Buying a 986 - Advice Needed

[Reddy Head]

I have been reading these forums and finally decided to join. For years I've been wanting to experience the thrill of driving and owning a Porsche. Luckily for me, I am the position to buy.
My budget is 10K (11K if it's absolutely necessary)

I wanted your opinion on the route I should take. The way I see it, I can take two routes:
1. I can buy a base model at a very low price of about 6-7K and spend the rest of the money on upgrades. This would include taking preventative action and replacing the IMS, RMS, and Oil Seperators... Maybe even some aesthetic ones such as the CGT Headlight Retrofit done by ParticleWave. I have my eye on a few 97 & 98's to be exact. Two of them are one owner vehicles in arctic silver with the red leather interior and 65K miles. The other is in guards red with a tan interior and 130K miles(I can get this one for about $5,750).
2. I can get an "S" model or a very very clean base. I've seen a couple 2000's in this price range however none of them have had the IMS replaced. Specifically there is a 2002 Boxster S in arctic silver with 110K miles going for 10K, and another in guards red with 117K miles for 12K(If I can get him down to 10-11K it would be the ideal one for me as it is configured exactly how I want it).

I know the IMS failure only affected about 5% of these cars, and that a car over 40K is most likely fine at this point. This is not going to scare me away from purchasing a boxster. That being said, having those fixes done would give me peace of mind, as I'm sure most of you will agree.

PS. The reason why I'm stressing a little too much over this decision is that I live in El Paso, TX. There are no boxsters for sale within a 100mi. radius. Therefore whatever I buy, I will be driving it 400+ miles home or have to ship it(If it's below my 10-11K budget). I would hate to purchase my first Porsche and have something go wrong on the drive home... I would love to hear ya'lls thoughts.

Thank you, I appreciate the help.