I see alot of "bargains" in the 986S market with higher mileage >60K. Would you guys/gals say to steer clear of such cars? Or would a car with proper service records be acceptable? I knwo at the BMW dealer they dont always stamp my service book and are very weird about releasing service records. Do porsche dealers do a better job at keeping/sharing records?

I'm looking for a replacement to my 330Ci. While it doesn't have that many miles (73K) i think its time to move into a different realm of automotive performance.

 

Good question. High-mileage water-cooled Porsches are unknown territory. Check yor passion meter, apply common sense, and use mileage to leverage the price down because 986s and 996s have taken depreciation hits.

 

Bruce Anderson wrote recently that the ideal used Porsche would be a cherished week-end toy that'd done no more than 7500 miles/year. More miles than that, and expect a nice discount on the car. Just a data point.

Emanuel

 

There are plenty of water-cooled 928s out there with high mileage. There was a recent thread in the 928 forum asking who has the highest miles. Several in the high 100's to mid 200's and the highest in the forum is 400K+ miles. I'm at 105K in mine (15K are my miles since I bought her in October) in the 928 and we just hit 65K in the Boxster with no major problems. I have a temperature sensor in the Boxster that's out and on order, but that's it.

Personally I believe Porsches are better when driven. If you look at the older model forums, the guys who have the lowest number of problems are the daily drivers. Garage queens tend to rot from the inside-out over time due to the sitting. They also develop more electrical problems due to higher corrosion. Just my observation from the fine folks in the other forums.

 

I have a 97 Boxster with 105k and counting. No real problems to speak of. the worse thing that's happened is a water leak from top into right rear floorboared that was a real bit..ch to find. Runs great, could probaly use new shocks, as they are original set. The only one of my three causing me any issues is the 968 cab, which is my wife's garage queen and I plan to start driving it to work every third week

 

Woops, I should be sent to the Dean's office for that one. I was thinking post-993.

 

You may want to check this thread on 986forum.com

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2985