Ebay Impulse Purchase

[Clarkyboy]

Hi

Long time lurker on these pages but thought I had missed the Boxster boat as prices have been creeping up in the last couple of years. Last week I went and broke all my own rules and on the spur of the moment picked up a cheap 986 with a mere 120,000 miles from an Ebay seller.

It looks from the service book that it was fairly well kept up until 2015, but it has since done less than 3k and there are three years when it was not MOT'd so presumably off the road somewhere. This and the fact that the guy I bought it off had only had it for a month and was moving it on should have had me running in the opposite direction. However, he came across as genuine and was in the process of buying another Boxster, a 3.2S from Eporsch,  so and I made him an offer.

Good points are that it's clean and presentable, seems to drive ok (although it has a wandering idle) and the roof (plastic rear window) and screen look relatively new. It passed its MOT in 21 & 22 with no major issues having had brake pipes replaced before the MOT in 2021. It does have a couple of minor bodywork dings, the aircon doesn't blow cold and the radio (CDR22) is not working. The car is on a private plate (L90 XTR) but was originally supplied new in October 1998 on an 'S' registration by Stratton of Wilmslow. It looks from MOT and service history that it spent most of the last 10 years in Lincolnshire.

Does anyone on here know this particular vehicle or any more of its history? Am I on the brink of financial ruin buying into this? Any advice on what I should be doing/checking? Also any thoughts on a bluetooth radio replacement, checking the aircon issue and buying a decent car cover would be most welcomed.

Thanks

 

[iborguk]

Welcome and enjoy 👍

[½cwt]

Welcome to 986 ownership.

Usual advice is that a 986 will cost you around £1.5k over servicing costs in the first year or so.  As long as you have that budget then you should jot be headed to ruin!  That said one of the common jobs seem to have been done in the brake lines.  You may well find it is a bit squeaky, rattly or knocking which will all be suspension related.  It is amazing the difference in the drive and ride once the suspension is overhauled but you can do it over a couple of years unless it fails MOTs for split or perished rubber bushes.  New tyres can make a big difference too, if they are more than 5 years old consider changing them even if they are not fully worn out.

AC not blowing cold is 90% likely to be corroded condensers, fairly easy DIY job for £200-300 in after market parts using a Groupon voucher with ATS Euromaster for the re-gas.

Head unit is best replaced with a new unit with many more features like DAB, Car Play etc.

Enjoy it for a bit, then work out the jobs that need doing.  Also join up with a local meet if you can.  Where are you in the country (add it to your profile)? Also find a local independent Porsche workshop and remember most genuine Porsche parts are cheapest form you local Porsche centre (OPC) but shop around for after market parts.

We're a helpful bunch, so just post those questions.

[999mch]

I bought mine last year from a guy who had only had it a month (wife was ill and insurance was massive) and mine has turned out ok after 15 months. Best thing you can do is drive it, you then end up with a silly grin on your face !

As regards stereo I fitted a continental so it fits in period wise but gives bluetooth, phone USB etc. 

Mine had a lack of service history, so I put it in for a full service with an indie and asked them to check it over. The general rule seems to be a full set of stamps showing a service every 2 years since the year dot is not as good as a load of receipts for work carried out over the last 5 years.

I had some receipts for garages that had carried out MOT etc, and i rang them up to see if they had carried out any work in the last couple of years.

All the best and just enjoy it

 

 

[999mch]

One thing i forgot is make sure you clean out the drains, otherwise the water gets into the car and one of the main ECU's sits under the passenger seat. You will get niggles with it but this group has made life much easier and cheaper.

[Daboy3000]

Welcome. I'm another budget boxster buyer.  As long as its running and its not your daily then just cross the jobs off the list when you have the finances. The list will grow,  it's an old car. Parts can be found at better prices through places like design911 or spyderperformance and even porsche dealerships can be cheaper than ebay. 

101 projects is a great book to have if you want to give some jobs a go yourself. 

[TROOPER88]

OP, call me if you want this evening as I inspected this car last week

 

Paul

www.torqueboxsters.co.uk

[Menoporsche]

A car that old could have anything as a problem/ already replaced. Pay a great indie to give it an inspection and come up with a list which is prioritised. The highest priority, despite this summer, will be checking the drain holes are clear. And pour water down the side windows to see if it comes in at the bottom of the door. That could save you £600 next time it rains. Inner faces of brake discs should be checked. I think the other main catastrophic failure is driving it in the wet when you are not used to mid engined handling - with cheap ditchfinder tyres also a possibility. The rest can be done as and when. 
Enjoy. 

