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Absolutely! I drove a 1994 968 from Florida to San Diego a couple of years ago. Just have it thoroughly checked out before hand. If you find a car in the San Diego area I can recommend a couple of shops to perform a PPI.
Life is an adventure. Get a PPI, buy from a long time owner with service records, preferably a PCA long time member and have fun. Last year I flew to Seattle and drove a 1999 Ford Mustang Cobra home to SoCal. My new track car!
I bought an '01 with around 110k in Oklahoma for $7k last year without a PPI and drove it home to Pennsylvania (1,500 miles) without turning a wrench on it.
Since I got it home I've done struts, pads, rotors, AOS, plugs, coils, plug tubes, inner CV boots, coffin arms, tie rods, and removed about a mile of hacked electronics wiring by the PO. But the car made it home without problems (and the air blowing ice cold).
Yeah, spend a few bucks and get a PPI. On the way out, stop by the HF and spend $100 on metric sockets and wrenches, a breaker bar, screwdrivers, hex, and torx sockets and a tool bag. Grab the $80 floor jack, which fits nicely in the boot, and there won't be much you can't fix in the parking lot of the O'Reilly's. These cars are super reliable and super easy to wrench.
Have a spare key made at the local Porsche dealer. Probably about $500. While it's in, have it serviced--oil change, coolant system checked. Be sure the tires won't leave you stuck out on the Mohave desert. Same with the battery.
Carry an empty credit card and the best AAA coverage.
What people are saying is these are great cars but stuff can happen to any car any where at any mileage. I took my '01 through the tail end of a hurricane when I had the option of using my 4 wheel drive with newish rain tires on the 4wd so that shows what I think of the Boxster reliability. But that was a very well maintained Boxster and I had a multi-year history with it that gave me confidence.
By all means, get a PPI done. Before you buy or don't buy. A seller with confidence in his car will help you get it there. If the seller doesn't want to than you have a no-buy signal. I bought my second Boxster which was the previous owners daily driver and promptly put $1k into getting it absolutely up to snuff and that was before replacing all 4 tires for another $1k. Do you need to spend that much? Depends on what has been done for the car in the last year or so. How old are the tires? Not how deep the tread is? Condition is everything. The PPI will tell you.
And why are you going cross country? There are hundreds of Boxsters for sale in southern climes where snow and salt should not be an issue. You don't have to go to the left coast to get a car that spent its winters in the mild temps or in a heated garage.
I'd rather spend more for a great car than less on one where I couldn't prove its history and seller's motivation. Consider the coast of the trip out and back as adding to the cost of the car.
And why are you going cross country? There are hundreds of Boxsters for sale in southern climes where snow and salt should not be an issue. You don't have to go to the left coast to get a car that spent its winters in the mild temps or in a heated garage.
I'd rather spend more for a great car than less on one where I couldn't prove its history and seller's motivation. Consider the coast of the trip out and back as adding to the cost of the car.
What Mike said. In your part of the South, salt isn't generally used on the roads. I would really hesitate to buy a car from coastal cities, but upland places would be okay. Thinking almost anywhere in Tennessee, E. South or North Carolina, Arkansas, non coastal Texas. Be careful about cars that have lived near the Mississippi. Flooding in your part of the country can be a problem. A PPI would reveal that.
Or if you want to take a vacation, non coastal California, Oregon, or Washington would be likely targets. Portland is non coastal, Seattle has salt water. Arizona and southern Nevada are really easy on cars for rust, but paint suffers in the hot sun here. 10 to 12 grand would buy a very nice older Porsche here. I grew up in w. Michigan. I'm amazed at the underbody quality here. Rust is unheard of for cars that have spent their lives locally.
Very forthcoming owner who has been responsive to my email inquiries.
What would you offer? And what is your take on driving this 2500 miles?
Sort of in the same boat as Mike. I drove my 2002 4K to 8K miles a number of times on long road trips covering the miles in a week's time. But I had my Boxster from new and gave it good servicing and dealt any issues as they came up.
You need to be sure the car passes a thorough used car checkout and this requires a 15 mile test ride following by a 15 mile test drive during which you experience the car as you intend to use it. You want a mix of usage. Avoid using the A/C during the drive as this runs the fans all the time and can help mask an overheating problem. Afterwards you check out all the systems.
Ideally then the car gets put in the air and a careful check of the underside is done looking for any leak sign. The 15 mile test ride plus the 15 mile test drive and the pre-drive idle time and the post drive idle time as you check out the car has the engine running for an hour and has all systems up to temperature.
If the car passes the check out with flying colors that's a good sign the car is in good shape. A car, a Porsche, doesn't get to 122K miles and doesn't show any issues if it has not had good care/servicing.
For your 2500 mile drive you want to be sure the tires are in good condition. My experience over the years is worn tires are nail magnets and if you start out on worn or nearly worn tires you'll be lucky to make ti 250 miles let alone 2500 miles.
