Would you?
 

It is an 03 Boxster. In my fav color, with the options I want. 75k miles on it. He is asking $8950. I have already talked him down to $8000!!

But, the problem is in the picutres. So the question is would you buy this car at a good price, and get the body work done, or look for something else? I would have to pay someone to do the work.

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You are looking at a $3000 repair bill, easy. Probably more, depending on what the damage looks like underneath that front bumper cover where the radiators and condenser coils are.

I would probably pass on this one unless you know exactly what you're getting into. Personally, if I inspected it and found nothing more than body damage, I might pay $7k.

I'd pass. Parts are way expensive.

There might be more than just body work involved with repair. Behind the bumper are some other components like one of the condensers and one of the radiators.

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Could have bent the frame with an offset crash like that since it's not where the actual bumper is depending on angle.

To make an informed decision, you need to take it in to the dealer and get an estimate on repairing the damage and a PPI. Then you can assess whether it is a good deal or not by looking at what it will cost you to put the car on the road. You have a local Porsche dis-assembler, Nineapart, that might be a good source for used body parts. (Or, I have a bumper cover from an '03, in silver, that we could negotiate a price on.)

No offense to you guys - I know that you all know your stuff mechanically on these cars, but this isn't the US market and prices are quite a bit higher for these cars in Canada. It looks like it has the potential to be a really good deal to me, although I would be doing the work myself for the most part.

Here is a rough idea of what you are looking at. Had some free time at work today and wrote up an estimate for what I could see. Hard to be accurate with the pics but this is what I could see. I wouldn't worry about frame damage. Doesn't look to bad of a hit. It just adds up because its Porsche.

Also I know this estimate is based on a 2000 Boxster but it will get you in the neighborhood.

Edit: As others said, I would bank on some hidden damages.


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Wow!! That's awesome!! Very helpful!! Thanks.

Not a problem

Bump that price up about 20% for Canadian dollars, then add gst/pst.

PorscheBound, you are a gentleman and a scholar. Big kudos to you for that advice!

Keep in mind that a good portion of the membership will freak out at a fresh rock chip, so asking if they'd buy a rebuilder may result in tainted answers.
Porschebound has given you a very good ballpark estimate. Mark_T's advice is spot on. My advice is how comfortable are you with a rebuilder? If you've done them before and had good luck, then by all means go for it. I'm a bit concerned that you'll have to have the work done for you. Then you need to find a quality shop to do the repair and it will cost you more. If you were able to do the work, then you could cross off the labor expense and you'd save some money. And how long do you plan to keep it? The longer you keep it, the easier it will be to sell it. But keep in mind when you go to sell it that you'll have to discount it. Many buyers won't even look at it if it's had a major repair. As I stated at the beginning, Porsche owners can be very particular. If you plan to repair it and then drive it for years to come, then you don't need to consider resale, but it's wise to look down the road a few yrs.

A 2003 is a good model to buy since it has desirable options like a glass rear window and a glove box.

It would be good if you can obtain a pic with the hood open and we can see if there's obvious damage to the inner construction.

Haha thank you. Just trying to help out.

Based on preliminary etimate by PorscheBound this maybe a good deal.

However, I would check a few more areas before deciding.
1. Is there any coolant leak and is the Temp Gage reading normal while driving?
2. Does the AC work and blows cold air? If it is blowing cold air I would check this again the next day or when exchanging money/title.
3. While driving does the steering wheel pull to the left or right? Do this test when you're braking too.

BTW: PorscheBound that is truely a class act on your part. Thumbs up to you.:cheers:

I would first focus on the rest of the car. Does it check out? Then if so, what would the price for a like model be without the damage? Then add the repair cost to the price for this one. How much are you saving by repairing it?

I would bet you could get that "adequately" repaired for less than $1500 (assuming NO damage other than what is visible). Unless you are saving a lot I would not mess with it. You could spend even more on mechanical/maintenance issues so don't completely fixate on the damage aspect.

I think the going rate for an 02 with that many miles may be around $15K+ USD,

An accident of any kind regardless of repairs probably devalues it another $2K

A repair like this spells UPGRADE time to a cooler new bumper style and Projector headlights so thats about 4K of repairs/upgrade.

I'd say your OK at 8K if there are no surprises and up for getting the work done.

Still get a PPI for the mechanical aspects in any case.

I think the best deal is a cream puff that's been sheltered all it's life and seldom used. Keep looking.

Sorry if this has been covered…..check the title and car fax. If it's a restored title reduse the value by 25-33%…in case you ever want to sell it….

I had some crazy chick run a red light and rip the front end off my car. it was a little worse than that but the damage was completely cosmetic. it was around 6-7 grand including front quarter panel, hood, bumper skin, headlight and some plastic bits. plus of course paint.

