wyo

Looking at all options for purchase
Consensus on high mileage examples that are clean with no issues?
Would I be better off paying $10k more for 50k less miles?

geetee

if it's going to be a daily putting lots of miles on it it'd go for it...use the 10k for tune/exhaust/suspension etc.
if it's going to be a garage queen take the lower miles one

rmc1148

Yes pay the extra money if you can. Not to take anything away from higher mile cars but lower usually means cleaner interiors and less wear in general. If you do a search this has been covered many times.

wyo

Tired questions I know but these cars are aging and there are more forum users that have passed the 100k milestone so there is better data out there now
Current beta is best

Freddie Two Bs

I'm a noob, but I'd say there's miles and there's miles.

To make two extreme cases, a 100k car where the owner drove mostly highway miles, and religiously followed all maintenance schedule and documented it is likely to be a much better car than a 25k miles one previously owned by some knucklehead who disrespected it at every opportunity.

blockhed

The question that gets battled between drivers and sunday driving queens
If the maintenance checks out on either and it looks good go with your gut instinct, if you have any hesitation walk away. If you start listening to everyone here you'll lose your mind

Atrox

most people considering high mileage cars are looking to save a few bucks. I'd rather spend it now then have to pay for it later.

Lucid Moment

Nothing wrong with higher mileage, if it's well maintained you should get potentially many more miles out if it. Good luck in your search.

Blswan

I would anticipate on spending about $3k to bring maintenance up to speed no matter what you buy. That is of course unless you have records showing it recently done. Fluids, plugs, coils, etc. Tires on these are expensive so if they need replacing soon make sure you budget for them.

Fishey

When your dealing with a car that is over 10 years old mileage honestly means almost nothing except some people get to feel warm and fuzzy on the inside having a low mileage collection.

What is important is actual condition and maintenance done on the car. I have seen plenty of low mileage stuff that is a wreck and high mileage stuff that is in excellent condition.

The most important thing is have a PPI done by a professional

wyo

I went with a garage queen when I got my first 996c2 - it is 2000 and had just 20 k on the clock - it still had the origanal front tires with a DOT date of 1999 on them.
The car has been fantastic so far, it's been my DD for 18 months and 16k miles.
With the NA cars there seems to be a smaller premium for low miles so I paid about 5k more for a low mile car - so far so good - plane on keeping it!

Fishey

My boss just paid 8.5k for a high mileage 2001 996 C4.

judd944

score!

Macster

Opinions on this question will be all over the map.

My best advice is to find and buy the best example you can afford.

Keep in mind too, the purchase price is not the total picture.

General rule of thumb is to have 10% of the used car's purchase price set aside just in case say the "new" car suffers a water pump failure, or a fuel pump failure, or something similar so you can have the car fixed right away and get it back on the road pronto.

A well cared for car with 100K+ miles can still be a good car. An extreme example is a guy who posts here once in a while has put just over 400K miles on his Turbo and when he tore down the engine to address some leaks and he assumed address some internal engine wear found no wear. In Excellence (or Panorama?) there was a 575K mile Turbo.

Might add big miles are not limited to the Turbo engine, as my 2002 2.7l Boxster engine has covered over 295K miles and still runs very very good, as best as I can tell the same as it did new.

My 2003 Turbo has over 138K miles and still runs just fine.

But the key to the above is regular servicing and staying on top of things.

Keep in mind though no matter how well cared for the car is things still wear out. Between 80K and 132K miles my Turbo required an RMS, front diff axle flange seals, idler roller/tensioner bearings, spoiler hydraulics, water pump, new radiators, and O2 sensors. Coils are next on the list to have done.

I don't necessarily think the car in question will manifest all of the above, or even some of the above, but you have to be aware of what could be and be prepared to deal with it. If it doesn't come to pass then, bonus!

T2

If the seller has maintenance history that at a minimum follows the factory recommended requirements, there should be nothing to worry about. Have a thorough ppi done by a trustworthy Porsche mechanic. I've got 468,000 miles on my 2003 turbo. They are very reliable cars. This advice applies if you plan to daily drive the car, if you want a shine and show car, this purchase is most likely not for you. The cars that are driven and maintained tend to be the cars with fewer issues. My opinions based on my data point, and I've got thousands of them. Buy it, drive it, enjoy it...in that order. At some point the smiles are free. T2