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Brand spankin' new to the forum and I'm here to tell my sob story as well. My 1998 Boxster's IMS failed and destroyed the engine and that 10K figure is spot on almost anywhere where I live. The fact is that I cannot justify spending that plus other repairs needed for this beautiful car and I'm bummed. My life as a Porsche owner will be short lived... for now.
Still, I was wondering if anyone had any advise as to how to sell her as is. She's clean inside and out, white exterior, red brick interior, non-S, and automatic (Triptronic). I haven't seen this color combo around Nor Cal, yet.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I will get more detailed picks when I get home. However, here's two.
I was able to buy a spare 3.2 for my 986 S track car. It only cost me $3k. Perhaps you can find a spare 2.5 for your car? It certainly appears to be a nice car and worth the expense of keeping it on the road.
If you can do the work yourself, another motor isn't going to be anywhere near $10k. Buy a wreck for a couple thousand, and you can make your money back selling off the parts.
I've got the silver/red combo and, if the engine goes south... a replacement goes in. For ~$3K... another engine is going in. My interior is a 9.5/10... the car is tight with no squeaks... no exterior damage... you can't get that for $3K anywhere.
$3K rollers? Sure, if they're in ****-shape. If you don't consider your car an investment... it's not a POS... and you plan on keeping it... just drop in another motor.
Don't listen to those $3K roller guys. Take Shawn's advice... buy another... pull the motor... part it out.
I was able to buy a spare 3.2 for my 986 S track car. It only cost me $3k. Perhaps you can find a spare 2.5 for your car? It certainly appears to be a nice car and worth the expense of keeping it on the road.
Thanks, man. Don't I know it. The quote was from a very reputable mechanic here in town and others as well. I just don't have the knowledge or experience to do it myself and it, truly, breaks my heart to do this. I don't have 15K to put into a vehicle that's worth, at most, 8K. The only way I keep her is to mod her n I really don't wan't to do that.
Yea, I'm not a Porsche mechanic. If I knew anything about motors and changing them out, I would do it in a heartbeat 'cause she gorgeous. It's the labor of the pro that's expensive and rightfully so. I know specialization as I'm in it in the IT world. Thanks though!
If you want to sell the car you can do so as a "roller". Contact Oklahoma Foreign (in Oklahoma City, OK) or nearer you -- though it doesn't matter which I'll cover below -- Parts Heaven in Hayward CA -- and talk to someone about your car.
I believe both businesses will be interested in the car.
After I got my 2008 Cayman S back after an accident in which it was declared a total loss and with a salvage title I called Oklahoma Foreign. The person I talked expressed an interest in the car. He directed me to take pictures from the front and back, sides, 3/4 view from the front, 3/4 view from the rear (and both sides). He may have asked for pics of the interior but I can't recall now but I took them anyhow, and a pic showing the odometer mileage (around 2200 miles).
The OF rep offered me the same amount of money the other driver's insurance company said the car was worth with it s salvage title, around $17,000. The rep said half the money would be deposited into my account then when the truck arrived to pick up the car and get the title, etc, a check for the 2nd half would be given to me.
Overall the process appeared to be rather painless.
But I had a contact at a large auction facility about 20 miles away. This facility was not open to the general public but the manager listened to my situation and agreed to auction the car in its weekly (!) wrecked car auction. (The facility sold about 90K vehicles per year and had enough wrecked vehicles come in to hold an auction for these weekly.)
The car sold for around $3K more than the $17K. Needless to say I was very grateful and of course offered to pay any seller's fees. The auction facility manager declined my offer.
So I did not take Oklahoma Foreign up on its offer but had the auction path not been open to me I might have gone that route.
There is another possible course of action for you. When I decided to sell my 2002 Boxster as a "roller" I contacted my local (Livermore) Porsche dealer manager and he agreed to buy the car and my Turbo which I also wanted to sell, but which was *not* a roller. The Boxster went to a dealer to dealer auction while he kept the Turbo and sold it off his used car lot.
You are in northern CA, up Sacramento way I take it? Niello Porsche of Sacramento is a very highly rated dealer. (Couple of years ago I ran onto some Porsche high muckity mucks at the Livermore dealer and we got to talking about dealers and they told me Niello was in the top 3 dealers in the country. Livermore was rated quite high too, top 5 or 7? I can't recall now. I had experience with Niello service and it was superb.)
Swing by Niello Porsche and speak with the general manager about your situation and see if he is agreeable to putting the car into a dealer to dealer auction for you.
Oh, there is a pale yellow Boxster, I think a '99, for sale in Hayward, CA. I see the car parked on Winton Ave. on the south side of Winton between Hesparian and Wright Drive. I work in that area and see the car on my drive to/from the office. I'm always in a hurry and never take the time to stop and look at the car.
If you want to sell the car you can do so as a "roller". Contact Oklahoma Foreign (in Oklahoma City, OK) or nearer you -- though it doesn't matter which I'll cover below -- Parts Heaven in Hayward CA -- and talk to someone about your car.
I believe both businesses will be interested in the car.
