Buying on Ebay

[OnFire]

A bit of a cautionary tale:

I was looking for a car that either had the IMS fix or needed a clutch I found a 2000 Boxster on eBay for $9500 that needed a clutch. I asked for a pre-purchase inspection. I got the IMS bearing, clutch done by the same shop as the PPI shop in Nor Cal. I flew in from Chicago to get the car and it's a decent quality repaint. Lots of orange peel and still had scratches and scuffs. I get 200 miles and the engine blows up. Turns out the maintenance records were fabricated by the shop and the pre-purchase inspection was poor at best. I got the engine replaced for $8,000. Plus another $2,000 to get me and the car back here. I'm in the process of trying to get it the money back from the shop. My recommendation is to buy local, get a good look at it in person before you buy it, and get a pre-purchase inspection at a factory Porsche dealership… I wish I had.