'99 Boxster - 6k miles driven in last 12 years?

[Atreyu8088]

Looking at a '99 Boxster with 103k miles for $9k. Carafax is clean with 4 owners.

Here's the situation:
-2011: 95,233 miles reported when sold to 3rd owner
-2012: 99,776 miles reported during Porsche dealership service
-2023: Sold to 4th owner in private sale, odometer not reported
-2023: 103k miles on odometer today

Should I be concerned?
6k miles in 12 years... but
3k miles in 11 of those 12 years?

Car drives great with no issues. If the engine runs well, and many of the Boxster buying tips (like looking for mayonnaise in oil fill cap, clean oil, no strange noises during startup, etc.) are followed, any reason to run away from this vehicle if it was barely driven in the past 11 years?

[BruceH]

I have only driven my car 16,000 miles in the last 11 years but the oil gets changed every year, the brake fluid gets replaced, I recently replaced the engine mount, water pump and coolant tank, etc. If it has been kept up, it should be fine, just remember that it is an old car so things can and will fail.

[78F350]

I agree with BruceH. The low use in 12 years is not a big concern to me. The maintenance that it may or may not have received over those years could be an important consideration though.

I have lots of vehicles and many are driven less than 2,000 miles a year. All get an oil change at least annually regardless of miles. On a 986 with that few miles over 12 years, I'd be concerned about catching up a lot of maintenance if it wasn't documented during that time:

• Water pump
• Tires
• AOS
• Coolant tank - inspect for stress cracks and yellowing, replace if needed
• Engine & Transmission mounts
• Belt (and inspect hoses)
• Axle boots
• Fluids - Engine, transmission, and brake.
• Lube all the joints of the top mechanism.

There's more, but that would be my immediate list before putting on lots of miles. Plan to replace and repair a few things as needed in the near future due to age (window regulators, suspension parts, Oxygen sensors...)

[Keith Newby]

My 2000 Boxster has been driven approximately three thousand miles per year.
I just keep up with normal maintenance and am optimistic it will stand the test of time.
I know it's impossible to determine whether maintenance has been performed with a used car.
Perhaps I shouldn't have replied but you should know others are still driving 3k per year.

[Atreyu8088]

Thanks guys!
The seller doesn't have any records from the previous owner, so I'm thinking I'd be taking a pretty big gamble with this one. There are several other cars in my area for sale (Florida), some of them have 30k more miles but extensive records from the past five years of ownership, and so it seems there is more value in evidence of regular maintenance than the miles driven. Thanks for the advice!