10 Things I learned about buying a used Porsche Boxster

Shopping for used Boxster? Here are 10 things I wish Id known or learned beforehand

1. High mileage Boxsters are cheap, but you get what you pay for. Expect to put $2k or more into your older, high mileage Boxster the first year of ownership. If you dont have this extra cash, put off buying the car until you do. I had to replace two struts, a control arm, radiator fan, brake pads and put new tires on my Boxster and just these things were over $3k. Count the costs of buying an older car before you get all worked up about buying one in particular. Cheap Boxsters always cost more than newer ones with fewer miles on them. Period.

2. Buy as new a Boxster as you can possibly afford, and save up for the S (3.2L). Preferably, one with some remaining factory warranty on it. This will gee in handy those first few months of ownership when the radiator overflow tank leaks, you discover a small rear main seal drip, etc. Everything is expensive to repair, so getting PCNA to pay for the first couple of rounds will quickly offset the extra money you paid for a newer one.

3. Pricing on used Boxsters is absolutely wild. You can find two Boxsters that are nearly identical in features, engine size and mileage and the price can differ as much as $4000 or more. Do your homework and know the value of the model year you are seeking to buy.

4. Buy one from an individual who loved the car and took care of it. If you can possibly buy a one-owner Boxster who has kept good maintenance records, even if the mileage is high, youre doing better than buying one from a dealer where the cars been driven by 2 owners and serviced at multiple dealerships around the country. Its just too hard to find out about work done on the car when its been in a number of owners hands at different cities.

5. Unlike most other car dealerships, Porsche service dept. people cannot tell you what work has been done on your Porsche if it was not serviced at that particular dealership. You can look at the Carfax report and find out where its been titled and call the dealers in those cities and ask them to look up your VIN#, but there are no guarantees. Of course, work done on the car at a non-Porsche dealership will be unknown, so assuming maintenance was not done is the only safe assumption if the car doesnt have authentic records.

6. Speaking of Carfax reports, they are total crap. My Boxster had been slammed into a curb and spun around, doing sub-frame and rear strut damage, and the front bumper had been repaired and resprayed. Neither showed up on the Carfax. Get one though for title info.

7. Your PPI (Pre Purchase Inspection) should include a 4-wheel, laser alignment. Most PPIs dont gee with this, so youll need to pay extra for it, but it will quickly show you if the cars been wrecked and not repaired properly (which was the case for me). BTW, my car never drove or looked wrecked, but did fade to the right when I let go of the wheeland the alignment brought out what was wrong (bent front subframe and bent rear strut. Ouch!).

8. Boxsters eat tires and brakes and brake discs. If you get more than 15k out of a set of rubber, you have bragging rights for sure. Brake pads are soft, and their wear point has a lot to do with how often and how hard you depress the brake pedal but if you enjoy the gas pedal, the brake pedal use usually used as well. Brake discs cannot be turned, only replaced. Every third set of pads require new discs. And I make these gements as a conservative Porsche driver. I don't dump my clutch, spin my wheels or race between stop lights like a teenager.

9. Find a reputable Porsche mechanic before you take possession of your out-of-warranty Boxster. He must have (or have ready access to) a PST2 (a laptop-looking diagnostic tool) to discover most of the engine-related issues. Many dealerships mechanics are moonlighting on the side, and thats not a bad choice because they work on them all day and you can supply them parts bought cheap over the internet and save big bucks. I did not find my mechanic until after 6 months of ownership and far too much cash given to the dealer for repairs.

10. Ensure the Boxster you buy has the following:
- Two remote keys that work well. Replacements are $265 each and a real pain to secure (parts counter, bringing in your car for programming, etc.).
- Manuals for the car. Expensive and needed as the car isnt a self-discovery kind of vehicle (the manual is actually very helpful).
- Tools for changing tires and towing. Find out what came with the car and demand it be sold with these items or pay out the wazoo for them later.
- Rollbar inserts