[Menoporsche]

Wow Paul, that’s service 👍

[jonogt6]

Nice one and welcome. I think I'd be tempted to sell that plate and put the funds towards some maintenance etc. Be nice to have it back on its S plate.

[dave Morgan]

Sometimes you have to take a gamble in life.

Always interesting to find a genuine bargain, they are out there if you are not too fussy.

If a 986 steers straight, pulls up properly in a straight line and the engine pulls nicely through the gears there is probably no immediate big expense.

Just enjoy it, try to learn a bit about the servicing to keep the cost down, but also locate an independent specialist for the more difficult work.

Looks decent from the pics.

[iborguk]

2 minutes ago, dave Morgan said:

Sometimes you have to take a gamble in life.

Always interesting to find a genuine bargain, they are out there if you are not too fussy.

If a 986 steers straight, pulls up properly in a straight line and the engine pulls nicely through the gears there is probably no immediate big expense.

Just enjoy it, try to learn a bit about the servicing to keep the cost down, but also locate an independent specialist for the more difficult work.

Looks decent from the pics.

Yours is certainly a lovely example.

[dave Morgan]

7 minutes ago, iborguk said:

Yours is certainly a lovely example.

 

Thanks for the compliment, I did a bit of research and had to drive around for a bit to find it, but very glad I viewed a couple before making my move.

[Mattman42]

Welcome fellow Ebay buyer - who needs the fancy showrooms and cheap coffee when you can roll the dice and take a gamble - hope it all works out for you.

The only problem with inspections is they are only there to help a buyer negotiate a price, they will find every tiny little detail, half of which probably won't make any difference - as long as the basics are good and you can handle a spanner if needed, its all part of the fun of ownership

I'd also echo the others - sell the plate if its worth anything and add some finds back in the coffers

[½cwt]

2 hours ago, Mattman42 said:

Welcome fellow Ebay buyer - who needs the fancy showrooms and cheap coffee when you can roll the dice and take a gamble - hope it all works out for you.

The only problem with inspections is they are only there to help a buyer negotiate a price, they will find every tiny little detail, half of which probably won't make any difference - as long as the basics are good and you can handle a spanner if needed, its all part of the fun of ownership

I'd also echo the others - sell the plate if its worth anything and add some finds back in the coffers

I think @TROOPER88 takes a slightly different more realistic approach.

[EXY]

9 hours ago, Menoporsche said:

Wow Paul, that’s service 👍

I'd wait to see what he says,,,,,, 

Might be as popular as a fart in a space suit 

[Clarkyboy]

Well...

Firstly I want thank everyone for making me feel so welcome and for all the kind comments. I thought this was a friendly bunch of enthusiasts and it seems I certainly got that right.

I gave Paul (Trooper88) a call earlier and he certainly burst my Boxster bubble! It seems that I will have my work cut out if I decide to keep the car with a list of things that will need attention. The seller was fairly economical with the reality of the vehicle and I am going to give myself a few days to consider whether I am up to the task and just get out and drive the thing. I'm feeling a bit of an idiot for being so trusting but I'm sure I'll be feeling more positive again tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the interest and hopefully there will be a happy ending to this relationship.

 

Cheers

Jonathan 

[iborguk]

1 minute ago, Clarkyboy said:

Well...

Firstly I want thank everyone for making me feel so welcome and for all the kind comments. I thought this was a friendly bunch of enthusiasts and it seems I certainly got that right.

I gave Paul (Trooper88) a call earlier and he certainly burst my Boxster bubble! It seems that I will have my work cut out if I decide to keep the car with a list of things that will need attention. The seller was fairly economical with the reality of the vehicle and I am going to give myself a few days to consider whether I am up to the task and just get out and drive the thing. I'm feeling a bit of an idiot for being so trusting but I'm sure I'll be feeling more positive again tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the interest and hopefully there will be a happy ending to this relationship.

 

Cheers

Jonathan 

It's always good to have the facts.

You now know what you're dealing with. Treat it as a shopping list of a problem which needs to be broken down into what needs to be dealt with.

When sorted , these are brilliant cars.

This forum is full of folks who want to help, along with a dollop of humour.

