Which Car Should I Buy?

[Adrian Major]

 I am currently considering 2 cars, both 987 G1 2.7 in identical colours. One has 62,000 miles and FSH from 7 main dealers . Its a 2.7 2005 model. Had a major service last in Nov 19 but with March 21 MOT had oil service carried out. 12 months MOT.  Advisories are brake hose corrosion, oil leak, corroded brake pipes, 2 tyres slightly damaged or cracked. Underbody has surface corrosion. Dealer has spent £900 replacing front brake hard lines and flexi lines, coolant hoses and fixed the oil leak which was from the sump plug. Tyres are in good shape with 6mm tread front and 4mm rear. Car is in immaculate condition.

The other car I am comparing it against is £500 higher price and is an 06 model with 80,000 miles. FSH again and has full records of all work carried out by previous owner who had the car for 7 years. Again superb condition but with 8 months MOT. Has MMS Bluetooth system included. Only advisories are rear inner disc worn.

Which one would you buy?

Cheers

Adrian

[Mattman42]

need to see them both - while the maintenance and history are good, what are the body and interior looking like? The lower mileage car sounds like it still needs tyres, tread depth is not enough as if they are old, they get hard and can be rubbish while still showing decent tread.

How many owners have both cars had? that can be a contributing price factor depending on how long you plan to keep it.

Check the tax level on the 06 - some 2.7's fall into the expensive tax bracket and while its not a huge difference, its a couple of hundred pound extra i'd rather not give the tax man if i can avoid it

Personally i'd be tempted by the 62k one if its immaculate, as you know the work has been done and depending on what you are going to use the car for, the lower miles will help overall. Brake discs always go from inside out, so i would be tempted to change those on the other one, or factor into the price

 

[Adrian Major]

Thanks for the advice. Both cars are £340 road tax. 

[Ninesomething]

Have you seen them in the flesh? Tin? When I'm stuck like this I just look at the front of the car and one of them speaks to me. That or I'm having acid flashbacks again....

[brillomaster]

id buy the cheaper one. MOT advisories arent a problem if they've been fixed, indeed its one less job for you to do yourself.

Also, the £500 saved can go towards some fresh new tyres. and the cheaper one will probably still be lower mileage and therefore potentially better resale value in a few years time.

[Adrian Major]

Interesting that 2 people who commented favour the 2005 model which is lower mileage. Anyone have an opposite view?

[Davey P]

3 minutes ago, Adrian Major said:

Interesting that 2 people who commented favour the 2005 model which is lower mileage. Anyone have an opposite view?

Yep, for what it's worth I'd go for the 06 model, based on your comments.  Probably best to drive them both though if possible, and you will have a better idea of which one is best (good advice from someone who bought the first 987 Boxster he saw and drove, and then a year later bought the first 981 Cayman he saw, without even test driving it, ha ha!)

[Adrian Major]

1 minute ago, Davey P said:

Yep, for what it's worth I'd go for the 06 model, based on your comments.  Probably best to drive them both though if possible, and you will have a better idea of which one is best (good advice from someone who bought the first 987 Boxster he saw and drove, and then a year later bought the first 981 Cayman he saw, without even test driving it, ha ha!)

Ok why the 06 model may I ask?

[Davey P]

1 minute ago, Adrian Major said:

Ok why the 06 model may I ask?

It's 06 instead of 05, which makes it 1 better   Seriously though, one owner for 7 years, and fewer problems reported than the 05.  The multiple MOT advisories on the 05 are red flags to me - Just my humble opinion though, and I have zero mechanical skills or knowledge to back me up, so feel free to ignore everything I say.  A 2 minute drive in both cars will probably answer your question, and one of them will stand out compared to the other.  Good luck anyway matey 

[Adrian Major]

5 minutes ago, Davey P said:

It's 06 instead of 05, which makes it 1 better   Seriously though, one owner for 7 years, and fewer problems reported than the 05.  The multiple MOT advisories on the 05 are red flags to me - Just my humble opinion though, and I have zero mechanical skills or knowledge to back me up, so feel free to ignore everything I say.  A 2 minute drive in both cars will probably answer your question, and one of them will stand out compared to the other.  Good luck anyway matey 

I tend to agree with you. Advisories are red flags and the fact that surface corrosion is one of them puts me off. I will drive both though and decide after that. 

[Tyreman]

Out of interest what colour are they ?

[Robster66]

Depends what your priorities are but litronic headlights are a must imho

[Menoporsche]

23 minutes ago, Davey P said:

A 2 minute drive in both cars will probably answer your question, and one of them will stand out compared to the other. 

As we love examining details in adverts, this usually ends up being the best advice. 

[bally4563]

1 hour ago, Adrian Major said:

I tend to agree with you. Advisories are red flags and the fact that surface corrosion is one of them puts me off. I will drive both though and decide after that. 

Advisories are fine so long as they don’t appear on the next Mot

[Adrian Major]

1 hour ago, Menoporsche said:

As we love examining details in adverts, this usually ends up being the best advice. 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102179161149?atmobcid=soc3

[Adrian Major]

1 minute ago, Adrian Major said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202102179161149?atmobcid=soc3

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103220432364?atmobcid=soc3

[minimoog]

Neither have heated seats, so for me I'd leave them both alone.

[Adrian Major]

Really that important?

[Bez 858]

1 minute ago, Adrian Major said:

Really that important?

Absolutely, complete deal breaker is heated seats, 

need a warm bum, and heater on full, for top off pleasure. 

[Paul P]

7 minutes ago, Adrian Major said:

Really that important?

Had one without and this one with.  If you have any intent of dropping the roof when it’s not 80 degrees outside then yup. Heated seats are a must.  

[iborguk]

10 minutes ago, Adrian Major said:

Really that important?

Personal choice, although I would not consider one without them.

[McDonald]

Available as a retrofit, quite inexpensive to do. Not a dealer breaker for me.

[Nobbie]

3 hours ago, Adrian Major said:

I tend to agree with you. Advisories are red flags and the fact that surface corrosion is one of them puts me off. I will drive both though and decide after that. 

Surface corrosion is a tricky one as it could mean a range of things. When I had the underbody covers off mine I noticed some rust in the centre of the car and it turned out to be fairly substantial. I removed the worst with a hammer and chisel and then painted it with wax oil. Not really heard anyone else mention serious structural rust on these, but mine was certainly on the way to that.

It would put me off the 05 car as it may indicate that there may be further corrosion issues with AC pipes, other brake pipes, corroded on drop links and coffin arms, seized alignment adjusters.

[Nobbie]

31 minutes ago, Adrian Major said:

Really that important?

Not to me, and I generally drive top down all year around unless it’s raining. Mind you, my last car was a Spitfire, so maybe that toughened me up😀

[horror]

An observation, many dealers use a generic features list further non Porsche dealers have little understanding of the cost options fitted to the cars they have for sale.

Both of the linked cars have cruise control, though only one dealer mentions it.

Both the cars have leather faced seats, one dealer describes this a ‘full leather’ which it is not, the other calls it leather/velour again which it is not.