buying 1997 with 30k miles - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

I am buying 1997 base boxster with 30kmiles.I am buying from privat party The asking price is $12500.I talked him down to $10500.It was in garage kept mostly he drove on the weekend.Is this a good price?Should I be concern about engine failure in the future.This is will be my weekend car(I sold my mr2 3 years ago and has been missing having conv. vehicle since).

10.5K is a very reasonable price for a car with that low of mileage and it looks well kept. Have you driven it? Drive it around and see how it drives then if you like it consider taking it to a place to have a pre-paid inpection done. PPI's usually cost a couple hundred give or take, but it can be money well spent. You usually can't predict which cars will have engine failures and which ones won't, but the large majority never do. Buying any car comes along with it's risks of various failures and Porsches are not immune.

That's quite a good price considering the mileage. But remember this car is nearing 13 years of age. Unless the owner has dumped money on keeping it mint, there might be some internal wearing you have not seen. Like Adam said, get a PPI done, it's very cheap insurance. Boxsters are fun and all, but if they break down they break your bank. I think it's best to go in as confident as possible. But on the right days, there is no substitute!

1997 does not have side airbags. Significant number of engine failures due to cracked or slipped cylinder liners, but since a minor redesign in 2000 these problems have been resolved.

I have a 1998 with similar mileage, it runs very well, if the car has been looked after that is a true bargain, especially if it has even a few options, hell used motorcycles can reach 10K. Besides a ppi, make sure you check the finish carefully, every seam should be symmetrical, look for any traces of over-spray, observe the finish carefully at multiple angles with a good light source. PS Get in the car and have someone spray it with a hose check for any leaks.

Significant number of engine failures due to cracked or slipped cylinder liners Slipped sleeve or "D-chunk" failures did not occur until the late '98 to '99 models when Porsche ran out of cases and re-sleeved ones they had previously rejected, due to poor casting; you should not see an issue with a '97. Pay careful attention to the maintenance records, especially oil change intervals. Data suggests frequent changes have helped minimize failures over the extended change intervals Porsche was recommending at the time. I do not pretend to be an expert; they reside at www.lnegineering.com and www.flat6innnovations.com where there is plenty of good reading. Good luck if you purchase the car...they are a blast to drive!

For a vehicle that averaged only 2300 miles per year, there are some things you will want to have looked at right away, and changed. First things I would look at would be the front engine mount, the tires, change the transmission fluid, change the oil, oil filter, and the air filter, change the cabin air filter, test the battery or replace it if it is older than 5 years, and get the car up onto an alignment rack for a good inspection. After that, get the car out onto the road and drive it! I'll never understand why people buy something nice, then hide it away and never use it. BC.

I believe the slipped sleeve issue on the late 98's and 99's is only one cause of a D-chunk failure. D-chunk failures are not unique to just those years also happen on other M96 variants.

Not entirely correct, Yes 1997 boxster have no side airbags however, your statement regarding engine failures is false. 986 engine redesigns never completely resolved IMS and liner issues. I think there should be a thread on this forum which a forum member had there engine replaced with the so called "redesigned platform" which still suffered a failure. The years commonly effected by IMS failures and cracked & slipped cyclindar liners are usually 98, 99 and some 2000 - 2001 but its rare, but in this case I think your warning to the poster is somewhat valid due to the low mileage of the boxster and its age. Purchasing a boxster with so little miles still leaves the possiblity of IMS and Liner failure to occur. Usually your out of the woods once your boxster exceeds 50k - 60k miles since IMS and liner failures commonly occur anywhere from 15k - 45k mile range. The best advice anyonce can give the poster is to purchase a 3rd party warranty and have a pre-purchase inspection done on the vehicle at a local porsche dealership. Keep in mind there is no way to inspect and notice if the IMS will certainly fail in the future, its sudden, there will be smoke, your cheeks will get red and you might slap your wife or gf later that nite.

Pre-paid inspection... Who paid for it and why did they pay before the inspection?

lol....meant to put pre-purchase inspection.

Thank you for all feedbacks,I have an appointment on Monday.I expect small minor issues it's 13 years old but I hope nothing major.

I bought a '97 in November of 2005. A the time it had 9,700 miles on it. The isuues I had just after purchase could have been avoided if I had known about this forum. I DID have a PPI and the dealer missed a few things that I couldn't have caught without the knowledge I have today. The tires were originals and had to be replaced due to ther age. PPI didn't catch that and niether did I until I joined this forum. The convertibel top cables were also original and should have been replaced by the original owner. That also was not turned up by the PPI and they failed shortly after I bought the car. ($1500) The car has had a very slight RMS leak since I've owned it and had to be there when I bought it. No mention on the PPI. This has caused me no problems other than a quarter sized spot on the garage floor every couple weeks. I now have 30,000 miles on the car and have replaced the AOS, MAF, and one ignition switch. That's all I've done and feel for a car this age that's pretty good. THis car looks new and I love driving this car hard up in the mountains and all the great twisty's we have here. I might recommend that in addition to a PPI you look up your local Porsche club and have an experienced Boxster owner give the car a "once over". I would buy another Boxster in a heartbeat. Just be prepared to spend some bucks on a car this age. Good Luck!

No offense meant, but how does a mechanic doing a PPI miss something as obvious as worn tires? It's no wonder he missed the RMS and the other items. I'm glad you enjoy your car though.

Correction.. not worn... aged. Which could mean dry rot. I guess if the cars going to be a Garage Queen, dry rotted tire really don't matter. But it sound like he is using his car... like their meant to be used.

True, but aged or worn it's something the mech should have listed as a fault to inform the buyer.

The tires were not worn at all, they only had 9700 miles on them. They looked brand new. It was the age as was mentioned. This car was in a garage at the dealership for some time. I ran the numbers on the sidewall to determine their age and thus replaced them. I guess whomever did the PPI just missed it since the tires looked new and didn't bother to check the age.

I stand corrected.