box

I am looking at a gorgeous (yes, I broke the first rule) 2012 Boxster S with 38K miles.

I am very unfamiliar with Boxsters (had two 914's back in the day and an '85 911 Targa) and do not understand a lot of the data. The car is at a BMW dealer and has been to auction twice. After reading up a bit, I now know more than the salesman. It drives like a BOOH and the handling gave me a 40 year flashback to my 914 days. That said, I don't want to get screwed.

Here are my questions:

What is the difference between a PCM 3.0 and a 3.1?
What should I look for in checking out the PDK? Any "gotchas"?
Can the PCM system tell me anything about the state of the engine?
Will Porsche honor the warranty that is left on it...or will there be "We can't fix that because you didn't..."
The PCM has a "SIM card" slot--does that have any usefulness in today's world? Can I pop the SIM card out of my iPhone and use the car as a phone?


TIA!

zedcat

You may want to post over in the 987-981 forum. May get more replies there. PDK has been overall reliable. Can't recall reports of any significant issues. The warranty should be honored so long as maintenance has been done. It's not possible to over-rev with PDK. Note that some service is due at 40k if not already done including spark plugs and I believe PDK fluid change. Can't help much on the PCM questions I don't use it much. Have never used the sim card thing. Don't think there's anything in the PCM on engine data. There is a stalk controlled OBC for oil measurement, TPMS, etc.

Macster

A car that has gone through the auction twice suggests a car that two dealers have not been able to sell.

There could be a problem with the car.

Do a google search using the VIN to see what hits turn up.

Have you a CarFax report? While not infallible it might prove of some value.

The car only retains its CPO warranty if the car sold by an authorized dealer or a private owner. If sold by a BMW dealer the CPO warranty is voided.

I do not know if the car's factory warranty is affected by who sells the car. You might want to call PCNA and its customer service 800 number and ask.

The DME can tell you a bit about the engine in that you can get the overrev counters and timestamps and engine run time.

While a car equipped with a PDK is considered "impossible" to overrev it can be done. Even if the engine hasn't been subjected to serious overrevs the counters can provide you with a hint at how the car was driven.

I'm not aware of any gotchas with a PDK, but you want to subject the car to a thorough road test by way of a 15 mile test ride followed by a 15 mile test drive. The route should be selected to give the driver -- then you -- a chance to use the car like you intend to use it.

One test I'd subject a PDK to is slow driving and a "k" u-turn where you have to shift from 1st to reverse and back and forth several times in rather rapid succession to ensure the PDK behaves properly.

At all other times it should shift smoothly, never hunt for a gear, or lurch or hesitate or give any signs of any issues.

After your test ride/drive and after you have subjected the car to a thorough used car check out then have the car PPI'd. Among other things this gets the car in the air and gives the tech a chance to look for any leaks or other signs of possible trouble.

For your other questions regarding SIM cards and the difference between PMC 3.0 and 3.1 I can't help you.

box

Thanks for the advice so far, very, very helpful.

I discovered that the car was a lease vehicle. What that tells me is that somebody could not afford to buy it and basically used it as a daily driver and at the end turned it in. It was well cared for from a cosmetic standpoint.

Carfax showed that it was purchased 02/18/2012 and had an accident a year later (02/04/2013)--"Accident reported involving front impact, moderate damage reported."

Carfax states that the factory warranty is estimated to have 9 months or 12,513 miles remaining. I will call Porsche and ask.

Problem is, I am far from a Porsche dealership and cannot have the car checked out the way I would like. It is so loaded with everything that I would want in a Boxster that the chance of getting it for a song is an urge that I am having trouble getting past. I just don't want to drive off and 3 months later have the engine blow.

Good tips on the checkout ride.

Macster

The accident explains why lessee didn't buy the car. It wasn't because he couldn't afford it. He just turned the car in and walked away. One has the option open to him with a lease car and a car with a "moderate" accident on its CV is an easy car to walk away from.

