Dr Peter Venkman

Hi All- New to the forum. Please forgive me if this is the wrong forum for this post.

1) I'm married, 2 kids, mortgage, etc. I've always liked cars, but have never been a "car guy". I turn 40 next month and basically out of the blue, I've become obsessed with Porsches. Reading about different models, Rennlist, browsing classifieds, watching youtube videos of oil changes. It's kinda ridiculous. My wife said she always knew I'd own a Porsche someday so doesn't seem too concerned with it, but I'm perplexed. Am I having a midlife crisis???

2) For many reasons, a Boxster is likely the car I would get IF I were to get a Porsche. I've zeroed in on the 987 era as well. There is one at an independent dealer nearby, and it's CHEAP. It's an 05 Boxster S with 95k miles. From looking at it online, I was able to see that the dealer bought it at auction a few months ago and there is no service history for it, which isn't great, to put it mildly.

My thought was to go look at it & drive it, then if I liked it, take it to a reputable place to do a PPI. Since the car is about 100 miles away, I worked backwards, starting with finding a place to do a PPI. My thought was If that a PPI wasn't possible in that town, it wasn't even worth looking at the car. I found the place to do the PPI, which sounds very thorough (and expensive), but I figured it would be worth it if I liked the car.

With that hurdle out of the way I went to look at the car... Cosmetically, I had some more issues than I had noticed online: messed up clear coat in a spot, the top doesn't quite fold on itself right, so the cover doesn't fully close when it's down (cover sticks up about an inch), and some other stuff. I decided to drive it anyways... About 15 minutes into the drive, the check engine light came on! I drove it back to the dealership and told the salesman that I wouldn't be interested given the lack of history and the check engine light on the test drive. He promised to pull the codes and send them to me later.

A few hours later, he sent me the codes along with an explanation about how they're all "simple fixes, and don't really affect the engine". He also lowered the price to try and keep me interested.

So here's my question: Am I crazy? Do I entertain this at all? Theoretically if the price is low enough AND I'm getting a thorough PPI that could look at the codes, and look for other hidden things like IMS issues, etc it could be worth it, right? There's a right price for everything, right? Or do a move on and forget this car ever existed?

TLDR:

• Newly obsessed with Porsche
• Test drove a Boxster S with no service history
• check engine light came on during test drive
• How much can a low price and a thorough PPI overcome lack of history and ~5 active codes?

Whew, that was longer than I expected. Thanks for reading if you're still with me.

ekam

That means the owner cleared the codes instead of fixing the issues. Hard pass.

hueyhoolihan

don't go near it.

i bought a lovely 2007 2.7l red and tan cayman with 29,000 miles on it a couple of years ago for $27,000. not a particularly "good deal" but i've had it across the country and back and it's now got almost 40,000 miles on it. zero problems. couldn't be happier. don't try and save a few thousand on the purchase price. get a good low mileage california car is my advice and pay the premium for it. the difference in cost will NOT affect your life style i'm sure, doctor.

Dr Peter Venkman

Thanks. Unfortunately, this is what my risk-averse brain is telling me too.

sectachrome

The cheapest Porsche often ends up being the most expensive one. I'd walk away from that car, too many red flags. Best place to look IMO is on the Rennlist or PCA classifieds. Random Porsches at dealers with no service or ownership history are too big of a gamble to me.

XuTVJet

There's nothing more expensive than a cheap Porsche. Remember that

Yes, you can buy 2005-2008 Boxster/Cayman (987.1 gen car) relatively cheap ($25K or less), but you'd best understand that the costs for repairs and service can be eye watering and there really is something to be said for the "Porsche tax". Parts can be 3 to 4 times as much as basically the same part for a Honda. The only difference being that the part fits a Porsche and probably less of those parts made, so you get stuck on the losing end of the economies of scale and also the Porsche tax. With that said, these cars are generally easy to work on yourself and you can save a mountain of money going that route. YouTube is an amazing thing to say the least. Buying parts from reputable online stores will save you a lot as well. Finding an independent Porsche shop will save you a bundle as well as the shop rates are typically 50% less than that of a Porsche dealer.

As for the 2005 Boxster S you're looking at, I would pass. That car is likely needing thousands in work. More importantly, that car has the M96/97 series 3.4 liter motor which is known for expensive issues like the IMS bearing and bore scoring which if they occur, can mechanically total the car unless you've got $15K-20K to rebuild the motor or buy a new short block. The base model 2.7 liter motors can have IMS issues ($2K fix if you replace the bearing before failure) and don't have a bore scoring issue. The 987.2 Cayman/Boxsters have an entirely different motor (9A1 series) which doesn't have an IMS and bore scoring less prevalent. The 2.9 liter motor in the 987.2 base models supposedly don't have bore scoring.

Keep in mind that the 987 cars have been in the road for 11+ years. Stuff ages and when you're buying a 10+ y/o car, a lot of stuff is getting close to the end of it's service life. I strongly suggest reading my 987.2 Cayman base story to see if this is for you. I'm a DIYer and researched the hell out of cars and still came out a bit on the losing end, even though my car had a good service history AND was sold by one of the most reputable Porsche dealers in the US as a CPO'd car.

https://rennlist.com/forums/987-foru...ong-story.html

Dr Peter Venkman

Thanks. Those are great thoughts on the 987.2 & your story on your Cayman is way too intense for me. It sounds like you were the right person to get the job done. I'd have no choice other than just handing my credit card to the shop.

Turbodan

find a car being sold by an enthusiast with full history and took care of car.

