thought

Hey guys,

I got rid of my 991.1 a couple of years ago and I've had the itch for something fun to drive again recently and I might be able to snag a 34k mile 2000 Boxster S 6spd for a low price.

Issue is, barring some title issues I can hopefully clear up (the owner passed away in '19), the car has been sitting uncovered in a underground lot since 2019. Covered with barn find level dust but the exterior looks like it could clean up well. Tires are probably flat spotted by now but have a good amount of tread left, matching Hankook ventus's that dont look dry rotted... gonna try to get the date codes later.

Issues are no service records, I wont be able to start up the car before purchase, and if it's sold, it's being sold as is. It was started back in 2019 when they first tried to sell it but I think the title/probate court issues kept people away. so very much a "started when put away" thing.

I'm guesstimating around needing 5-6k to fix any issues the car might have (IMS/RMS ~3k, Plugs/Fluids/Etc ~2k).. is that too low? They were being stubborn and asking KBB for the car till I had to explain to them that that price was for a car in good condition, not one with a lot of question marks around it.

Barring what I've already mentioned, how likely am I going to need to refresh the bushings/suspension etc? Anything else I should be worried about?

Or should I walk away from too many question marks?

My goal here is to just get something fun to toss around at a price point I really wont care too much about if it happens to go totally bad.

Thanks for any thoughts on this!

edit: And just checked the tires date codes, 4112 so I'm guessing they should be replaced as well. 12 yr old tires are a bit scary

elgy

Here is my opinion. First, do you do your own wrenching? Probably the IMS is OK, it should be a double row. I would get the car running and see if the RMS leaks before deciding to change it. See how the suspension sounds and feels before deciding what to do with it. Plugs/Fluids/Etc $300? More if you pay some one to do it. Another $1000 for things that will pop up... but that will happen with any used car.

thought

I'd love to do my own wrenching but I live in a apt and the building doesnt allow it in the garage. Thats why I'm factoring in 2k for the fluids/plugs/general inspection which I think should cover most anything that needs changing.

I'm guessing the RMS is leaking due to it sitting for this long + age but as long as it's only a slow leak I'm ok with dealing with it once the clutch needs to be swapped out. That's a big question mark on how beat up the clutch plates are though so that might be sooner than later. I figure I'd do the whole IMS/RMS/water pump/aos etc etc during that service.

Tried to do my research on things that can go wrong and since the car has been underground this whole time there shouldnt be any chance of the drain plugs getting clogged/flooded... though I'll clear those right away if I do pick it up.

mikefocke

I bought a '01S with about 30k and paid slightly over $3k in 2005 dollars before I'd really drive it. Tires, brake system - rotors, pads, fluid, greasing pistons. Plugs. Injector cleaner. Throttle body. Belt. And this was on a running car I had driven. Given inflation....

Finds the mechanic first. See what they have in the shop. Engines apart - good. Race prep - better. Then talk to them and see what they would do if it were their car. See if you click and think you can trust the shop. Ask around. There are going to be surprises. A good mechanic with road test the heck out of it because it is his reputation that is on the line. Mine did and it might as well been on a track as he demonstrated the car. Then I got the new tires.

Mine went about 5 trouble free years with nothing but oil changes and another set of tires after that. My mechanic was all I described above. I sold the car when I had no more access to the mechanic due to a move.

thought

Thanks for the reply. Took a look at the brakes today and they’ve got good meat on the pads, small lip on the rotors but I think they should be ok for bit… would def do the brake fluid though.

As for mechanics, I used to use Rennwerke for my 991 and I’d say they’re pretty much the gold standard for Porsche repair so I’m covered there. If it’s good enough for Seinfeld, I’d say it’s good enough for a cheapo boxster. I might try another specialist however, Rennwerke does amazing work but they def know they can charge for it. That said, dropping off the car to the shop for service is always pretty fun to see what’s there on the lift. Last time I went in there was a 959 being worked on and some other pretty crazy 911’s.

Right now this is what I’m thinking I’d need to put in:

Tires - 1000
Overall fluid flush/plugs/major service - 2000
Unknown fixes - 2000

I gonna leave off the ims/rms/clutch pricing because if that happens… well, not much I can do about it. I pulled the production date as early June 2000… not sure if it’s gonna a be a double row or single row ims since thats the midway point of the year.

I’ll push for a 5k discount off of the kbb they were asking for and see how they feel about it. I’m hoping that after this long they’re just gonna be happy to get rid of it, another point in my favor is that the family doesn’t live in the same state as the car and would need to fly over to fix it up to sell for a higher price.

mikefocke

How about differential and trans fluids for another maybe 350. Coilpacks?

Show this list to the seller and some comparisons with running machines and see if they will be rational.

And this doesn't account for hoses that could have rotted. All that emissions stuff you have to get working for smog. Even brake lines.

thought

I just got a quote from a local shop for them to do all the work including brakes/rotors and they said 6-9k with them looking at the car and for a full top to bottom shakedown. A quick parts list from FCP euro is around 2k alone for just the parts for a major service/brakes so it kind of makes sense.

