Talk me into (or out of?) A Boxster

[WolfeMacleod]

For the past few weeks, I've seen a Boxster S at a local dealership marked just a hair under $10k.
Last night I was poking around, and found the same car listed, priced dropped by $3000.
It's a 2000. 147,000 miles. I decided to inquire.

The price was dropped due to a paint vandal. What a POS. Got several of their cars... both front fenders, hood, and driver's side door. I was quoted about $3k to repaint by my favorite place.
I checked with my local Porsche dealership, and they have records of the RMS and Intermediate Shaft bearing being replaced in 2007.
Found some previous owner info inside the car, decided to give him a call..
Oil separator was done at some point, he said.

Took the car for a test drive. It seems to drive fine. The upper panel behind the seats was a little loose, thus it was fairly loud in the cabin. Lot of heat coming from there, also.
Slight ticking on startup.
Acceleration seemed fine. Maybe a slight oily smell under heavy acceleration.

Something, we don't know what it was, kept making a beeping/buzzing sound every few minutes. When it did, a red light above the CD changer came on... alarm, maybe?
Tiptronic.
Roof was operational.


Paint damage...










For $7,000, I'm awfully tempted.

[mikefocke]

Just yesterday got a letter from the local Porsche/MB dealer suggesting he will give me $7100 in trade on my '01S without really knowing the condition. Of course it is a come on. And he doesn't even know I don't have it any more. But it does give you an idea of what people think the car is worth.

A IMS done in '07? Couldn't have been since IMS kits were only first commercially available in March of 2009. RMS maybe. And it was Porsche's official position that an IMS bearing couldn't be replaced until Tony and Jake and Charles showed that it could. At that point the dealers were just swapping engines and shipping the bad ones back to Germany for rebuild. So makes it even more odd that a dealer would have done an IMS swap in '07.

You can find a better one.

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

Just yesterday got a letter from the local Porsche/MB dealer suggesting he will give me $7100 in trade on my '01S without really knowing the condition. Of course it is a come on. And he doesn't even know I don't have it any more. But it does give you an idea of what people think the car is worth.

A IMS done in '07? Couldn't have been since IMS kits were only first commercially available in March of 2009. RMS maybe.

Yep, that's what they said, that both had been done.

Maybe I'll inquire again with the dealership about that.

[DWBOX2000]

You get what you pay for? The paint would be your first issue but who knows what is next and these are not cheap to fix. I would spend more for a lower mileage cAr with a better body. 10.5 can get a nice car. Does the car have lots of receipts? I would offer maybe 4k. A good one (2000) is worth a lot more so it would give you room to get there. There is no shortage so don't rush it. I bought cheap on a 911 years ago and the whole experience was horrible. Good luck.

[bpu699]

A boxster with a 150,000 miles is a $5000 car with great paint. These things are a dime a dozen. Tons with 70,000 miles not selling for $10,000... A lot of the craigslist ads in the Midwest are begging for offers... Same cars listed for months...

[DWBOX2000]

Agree. Try auto guru.

[DWBOX2000]

Oh the cabin will get warm with a loose cover and there are all types of sounds that appear when the cover is loose that you would not hear otherwise.

[Sycolist]

Run away, don't walk. Many fine examples to be had for a good price.

JMHO...

[ghtaboma]

If it's a IMS by L&N Engineering there should be a stamp, or tag on the crankcase. With that bad paint, offer him $5000. It's a great car, especially with the Tiptronic. He may take it. Looks like someone squirted brake fluid on it. He will smoke a turd in hell for his sins!

[95avblm3]

Wolfe,

I would keep looking.

I did and found what I think is a pretty good car that I got for a good deal.

I bought a 2001 Base in February for average 944 money. It has ice cold air, good paint and body, really good interior and runs and drives well with good mechanical appearance. We wanted something to go do PCA stuff while working on a 911 project. I test drove several cars from ~$5k-$12k and found everything from a complete POS to really nice cars. The one we bought has little in the way of recorded maintenance history but showed evidence of recent maintenance. I rolled the dice on IMS & RMS as the car had ~100k miles and I negotiated the price such that should the engine grenade, I'm not at a big loss. Plus, while the IMS is a real problem, the interwebs makes it sound like every car is going to fail.

