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YOUR RESEARCH2002 Boxster with 130k, Automatic, IMS Not changed. Worth the money, or just drive it! Beating the dead horse just a bit more.
Leading reported evidence
Use porsche unless you want a project
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed
As many have said before...There is no such thing as a cheap used Porsche unless you want a project.
2002 Boxster with 130k, Automatic, IMS Not changed. Worth the money, or just drive it! Beating the dead horse just a bit more.
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Leading evidence: 'Use porsche unless you want a project' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Check of the above' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Suggestion
As to your point, I did check all of the above before purchase.
2002 Boxster with 130k, Automatic, IMS Not changed. Worth the money, or just drive it! Beating the dead horse just a bit more.
Check oil
Suggestion or failed attempt
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Suggestion
probably "ok" at this mileage but check the oil for any metal particles (or ask for the oil analysis) - i think the general dangerzone is around 50 - 60k??
2002 Boxster with 130k, Automatic, IMS Not changed. Worth the money, or just drive it! Beating the dead horse just a bit more.
Check oil filter
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Suggestion
I did check the oil filter on the last change and no bits of metal at all.
2002 Boxster with 130k, Automatic, IMS Not changed. Worth the money, or just drive it! Beating the dead horse just a bit more.
Clean "cost of doing business" in my mind
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
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2002 Boxster with 130k, Automatic, IMS Not changed. Worth the money, or just drive it! Beating the dead horse just a bit more.
Check oil
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
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Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
probably "ok" at this mileage but check the oil for any metal particles (or ask for the oil analysis) - i think the general dangerzone is around 50 - 60k??
2002 Boxster with 130k, Automatic, IMS Not changed. Worth the money, or just drive it! Beating the dead horse just a bit more.
Inspect oil filter
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Suggestion
Inspecting the oil filter for metallic material is certainly useful, but if the engine has gotten to the point where you are finding stuff, things are already pretty bad.
2002 Boxster with 130k, Automatic, IMS Not changed. Worth the money, or just drive it! Beating the dead horse just a bit more.
Replace ", send a sample
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Suggestion
If I was really serious and able (tools, ramps, stands, etc.), I would offer the owner "free oil change", send a sample to Blackstone, cut up the oil filter and see any shiny metal particles then, review the analysis.
2002 Boxster with 130k, Automatic, IMS Not changed. Worth the money, or just drive it! Beating the dead horse just a bit more.
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Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
15 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Planet-9: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
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Generation: 20261026T113718Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Given the cost to go in and change it, what would you do? Lovely, nice, but driven lightly. What should be avoided if I don't change it? (ie, drive hard, change oil lots, pray?)
Let's let the forum convince me one way or another!
Pre thanks to all who will comment.
I would only consider buying one if:
1. the price is well under 10K - no other major issues
2. probably "ok" at this mileage but check the oil for any metal particles (or ask for the oil analysis) - i think the general dangerzone is around 50 - 60k?? by this time,
IMS
should be "safe", perhaps?
3. assume
IMS
/ engine can "blow up" at any moment and prepare to junk the car and not lose my mind
4. meanwhile, drive it like you-know-what; if I can get "$5000 worth of fun" then the rest is just the icing on the cake
"....driven lightly" may not be good for the
IMS
(for the lubrication);-)
If the PO was somewhat of an enthusiast, he / she may have sent sample(s) of oil to
Blackstone labs
and/or scrutinized oil filters. You get their kit, pay $30 bucks or so, send a sample and they give you a report - you can go to BITOG and can see many actual reports posted by users. If I was really serious and able (tools, ramps, stands, etc.), I would offer the owner "free oil change", send a sample to Blackstone, cut up the oil filter and see any shiny metal particles then, review the analysis.
And if you want to see actual report(s), google BITOG, Blackstone Labs, etc and you can see the actual reports posted by BITOG users. If you are lucky, there may be Porsche related reports you can find.
Buy it cheap. Scan it. Do oil change and analysis. Scope cylinders. Transmission service.
Tires
and brakes.
Drive it like you stole it until the
AOS
starts to fog the village... Oh yeah, coolant tank leaks, foam from the HVAC blend door. Ignition switch failure, CV boots and axles, trany seals,
spark plug
tubes. Holy crap, I forgot about all that stuff I did on my 2001 986S.
As many have said before...There is no such thing as a cheap used Porsche unless you want a project. The list can be endless. It will only be worth so much in monetary value, and you will exceed that value quickly if you have to do a lot of work to make it reliable at this stage of milage if there could be a reliable stage. The actual fun factor value could be worth every penny.
You might get lucky. It could be a cream puff, or it could be a time bomb.
Guys, I already own this car. Just wondering how I can gauge whether to keep it or sell it. As to your point, I did check all of the above before purchase. It's an auto I wanted that for traffic here in the Bay Area. I already have a stick
981
, but this one has the hardtop and more. Excellent info guys, and yes, got it for a good price. As for "steal", not quite, and I feel in love with the hardtop and color. Excellent price.... You all rock. Thank you.
Inspecting the oil filter for metallic material is certainly useful, but if the engine has gotten to the point where you are finding stuff, things are already pretty bad. An oil analysis by Blackstone or one of the other labs will give you much more information, and will spot problems much earlier than the oil filter inspection.
If you do decide to hang onto that nice looking
Boxster
, make sure to use high quality motor oil and gas which is rated “top tier” like Shell, Exxon,
Chevron
, etc.
I change the oil and filter every fall, regardless of mileage. I could see where some would call it wasteful and be correct. However, in my mind I like to get as much spent oil out of the system as possible before the brief winter layup interval. With the spin on convertor replacing
Mahle filters
is a clean "cost of doing business" in my mind. After all, I've never paid more than parts for oil service or resets so I'm money ahead even if some good filters get tossed.
I have watched a number of vids from Nathans
Porsche
on YouTube. His opinion is these early boxters can have a number of issues that can cost you and put you underwater on the value of the car. I would go watch some vids and do some research first. Yes the low cost of entry looks good but it could bite you. That said, I have read on a few forums that if the car has high miles on the original
IMS
, it probably will not go. But that’s trusting the internet. Regardless a good PPI is worth its weight in gold. Since you bought it already, just do the maintenance and drive and enjoy. Good luck.
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