Used 987 buying guide - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

zeaken · 04-13-2015, 06:09 AM

I was looking into buying a used 2009 boxster s. It well optioned with PDK and it has 93k miles on it.

Are their any things I should be looking out for when going to check out this vehicle? I know it is outside of the IMS bearing debacle but cant seem to find much info about the 987 series and potential problems areas beyond the fact it sounds like the Ball joints might be headed towards the end of their lifespan?

It is a private sale vehicle. I am reaching out to the Porsche dealership where it apparently has been serviced at its whole life to get records of how it has been up kept.

SJEFFB986 · 04-13-2015, 08:17 AM

Correct, outside the IMS issue... totally redesigned and not a concern. Boxsters are robust and all the parts are meant to last a long time. As long as the previous owner took care of the car you shouldn't worry about those high miles. And sounds like the previous owner really drove the car and probably babied it! But...always get a PPI at the dealer or independent. They can look at all the parts and determine their shape. And you have history of the car which is a huge plus. Hope my two cents helps..

zeaken · 04-13-2015, 12:06 PM

It turns out the Porsche has never missed a scheduled maintenance from the dealership even after it rode out of its warranty. The dealer couldn't give me all the records without the owners permission but he did say he knew the particular vehicle well and said it was in amazing condition and I couldnt go wrong with it despite the high miles and the owner brought it in to the dealership for all of its needs.

Sounds like its a tough vehicle to say no to. Thinking If I like it I might have to say yes on the condition he release the records to me, a ppi and everything seems right.

husker boxster · 04-13-2015, 01:35 PM

Don't marry the first girl who kisses you.

Do LOTS of research on what's available. You might find something better / nicer. Have you looked at AutoTrader, ebay, major city Craiglists to compare this one to?
Better factor the miles into the price on this one as that's quite high mileage. Garage queens can have their own issues, but an ave 6 yr old Boxster should be in the 40-60K mi range.

Not that you won't get good info here, but Planet-9 is more 987 centric. Just another source for info.

Good luck with your journey.

Joe B · 04-13-2015, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by husker boxster

Don't marry the first girl who kisses you.

I did, and I'm still in love with her

(Boxster).

jacabean · 04-13-2015, 04:14 PM

nobody really knows how well Those PDK boxes are going to do long term either .

NewArt · 04-13-2015, 04:30 PM

Haha, always lots of doom and gloom to be found here. Best to do a PPI so that you know exactly what you're getting. Then bite the bullet and have fun! Hell, your transmission could drop out, a garbage truck could back into you or your cat could die of cancer! Such is life. But that's just me, but hey, I'm still livin' it!

jacabean · 04-13-2015, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewArt

Haha, always lots of doom and gloom to be found here. Best to do a PPI so that you know exactly what you're getting. Then bite the bullet and have fun! Hell, your transmission could drop out, a garbage truck could back into you or your cat could die of cancer! Such is life. But that's just me, but hey, I'm still livin' it!

Do you know what one of those transmissions cost ?

SoCalBlackbox · 04-13-2015, 07:38 PM

About $6.5k to rebuild a PDK from what I can find. Just something to think about.

Rick

zeaken · 04-14-2015, 07:18 AM

Well I have done a little more research and this appears to be the highest mileage boxster/cayman in the 2009+ bracket in the entire country regardless of transmission choice. I guess thats why its such a good price!

So it looks like I would probably be pioneering the longevity of the car for the first few years as the next closest is about 12k miles behind and running on a manual. I think that speaks well for the engine though as a manual will almost certainly be a good bit harder then auto on the engine for this particular car. This does leave the PDK in question but any modern car should be able to run about 200k and this car if taken into ownership would see a massive reduction in how fast it takes on miles.

Are their any other common Porsche boxster problems I should look out for beyond the engine and trans?

Thank you for the info you have provided so far guys!