ebay ad #1847807217 boxster 4-sale

[kepperly]

hey guys i need some help advising one of my freinds on the car
listed above on ebay. its a 10k miles boxster 5spd that looks
pretty good and has a buy it now of 27k. are there any issues with the 97 boxster and at what mileage do they show up. whats the groups general opion of this particular car and any other feedback i can share with my freind.
thanks keith

[Don Plumley]

Here's a direct link to the eBay listing to make it easier.

[surflvr911sc]

If my wife decides to by a Boxster (she's been looking and test driving) it will be an "S". I believe the Boxster and the Boxster S is a lot like the 914 vs. 914/6 IMO.

[Leland Pate]

It looks to be a very nice car for the money.
That being said... "looks" can be deceiving... I'd have it checked out top to bottom...

I had to quit looking at it... for fear of actually starting to like Boxters.

[GeorgeM]

Wow, that is tempting.

Ryan, I'm with you on the "S" preference, but you're talking a big difference in cash.

If it checks out, it would be a great car for your wife.

You can't beat silver for a Boxster.

[JDaniel]

I get to drive a Boxster S every now and then, and it's a fun car. I think a lot of that "fun" quality might go away if the car had 50 less HP. More like driving around a miata...

[elbean]

A freind of mine just paid $30K for his 97, so $27K sounds pretty good. The only difference is he bought his from a dealer and has been able to take it back for minor fix's. Buying on ebay is always somewhat of a crap shoot I guess?? the market is real soft on these right now so maybe $25K would be a good buy. Also I'm not sure but I think the 97's had problems with the blocks being too porus, but were covered by warrranty. Check this board

[elbean]

A freind of mine just paid $30K for his 97, so $27K sounds pretty good. The only difference is he bought his from a dealer and has been able to take it back for minor fix's. Buying on ebay is always somewhat of a crap shoot I guess?? the market is real soft on these right now so maybe $25K would be a good buy. Also I'm not sure but I think the 97's had problems with the blocks being too porus, but were covered by warrranty. Check the board
www.986board.com for more info on boxsters.

[Zeke]

There were some issues on the early cars, particularly with the motor and the top. Do a search here on Boxster Heaven and over at Porsche Pete's BB. They didn't make an S in '97. Also, 27,000 is retail here in CA. Warranties were for 2 years on the early cars; '97-'99. If it has an extended warrnaty, great. I started out looking at '97s and '98s and got scared away.

[boyo]

It's not "rare", sliver+black is the most popular color combo...

Known Boxster issues for 1997:

1. Oil leaks, from timing chain cover and faulty parts
2. Convertible top very complicated and breaks often
3. Cracked coolant tanks
4. Not enough HP!


In 1998 they started having problems with porous engine blocks. The 97's are safe from this problem.

My '97 has 50K miles. This one hasn't been driven enough! Why?

-Boyo

[epbrown]

Tell your friend there's no excuse for buying a Boxster off of eBay! The market is flooded with cars, dealers are willing to haggle, and silver & black is the most common color scheme - there's no benefit to shopping eBay and tons more risk. He can definitely find a low mileage example for under thirty thou in Kansas, trust me.

Emanuel

[pwd72s]

ep? I agree. On any given day, the classifieds in the Portland OREGONIAN are so full of Boxter ads, I don't bother to read them when skimming the P car classifieds...definitely a car to buy locally if you think you want one...they are plentiful. (edit)...finally bothered to look at the ebay ad. And we're all supposed to assume that the building in the background is the seller's home??? Have to admit folks, my place sure doesn't look like that! On the other hand, I'm not trying to sell a pretty plain Boxter on ebay...

[s2per]

I agree about the market glut on Boxsters, esp. the '97s and '98s. However, your friend will find it to be a great little car that's a fine daily driver. I just drove my wife's from Tampa to Pittsburgh a couple of weeks ago and if it hadn't been for a 1-1/2 hour traffic jam in Charlotte, I would have made it in less than 16 hours. Comfortably. By myself. Straight through. Nice car.
BTW, we have 65,000+ miles on ours and so far (wood knocking time) the only problem was replacing the top cables a couple of months ago.

[emcon5]

Don't bother with even looking for an "S", get the earliest cheapest highest mileage one you can find, then stick a 996 engine in it.

Bolts right up

Tom

[boyo]

Or throw a TPC SuperCharger on for $5K. The warranty has already run out, so who cares?

Then bolt on the 996 engine when your pistons depart from their usual linear path.

-Boyo