location, with an automatic tranny. The 97's were not thought of very highly due to pourous engine cases... bottom line is that he is asking an awful lot for that car... even 10K would be very high in my opinion.

[pothole]

Originally Posted by Leeper

The 97's were not thought of very highly due to pourous engine cases... bottom line is that he is asking an awful lot for that car... even 10K would be very high in my opinion.

This is such ancient info. And I actually think it's wrong - it's 98 through early 99 that have the porous block issues. But whatever the dates, any car now with some miles on it is not going to be one of the bad blocks.

I'd say suriving early 2.5s with their double-row bearing and very unstressed nature (modest output, relatively thick cylinder walls) are about as solid as M96 cars come. Which isn't very solid, but it's all relative.

There are lots of early 2.5s on this forum with pretty big miles.

[Aron in Toronto]

Originally Posted by js/sj

I was told the suspension on the 97's were horrible and you cant put bigger rims on them. Also was told the 97's had the biggest IMS failure rate. Also the highest sleeve slipping rate. So i am kinda hesitant on it. Let me know what u guys think. I will install the IMS guard soon.

True the 97s weren't designed to cope with the additional stresses associated with 18" wheels. This said I've been running 18" wheels on my 97 for the last 4 years w/o any ill effects, nor have I heard of any first hand problems with running larger wheels on the street. From the pics you posted it looks like either this car has 18" or aftermarket 17" wheels as this wheel style wasn't offered in 17" from the factory as OEM.

Regarding the IMS, Jake Raby has said that the 97's are among the least to be effected be failed IMS bearings.

The slipped sleeves were on the 98's and didn't affect the 97's, and honestly at this millage I doubt it's an issue anyway.

Originally Posted by Idaho Red Rocket 3

Too much money for a '97. Look for the better cars made in Stuttgart in '98 or '99.

Although I agree it's priced high for a 97, all 97's were built in Stuttgart. Starting in 98 and later roughly 90% of production moved to Finland. This said, I haven't heard any quality differences between the cars build in Germany Vs Finland.

[js/sj]

Anyone else?

[pothole]

Nice work Aron. A deft and accurate debunking.

I looked into it pretty carefully before pulling the trigger and decided that the surviving 97s are about as good as it gets, which isn't terribly good. But there you go.

[pothole]

Originally Posted by js/sj

Anyone else?

Don't think there's much more to learn.

- 97s are about as solid as you'll get.
- Example looks a bit pricey
- Think hard before you buy a Tip, especially a Tip 2.5

[Eric G]

All really good comments and issues addressed here, but at the end of the day buying any used car is a crap shoot. Might be worth the bucks to have a PPI done at a dealership but even then you still need to ask yourself, are you spending money for a solid dependable daily driver that cannot break down...or are you buying something that you can invest some time and money into should things not work out and it needs "fixing".

Good luck!

[cvhs18472]

I do think that the price is a little high but as far as the " Don't get a Tip stuff" There are a lot of very happy tip owners out there with me being one of them. As far as a desirable color combo, that would be what YOU like. Ed

[NoGaBiker]

You say he claims it's red. How do you know for sure? People can claim anything on the internet.
I'd get an independent shop to check that out before just taking his word for it.

[Drphil]

Originally Posted by js/sj

Anyone else?

fyi- last month i bought a 2000 boxster S with about $12,000 of options, 6 speed manual 60,000 miles- very very clean with not even one door ding. a few stone chips which will be the case on all of them.
I paid $12k. i looked at a lot of cars and the 97's were priced from 9-10k with options, so i think you can get a better deal. - but dont buy anything without a PPI!!
have someone in the area that is on this board or Rennlist, etc go look at it for you if you pursue. - there is another member that lost $30,000 in a scam bought a car that was not the sellers! did not verify i.d. and ownership and paid cash, now cash is gone.

good luck-
Phil

[Highlow]

Price should be closer to 9.

[Overdrive]

I feel the price is a bit high, though the car does look excellent for its age (interior in particular). That said, pictures can do amazing things, so don't buy it sight unseen.

Here's what I noticed at a quick glance:

- Yes it's a Tiptronic, and I'm in the camp of sports cars needing to be manuals, but that's strictly personal preference, not a ding. My reason for pointing this out is concern that the car doesn't get put through its paces (high rev acceleration, cruising at high revs, etc.), and these aren't really meant to be babied cars. It's already lived a fairly long life mileage-wise, but cruising at low revs has been highly suspected to cause problems for this engine. If you do buy it, be sure to drive it hard once you warm it up.

- Anyone else notice the mesh screens going on up front for the radiators? I really really hope those aren't screwed into place or something terrible like that. Don't like the look and it would be a shame if those got screwed into an otherwise well-looking bumper. See if they have the original parts on hand and find out how those are held in place. Also makes me wonder what else may have been done in places we can't readily see (makes a PPI more important).

- Speaking of things that have been changed: There are 18" twist wheels on it, which look great, but...you need to ask the seller to check the placard in the driver's door jamb and get the build date for the car (will be in the format of month/year, i.e. 10/97 for Oct. 1997.). If it was built in 1996 or early 1997, you can be assured that it falls into that category of 97s that can be stressed by 18" wheels. If it was built in late '97 it may have the updates that were made for the 98 model year onward and be safe, though there's no guarantee of that.

EDIT: Wait a sec, am I going crazy here? I thought you had already made a purschae, js/sj...?