judd944

thinking about picking up a 2004 base boxster in tiptronic with a blown engine. 160k miles.

I figured running the car is worth what 6500? It is very much a base version with the front headlights burned badly.

is this car just destined to be parted out?
17" wheels, newer tires
silver with black interior. average interior wear.

I am planning on selling my Turbo and I was thinking it would be nice to pick up a boxster again just as a run around town car.

the roller is $2500.

flyingpenguin

I have a spare 2.7 short block lying around.. Where is the car located?

judd944

Lexington ky.

Also is a tip transmission good for 200k?

Ray S

Why are you selling the 996 Turbo?

Schnell Gelb

Based on my recent experience with a Boxster S manual 6 speed with an engine needing a rebuild- your '04 tip is probably worth way more in parts than as a roller.Sorry.
The Tips are usually cheaper unless you step up to a DFI with PDK+sport Chrono. Whatever version it is, the engines are eye-wateringly expensive to rebuild correctly.Yes, you can buy the parts for a minimum of $2000 but then there is the machining and if you need a crankshaft ............and an M96 rebuild is way beyond the average engine builder's skill level -and it is very different too !
So an '04 Tip needing a new engine is not worth much. Such a pity. Someone will say 'just throw in an EBay used engine' & I'll tell you I doubt they have actually succeeded in doing that. Any used M96 engine needs to be carefully inspected/analysed and at least 'freshened' before it is installed in my experience. 24 modes of failure is a good search term!
There are some interesting youtube vids showing what is involved and you could always call Jake Raby :-).
Cars like the '04 Tip you found and all the Internet hysteria about IMS has depressed the value of the Boxsters that have a full service history and are running well. So I encourage prospective Boxster buyers to first look for a M96 P-Car Indie and then start looking for a really good car. Doing it the other way around can get horribly expensive ask me how ...........
Just my experience FWIW.I hope you find one -a really good one.Mine was great for a few days after I bought it !

Macster

Well, some time back I was quoted around $17K for a factory new 2.7l engine for my 02 Boxster. $27K without a core.

About that same time there were some new crate engines coming on the market by IIRC businesses like Suncoast (may have been Suncoast) at substantial discounts. Those probably didn't hang around long on the shelves, so to speak.

There is probably a salvage engine or two available. I do not know the cost.

Check out the ads in Excellence and Panorama for Porsche salvage businesses and give them a call come Monday for replacement engine prices.

You do not have to limit yourself, unless you of course want to, to a 2.7l engine. Based on my 2nd hand info from earlier MY's, you can install say an engine from a 2004 911 into your 2004 Boxster. While it is not a drop in engine swap the extra work is not I believe that much extra.

'course, you should search out a shop that has done a few of these and find out just what's involved before you place an order for the engine.

The engine has to be ordered on faith, faith that it will prove to be a viable engine. Ideally, if possible, you want to buy the engine from a business that offers some kind of warranty, so if you get the engine and a "bench" test or the initial start up once the engine is installed in the car finds the engine is just bad you can at least send it back for a refund or exchange.

I do not think it would be cost effective to pick up an engine from a salvage yard and have it gone through by a professional engine builder. While I'm sure the engine would come out of the process in far better condition than it had before, the cost would I think be prohibitive. So unless one must have this car back on the road for emotional reasons, financially it would make no sense.

Without a running engine you do not know how the car drives, you can make no real assessment of the condition of the drivetrain.

While a Tip can reach 200K miles (or more) but it probably takes periodic fluid/filter services, which many Tips do not get at all.

What generally happens is the owner drives the car blissfully unconcerned about the transmission then it starts to act up. Then a fluid service is done, probably the first one and probably long past due.

The frequent result is the Tip goes downhill even faster afterwards. Then the owner is faced with a big Tip repair bill.

However, my sources tell me there are a number of shops than can rebuild Tips. They are made by ZF and the same basic transmission is used in VW's, Audi's.

Or you could just let this roller/non-runner car go and search out a car with a running engine, so you could give the car a thorough used car check out before you buy.

It is up to you but I see no benefit to buying a non-running car just to part it out. Do you really want to be in the salvage business? Having car parts scattered about? Having the odd person show up at your house to scourge a few bucks worth of parts from the car? What about liability insurance? The mess?

If you are not going to get the car running, let the non-running roller be and search out a running car. There are a number to choose from.

judd944

I have not bought the car but a friend ended up buying it.

Looking on ebay it appears there is lots of early cars in the 5-7k range with over 100k miles so it does not appear to be worth it to save this tiptronic car.

I have 2 kids under 3 and have been buying up rental property in the area.

My weekends are spent swimming, going to bounce houses, kid's birthday parties, etc. I used to have time to work on my car and drive it to a lot of PCA events and use it as a DD to work and back.

These days I am driving the truck and if I do not pick the kids up at daycare I am heading to a property. The 7 units I have now are bringing a 25% ROI so I want to jump in and get as many as possible.
Having a paid off asset I do not have time to use does not make sense at this time, Heck I can buy it back every four years if my business model continues to scale !