You need a front quarter panel, hood, bumper, head light, bumper reinforcement, radiator, radiator fan and possibly more. You can get all of this stuff cheap on eBay in the US. The most expensive part will be painting. My worry is that the radiator was damaged then driven, then over heated, and cracked head or blown head gasket. Check the oil and coolant and make sure the colors are right. If this car was in the US I would offer $6k only if the oil and coolant were fine.

Looking at the pictures again the fact that the bumper was ripped in two and needs to be stapled leads me to believe the damage is worse than it looks. It's easy to check though, drop the bumper in less than 30 min and you'll know what you have.

You're making me want to buy a crashed boxster. I like the project.

To give you a feel for the cost of the cars in Canada. There is one in Calgary, same year and color. 30K more on the clock. Asking price is $12,800 plus a road trip. In my area I'm looking at $15,500 to $20K.
The plan is for me to keep the car for a long time. Someone asked for a pic with the lid open. Here is what they sent me.

BTW, you guys rock!!http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1396578999.jpg

Did you remove the carpeting or plastic hood latch cowl to check for frame damage?

It may just be the sprung hood, but the thing that worried me most was all the panel gaps. The service manuals have exact measurements for the gaps between panels. They are uniform and they are straight. I see gaps that get wider or narrower and I wonder how deep the damage goes. Definitely get this inspected by someone who knows what to look for on a Boxster.

And that will come with dry IMS bearings.

I was thinking the same thing too when I first looked at the pics. It might be the gaps look wide because the hood isn't latched.

And remember if you were buying all new parts, you'd run up a big bill. If you take your time and search junk yards or ebay, you can find a headlight here, a fender there, etc. Parts will cost you a lot less then. This is the point runjmc2 was making. My guess is Lobo's repair used new parts, which he should demand since it was someone else's fault. You should be able to find used parts for an 11 yr old car.

I thought the hood looked warped.

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Grease doesn't dry out.
Buy the best Porsche you can- you will never regret it. 'Best' means 'closest to new', 'needing the least amount of work'...

Well I went to see this car today. There is obviously more damage to the car than you can see in the picture. I think it jumped a curb before it struck a parked car. There is damage to the suspension and the front wheel. So the search continues.

Thanks again for the great advice!!

Look at auto trader in Los Angeles. I can't believe how many there was to choose from. Never seen salt or snow.

But can you import a US spec Boxster into Canada? There are differences in safety regs, like DRLs.

Plus, you'd have to contend with driving on the other side of the road. ;-)

You can import them. You have to pay 6.1% duty on top of the federal and provincial taxes. You have to pay a RIV fee of $200, and you have to get the DRLs and the spedo changed to Kilometers. I also heard rumor that if you can't get a recall clearence letter in the US for the car you buy, you have to pay Porsche Canada $500 to get it.
You would have to get a pretty sweet deal on a US car to make it worthwhile.

As far as the wrong side of the road, I think I could figure it out!! :-)

The main thing about buying in the US and not in Canada is not really money. It is the selection. You can find pretty much anything on the color you want, with the options you want and on a certain price/mileage you want. No way you have the same in Canada.

When I got mine I found the perfect car for me in California. Flew down there, got the car and drove it back to Ottawa, ON. 5,000km trip. Awesome trip by the way.

And yes you can import pretty much any car to Canada, especially now they took care of the stupid bumper regulations that were slightly different between the two countries.

By the way when I got mine they forgot to charge me duty so I ended up paying GST/PST only.

CR

I have noticed the same thing about the selection of cars, and have been thinking about doing the same thing!! When you brought your car back did you get the recall letter from the seller?

Nice break on the duty!!!

Thanks for the tip!! I just took a quick look and the selection is amazing!!!

As far as road-legalities go, all you have to do for DRLs is jump the heated seat fuse to the low beam fuse... search; there's a how to post here somewhere.
The main speedo doesn't need to be replaced, so long as you switch over to metric display. The digital speedo readout will be in metric and that's good enough.
Easy to DIY and not spend extra $$.

Did not get anything but did get the DRL done before and also asked the dealer in CA to simply switch the computer from imperial to metric so everything, AC included, displayed in Celsius. As of today from what I know you do not need to send the car to any dealer in Canada.
Key thing is you can get a computer printout from a dealer in the US showing no recalls, etc and then simply email RIV and they will let you know immediately if they accept that as proof. If they say yes you are good to go.
Did that for my BMW last year and they took it without any questions.
And oh yes the selection you cannot beat that. Go find one in the US. Way better deals, trust me on that.

CR