I would recommend buying from a private party and negotiate a price such that failure of the IMS wouldn't result in a significant financial loss if you had to part out or otherwise write the car off. While the LN and other solutions seem to be good, they are only as good as their installation and barring any documentation of who actually did such work, I would treat as if it hadn't been done and as said above, would negotiate the price accordingly.

Then, drive the hell out of it and have a blast. I love ours and it is serving the purpose intended, which is to participate in PCA social events and hopefully soon introduce my wife to either auto-x or DE events.

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by bpu699

A boxster with a 150,000 miles is a $5000 car with great paint. These things are a dime a dozen.

Thanks for that. By the way, the dealership said if you could find him 10 of those at that price, he'd buy them all at $6,000 today.

I'd rather have a stick. anyways.

Think I'll keep lookin

[bpu699]

Originally Posted by WolfeMacleod

Thanks for that. By the way, the dealership said if you could find him 10 of those at that price, he'd buy them all at $6,000 today.

I'd rather have a stick. anyways.

Think I'll keep lookin

The dealer is blowing smoke up your a**...

There are tons of cars with asking prices from the dealer for $8000 and below. Thats asking... not what they sell for...

Used Porsche Boxster - in 53126 Area - on Cars.com

And if the dealer is selling it for $8000 or less, they bought it for $3000-4000...

Maybe its a midwest thing, but there are tons of boxsters for sale for less than $10,000, with a lot less miles... And figure selling price is probably 1000-2000$ below that....

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by bpu699

The dealer is blowing smoke up your a**...

There are tons of cars with asking prices from the dealer for $8000 and below. Thats asking... not what they sell for...

Used Porsche Boxster - in 53126 Area - on Cars.com

And if the dealer is selling it for $8000 or less, they bought it for $3000-4000...

Maybe its a midwest thing, but there are tons of boxsters for sale for less than $10,000, with a lot less miles... And figure selling price is probably 1000-2000$ below that....

Whoa, I see that. Must be a Midwest thing. They're going for more around here... and not very many of them, either

[mikefocke]

Originally Posted by WolfeMacleod

Whoa, I see that. Must be a Midwest thing. They're going for more around here... and not very many of them, either

1998 porsche boxter low mile!!!

$8k asking, 78k miles, manual

[bpu699]

Originally Posted by WolfeMacleod

Whoa, I see that. Must be a Midwest thing. They're going for more around here... and not very many of them, either

The results I listed were nation wide...

Boxsters are cool cars, and I liked the 2000s we had. But the resale value is nil. One guy at the last track event said the car dealer wouldn't even take it in trade due to the ims bearing issue.

Watch the listings, the cars are listed forever. Click on the free car fax the dealers offer. It shows when they bought the car. If it's been on the lot for 6 months, feel free to lowball...

[DWBOX2000]

The IMS issue again. We are now talking about cars (2000 for example) that are 15 years old. Pretty good chance if they made it this far, they are likely alright. I see tons of 986's around driving so they have not all gone back to the Stuggart (of Finland) in the sky. Not guaranteed, but nothing is right. When I was a 911 guy I vaguely remember serious issues with the 70's cars (thermal reactors (not sure what those are or do) and some of the 80's cars with faulty head studs. I am sure some of the 90's cars have serious issues as well. I also think some of the chatter is from those who can't get over these and the 996 being the first water cooled (excluding 944, 968, 928, 924). Somebody on here wrote that a lot of this topic is rehashed by some of those who profit by it. I bet there is some truth to it as well. From the little that I know, can't one just have their oil checked every 2.5k miles for signs and address before issue if needed. Maybe that applies to dual vs. single bearing. Either way, I worry more about an airbag light going on than I do about IMS. Just my opinion, which we know what those are like.

I wonder if I just cursed myself.

David

[Cajundaddy]

The Boxster is a lotta car for under $10k. Hold out for a sweetie. I owned mine for 10 yrs and it was my favorite car ever. Still getting to know my latest ride.

[chamilun]

Originally Posted by Cajundaddy

The Boxster is a lotta car for under $10k. Hold out for a sweetie. I owned mine for 10 yrs and it was my favorite car ever. Still getting to know my latest ride.

I agree. but get an 03 or newer, and sub 100k miles

[J P Stein]

I'm looking at Boxtsers also.
What year did they get rid of the crapola motor.....M97?
I haven' been keeping up.

[DWBOX2000]

You've just insulted probably a 1/3 of the board.