Advice on first Porsche: High or Low miles?

[MidEnginelover]

Wow, good advice.

I've never owned a Porsche but I wouldn't dare consider getting one if I couldn't do all the work myself. I'm not expecting these cars to be as easy to work on as a Honda, Toyota, or Corvette, but I am up for the challenge.

Ill research how hard and how much it is to do the IMS the right way myself.

I guess I was thinking if I get one with more than a certain amount of miles is it more likely that the IMS was done.

I am also interested in these cars because I can imagine them depreciating any further, I am thinking I can buy one and after a few years sell it and get most my money back.

[78F350]

Originally Posted by MidEnginelover

... I've never owned a Porsche but I wouldn't dare consider getting one if I couldn't do all the work myself. I'm not expecting these cars to be as easy to work on as a Honda, Toyota, or Corvette, but I am up for the challenge. ...

Before buying my first Boxster, I had worked mostly on '90s and early 2000s Honda Civics, Accords, and CR-Vs. I would much rather work on a Porsche now than a Honda. Most jobs are easier once I learned the basics of the design. Having a parts car to strip really helped the learning curve too.

[thstone]

Originally Posted by MidEnginelover

... I am thinking I can buy one and after a few years sell it and get most my money back.

The only Porsche where this strategy will work is for an air-cooled 911.

On average, you will put more into a 20 yr old Boxster than you will get back at the time of re-sale. Those under $10K cars are great to own and drive, but you're almost guaranteed to have $12K+ in it by the time you list it for $8,500. The reason for most of the cost differential will be deferred maintenance of the previous owner and/or replacing worn components (like suspension). This is why a PPI is so important (so you don't over pay for a car that looks great but will need quite a bit of work to get it up to a reasonable standard of ownership).

[jmitro]

Originally Posted by thstone

but you're almost guaranteed to have $12K+ in it by the time you list it for $8,500.

or, like me, $20K
but it looks great, sounds great, drives great, and when I track, I know all the problem areas have been addressed

[MidEnginelover]

Originally Posted by jmitro

or, like me, $20K
but it looks great, sounds great, drives great, and when I track, I know all the problem areas have been addressed

Damn yall spending $12K to $20K on a 986 maintenance?!?!?!?

You got me shook, what could be broken that requires so much money? Did yall take it to the dealer?

I thought I could buy a 986 for $10K and loose $2K at most on sale, S2000 or AW11 looking good right about now.

[maytag]

Originally Posted by MidEnginelover

Damn yall spending $12K to $20K on a 986 maintenance?!?!?!?

You got me shook, what could be broken that requires so much money? Did yall take it to the dealer?

I thought I could buy a 986 for $10K and loose $2K at most on sale, S2000 or AW11 looking good right about now.

well, I suspect fro most people who've done that, it's 'cuz they caught the DISEASE..... haha.

Any 20 year old car, if you get caught-up in making things like-new, can cost you well north of those numbers. But you don't need it to be new.

I think if you took a poll here, you'd find that the maintenance costs range between about $200 and $1000 year. Someone got mad at me for saying so, recently, haha, so I'll include some outliers that say possibly as much as $2000/yr. but that's very rare.

When you egt to spending money is when you get to modifying, or going into "restoration" as opposed to maintenance. OR - Track Breakage, as is the case for me, haha.

[jmitro]

Originally Posted by maytag

well, I suspect fro most people who've done that, it's 'cuz they caught the DISEASE..... haha.

Any 20 year old car, if you get caught-up in making things like-new, can cost you well north of those numbers. But you don't need it to be new.

that describes me