addysdady

Hi all,

I am new to rennlist and considering am my first Porsche. Currently, my weekend/summer car is a BMW Z3. As much as I love the car, I am growing a little bored of it and recently decided to look for an older 986, My wife will probably take the Z as she loves driving it and gets a lot more looks than I ever will no matter what I drive. In my search, I came across a 2005 Porsche Boxster in the same price range as the 986's that I have been looking at. The problem is that the car has 180k miles. It looks like it has half of the miles and the clutch feels strong considering it's original. The documentation doesn't show any IMS replacement so that's a concern. I have been told conflicting things. One friend said that these Boxster's will run forever if they are properly cared for. Another says that the car will most like need $4000 in service in the next year or so. The maintenance records proof that this car was well cared for.

The price of the car is $5500. I walked away once but can't get it out of my head. Any advice or opinions would be appreciated. I have been a BMW guy my whole life and have taken a number of them well past 200k miles. I haven't heard many people speak about how they have put so many miles on their Porsche but I am sure these stories exist.

Thank you. I look forward to learning here on rennlist.

storii

The mileage and IMS don't scare me. I've read a good number of stories about Porsches with crazy amount of miles and I understand that IMS is less likely affect a high mileage car. If the car is well taken care of and you like the way it looks and the options it has, why not for that price?

KBell

Let your body be the judge:
LISTEN for anything suspicious (engine, braking, shifting)
SMELL
FEEL how it steers. FEEL how it brakes.
LOOK at everything. It will have cosmetic issues.
If your guts says go for it , then maybe offer alittle lower price.
Rennlist has your back.

tomhartzell

It's worth investing in a Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI) from a dealer or independent shop or mechanic that's well-versed on the 986 Boxsters. I was considering a high-mileage (165K) Cayman S on the east coast that was very attractively priced, and offered to pay for the PPI at a local dealership. The dealership felt it needed over $14K in maintenance and repairs. If it had been in better shape, I would have bought it.

GTgears

I own a 173k mi 987.1S Cayman. I bought the car broken, and for a decent bit more than the one you are looking at. Mine had broken a valve spring, and bent a valve. Of course, even that requires a full engine rebuild. Inside the engine the thing looked like new. It had never had the IMS done, or anything else inside. I bought a new crank, on principal, did all new valves and springs, and of course bearings and seals. I consider it ready for another 175k mi. Clutch had previously been done and we didn't replace it.

My point is twofold:
1 is that at that mileage ANYTHING could happen. That is always a risk.
2 is that these are robust and durable cars.

At $5500 I would likely cast the dice and go for it. My car also looks 100k mi less than it really has.

Spyerx

For 5500 there are a lot worse cars you can buy. And these are fun cars.
Get an inspection so you know what you're getting into, and go for it. just realize it is a Porsche, they are more $ than BMW to maintain (typical labor and parts), but the upside is they tend to be a lot more reliable.
Do it!

PorscheAddict

Go for it at that price. Even if it breaks, you could part it out for a good chunk of the $5,500 investment.

addysdady

Thank you all for the vote(s) of confidence. I will be traveling for the next two weeks but I'll let you all know how it works out. Hopefully, I can make a deal before I leave. I look forward to becoming a regular!

ELUSIVE

Do it. At that price you can likely afford to fix some things that go wrong.
They are a heck of a lot of fun to drive and work on.

GT4John

I recently met a gentleman with a 911 with 270,000+ miles on it. He's expecting to put another quarter million on it before he loses his ability to drive a car. :-)

996AE

I met an attorney driving a 1964 356 he bought new after law school graduation. 930,000 miles nicely patina no accidents

Newport Beach CA

Said when he hits a million miles he been asked to be interviewed for a piece in excellence.

Not saying a Boxster has this staying power today but there are many examples of P cars running high mileage with nothing more than maintenance on wear items.

For 5k I'd gamble after a PPI to insure it doesnt have a long list of pending codes and the cam timing is so far off its a wonder its even running at all.

Spokayman

addysdady

Thank you all again for the advice, guidance, etc. I am fortunate enough that I can afford repairs and am actually quite handy myself.....Although, I have never worked on a Porsche and really HATE paying the shop. I have been away as has the seller. He returns on the 24th so hopefully a deal will be done then.

The seller has informed me that the PASM is stuck in sport mode. He explained that it doesn't effect much and isn't a concern. I am just wondering if anyone has experienced this. Is this a known issue? Is this a major concern? Is there a known fix? Again, the guidance is appreciated.

markl951

Check the VIN# against Porsche's IMS warranty database. My 987.1 Boxster is late production & is not covered because it has the updated IMS bearing design. I verified that when replacing a broken dual mass flywheel at 80K miles.

I've replaced a failed waterpump & two failed AOS valves but engine has been good otherwise. At 90K miles I switched to 5W-40 oil & change it every 4-5K miles. Oil is cheap. Car has 150K miles now.

Been thinking of trading /selling for a newer car recently but I'm having a hard time giving this car away for only $5K.

addysdady

Interesting. Where are you located? Perhaps we can have a further discussion.