Are low mileage cars risky?

[mattluttrell]

People here (and elsewhere) tried to argue against low mileage Porsches.

I went with a 97 Boxster with 60,000 miles ($7000) with the double roller IMS bearings. Bad piston sleeves and IMS bearings were my critical concerns. Leaks and transmission wear were secondary.

Low mileage meant I could immediately perform the 60,000 maintenance (belt and transmission fluid). I also did plugs and a single coil pack.

So far I've been very happy. My car was garage kept. I did clay bar, scratch compound and Mequires 2.0 wax. It now has a mirror finish. It is my lowest mile vehicle and runs awesome.

I believe the piston sleeve issues are random but are compounded by overheating. Lower mileage told me that there were fewer chances to run low on coolant. That less intense heat odds tells me there were fewer chances for a heat disparity causing some type of separation or stress.

60,000 miles meant it was likely driven a few times a year which kept the fluids in motion.

So I have a perfect running Porsche and no leaks. I'm happy.

Sent from my ONE A2005 using Tapatalk

[bwdz]

I bought a 97 last year with 64k on it that for the past 10 years was maintained at my buddy's service station. It did not have the IMS, clutch or water pump replaced as they were not needed. Only thing besides belt was brakes and regular oil changes. I only paid $2500 for the car and sold the extra set of wheels and the hard top that it came with so it is nearly free now and I love it. Only put just over 2k on it last year and the only thing I repaired was the broken arm in the convertible top (which is one of the reasons the previous owner just want to dump it)
Bottom line is these cars are nearly 20 years old. I have no idea how anyone expects them to be "reliable" no matter what the records are. Yes, they do fine but you are buying a scratch off lotto ticket, could be a winner or not. Any car over 10 years old has old rubber, old wiring, old and brittle materials throughout and is past what it was technically designed for no matter the mileage. Having said all that and loving to tinker with my cars I own the aforementioned Boxster, a 14 year old 210k mile Audi and a 1965 Replica Austin Healey. I love tinkering and maintaining all of them. If you don't love working on cars, wait till you can afford something newer or a car that parts are a tad cheaper for. These are now in the "tinkerer" classic car category for ownership and maintenance.