Advice on 2000 Boxster S - purchase price
 

Would appreciate any help you can offer on price - or general advice.

Looking to purchase my first Porsche. I've always admired the Boxster, and am ready to take the plunge. Found a '00 S on eBay, 25K miles, outstanding condition.

25K miles, owner has full Carfax report and full vehicle history, looks very clean. He is, however, the 3rd owner. 12 years, 25K miles. Apparently all 3 owners treated the car as a sunny day weekend toy.

No oil leaks. Air flow sensor and a wheel bearing have been replaced. Top is in great condition and window is clear. Buy It Now price is $18,300, which seems high to me. NADA does NOT reflect the car's Sport Pkg or Sport wheels, and has the value at $16,375.

I have NOT seen the car in person, but the owner's emails are well written and professional; my instinct tells me he's a good guy. If we can agree on a price, I'll visit him on Sunday with a bank check in hand.

It's October, however, and I live in Nebraska. (!) One of my first acts with the car will be to put it in storage. Sigh. From my perspective, I should pay what the car would be worth next spring.

My view is that the car is worth a bit under $16K. An opening offer would be in the 15.5 range. But, I'm a noob. I wonder what others think, and what advice you'd offer.

The car, by the way, had an alignment and oil change about a month ago.

Please let me know what you think.... thanks for your help.

Never mind... ;-)
 

Bought the car a couple of weeks ago. It's in outstanding condition, and runs great. For the record, paid $17K.

KJC, The shot with all the pamphlets is telling, only a real car enthusiast would think to keep all of them. Glad you got it we all know you will love it. Just a FYI, I don't think those wheels are from a factory sport package but rather aftermarket replacements.

Ghostrider... Thanks. He had the full service history, the window sticker, radio code card, all the manuals, and two working fobs/keys. A Porsche car cover was also included. The car is in CRAZY great condition; it clearly had been babied. His BIN price was 18.3K; he wanted 17.5, we settled at 17. I mention this only to provide information for others who are in the market.

As for the wheels, the car was originally equipped with 18" Turbo Look alloys. They were swapped for the current wheels after less than one year. The PO referred to them as Sport wheels; they aren't specifically identified on the service record, other than "Stock # 20042." ??

A happy buy is more important than anything else, the information for others is sweet too. I like the way the wheels look, I just wasn't sure you knew they weren't stock. As for winter layup, I'm day two and it's already too long, now you're in the club who babysit their toys for better weather, makes every Spring extra special though!

Looks nice.

The Ebay Boxster has 56.7K miles?

Congrats on your new baby! I know it is bad weather in Nebraska right now so I don't want to rain on your parade but…..did you get a look at the Durametric info (or a PPI) BEFORE you bought?

From personal experience I can tell you that a car CAN LOOK well taken care of but until you see what abuse the engine has seen, or how the drivers drove the car….you really do not know what you are buying. If it turns up good…you got a smokin' deal, just don't want your dreams to go up in smoke!

While records ARE a good indication of the POs aptitude, you may not know if it was raced, redlined, etc. Anyone can make a penny look good BEFORE they give it to you. The point is to KNOW what your penny has been through….only then will you know how many pennies you will end up spending, grasshopper. All our cars NEED SOMETHING DONE, that is the nature of the beast.

Most vehicles with that low of mileage, a.k.a. "Garage Queen", have hidden SNAFUs such as an IMS but don't worry - you have a ton of mileage you can RACK UP FOR FREE! Fix it, drive it, enjoy the sunny days - they aren't making any more of them!

Welcome to the club! You are in the right place for everything-and then some-about your car, best to search first, as there is a lot of info here. Congrats again on your purchase!

The link is messed up. The car had a little over 25K miles on it.

PPI, yes. I am sufficiently paranoid about the IMS, however... I'll probably have it done by Porsche of Omaha at some point.

scuse my French but eff them! They accepted an offer from me then sold the car out from under me before we exchanged funds on a date both of us agreed upon. THEN two weeks after I had my Spyder they called me to ask to reconstitute the deal as the guy they negotiatied with didn't like it, every now and then someone gets their just desserts.

