Build vs buy, which will make me less poor?

[elgyqc]

I think your analysis of the two camps is right on. I’d just add that at your budget point you will never find a car that isn’t going to need some work immediately or soon. With a 20+ year old car things wear out.

[Nickanator8]

Originally Posted by elgyqc

I think your analysis of the two camps is right on. I’d just add that at your budget point you will never find a car that isn’t going to need some work immediately or soon. With a 20+ year old car things wear out.

This comment right here about my budget basically requiring dealing with some jankyness is why I've struggled with the idea of going to the top of my price range for just the base car.

The blue Boxster that I previously posted a list of everything wrong with it just had its price reduced, so I think I'm going to pull the trigger on it. I've gotten the blessing of my partner, but unfortunately, I simply do not have time to buy it this week as we are attending a wedding this weekend and into Monday. Hopefully, I can find time in the middle of next week to buy the car and roll the dice.

I'm still a bit wary of all the body damage that needs attending to, but maybe that will just give me a lot of "content" for a YouTube channel.

Wish me luck! I hope to report back with pictures of my new project by this time next week.

If I did go the route of documenting the build on YouTube, are there any rules against self-promotion here?

[Nickanator8]

Gentlemen, I've officially joined your cult.

Last night I went and looked at the blue, 2000 Boxster S for the second time. After another test drive and brief negotiation, I signed the paperwork and now am $5,000 poorer, but one Porsche richer.

Now comes the "fun" part. I'm going to operate under the assumption that this car needs every service item done until proven otherwise. I'll post some pics and specific issues soon but right off the bat what are the things that should be at the top of my list to get the car on a solid mechanical baseline?

Obviously an oil change is needed, and transmission fluid is probably worth doing as well, but what else should I make a priority to take care of straight away?

Here is my list so far
Engine oil
Engine oil filter
Brake fluid
Engine air intake filter
Cabin pollen filter
Spark plugs
Drive belt
Fuel filter
Clean throttle body
Automatic transmission fluid
Water pump
Air oil separator
Brake rotors
Brake pads

The car has 160k on the clock, what am I missing?

[Gilles]

Congratulations on your new ride! but you forgot the pictures..?

If you are replacing the AOS (air-oil separator), I would like to suggest that you order and change the plastic 'accordion' hoses (that attach to the AOS) as well, as by now, these would be very brittle..

[mikefocke]

Alignment, tire tread depth measurement, tires date inspection, inflation check on all 5 tires, tool kit completeness examination.

[tcoradeschi]

Looks like a pretty comprehensive list to me. Did the car come with any service records? Some of what you’re listing - oil & filter, for instance - would not make sense to spend time and energy on, if it was done recently.

[Nickanator8]

So I originally posted some pics but they were HUGE! Here is a link to the Imgur album instead: https://imgur.com/a/jTHw5pq

The car came with no service history, and honestly even if it had I would still want to do all of the basic fluid changes just to reset everything to a known date.

More updates are on their way!

[Nickanator8]

Ok guys, I've driven the car around a bit and I have some new issues that need to be addressed beyond what I've already mentioned.

Sometimes, the 4th gear light and drive light on the dashboard will flash in an alternating pattern. I've found another thread here that discusses the issue but I'm not quite sure what the best course of action is to address it, or if it is even an issue at all.

The fuel gauge only goes up to about half full. I bought it with a basically empty tank, put 14.5 gallons in, and the needle is only showing about half a tank. It's not a major issue as it clearly works fine on the part of the half that matters, but still something I would want to address.

On startup there seems to be a bit of white smoke that comes out of the exhaust. It only happens right at the beginning of starting up the car and dissipates quickly. I have not done any research on this issue yet but plan on doing so soon.

There seems to be an occasional fuel smell on startup or on shutoff, again, I haven't really dug into this issue much yet and it seems intermittent. I'm not seeing any obvious leaks under the car so that's nice.

Finally, I gave the car a wash and it actually looks really good for the age, and way better than I thought it would. It turns out that much of what I thought was hail damage, scratches, or scrapes was just dust and debris! The body is not free of issues though, as every single panel has some kind of paint damage. It's mostly rock chips and from 5-10 feet it looks fine, especially with a fresh coat of wax. Not a show car by any means, but I think the guy who sold it to me could have asked for more if it had just been clean.

Last little update, the MoF is warming up to the car quite a bit. She is still concerned about the fuel smell and some of the other issues but we went on a top-down cruise during the golden hour last night at a local wildlife refuge and it was wonderful. No photos because we were mostly doing it to warm up the car and hopefully identify the fuel smell issue but we both are thinking I got a pretty damn good deal.

[78F350]

Originally Posted by Nickanator8

...Sometimes, the 4th gear light and drive light on the dashboard will flash in an alternating pattern. I've found another thread here that discusses the issue but I'm not quite sure what the best course of action is to address it, or if it is even an issue at all. ...

I have not had a serious problem with a Tiptronic, so I have not gone deep into it. I have had the flashing D-4 ('limp mode') a couple times. Once was a shift lever that had been damaged and did not position correctly to the Drive position, the other was low voltage from a weak battery. Find out what is wrong before putting a lot of miles on.

I'd recommend using a code scanner that can read transmission codes on Porsche. I use an older Autel which I like because it works on a wide variety of cars and doesn't require a computer. Foxwell seems like a popular one now and Durametric is recommended by many. I don't have a recommendation other than making sure that it can read Porsche specific modules and that it provides information that YOU can understand and use.

[Nickanator8]

I took some pictures.







Enjoy!