Junkyard Boxster

[SiberianDVM]

Assuming you were stupid enough to buy a junkyard 1999 Boxster for almost nothing, with no history, but all the parts look present, and no visible evidence of a wreck, wouldn't you assume there is probably catastrophic engine damage?

Assuming you were stupid enough to winch it on a trailer and sneak it home without your SO seeing it and were able to hide it in a corner and cover it with a tarp, what should be your sequence of events to figure out what's wrong with it?

[JFP in PA]

Before doing anything, or moving it, I would check to see if it is a flood car, if it is, run away, quickly..........

[mikefocke]

Have title? Fail, it is a parts car.
Flood inspection. Fail, it is a parts car.
Oil filter inspection. Fail, it is a parts car.
Battery Charge.
Have key? Fail, ask again.

[SiberianDVM]

I forgot to mention that it would be used only as a Champ Car Endurance Racer.

[NormGarr87]

Chump car, go for gusto!

[BYprodriver]

Remove the oil sump cover & see what you find, also the oil filter canister.

[BOOTLEG]

I was exactly "this stupid" in acquiring my 2001 S. It is currently on jack stands with the old engine on my stand and locked (cannot rotate). Found ~ a cup of water in the cooling system and a very loose hose connection. One of the plastic spark plug tubes was melted with other signs of over heating. Nothing weird in the oil filter or sump. Replacement EBAY engine on pallet really eager to jump in the car after IMS, RMS, H2O pump, Lo-temp Tstat, & new mounts. Had lots of fun so far and learned a ton about this very cool car. Can't wait to drive it and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

[Brian in Tucson]

Originally Posted by BOOTLEG

I was exactly "this stupid" in acquiring my 2001 S. It is currently on jack stands with the old engine on my stand and locked (cannot rotate). Found ~ a cup of water in the cooling system and a very loose hose connection. One of the plastic spark plug tubes was melted with other signs of over heating. Nothing weird in the oil filter or sump. Replacement EBAY engine on pallet really eager to jump in the car after IMS, RMS, H2O pump, Lo-temp Tstat, & new mounts. Had lots of fun so far and learned a ton about this very cool car. Can't wait to drive it and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

I was able to drive my beater/boxster home at least. An 01, base, with seats that were worn down to bare metal, a shredded steering wheel, and engine that spewed coolant and smelled funny. It had had multiple episodes of getting too hot. I did pretty much the same as you, got a nice $2500 ebay engine (lo mi, factory rebuilt.)

Mine car was clearly a mistake, a real money pit. But I've got most of its problems worked out, the newer rebuilt engine runs really nice tho it does leak oil a little. It was cheap to buy, $3200, but really there is no such thing as a cheap boxster. And working on Boxsters really does give the analytic part of the brain a workout.

With interior stuff like seats, carpeting, console and radio upgrades, AND tires, And a paint job, AND an 03 top etc., I probably have close to $10 grand in it in the past year and a half. Does drive really nice, and as a retired bodger, I rather like the Tiptronic.. All the stuff I've done, I've done myself. Except for the brake light switch which I gave a neighbor some cash to install.

[Sapientoni]

There are flood cars, and then there are "flood" cars. If it "runs and drives", then you are looking at a possible mechanic or owner screw up car. Top left down in rain? Control box under drivers seat can short out and go crazy breaking top linkages, ripping wires that go from ABS to left rear sensor, damaging top operating gear boxes etc, before the box itself blows up. I know this from experience. Being able to rebuild these items "in house" I saved a couple thousand $$. Bought 2006 Boxster base for approx $5,000 all in. About $500 in required parts, some used. Drove 4,000 miles before selling at a profit. If looking an insurance site, they often have a dozen pictures, one may show the W/L (waterline). If it runs and drives, all the dash lights are functioning correctly, and you know a little bit about mechanical, go for it. Just be able to back up your enthusiasm with ability.

[Doug427]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

Before doing anything, or moving it, I would check to see if it is a flood car, if it is, run away, quickly..........

JFP,

With all due respect and deference to your extensive experience, I disagree with that statement, and I do so with first hand experience. There are "flood" cars and there are flooded cars. Here in Houston after Hurricane Harvey, we have both. What's the difference, you might ask.

What we call "flooded" cars are just that - a car that was partially or totally submerged. When dealing with one of these cars, I couldn't agree more with what JFP has to say. That car is toast, maybe good from a few parts, and that's about it. The dash and virtually all the electronics went swimming, and it'll never work properly again.

Then there are cars like the 987 Boxster S I just bought. It's a "flood" car. The difference is, this car had hardly ANY water in it at all, yet it was totaled by the insurance company. For those of you not in the Houston area, you have to understand that Harvey flooded tens of thousands of cars in a 2 day period. The scale and magnitude of the destruction is impossible to comprehend unless you were here to live through it. The insurance companies were completely, totally overwhelmed. They couldn't possibly inspect every car claim while still offering the timely claim service that people so badly needed.

As a result of that, they ended up totaling every single automotive claim that came in that mentioned water, no matter how insignificant it was. They really had no other alternative. Now fast forward to my car, and understand my car was not the only one like this, there were LOTS of similar cars out there. My 987 Boxster S (2005) got about 1", maybe 2" of water in it. That's it. The underside of the seats, all the seat motors, etc never even got wet. There is exactly ONE and only ONE electrical component in the entire car that got wet. The fuse box did NOT get wet. The dash area did NOT get wet. The single, ONLY component that got wet was the rear body control module that sits in the well under the drivers seat. It controls electrical body functions like the convertible top, the rear trunk lid release, the reverse and some other lights, etc. It does not control any engine or security features. For you 986 guys, it's basically half the immobilizer functions, and it sits in the same place in the floor as your immobilizer.

The module itself was in bad shape from getting wet, and the plugs from the harness to the module were somewhat dirty with some corrosion on them. The module was replaced with a brand new module direct from Porsche, for the whopping total of $288. I fastidiously cleaned the harness plugs that go into the module with professional electronics cleaning products, then used Deoxit Gold, which cleans and protects the terminals, and promotes good effective connection going forward. I have no doubt that the connector plugs in my car are now far superior to what they were before the water hit them, and that they will remain that way.

The car carries a salvage title, but that's fine with me. It's as good, and in fact even better than it was the day before it "flooded". I paid about 25% of what I would have paid for it the day before it "flooded". I invested a total of about $325 into it and about 4 hours of my time to get it to where it is now. It is now an absolutely flawless 2005 Boxster S with 64,000 miles on it, for a 75% discount.

Would I do it again? Absolutely, where do I sign up? When I sell it somewhere down the road, it'll be a gorgeous, strong running Boxster S with a salvage title. Will it take a value hit because of the salvage title? Of course it will. Will it be a challenge to sell because of a large number of potential buyers who won't consider a salvage car? Of course. Will I have enjoyed years of driving an awesome car for all that time at the price of a 15 year old Honda Civic? You bet I will have! And I will STILL make a considerable amount of money on it too!

The bottom line is, each case is different. If the water was a foot deep in this car, I would agree 100% with JFP. Absolutely. For one inch of water? That's not a problem at all. Now keep in mind we're talking about fresh water here. Salt water is a WHOLE 'nother story! Think about the 100's of 986/996's running around out there with replacement immobilizers in them because the front and/or rear drains clogged and wet the thing. They're basically "flood" cars too, but carry clean titles because they were repaired without an insurance claim. That's the ONLY difference. Yet they run flawlessly, year after year, mile after mile, and will continue to do so. My car, and many other "flood" cars, are no different.

Your mileage may very......

[mikefocke]

And we never heard how it turned out for the OP.