I was looking around and saw this really good deal on this 2005 Porsche Boxster Base model. I was pulled in by the price ($5k) and hopefully I am able to negotiate it lower because it does have a check engine light and 167k miles. I am not sure if I should buy it, I've heard porsche's are reliable and am aware of the ims bearing issues, but at 167k this car has probably overcome and replaced everything needed. The owner has no service records shes had the car since 118k miles and does not know the cause of the check engine light. Please and thank you for helping- George, potential porsche owner lol. Here is the link to the car for sale :
Porsche Boxster 2005 - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle automotive...
Why do you think this car has been properly sorted?
Don’t get me wrong, it could be a great deal, I’d just not jump to conclusions. Look to the Carfax to see about prior services and get a PPI.
How good are you with doing your own maintenance?
Do you have $8K to spend on a car?
The answers to these questions will determine whether you should buy this one or not. If you have to have a mechanic do all your work, ANY high mileage car will be expensive to own. At that age & mileage, you're going to have a lot of bushings, and boots, and hoses, etc that will be aged out. Do you have a code reader? You should find out what the code(s) is / are before going too far down the rabbit hole. If the owner doesn't have any service records, esp for the 50K mi she's owned it, does that mean she didn't keep the records for the work she had done or did she skip having required maintenance done? Chances are the latter and that's not a car you want to buy. First thing to do is buy a Carfax and see what appears there. Has the oil been changed every 5-8K mi? Oil change freq is important when buying any Porsche. If the CF looks good, then a PPI would be next. If it doesn't provide a lot of answers, prob best to let someone else buy this potential hot mess.
Honestly, this one has a lot of red flags. You could find a nicer one that's been maintained for $8K. Why $8K? Because by the time you get done having this one brought back up to snuff, you'll have $8K into it. Even if you can do some or all of the work, Porsche parts prices are expensive.
