86 951 Driver

I have started to look at Boxster's and 911 from the 986/996 era. I have only looked a few Boxsters thus far, but I know I want at least an S. I used to have a 951 that was slightly modded so I don't want something slower than that. Something I have noticed with this car and other Boxster's and 911's of this era they seem to rub off the paint or coating on different materials. What causes that? My 944's interior seemed to hold up better than some of these decade old car's.

I know the IMS bearing is something that needs to be changed at some point, and usually when that is done the clutch is replaced. Is there anything major that I should be looking for? What is the price range for the Boxster S's?

I looked at a 2001 that has a aero body kit on it along with new exhaust for more power. IMS bearing and clutch has been done. The car has 51,000 miles on it and looks decent. What would be a good asking price? It is advertised at $17,500. KBB shows $15k in excellent condition. Which this car is close but not exactly excellent condition.

GVA-SFO

Hello 951,

Earlier this year, I bought a 986, 2001, Boxster S, with 60'000 miles.
but, the IMS was not done !
So, it is about a US$ 2'000 difference.
Basically, at around 60k, you can expect to change the water pump, ..the plugs, the serpentine belt, etc...
As it is known that if you drive it hard (track, xcross, etc..) you may have serious power steering problems. The trick is to change the OEM 6" under pulley against a 4" one, ..and doing that when the serpentine should be changed (you need a shorter one), seems to be a good deal.
Note that while working on the front of the engine, I also decided to replace the OEM thermostat, against one that open at a bit lower temp, again a good trick for such "driving case" !

Well, I would also recommend you to check the ECU, i.e.: (PIWIS) reading if the car has any "R2".
If you do have some numbers of R2, this mean that car went into "miss shift(s ?)", and, IMO, this is just no good, (keep the money and run out). Mine has "tons" of R1 (No big deal, these are "touching the redline", shifting too late.

Still IMO, one of the good test to do is to remove the oil filter, cut it in two, and watching accurately if no pieces of metal or whatever are in the oil filter. IF you see some pieces of metal, run very fast and very far away (with your money) !
And about some "details", at 50 to 60k, normally, the roof is "done", as well as the rear plastic window.

Well, hope this help, good luck with your purchase. I can tell you, after 30 years non stop of 911's as daily, the Boxster is a fabulous car. Much nicer to handle than a 911, ..but, no compromise, you do not have two "seats" on the back that you can use for plenty of things.

It just need some more juice, 250 hp, is shy !
(Take a look on my "topic" (PIWIS reading, R1 and R2, then what ??), you may find additional trick about these great cars !

Macster

No way a 2001 car with 51K miles can be in excellent condition. It may be in good condition but not excellent. Oh, wait you did write that it is not exactly [in] excellent condition. Good for you. You are not falling in love with the car before you buy it.

For pricing info, at least to get a feel for what one is facing, I usually offer up the advice to visit the various used car sites and plug in the car's numbers and see what trade in, private sale, and retail sale prices come up.

Some argue that some sites are overly optimistic or pessimistic. Maybe. But it is a start. And some point out the numbers from site to site differ. Not my job to reconcile the differences. As a buyer I'm going to lean towards using the site that offers the lowest valuations. As a seller, of course, I'd lean towards using the site that offers the highest valuations.

In most cases a car is worth its trade in value to whatever a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is wiling to accept.

The upgraded (?) IMSB and new clutch could be positives I guess. I'm a bit concerned about an S needing a clutch at around 50K miles but some owners have an expectation of short clutch life and some techs I think capitalize on this and sell clutches when none are needed.

Anyhow, I would like to know where the IMSB and clutch work were done, how long ago, and if there is any warranty left and will it transfer to me should I buy the car.

As for what major things you should be looking for, primarily whether the car is worth owning or not.

You must give the car a thorough used car check out. This involves visiting the car cold and getting a test ride of around 15 miles in the car then back at the starting point taking the car out as a driver and driving the car over the same route as before.

YOu want to experience the car in its natural state and that is with the engine running and the car on the road and using the car like you intend to use it, within reason, of course. I mean if you are looking for a track car I doubt the seller is going to let you drive the like you were on the track.

