Would You Buy a Car That Has Been Tracked?

[thstone]

Would you buy a used Boxster (stock and good condition) where the owner openly admitted to taking the car to the track occasionally (2-3 times a year) for DE's?

[Eric G]

My car when purchased was disclosed as having been driven on the track and on spirited drives in our region. Based on my inspection of the engine, fluids, body structure (frame, wheels, panels and interior) and the quality of the test drive (70 miles) I had no problem purchasing my car.

Note: I had every intention of going through this car and returning it to as close to new as I could and I simply wanted to make sure I had strong bones to work with. If this was to have been a car that I take and drive as is with no real in depth work...no, I would not have purchased it.

[Perfectlap]

Nope. For the simple fact that there are a metric ton of garage queens out there with just enough miles to still be solid.

Now if there were a shortage of water-cooled Porsches (hypothetically), I'd really have to know the mechanic or shop that worked on the car.

If we were talking GT3's, that's a different story altogether. Over heating ( and head-cracking?) on "street engine" Porsches would be a concern for me. Point being If the stints are too long it makes me wonder, unlike GT3's, the street versions of all water-cooled Porsches engines will run very close to the limit. So a leak down/compression would be a critical PPI point.

[ekam]

Better than buying a car that sits.

[healthservices]

As long as the car did not do any serious off roading (spun off) and is well taken care of... no problem

[Topless]

If I knew the car's history and it was immaculately serviced and maintained? Absolutely. No better car than one that has had all the bugs worked out and every fluid, nut and bolt has been checked and replaced before it was needed.

A tracked car that has been neglected or abused, leaks fluids, burns oil, feels loose on the road due to deferred maintenance? No thanks.

[rp17]

No over revs. That can be a serious problem if happened on the track. Not a unreasonable amount of road chips. Suspension etc all in good shape. Fluids changes done like the brakes. Then I might consider. Tracked cars are usually well taken care of.

[pharaohjb]

I would wager that most cars that are tracked are better maintained than those that aren't. It's simply unsafe to have a poorly maintained car out on the racetrack, and many if not all PCA regions require a "mini-PPI" every year before they let you come out to a DE. Performance issues are also likewise dealt with promptly, as they will cause slower laptimes.

Yes, they're probably run harder than the average garage queen, but with a proper PPI, there's really no reason to not buy one, IMO.