Mstephensfache

I've been looking for a 986 S as my first Porsche and have found one in the color combination and condition i like. Could you please give me your thoughts on this?
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...ngId=362932853
I have found an independent PPI provider who will charge $149 for that inspection.
Thanks for looking. I appreciate your expertise.
Mike

herve_g

Depends if the PPI comes back clean or not... The price seems high (to me) for a TX vehicle.
First thing I noticed is the wind deflectors are missing

Macster

No longer listed for sale. Did you buy it?

Mstephensfache

Yes, put on hold pending PPI. Here is a link via EBay.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=371052773350
Thank you for looking.

Macster

Looks ok but that's not a recommendation to buy the car.

I googled the VIN and nothing scary came up. Looks like the car was offered for just under $18000 earlier this month.

Hasn't covered many miles in the last 4 years.

You have to give the car a thorough check out. Arrange to get a 15 mile test ride then a 15 mile test drive.

You want the engine to run about an hour and experience the car on the road in a variety of situations/driving scenarios.

The engine wants to sound healthy from a dead cold start, while idling and warming up, and then on the road and back at the starting point when you take over as the driver and all during the time you are with the car.

After a thorough road test then assume nothing works until you confirm it does.

Check everything.

The PPI should read the overrev counters and engine run times and total engine run time so you can sanity check the odometer. The VIN report though looks like the odometer has been left alone.

The PPI also wants to remove the oil filter housing and check the oil and filter for any scary bits of debris. This wants to be checked for *after* the engine has run an hour or so.

Also, the PPI will look for leak sign. This this old of car with as few miles as it has covered my guess is even if no leaks show up at the PPI I would be very surprised if the car, the engine remains leak free.

You might use this low miles and old car to negotiate a lower price. 'course the seller's going to argue low miles are a value enhancer.

Schnell Gelb

My experinece may help you. I recently bought an '01 Boxster S.Not my first Porsche but my first Boxster. I would suggest you be mentally & financially prepared for the potential of some expensive repairs. Jobs that all cars need like brakes,clutch are much more expensive than more mundane cars. The engine access issues mean some tasks take much longer and fewer mechanics would be familiar with them.
I tried to find a well recommended, experienced ,reasonably priced Boxster/996 911 mechanic and was unsuccessful. I have the perfect guys for Aston Martin ,Jaguar , Range Rovers etc but....That fictional mechanic-hero was to have done the PPI . I reasoned it was pointless to give a PPI job to anyone who wasn;t a Boxster expert & using the Dealer was not reasonable. So I did the PPI myself after lots of 'what goes wrong' research . The car passed my long check list. I bought from an owner who had done an excellent job on items like IMS,RMS ,AOS,Durametric Coolant reservoir,clutch other P.M. tasks. Car ran beautifully -for less than a week and then developed rod knock. The consequent engine rebuild is eye-wateringly expensive. It is also way beyond basic DIY skill level. Wayne rates it a 10 - & that is as far as his difficulty scale goes. I knew this going in but I had hoped for a less abrupt end to the honeymoon.

Mstephensfache

Thanks for the expert advice, everyone. This is really helpful. I am waiting to hear the results of the PPI and will then need to make a decision.
Thanks again for the very thoughtful responses.

Mstephensfache

Thanks for the expert advice, everyone. This is really helpful. I am waiting to hear the results of the PPI and will then need to make a decision.
Thanks again for the very thoughtful responses.