One Lucky Boy

[rexcramer]

I just purchased a 1997 986 with 16,000 miles on it. It has a Tip trans and after market wheels. I also received two covers and the factory hardtop. All for the paltry sum of $11K. I feel like I won the lottery or something akin to it. I think the gentleman I bought it from was having trouble selling it because of the Tiptronic. I had to take the low miles over the 5/6 speed manual. This thing is almost show room perfect.

It only has a couple of issues that need addressing. First, the driver side window doesn't retract/return like it should when open/closing. Second, the passenger side mirror doesn't adjust. According to the YouTube and Pelican vids/pics I have viewed these look like fairly straight forward repairs. I have the Bentley manual on order and am looking forward to setting things right.

Thank-you to everybody involved with this forum. What a resource. I always imagined how nice this car handled. Now I know firsthand.

[CHRISP357]

Very nice, congratulations!

[78F350]

Welcome to the Forum and congrats on a beautiful Low miles 97!


Be sure to check over any items that degrade with age rather than miles. Some have probably been replaced already. Tires, belt, brake hoses, fluids, water pump, and coolant expansion tank cap are a few that come to mind.

[itsnotanova]

Lucky you! When it comes to those two things not working. It's not like they would be worn out from use on such a low mile car. I'm thinking the electrical contacts might have a slight layer of dust or slight corrosion on them. I would keep moving those pieces around and it might start making contact again. Or you might have to clean off the contacts manually.

[BIGJake111]

The car looks clean! Don't fret about the tip, it's great for an auto, particularly for its time and I think they hold up well too.

Enjoy driving and getting those miles up! That's a very low mile car.

[BruceH]

Congrats on a great find and welcome to the forum Now, how many times a day do you look outside just to look at it?

[RandallNeighbour]

Do you have any records on the car? Or, can you visit with the previous owner about the repairs made to the car? Not to rain on your parade, but the first model year Boxster was not bullet proof...

I too have a 1997 and many of them from that model year had the motor replaced for one reason or another.

Other stuff that all 97's had to have changed out were:
- Coolant overflow tank (crappy plastic cracked easily). Pull up carpet and wood under carpet in trunk to see if there's any coolant old or new found there. If you find coolant, replace it.

- Top transmission cables. The original ones had no reinforcement inside the black plastic sheath and stretched in heat conditions and disabled part of the top and messed everything up. To check yours, open the top half way and look for a black cable running from the back of the center where the motor is found and look a the cable... it should have a diamond pattern on it which is reinforcement (done under warranty in 98 or 99 I believe). If you see no diamond pattern, replace both of these cables to prevent a very expensive top issue.

There are probably other issues, but these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

Like I said, I'm not trying to make you feel bad about a wonderful purchase of a beautiful garage queen, but I'd rather you know these things up front instead of finding out one day when something goes really bad for you and you're caught unaware.

[rexcramer]

Thanks for the suggestions. So far everything visible looks to be in good shape.

[rexcramer]

Thanks for the notes. I think I may pull the door panel off and give the switches a shot of electrical contact cleaner and verify their integrity. It looks pretty straight forward.

[rexcramer]

I am pleasantly surprised how fast it shifts in the manual mode via the steering wheel switches. It will take some time to get adjusted to it properly. Thanks

[rexcramer]

Thank you and several.

[rexcramer]

Thank you and I appreciate your frankness. I have little to zero documents on the car. But I know where he had his work done. I am planning on a shop visit to initiate a relationship with his mechanic.
I did inspect the trunk prior to purchase and it was dry. I will check the trans cables this weekend.