Keep your chin up and good luck with whatever you decide.

[jonogt6]

12 minutes ago, Clarkyboy said:

Well...

Firstly I want thank everyone for making me feel so welcome and for all the kind comments. I thought this was a friendly bunch of enthusiasts and it seems I certainly got that right.

I gave Paul (Trooper88) a call earlier and he certainly burst my Boxster bubble! It seems that I will have my work cut out if I decide to keep the car with a list of things that will need attention. The seller was fairly economical with the reality of the vehicle and I am going to give myself a few days to consider whether I am up to the task and just get out and drive the thing. I'm feeling a bit of an idiot for being so trusting but I'm sure I'll be feeling more positive again tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the interest and hopefully there will be a happy ending to this relationship.

 

Cheers

Jonathan 

You'll have to tell us what up with it. I bet we're all dying to know!

[Menoporsche]

Sit down, make a list, and prioritise what is urgent/unsafe (bald tyres, corroded brake discs), what might need to be done in the next 6 months (coil packs looking iffy, won't survive the winter), and what would be nice but can wait (cosmetic stuff, and probably most suspension components).

[Scubaregs]

As said above, prioritise. 

All though Pauls report on the car may have come as a bit of a shock, it's far better knowing what you are dealing with than blissful ignorance biting you on the bum and perhaps even exacerbating problems.

You can either sell the car on and perhaps take a bit of a hit, or as @Daboy3000 is doing, fix things as finances allow and get the car back up to a good standard with the peace of mind that will eventually bring. 

I'm assuming Paul advised on whether or not the car is worth further expenditure, or if best to cut losses?

[½cwt]

If I'd had the list of all the things I've had to do in the last nearly 4 years I would probably not have bought mine.  However being a fairly keen DIYer and always intending to work on whatever car I bought I've learned a lot doing most of it over the first 3 years. The main thing is they are 20 or so year old cars  that were ~£35k premium brand sports cars when new and have to be thought of like that.  Also sadly the reasons for people selling often comes down to service/repair costs and so the next owner picks up the tab.

Maybe share some of the list Paul has given you and lets see what the collective can come up with.

[Mattman42]

22 minutes ago, Scubaregs said:

As said above, prioritise. 

All though Pauls report on the car may have come as a bit of a shock, it's far better knowing what you are dealing with than blissful ignorance biting you on the bum and perhaps even exacerbating problems.

You can either sell the car on and perhaps take a bit of a hit, or as @Daboy3000 is doing, fix things as finances allow and get the car back up to a good standard with the peace of mind that will eventually bring. 

I'm assuming Paul advised on whether or not the car is worth further expenditure, or if best to cut losses?

^^^ This - at least you know - you could sell, possibly take a loss or a small profit, buy another and still be in the same boat.

You only have to see some of the reader threads to see even the most maintained cars like to throw bills out quite regularly - the 986 is an old car now, a good one, but old and the age brings with it more maintenance and more bills. My 987.2 liked to throw 3 figure bills at me at alarming rates even though it had a full service history and was well maintained and had a complete going over by the dealer i bought it from - its going to be the same with any used car, just that the Porsche badge adds a few £££to each bill

As others have said - work out what is a priority and do the rest as when you can/want to

If all else fails - ask on here - most are a friendly bunch and can answer most "how to" questions you may have

[usman10316]

Having had many Porsches, starting at a 924, to the boxster, Cayman, 911 991 and 911 996, I can safely say all of them bar the 991 due to porsche warranty has cost a fair few grand to keep up. The boxster (84k miles now having bought it at 60k) is a 2.5 looks really good, but I've had to go through a list for maintenance works, using indie garages with many new parts including suspension, clutch flywheel, radiators  even had the chain guides done, but I'm now left with a great car that sadly doesn't get driven as much and may need selling.

The Cayman was expensive for the first year (now sold after 7 years where 6 years was the general 1k a year maintenance) and the 996 I bought last October after spending a long time examining it, still, who knew the clutch bracket would fatigue and need welding resulting in half the dash coming out! 

Lesson is: you buy a Porsche for the stupid grin you have when you drive, not for economical sense 😂

Edited August 5, 2022 by usman10316

[999mch]

56 minutes ago, usman10316 said:

Lesson is: you buy a Porsche for the stupid grin you have when you drive, not for economical sense 😂

😄 so right