'course, during your used car check out you have already verified all vital fluid levels are good and confirmed the oil is not due to be changed or won't be due to be changed in the next 2500 miles. I have once I can recall headed out on a long road trip -- as it turns out I covered around 8K miles -- and had the car serviced -- oil/filter service -- mid trip. I ended up in Sacramento (after starting from east of KC MO) where I had an oil/filter service done.
On the trip check the oil level at every fill up and before leaving the hotel in the morning. Carry a spare bottle or two of the right oil in case the engine uses some oil.
If there is a space saver spare be sure it is properly inflated -- it is probably over 10 years old which I seem to recall is the service life of these things. Be sure the entire tool kit is present including the jack, the jack handle, the lug wrench socket and lug wrench handle. Be sure the wheel lock adapter is in the car and fits *all* secure lug bolts.
I always had AAA premium auto club membership but this didn't help me a few times. Once had to have my Turbo towed 600 miles (from Ely NV to Livermore CA) and it cost me $1500. (This after a mule deer encounter.) Another time I had my Boxster towed from Sedalia MO to Merriam KS (around 80 miles IIRC) -- when my Boxster suffered from a failed AOS on a road trip. I don't recall the cost of the tow now but I'm sure it was at least $!00.
Oh, and earlier I had it towed from outside Strong City KS to Wichita KS (around 75 miles) for I believe around $125. This after late at night I believe I momentarily drifted off to sleep and the car got on the centr of the road and hit a tire carcass which took the driver side radiator and some other things. Cost me the tow, $1600 repairs, and 2 nights in a hotel.
I had the name/address/phone number of every Porsche dealer on my route entered in my cell phone contacts list. You need them all because what I found in some cases the nearest dealer is booked up and even in an "emergency" can't get one's car in in under 2 weeks. Dealer in Bend OR couldn't do an oil/filter service but Niello Porsche in Sacramento could. Dealer in Merriam KS couldn't do the radiators on my Turbo but the Springfield MO dealer could. A couple of dealers couldn't look at my Turbo when it started making noise -- proved to be from a minor alignment issue -- but the dealer in Oklahoma City could. And so on.
Very forthcoming owner who has been responsive to my email inquiries.
What would you offer? And what is your take on driving this 2500 miles?
What makes this one special enough to fly all the way across country and then drive it home?My take: It's high mileage, not an outstanding price, and it's a lot of miles to cover. It would be a nightmare adventure if it left you by the side of the road in Goodland KS, for example. You could rent a Uhaul truck and a car trailer to complete the trip, expensive, but beats towing it to a city big enough to have someone work on it. Plus it's a 98 with the comparitively anemic 2.5 l engine. If you bought closer to home, you might be able to get an 00 or later S model with a much improved 3.2 l engine and other improvements over the first generation.
Before you buy your plane ticket, pay for a PPI and be damned sure the IMS bearing has been done. I've made my reservations and my thoughts about buying closer to home quite clear. I would get one close enough that a co-conspirator could take you in a big enough pickup that in a pinch you could rent a car trailer and flat bed it home.
Sorry if I'm the sorehead casting shade on your best laid plans, but I can't help but think this could be a huge, expensive mistake.
I live in Tucson, sort of on the way. If you get here, LMK, maybe we can do lunch or dinner or something.
Early boxsters are great cars. In June in got a white over full leather metropol blue 2000 from Bring a Trailer in Los Angeles. The car had lower mileage but was well looked after. My oldest daughter and I flew up there and drove it home to Baton Rouge. The car did 1,900 miles (we stopped several places) without a hiccup. The AC is the best I've had an a sports car too. I would not be put off by miles. Driven cars are happy cars as long as all maintenance is up to date. There's a lot of boxsters out there. Take your time and find YOUR car. The search is part of the fun. Good luck!
Only if you drive via Route 66 whenever possible :-p.
Lots of good advice here. I would load up with tools if you are handy like Shawn suggested. I have made the drive from ohio to arizona many times and the biggest concern would be finding a mechanic to work on it in case of a breakdown which is very unlikely IMO. Your repair options will be very limited from AZ through TX on I-40. I have had a lot of tire problems traveling I-40 and if you have a total tire failure you can plan on spending a night or two in a hotel while you wait for a new one to be shipped in.
I’m a returnee here, bailed in 2013 when I sold my 944. While visiting friends in Montreal I found and bought a 2005 S with 55,000 km, one-year-old Pilots on 19” wheels and very nicely cared for, no winters (the undercarriage and paint is pristine, I believe it). I plan to drive it to Vancouver through the States (if they’ll let me in) as I want good secondary roads and I want to visit Duluth! The car is booked in for a major service before we leave, likely including an IMS and any other recommendations. I expect to put on about 8000 km but who knows?
I actually think we might make it, an adventure that I haven’t done since I drove a Triumph Bonneville coast to coast in 1970. I’ve been reading all I can about these cars and I am optimistic that my preparation should give me a pretty good chance for success. I kinda think if a ‘70 Bonnie can do it...and I don’t have to camp out this time!
08-09-2019, 12:57 PM
Drive cross country in 98-04 986?
I dissent!
