Your opinion would be appreciated

[WhiteyII]

Your opinion would be appreciated. I just put a deposit on a 1998 Boxster with 9300 miles on it. I have not seen it in person yet but my son went and looked at it for me and said it was Perfect both in body and drivetrain/engine not one leak at all (he crawled under to look). I have read the numerous posts on the IMS bearing and believe this year had the double row bearing? As the car is in Illinois and I am in AZ, I would be driving it back to AZ. I already spoke with the current owner and asked if I could pull the filter for inspection replacing it with new and he was OK with that. I would change oils before the trip back west. What else should I be concerned with? I have read articles on Boxsters sitting developing oil leaks and am not afraid of that as I am pretty handy with a wrench being a retired CAT service tech and have always done all my own work/repairs. Thanks a lot for your thoughts, Dave

[rick3000]

Hi Dave,

You are correct a '98 will have the double row IMS that has a sub-1% failure rate. I would take the car to a Porsche mechanic for a thorough PPI before you buy it. It will be money well spent to avoid getting stranded in the middle of nowhere when you drive it halfway across the country. I would recommend performing a mini-service and changing the oil, brake fluid, and drive belt if you do decide to purchase the car. I would be very skeptical of 19 years old car car with only 9,300 miles. Any chance it has a new engine? You will likely encounter issues with things being brittle and dried out, and that assumes the seller has taken care of the car and changed the oil annually regardless of mileage. I would ask for any documentation and service history the seller can provide.

Otherwise these are great cars, and you will find a plethora of DIY information online. Good luck!

[kjc2050]

^^^What he said. Good luck and congrats!