Looking at buying 2002 Boxster S

[fanguy]

Have been looking for a few months. Found a 2002 S 77k miles, 6spd, asking 13k. Went to dealer yesterday as the were closed. It's a big motor group that sell, GM, Subaru, Infinity, Porsche, Volvo, Range Rover, Maserati, Audi and a few more. It was on the Cadillac lot used car as a trade in, cargurus says 68 days. Someone forgot to lock the door so I opened it all up and found the valet key in the trunk. Had a good time. Spend about an hour doing an inspection. There was also a folder from the second owner all his registrations, service orders, Tickets from when he bought oil and filters for oil change and noted miles and could compare dates. He replaced the IMS and another seal paid 2,400 2.5 years ago. and both rear tie rods another time, Disks look good, fairly new top (still w/plastic window) new floor mats. Body looks good and drive feels good. Rubber seals and tires look good. When I hit 60+ on a bumpy freeway it sounded like it was bottoming out and I raised my concern. When we got back he said what can we do to sell you this car today. I remember reading about a rear end clunking. Since the Porsche store is 50 yrds away he said what about 12,500 and we’ll fix the rear end. I said I need to think about it. Next I went to an indie shop only works on porches been in town for 30+ yrs. He took time to talk about it with me and said he would do a pre-insp for 300.00 takes at least 3 hours. Plug in scanner, drop oil sump and everything else and review all the service receipts and parts replaced. Went back to dealer and asked what was their policy was taking it to a shop for pre-insp and they said no problem and take it for the day. So tomorrow or next day insp. Called my ins guy and it would raise it $58 a month. So maybe a new Boxster in the garage.

Any thoughts?

[Gelbster]

For $13k, they need to fix everything of significance the ppi shows imho. Be careful with parts like the top. The cost of replacing it or repairing motors can be astonishing.

[kk2002s]

You seem to be going down the path that is highly recommended here (PPI from an experienced P-car shop). With the car being on the lot for that long, dealer certainly will want to work with you as your sending him the "I have to have this car" signals

BUT

77k and 14 years is right there for the preventative maintenance stuff. So even if everything checks out you may still take a bit of a hit just for piece of mind

BUT

don't let that really stop you just don't let it be a surprise

I didn't do PPI. I got 30k miles in 3 years with basic maintenance. Now I'm on a replace before it breaks roll at 88k miles with the Clutch, IMSB and RMS staring at me

[BruceH]

Sounds like you have a good handle on it. Use the PPI for further negotiations, particularly since they are also a Porsche dealer. A replaced IMS and most like the RMS is a large cost that you won't have to worry about. Let us know what happens.