New member, need some advice
 

Hey there members of the 986 forum!
My name is Agustin I’m 19 from NY and I’ve been reading along the forum for a few months now and really trying to get as much knowledge as I can about the 986 boxsters because I’d like to purchase one in the near future. I’ve never really been mechanically savvy nor am I able to drive stick but I’m hoping to change that through a 986. Ideally what I was thinking is that I would buy a 986 for parts and part it out for profit in hopes of buying my own. You guys being the knowledgeable ones do you think that it would be worth the time? And if so how difficult would the manual labor be? Thanks in advance, I hope to learn a bunch on here.

Agustin, welcome to the forum. In general, I like your idea of buying a parts car to learn from and possibly make some money. I always have a car around to take parts from, then haul the stripped skeleton away when it is picked clean. It is a great way to learn about cars and how they are put together. You can also make some money at.

Starting out with a 986 Boxster as your first project may not be the best idea though unless you have a good source of one that is easy to afford. Maybe find another more popular car for a couple hundred to start with. Learn how you are going to store it, what tools you need to have, how to actually sell the parts, and what to do with the left-over husk.

The first car I totally stripped and scrapped was a 1986 Toyota MR2 that had some frame rust. Bought for $200. Sold the engine and transmission alone for $600 and much, much more of the car once word got around the MR2 community. I still have a couple coffee cans of nuts and bolts from that car.

986 Boxsters are great cars and many of the early ones are now reaching a state where they have had a lapse of care and are starting to deteriorate. If you can catch one on the way down, that has not yet been ruined, it can be a fun and rewarding project.
:cheers:

The best advice that I can give is that all of the profit is made in the purchase price. The challenge is to buy a Boxster at a price cheap enough to be able to make a reasonable profit after parting it out. Remember, you'll most likely be competing against people who do this for a living and have certain efficiencies (advantages) at buying, disassembling, listing/selling, and shipping salvage parts. Because of their advantages, they can pay more for a car and still make a profit.

To give you some specific advice, a couple of salvage guys that I know won't pay more for a car than the resale value of the engine + transmission. Usually, selling the engine and the trans is the easiest and by using this rule, you're almost guaranteed to break even. Then everything else you sell after the engine + trans is "profit". While this sounds like a great strategy, everyone else also knows it (and a lot, lot more!) and so finding a good car priced at the value of the engine + trans can often be impossible. That is what I meant by competing against people who have advantages. That doesn't mean that it can't be done; I'm just offering a few thoughts that you will want to consider before going down this path.

In regards to "profit", I put it in quotes because whether you make a true profit depends on how you value the time that it takes to find, buy, disassemble, list each part, go back and forth with potential buyers, collect the money, and ship each part. If you value your time at $0/hr, then you'll certainly make a profit. If you value your time at $15/hr, you may struggle to make a true profit.

But if you just want to do this to generate some cash (regardless of the time investment), then it could work out and it certainly would be a great learning experience.

My other best advice to anyone is that they should do what they are most skilled at to earn money. In this way, they maximize their income potential. For example, if you know plumbing, would you work in electrical to make side money? You'd be much better off doing side work in plumbing where can be paid for your experience, knowledge, and tools that you already have. Thus, if you have other skills that have greater economic value than auto salvage, you might be better off using those skills to generate the cash you need to buy the car that you want.

With all of that being said, if you still want to do it, go for it.

Where are you going to keep the car while you strip it? If outside, will the neighbors complain about it? Will people stop by at midnight for a "5 fingered discount"? If you keep it inside, will it mean a family member's car sits outside?

Tom's advice about buying at engine + trans cost is sound. However, other part's prices have to be priced competitively and leave you with money in your pocket after paying for shipping. I have some lower control arms I haven't been able to sell for $40, when it will cost me $25 to ship somewhere. And you may go long stretches between sales. How will your neighbors or family go for having that car around for several yrs?

In addition to the great advice already given, your statements above in bold tell me a Porsche is not a good starter kit unless you get it cheap, probably have to be totaled. You need alot of high quality tools & and reserved place to work on it.

Having said all the the 986 is the funniest device ever invented by man so you are on the right track!

Along the same lines... not sure a Porsche of any sort is the best way to get your feet wet with that type of strategy. A Stone said, the 986 parts availability is pretty crazy (search EBay) and very competitive. While these cars are cars, they have a bit more of a technical nature to them as they are designed as tuned down race cars really, so a bit more advanced car experience would be helpful. My suggestion, if you want to learn some ropes on cars and dismantling... buy a Jeep or something. You can get them pretty cheap and start pulling like crazy, but keep in mind the salvage market is very difficult for any vehicle. The Boxster is a great car, but not the best learner IMO.

Agustin,

By not being mechanically savvy tells me you don't have tools. Manual labor is only a small part of the equation. You will need to factor in purchase of tools and will need to factor in distribution mailing supplies for larger items e.g. drive train, wheels, body panels, etc. Tools are not cheap and removing the drive train and other major parts will require some skills or some literature to understand how to properly remove them.

Just buy an early model (1997-1999) tiptronic so you don't have to worry about replacing clutches or IMSBs and have fun with it! :cool:

Parting out is a lot of work and could take quite some time to profit from.

There are so many 986 parts cars around that I would not bother.

A 2005 and older 986 is worth $15,000 to 4,000. If they are subject to the slightest accident they get totaled by the Insurance co.

That and major trans. or engine damage make them economically not repairable. So they get scrapped.

I have been to Los Angeles Recyclers recently and it is amazing how many Boxsters they have.......90% of their stock is Boxsters...the rest are 911s...these are the guys you will be competing with.