Boxster on the cheap - bad idea?

[Alex L]

Tomorrow my brother is looking at an X reg 2000 Boxster with 60k miles on the clock, for about £9k.

Should such cars be avoided? Do Bosters of this age/mileage come with expensive repair bills and reliability issues. He has bought a string of lemons and I want to step in as big brother should he be repeating the same pattern...

There seem to be 260 cars on AutoTrader for under £10k, so doesn't seem an uncommon price.

Any guidance on buying Boxsters of this age would be appreciated.

Many thanks

 

[jdpef356]

ORIGINAL: Alex L

There seem to be 260 cars on AutoTrader for under £10k, so doesn't seem an uncommon price.

Any guidance on buying Boxsters of this age would be appreciated.

Many thanks

With 260 on A/T fitting the bill start by looking at ones with FSH or better still FPSH that also have the MOT's and invoices to back up the
mileage. That should whittle the field down to a more manageable number[]

Then you choose manual or tip - knock out the various colours he does not like - select the correct engine size and you will be lucky if you have more than a dozen to look at - ring and ask all the normal questions and then ask if they mind having a Independent inspection on the the car - you will be lucky if you have 3 left - one of these may be a dog - so now you have a choice of two - take your pick[8D]

 

[colinbythesea]

I have a 2.7 year 2000 car bought 2.5 years ago. It had 90,000 on the clock when I bought it. It had a few issues with it when I bought it, corroded alloys, scruffy hood, split front bumper. However, I bought it from a dealer and it had a full Porsche history.

Things have broken and are the usual suspects you see on forums, split coolant bottle in the boot, front engine mount. If you are good at DIY then parts are reasonable and labour is free. I have had dealers wanting to take the engine out and put a new flywheel on for the vibration that was the engine mount and a big quote for a MAF sensor when it was only a dirty throttle body. This is more my distaste of garages as it always seems to go wrong when I go near them, Ford have been much worse on my other car.

A lot of the niggles I have fixed are things that should have been done on dealer visits before I owned it.

If you like the car and it has a good history then I would recommend Boxster ownership. It will have things break at this age but so will a Ford Focus. The Boxster is more likely to have been cared for though.

 

[Black80XSA]

A full service history means nothing if any other running repairs havent been attended too - you need to see a whole host of receipts for suspension bushes, RMS seals, clutch, brakes, brake fluid tyres etc. Big pile of receipts is a good sign.

Replacement engine i would see as a bonus, less likely to go bang

Spec wise decide what options you must have , and what are nice extras if you find the right car. I'd always want half leather as a minimum, heated seats, sound pack upgrade,wind defelctor and 17" wheels

The rest is condition, condition, condition - hood mechanism, hood material, paintwork(front end respray not unusual but check colour match etc), tyre wear, alloy wheels, brakes (inner faces) etc etc etc.

A car garaged with a battery conditioner is always a good sign of an owner who values their car, although its no guarantee its not been thrashed !

 

[h1 8xer]

That seem to be alot of money to me, I have just pick up 1999 with 56k on the clock full S/H with all MOT, Bills, Tax disc ect and a high spec can for £7.5 after looking around (VERY HARD) So dont just jump at the first one as there are some very nice cars out there! Good Luck

 

[daboy3000]

Bought my 2.5 1998 with 98k for £6850, lots of bills, FSH, good nic, from a Doctor, 3 Months ago

So far.

Two rear tyres
Brake Pads & Discs
Clutch
Flywheel
RMS
IMS
Ignition switch
Both heatshields
Starter Motor

Money i'll never get back.

......but i do own a Porsche and I love it!!!

 

[Alex L]

All great information - thanks guys []

Seems my brother took the plunge on the car yesterday. A 60k 2000 X reg 3.2L Boxster S in midnight blue with tan leather interior. Looks nice from the pics.

He was pretty convinced that the guy had been very loving to the car for the last 7 years of ownership, so parted with the cash.

I tried to get him to do an independent inspection but he was desperate to get the car so skipped all the sensible steps. I just hope it doesn't bite him in the backside.

Next thing I want to encourage him to do is get some driver training. Anyone know of a good (cheap) course for Boxster drivers? The CAT and Porsche Experience ones I have done in my 911 are all about 700 quid per day, which given he's just spent all his money on the car and insurance is well out of budget.

I will be signing him up for the Porsche Club member as a Christmas present I think []