maryn

wondering if anyone can give me some advice on how to find out the history of a vehicle or if anyone knows this vehicle.

i test drove a 1998 boxster this past weekend and fell in love.

car was first titled in march 1998 chapel hill, north carolina

second owner titled in july of 2002 durham, north carolina

car is clean, well taken care of ...comes with both a rag top and a hard top.

car has no records or owners manual.

wondering also if someone can recommend a mechanic.

i appreciate any help ....thanks in advance

BostonDuce

No offense, but a 13yo sports car without records.... you could be staring into an abyss.

Clean is nice, but there are many layers of "well taken care of".

Search for RMS, IMS, AOS issues on this site for some starters.

Try local independent Porsche specialists for a pre-purchase look and a connection to fix what you can't.

BD

Phi1720

I agree with the above response that there's a big risk on a 13 yr old car with zero records. If you do decide on this or any other Porsche up near Chapel Hill, call Digital Chassis. I would bet they do pre-purchase inspections and they service lots of p-cars. I've also had good experiences with European Performance if you're closer to Cary. There's always the Leith dealership on 64 West as well.

Macster

It is a bit of a long shot but since you know where the car spent its time call Porsche dealers in those areas and ask if the service department has any record of any servicing on the car.

My course of action is to avoid asking about the previous owners because some dealers will due to privacy concerns clam up. Some don't though but why risk it? My goal when I do this, when I find a dealer's service department that has serviced the car, is to find out as much about the car as possible. When was it serviced? What was done? And so on.

If you strike out with dealers then the car was probably serviced at an indy. If you want identify some good/popular indy Porsche service centers and call them and see if you can learn anything about the car.

If you strike out all around... the car may be have well taken care of but you have no proof of that.

OTOH, the kind of servicing the car had years ago counts for little. What counts for much more is the car's condition.

But you or someone needs to be real good at determining a Boxster's condition. First and foremost the '98 Boxster is just a used car so a thorough used car check out will go a long way to filling in the blanks on the car's condition.

I like to start with a test ride and then drive. I have covered this process before in some detail but do not have the time to type the process details in again. If you want though, send me a PM and I'll respond with some more details.

As for a mechanic in your area I can't help you. Too far away from my left coast perch to have any knowledge of any mechanics in your area.

Sincerely,

Macster.

mikefocke

Porsches lose records as they transition from owner to owner. No big deal. And don't trust CarFax.

If the car looks well cared for and drives nicely, plan on making a fair offer contingent on a Pre-Purchase Inspection which you pay for but which gets a Porsche mechanic looking at the car and testing it and telling you what he as an expert tells you about the condition and what it is liable to need. Even if a dealer does the inspection, it will be $250 or so well spent.

As to mechanics..where do you live? Know anyone involved with PCA (the Porsche club)? They would know who the club members have supported and who advertises in the region's magazine.

curt_928

If you do get the car and don't want the hard top let me know.. I've been looking for one..