If price means more to you than (possibly) condition then buy the car and take your chances.

That the car hasn't sold and the price has been dropped means other buyers have looked at the car and walked away. My advice would be to do the same.

There is always another car.

box

I don't agree with the accident theory and the lessee, no matter.

What perplexes me is that there were three amounts in the VIN report for the auctions:

$43,988.00 (third)
$39,995.00 (second)
$39,995.00 (first)

Does this mean that the car had a minimum value that wasn't met, or that the highest bid was not acceptable?

My guess is that they are hemorrhaging. I am just trying to balance risk/reward.

mikefocke

Assuming that the dealer wants to make money and will add to the third auction price, IMHO the car will be overpriced for a non-clean-carfax car. Unless you can find out who did the repair work and what they did, I'd not be a buyer. Even in the spring, I think you can do better. Fall in love with the brand/model, not with the first car you drive. You get the best deal when walking away (or even days after).

(Owned 2 Boxsters and a 914)

box

I concur with all that, given that the repair work is so old, and was front end, I am not overly concerned with it. It is, however, a great bargaining chip.

I am more concerned with the state of the powerplant and the lack of maintenance records. I need to decide how to best test the car by myself and also determine if Porsche will honor the warranty a month from now if the engine or PDK blows up.

This car was at the end of the 987.2's, the 981's came out later the same year. Porsche has a history of "working the bugs out" of a line and then doing a major rework. Like Apple, one does not want the first issue of a new line.

I hate to admit it, but just driving this car blew me away. I used to pooh-pooh the every notion of an automatic in a Porsche. In fact, I used to say that they "did it for the women." So wrong. The PDK is hardly an automatic transmission in the torque converter sense of the word...but I digress.

So, let's say you were smitten. Far from Porsche dealerships, in a place that doesn't even have a garage that knows what a Porsche is. How to proceed?

[Aside from the excellent driving test discussed above]

(Owned a 911 Targa and two 914's)

Macster

Not sure how much you can use the accident as a bargaining chip. The accident in the car's history can't be too much of a negative or you would not even be considering the car. The seller is going to see through your position without much effort and your trying to use the accident as a bargaining chip is just signaling to the seller how badly you want the car.

You're hooked. All the seller has to do now is just land the fish.

I can assure you had you driven any good condition Porsche Boxster you would have been blown away. You can get the same experience from another Porsche and one that doesn't have an accident on its record.

Given your situation with no shop near you to call upon for a PPI, if you proceed with this car you either need to be capable of checking out the car to the point you are comfortable with its condition and worthiness to own, or take the car on faith, which you seem inclined to do anyhow.

I have to stress if you are assuming a warranty comes with the car you better be sure of this. As I said in an earlier post the CPO warranty is voided if the car is sold by anyone other than an authorized Porsche dealer or a private owner.

In the case of a factory new car warranty, this runs for 4 years or 50K miles. The car is described by you as a 2012 model. When was the warranty activated? Sometimes dealers will declare a car sold before it actually sells to gain favor with the factory but this action starts the car's warranty clock running.

As a 2012 model it could have arrived at the dealer sometime in the fall of 2011 and had its warranty clock started thus it might not have but a few months left of any new car warranty, assuming, and this is important, the car still has any new car warranty in effect. The accident/repair might have causes the warranty to be voided. You have to confirm the car has warranty. You can't rely on assuming it does, or even what the selling dealer says unless you get something in writing that clearly states the car has a warranty and what exactly it entails.

box

Yes, hook, line and sinker...wait, I am trying to avoid the sinker part

Carfax says that the car has 8 months/12,500 miles on the factory warranty, which is more than enough time/distance for me to determine if there are any engine/tranny gotchas. I would just like to know that Porsche will honor that warranty and that they won't say, "Well, the engine blew because you failed to mail in the postcard we sent you two years ago..."

Apparently it was one of the last of the 987.2's.

Macster

I do not know what is needed to "transfer" the new car warranty with a car when it is sold. Maybe nothing.