I’m gonna talk to the family with these numbers but I think they’re gonna drop the price but also balk at a reasonable price because kbb minus all these repairs is gonna pretty small. Only thing really going for me is that I know they are paying for that parking spot and the longer they keep it there the bigger the amt of invested money gets. Fairly sure they’ve paid more in parking than the car is worth at this point considering 4 years of parking fees.

i’ll update as I hear back from the family

Tom R.

The mileage is neat, but shouldn't be what drives you to a car that wont see a lot of miles over the next few years. What is a clean 60k mile manual S worth? deduct 8k from that. For what it is worth, I am thinking 7k, put the 9 into it and for 16 you have a sweet ride with low miles as a bonus. What is KBB coming in at?

I did a similar thing with a 77k base 99 manual last year immediately after I sold my Cayman S and realized I made a mistake. I have about $2,500 in parts in it and some weekends wrenching on it. It is a fun toy.

thought

I checked a year ago and the family said the KBB was 12k and they wanted to sell it for that much. They have since probably paid another $5400 in parking fees for another year... I'm going to be offering something around the 6k mark considering the title issue as well.

Hopefully once I explain the reality of the situation to them they'll see reason. If they had sold the car in 2019 they'd have gotten what they were looking for but I cant see anyone paying anything near that considering what might be wrong with the car now.

It's def a gamble for me as well but if I can hopefully get it cheap enough I'll be able absorb any issues that might come up with it. Because like I said before, after selling my 991.1, I've been getting that itch for something to play with again.

mikefocke

Why this car though? If you are going to pay 6+9, why not seek out a well maintained over the years car. There have to be similar cars that would reduce the risk. I'd rather have a car that was drive-able, showed no codes, had its hoses and such maintained but had high mileage. I can see $14k in and you are dealing with lots of things that have corroded or rotted over time that would have been maintained on a driven car but are left for you to discover,

I sold a well maintained '01S for less than that years ago. My buyer said he wanted my car precisely because of its service records. I had people calling desperately for me to save it for them.

thought

The more I think about it the more I’m actually leaning towards your way of thinking. I’m making a fairly low offer to the family now considering the condition because they had come back to me with a price of 12k again stating that that was what carmax would offer them for a car in good condition. They still don’t seem to understand the current issues with the car and carmax, once they saw the car, would never offer them that amount. I wrote them a fairly extensive email explaining the situation to them as well as the costs for repair, even mentioning that it would be a couple of hundred dollars to even bring the car to a carmax to sell. If they see reason I might take it. If they try to negotiate, I’m pretty comfortable walking away.

I told them that the care is teetering on the borderline of being parts car at this point and another year of sitting would probably push it that direction. Considering 986 values, a grand or two in the wrong direction just makes the whole thing not worth it.

Shame if it goes that route… I’ve been keeping an eye on that car for years now and just hated seeing it rot away in a garage for no reason.

Tom R.

The $5,400 in parking fees is the clincher. Growing up on the island, my dad and I would peruse the Thursday (i think) and Sunday times. If we saw a 212 number around the 20th of the month or later on a car we were interested in he would call and we would look at the car. If it was right, he would make an offer, and when they came back with a counter he would remind them that he will come back the next day with the cash. If they don't take the offer, they have to add next month's rent to what the next buyer will give. Around 83 or 84 we bought my brother's 280Z from a Dr. in the village. His new Celica GTS was in his spot and he was paying daily for the Z. He wanted the Z, the daily parking and insurance gone!

I think you are beating a dead horse. Not because of the car, but because of the seller. If they took six from you last year they would have almost twelve today.

Check out the classifieds on Metro's website.

thought

Whats crazy is that I dont think they even realized how much they were paying for the parking. I think it was on someone's credit card and it just kept rolling. I've pointed it out in the email that I sent them, hopefully it'll brings things to clarity for them. $5400 a year since 2019 has had them paying over 2x the price of the car in fees alone.

They responded and said they would present the offer to the fam so I'm waiting on that. But if I get it or I dont get it, it's not something that will make me lose too much sleep or go looking for a replacement. This is more of a target of opportunity. If I get it at a price that works for me, it'll be fun to have a weekend/trackday toy that I dont mind racking up miles on. And the older I get and the faster that cars become, I've been hankering for something slower and more analog. I'm a big believer in the slow car fast driving experience ever since I borrowed a friends 500cc motorcycle to tear around Angeles crest back in the day. Was used to way more powerful bikes and having to be a lot more careful with the throttle but that little CBR500 was the most fun I've had on that road ever. You would just pin the throttle out of every single turn, have the engine screaming to redline with every shift... and I'd still be under the speed limit. haha

tonythetarga

People that don't know these cars, their potential issues and what it takes to keep them running, only see the word PORSCHE on the car and think it's a gold mine.

thought

I thought about explaining the IMS issue to them along with the theory that lower mileage cars have a higher chance of it happening but then decided that their eyes would just glaze over.