Kitc2246

Suggest an investment in a PCA membership for access to their market place. Check to see if there is a local PCA chapter. If so attend one of their Cars & Coffee, autocross, etc. Find a local shop that works on Porsche's and does PPIs. As already stated there are earlier model 986 and 987 that have IMS and bore scoring issues. At minimum I'd want the IMS upgrade. A bore scoring inspection is extra when doing a PPI. As also stated an 09-12 987.2 has a new engine design and first year for the PDK. Determine whether you want a manual or PDK and any other must have options. Sport, 14, 18 way seat options. IMO Sport Chrono is a must for a PDK. Sport/Sport+ can be added to the 09-12, but not the 13-16 981. Ventilated seats are a must for me in a Boxster. Search the internet sites and set up an email notification. A common failure in the 987.2 Boxster roof is the elastic that pull the top inside the side windows. Not a terribly difficult DIY. Warped door cards (non-leather), delaminated headlights, Cayman roof liners are common issues with 981s. Porsche recommends spark plugs at 4 years or the intermediate maintenance to prevent seizing. A difficult DIY and $$$. An overdue intermediate maintenance, plugs, tires, battery, air filters, cabin filter, serpentine belt gets expensive quickly.

harveyf

First of all, why would liking Porsches be a mid life crisis? Sounds like you are finally coming to your senses to me

I agree with the above comments. I have the luxury of doing all my own work and actually restore Porsches and Jaguars as a hobby. So I don't stress out about maintenance issues. But if you say you would be at the mercy of a local mechanic, I would start there and work backward. I don't know where you live but you probably need to identify who is going to be doing your work before you get too far. Get to know them and get a feel for their competancy level. That alone may scare you off from a purchase. But if you get past that point, going the route of paying a higher price for a car with a solid history is sound advice. And be prepared to spend some bucks on a proper PPI when something good comes along. And expand your search nationwide.

Personally, I try and steer clear of low mileage cars. These cars like to be driven. And if you buy one, drive it on a regular basis.

https://newhillgarage.com/2021/05/07...sche-cayman-s/

Dr Peter Venkman

Is this the PCA marketplace you're referencing? It looks like I can browse without a membership if so... just trying to make sure there's not some members-only version where they sell the good cars!

XuTVJet

Just remember that you can buy the best maintained and well cared for 987 possible, but it likely will kick you in the ***** at in the first year or two of ownership with an expensive multi-thousand repair(s). A 10 y/o car, no matter the brand and the car's history, will become a maintenance hog. If you're not comfortable spending $2K+/yr maintaining a fun car, this is probably not the car for you. Porsches are often touted as being super reliable, but I really don't see that at all. The more you research and learn about these cars, the more it becomes apparent that these cars can and do have some very expensive common issues as they age. Are they reliable for a German make and sports car? I'd say yeah, mostly. Compared to all makes? Nope. Maintenance costs? Hell no.

I knew all of this going in and I'm fine with it. It's also why I honed in on the reportedly the most reliable Porsche model in the last 30 years (987.2 base model) when deciding to roll the dice on owning a Porsche. It's also a low $30K car and I doubt I'll ever really lose any money on the purchase price assuming I maintain it and it doesn't have major engine or transmission problem. The 987s, especially the 987.2s, will likely go up in value a bit as the years go on.

When driven normally, I'd have to say this car is a bit of a work out compared to my modded 2016 BMW M235 6MT. When I say work out, I mean the controls are heavy, the ride pretty taunt and sometimes rather rough, the car is pretty loud on the inside, and engine doesn't sound overly great below 4000rpms. BUT when driven in anger, wow, it's a blast. You can tell that the Porsche engineers didn't intend for this to be a GT car like what the newer 911s have become. It is more old school in its overall execution.

Denny Swift

The used car dealer knew all about the codes and cleared them hoping he'd find a sucker. I'd steer clear of him. If they were "easy fixes" why didn't he fix them? He's a low life, a liar, and a shyster. My advice is to find a one-owner Porsche that has been loved and cared for. The owner will have all service records and every detail you could ask for. You can buy a car like that with confidence. I'd look on the Rennlist Marketplace, the Planet9 Classifieds, and the PCA Marketplace to start. Another thing that you need to ask yourself is if you wait a couple of years, will you be able to buy a newer one or even a new one? If so, it's probably worth waiting. If not, there are many 987s in great shape out there. Keep looking and you'll find it. Good luck.

harveyf

My wife's Porsche, purchased new in 2006, has had minimal maintenance issues. Maybe it is an outlier, I don't know. My recently purchased 2007 Cayman has had some obvious issues, like it needing a brake job. No major issues with it, so far. Keepin in mind, the ratio of complaints to compliments on forums is pretty high.
My suggestion for a lot of niche cars is to go to the Bringatrailer.com website. You can search on Porsche Boxster. You can refine your search somewhat, certainly with search terms like 987, etc. The real value in BAT is that all completed auctions are archived for your viewing pleasure. You can see the final price or what it was Bid To if it did not make reserve. More importanly, the comments during the 7 day auction period are a pretty good tutorial on what people see and like and what scares them off about each car. You can lean a lot by reading the comments. Yes, some people make stupid comments but generally there are some folks that know what they are talking about that make value added comments. It's a very good way to learn.

Regarding the PCA Mart, I just went there logged in as a PCA member and then went there logged out. The big thing is that you must be a PCA member for the Contact Seller feature to work.

andy7777

If I recall you can browse but being a PCA member means you can post too. This is where the good cars are.