But you need to know this for sure. Also, you need to know if there is pre-requisite to ensuring the new car warranty stays in effect. Any inspection or something similar. I don't think so but the burden is on you to know, not me.

My best advice is to call the customer service phone number at PCNA and ask. Ideally you would like to get say a web page that has the "fine print" regarding new car warranty and transfers and such. (There is just such a site for CPO warranties.)

What CarFax says is not binding. If you buy the car and the warranty is not honored your beef is with CarFax if you chose to believe what it says.

Giller

If it was originally a Lease and he turned it in - that means a Porsche dealership took it back. A 2012 - they would keep those in a heartbeat if it's in tip top shape. The fact that a Porsche dealership sent it to auction rather than sell it themselves, big red flag.

box

Good point. It has also been sold at auction 3 times.

The original lessee wrecked it three times, each time it was repaired at a Porsche sanctioned/approved/blessed repair facility. The Carfax is very, very dirty.

So, should this gorgeous, loaded, drives like a BOOH car be shipped off to the junkyard crusher? Puh-leez, old Ferdie is rolling in his grave at the thought.

No, I plan to rescue this poor baby, treat her right, drive her right and service her well as she services me. Oops, sorry, got carried away with the metaphor.

Now the real question, price.

Macster

Well, looking at it sans any emotion I say let old Ferdie rotate all he wants to. It is my money not his.

But obviously you are emotionally attached to the car.

So now you have to try to arrive at a price for this mess of a car.

That it has remained unsold, ignoring the 3 auction sales, suggests it has no retail value.

Then considering that it has sold at auction 3 times, the price of the car has been established.

The price of the car is its wholesale price. That is the only price at which it has sold now for 3 times.

Be sure you check tire wear. If uneven it could be just alignment. But it could be a sign the car is "bent". There is more but really my advice is jus to walk away from the car.

One has to take the view that it is just a car. Sometimes a car is destined for the scrap heap, the salvage yard, the crusher, early rather than late.

My 4 week old Cayman S was hit and declared a total loss. I collected the money from the other driver's insurance company and then sold the car at a salvage car auction and never looked back. In spite of the fact I spent a lot of time looking for that car and picked it out over a number of other cars available at that time, I had no desire to try to put that car back on the road. I had no problem with the thought of its carcass being picked over and parts removed for other cars and after awhile what was left dumped in a crusher or a shredder.

mikefocke

I've had two cars in the last 50 years whose entire front ends were a mess from accidents. One a rear engine and one front. Both were repairable with reasonable expense relative to car value.

Then I hit the rear of a truck with a Boxster. Airbags didn't even deploy. Since it was a Porsche, I took it to a place that specialized in Porsche repairs. I was mentally thinking $3-4k. They stopped counting at $26k. They were going to do it right. The insurance company said no and the car was processed through a company that specialized in salvage vehicles. I'm sure they either parted out the car or found someone who did a cosmetics only job but never dealt with the issues of frame deformation that had been found, that I couldn't see but which would have made front end alignment impossible. Some poor soul got a bum deal somewhere or it ended up as parts. You don't want to be that pour soul. Steel, once bent loses its ability to resist bending the next time. It increases the danger to you.

I had looked at this car using your description and what Kelly Blue Book said as well as what one of the big online car listings service offered. It isn't worth the price the auction valued it at IMHO. With its history and lack or records and thus increased risk, I'd have trouble paying $10k for it. For a $1k above the auction price, I see other cars listed. Since few cars sell at the asking price, I concluded you could do lots better.

I would suggest you look online, find a motivated enthusiast and get a good car with a PPI and records even if you have to pay to fly there and pick it up and drive it back. I've done that (though I took a train). The costs of the trip so far outweigh the potential costs of buying the wrong car ...

There are hundreds of Boxsters available every day. Find a good one and they are great cars, buy a bad one and you can spend more than the purchase price trying to get it right.