After I got my 2008 Cayman S back after an accident in which it was declared a total loss and with a salvage title I called Oklahoma Foreign. The person I talked expressed an interest in the car. He directed me to take pictures from the front and back, sides, 3/4 view from the front, 3/4 view from the rear (and both sides). He may have asked for pics of the interior but I can't recall now but I took them anyhow, and a pic showing the odometer mileage (around 2200 miles).
The OF rep offered me the same amount of money the other driver's insurance company said the car was worth with it s salvage title, around $17,000. The rep said half the money would be deposited into my account then when the truck arrived to pick up the car and get the title, etc, a check for the 2nd half would be given to me.
Overall the process appeared to be rather painless.
But I had a contact at a large auction facility about 20 miles away. This facility was not open to the general public but the manager listened to my situation and agreed to auction the car in its weekly (!) wrecked car auction. (The facility sold about 90K vehicles per year and had enough wrecked vehicles come in to hold an auction for these weekly.)
The car sold for around $3K more than the $17K. Needless to say I was very grateful and of course offered to pay any seller's fees. The auction facility manager declined my offer.
So I did not take Oklahoma Foreign up on its offer but had the auction path not been open to me I might have gone that route.
There is another possible course of action for you. When I decided to sell my 2002 Boxster as a "roller" I contacted my local (Livermore) Porsche dealer manager and he agreed to buy the car and my Turbo which I also wanted to sell, but which was *not* a roller. The Boxster went to a dealer to dealer auction while he kept the Turbo and sold it off his used car lot.
You are in northern CA, up Sacramento way I take it? Niello Porsche of Sacramento is a very highly rated dealer. (Couple of years ago I ran onto some Porsche high muckity mucks at the Livermore dealer and we got to talking about dealers and they told me Niello was in the top 3 dealers in the country. Livermore was rated quite high too, top 5 or 7? I can't recall now. I had experience with Niello service and it was superb.)
Swing by Niello Porsche and speak with the general manager about your situation and see if he is agreeable to putting the car into a dealer to dealer auction for you.
Wow! Thank you thank you thank you!
What an informative and helpful post. I will look into what you said and will be swinging by Niello as it's 10 mins from work.
Brand spankin' new to the forum and I'm here to tell my sob story as well. My 1998 Boxster's IMS failed and destroyed the engine and that 10K figure is spot on almost anywhere where I live. The fact is that I cannot justify spending that plus other repairs needed for this beautiful car and I'm bummed. My life as a Porsche owner will be short lived... for now.
Still, I was wondering if anyone had any advise as to how to sell her as is. She's clean inside and out, white exterior, red brick interior, non-S, and automatic (Triptronic). I haven't seen this color combo around Nor Cal, yet.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I will get more detailed picks when I get home. However, here's two.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Look at Ebay for engines. Put a used engine in and figure 2 grand for the labor. 3 at the most. You would be right around $5k. If you don't want to trust it with a replacement used engine, get it running good and sell it. $10 grand quotes are from people that don't want to do the work.
I don't think he's thinking of doing it himself. I've done one and it is indeed more difficult than any I've done before. It can be done by the home mechanic, if you're good enough or crazy (like me) enough to try. When I did mine I got a base quote of $2500 from an indy shop here. Mine would have been a lot easier with a lift. I would do it again, it would be easier the second time around.
My previous post was to suggest that a $10,000 quote is unreasonable and would indicate that the shop making the quote really didn't want to do a swap.
Yeah, that's the sweet spot. I hate to seem like I'm dog-piling on your misfortune, but you should have looked for one with about 20k more. Especially a 20 year-old car. Based on my observations, IMS problems generally (not always, but generally) happen in the 60k-80k range, especially on cars that aren't really exercised. Your car looks pristine, so I'm guessing the previous owner babied it; especially considering the mileage.
Yea, I'm not a Porsche mechanic. If I knew anything about motors and changing them out, I would do it in a heartbeat 'cause she gorgeous. It's the labor of the pro that's expensive and rightfully so. I know specialization as I'm in it in the IT world. Thanks though!
I'm an IT guy as well. I would give it a shot if it was me, but I do most of my own wrenching, and I have the tools and the garage space. I hope you can get a new motor (look for one with 100k-150k on the clock!), and get back into your car, because they are too much fun.
If you decide to part with it, I am interested. I’m looking to buy boxsters and 996s in similar condition. My plan is simply to save them from the scrapper sonce I really enjoy these cars.
I think some are underestimating the cost of a used engine. If you address the IMS bearing, AoS, water pump, rear main seal and clutch disc, you’ll add $1-$2k onto the price of a used engine not including labor. Injectors should probably be replaced too and plugs, plug tube o rings. I know any car I get will have these items addressed in the name of longevity.
I also strongly prefer cars that are not black, silver or grey as they tend to be more rare.
If I were to obtain this car it’d be back on the road within 9 months and in better shape. It might be kept or potentially sold shortly after.
Just acquiring all of the tools necessary to do the items listed above is a major expense. This is something I’ve done slowly over time.
I would love to resurrect a car like that. So nice and looks like most of the stuff is done. I think I'd rather have a 2000 or later, and probably an S hulk. Would be worth putting an engine in, and knowing that it would be pretty robust and reliable.
05-08-2019, 05:28 PM
986 IMS Failure
