Checking out a 2011 Boxster S

[Chander]

I am interested in buying a Boxster with PDK. I used to have a 2004 911 Carrera S which I loved, but the road noise eventually got to me. I miss the exhilaration of driving a Porsche again, and am considering a Boxster for 2 reasons: It is more affordable than a 911, and I have read that it is the quietest of the three _Boxster, Cayman and 911.

 

I see a 2011 Boxster S with PDK, Sport chrono, for about 27k with 84k miles on it. I live in Chicago, the car is in Winston Salem NC. Is there a lister or a reputable shop in Winston NC that can help me out by checking out the car? Is that even advisable?

[deilenberger]

On 7/7/2017 at 6:18 PM, Chander said:

I see a 2011 Boxster S with PDK, Sport chrono, for about 27k with 84k miles on it. I live in Chicago, the car is in Winston Salem NC. Is there a lister or a reputable shop in Winston NC that can help me out by checking out the car? Is that even advisable?

 

Using a well regarded shop is probably the safest thing. Long story short:  I was enamored of BMW M-Coupes, the original 325HP "clown shoe" - and decided I needed one again (I'd owned one new when they first came out and BMW couldn't give them away - a $199/month lease!) - I found one on line in Boston. I live in NJ.  I probably should have just gotten in the car and gone to look at it, but I was still working at the time, and it would have made for a very long day, or an overnight (expensive) stay.  I had a group of BMW enthusiasts (the E39 Yahoo group - still exists) to ask..  one who I'd met once at Lime Rock offered to look at it for me.  The seller brought the car over to my friends office at lunch time, and they went out for a ride in it. My friend was very enthusiastic about it - said it ran wonderfully.

 

It did run wonderfully - but he missed something vital. It was raining when he looked the car over, so the light was dull, he was juggling an umbrella, and the car surface had rain drops hitting it.  What he missed were two things:  First was the hood had been painted - not particularly well. It was painted to correct what I assume was a fender-bender+ sort of accident, not only was the hood reworked (still had original VIN tags on it though) - it was slightly yellow compared to the rest of the car.  Also - one of the frame horns inside had been cut off and a replacement section welded on.  It was very well done - not too obvious except for the weld bead going around it where there shouldn't be any.  Second - the gray light, rain drops hitting - completely obscured the roof of the car. The car had obviously been in a hail storm at some point. And there were numerous pings from hailstones in the roof.

 

I actually liked the car because it really DID run and drive well. Kept it about 6 years and then traded it in on my current Cayenne (along with my old Cayenne). I figure I got what I paid for it, so the 20,000 miles I put on it (the last few years it was mostly a garage queen) were basically free.. but what I missed was the rapid appreciation in value of M-Coupes. The same coupe without the two flaws (accident and hailstones) would have been worth about $20,000 more than I got for it. It was still low miles (around 48k) and still really ran well.

 

So that's my warning message - unless you know the real capabilities of whoever is going to look the car over - I'd stick with a pro.  I did have a friend look at a 2011 Cayman for me before I bought the Boxster - but this friend is a professional automotive engineer with a specialty of testifying in court cases involving car wrecks where there may have been an equipment failure. His report was exactly what I expected, detailed and clear, with a good description of how it drove. I would have bought that one, but it was about $4,000 over my budget. 

Edited October 30, 2019 by deilenberger