@kjc2050 - Do the IMS yourself…or the Ghost will get'cha!

Seriously, if you are somewhat mechanically inclinated(?), even if you cannot spell, you can most-likely do the job AFTER A FEW MINOR REPAIRS, to get you started! It is good THERAPY! Besides, I know a guy you had trouble cleaning a throttle body that was able to do a clutch…just by following instructions! WE ARE THAT GOOD (at instructions).

+K Ghost, on the dealer getting their desert eaten on their own greed sandwhich! Have you stopped by to show 'em YOUR NEW ride now? An' tell them how you could have been ghost-less for Halloween! All right it was a bad pun…but it's the thought that counts, right? Besides, they WOULD NOT LIKE IT and isn't that what makes the holiday 'special'?

Ghost: at first I didn't quite understand your post. You live in NY at present... but at some point you had an issue with Porsche of Omaha? Just want to clarify.

@Homeboy...

I am mechanically inclined... pulled an engine out of an old Triumph, dropped a different engine in, etc. Car actually ran. Well, actually. Have tinkered with stuff for decades. But the IMS repair (I have not looked at instructions) seems, well, huge. I guess I need to look at the kit and instructions, if they're on the web. Thanks.

If you did that with a Triumph then you can do an IMS...I did it and never wrenched a car until Dec 2011.

Ghostrider's story is sadly not uncommon.

I put a DEPOSIT on a car and had it "sold" out from under me by a dealer in Florida. A week later they called me several times because the deal fell through. I strung them along for a week acting like I was still interested even though they screwed me over. After the week told them I loved the car but because they of the crap they pulled I'd never by anything from them. (I am phasing it a bit nicer on the forum than I did to them) I ended up buying a car from the Porsche dealer in Atlanta. Very happy with that transaction.

My local dealer salesman ignored multiple requests to find the car I wanted so I went national myself. I purchased from Park Place in Texas, they were very good to me. Omaha did what a boat dealer once did to me, went for the guy with the larger offer after they had accepted mine. There is very little honor in a lot of these places, they know the likelihood of a guy in NY buying from them again is nil, so in picking someone to %&*, they decided to go for the out of state customer. I don't know exactly what happened to their deal, but like Keysguy, they came back tail in between legs asking to re- consummate the deal. It never occured to me to waste their time in punishment as keys did, however, I did enjoy telling them I bought another one and they were SOL. The Pcar dealer in Omaha should send their staff to Omaha steaks, they could learn a lot about how to treat customers and provide an outstanding purchasing experience.

+1 Ghostrider. I'm not far from Husker in Omaha. I literally talked to the owner a few years ago on a 993. I was not impressed. Aristocrat (Ass-rape-o-crat) in KC is not much better. On a positive note the dealer in Wichita (Scholfield) has been wonderful. I ended up getting my Boxster from them 4 years ago. Very pleasant experience and great service.

Hmm... I looked at both the LN Engineering site and the Pelican Parts article about the IMS. I'm just crazy enough to try something like this, but that said, can't imagine doing it with the car on jack stands. And I don't have access to a lift. Thoughts??

You said you wanted opinions.... I don't think the jack stands are that big a deal if you are very careful as you raise the car higher than normal. If you don't have a spot where it can sit on said stands all winter that's a whole different issue. If you take your time and have the good sense to stop when things are not going according to plan, you should be fine. You always have here to get info and even if things do go askew determination will win the day once you decide you will not give up until the task is complete. If the garage isn't heated get a propane bullet, I had one blowing on me all winter when I took apart my 986.

Whoaa there big fella! Easy now. Try a few 'minor' mods first. Test the water - don't jump in or you shrink up from it!

Try….

...changing the oil (are there ANY metal bits in it?)
…changing a motor mount
...change the spark plugs
…change the transmission fluid

in other words, get USED TO the car FIRST! There are a lot of things and ways of doing things on this vehicle that you may not understand, at first. Take you time…unless you here it ticking like a bomb!