All the dash lights should come on and then go off when the engine starts. The engine should should ok. You need some experience to know what a healthy Boxster engine sounds like and what it shouldn't sound like. If you can go look at some dog cars and hear what their engines sound like.

Let the engine idle a while as you look the car over, but listen to the engine. At no point from dead cold to nearly up to temp should the engine emit any scary or untoward noises. Once the engine is nearly warm, say after 10 minutes or so of idling, then you get the test ride followed by the test drive.

Back at the starting point if you still like the car then give it a thorough used car check out. Get a hold of one of those 111 point used car inspection worksheets techs use for CPO'ing cars.

Assume nothing works until you confirm it does. This includes everything.

If after all of the above if you still like the car and believe you can buy it for an agreeable sum then have the car PPI'd. This wants to be done after you test ride in and test drive the car, after the engine has run nearly an hour.

This gives any leaks a chance to show themselves.

During the PPI the overrev counters will be read along with the last event times and total engine run time. Use this info to decide is the engine has been horribly overreved, abused, or possible had its odometer tampered with.

Rule of thumb is have set aside 10% of the used car's purchase price to have at the ready should something come up. Even though your used car check out finds no reason to reject the car, finds no issues, this does not mean that no issues will appear after you buy the car. As I like to point out with my Boxster, the water pump was fine right up until it wasn't, at 172K miles. The fuel pump worked every day with no sign of pending doom until it up and quit after I backed the car a few feet out of my parking spot at my apartment. The original and replacement AOS worked just fine (we'll, as good as they can work…) until they didn't.

My point is all you can do is confirm as best you can the car is worth owning and has no issues that would require you to reject the car nor any issues that would justify you offering less for the car to mitigate having to address the issues after buying the car.

If you buy the car work to get the vital fluids on schedule and up to date. Engine oil/filter, clutch/brake fluid flush/bleed. I like to change the coolant every 4 to 5 years, and while 51K miles is a bit early for a transmission/diff fluid change I'd work this in over the next 6 months of ownership.

Plugs might be due on time if not on miles. There is the engine air intake filter and the cabin air filter too. Don't forget the serpentine belt which if not due to be replaced on miles could be due on time.

Now during your check out of the car you should try to learn when the above were last done so you know what you are facing when (if) you buy the car and adjust your offer price accordingly. Hopefully the engine oil and brake/clutch fluids have been kept up to date and the engine and cabin air filters are not original.

Check the battery age and budget for a new one if the one in the car is getting on in years.

Be sure to check the age of the tires. Porsche considers 6 years to be the use by age of tires.

Remember when buying a used car price is not fact only an opinion. And if you find something about this car you don't like, makes you want to not own the car, walk away. There's always another car.

86 951 Driver

Thanks for the advice. I have an idea what I would like to pay for a car, but this car has lower miles and is all up to date maintenance wise. Also I know the guy who performed the work. It appears to have all the records in order.

Problem is the car is advertised at $17,500 and the high end of KBB is $15,000 Private Party.

GVA-SFO

Hello 951 Driver,
Well, I thing with the GREAT message from Macster, ..you got it all !
(Thanks a lot to Macster, your message is pretty complete and resume it all.)

Back to you, on pricing, my advise, as a guy, that is now "served" (I got the Boxster S I wanted to have), I fully agree on the price you mention, i.e.: offering 15, not a dollar more. Or, ..even a little less than that, to keep some $ for the unexpected, as very well mentioned by Macster in his message above.
(In my case, I called the seller for a warranty limited valid for 60 days, on which he would agree to participate at a 50% level on any repair bill that would occur in case of any mechanical failure would occur and this, during 60 days after the purchase, but, all limited to a total ceiling of US$ 1'500 of the participation. The seller did agreed, and nothing did happen, so, all good, but, I felt it was a good one to have.)
Somehow, it was a "semi" warranty, to cover any problem, i.e.: the kind of ones, mentioned by Macster, that could happen when you buy a car of this age, ..at this level of price.

Byprodriver

If the car is as described neither of these prices are out of line. It is getting more difficult every day to find a great condition 986. I would much rather get a great car than a great price. I would only consider the IMSB issue "done" if it now has a LNengineering IMSB properly installed.