Porsche Boxster Virgin

[Paul P]

Agree with walk away - I would imagine that there is an amount of wear between optimal and worn enough to come up on the MOT - so from a performance point of view - that work probably needs to be done sooner rather than later. The fact that the dealer won't fix suggests its neither easy nor cheap - otherwise they would have done it and pointed out the siney new bits and added a grand to the price.

[½cwt]

15 minutes ago, Paul P said:

Agree with walk away - I would imagine that there is an amount of wear between optimal and worn enough to come up on the MOT - so from a performance point of view - that work probably needs to be done sooner rather than later. The fact that the dealer won't fix suggests its neither easy nor cheap - otherwise they would have done it and pointed out the shiny new bits and added a grand to the price.

To be slightly balanced, for a dealer to do even just coffin arms with original Porsche branded parts would cost close to 4 figures rather than with Meyle or Spyder that a more practical or budget conscious owner might be prepared to do.

[Porschevirgin1968]

Guys, I am really appreciating the feedback and advice, the search continues. 

[Paul P]

3 hours ago, ½cwt said:

To be slightly balanced, for a dealer to do even just coffin arms with original Porsche branded parts would cost close to 4 figures rather than with Meyle or Spyder that a more practical or budget conscious owner might be prepared to do.

I dont think a general dealer would be shy of putting budget parts on a car to shift it off the forecourt - they would probably just hit ECP or their preferred supplier and buy whatever came out cheapest. A specialist might have a preference - but I think a number of those use Sypder or similar unless the customer wants something else.

But either way saying "doesn't cost much, and I am not doing it" is a red flag for me, just like the old favourite form eBay - "A/C doesn't work, just needs a regas...." 

[Porschevirgin1968]

Well I've just driven for just over 2 hours to view a car key struggled in the ignition, heaters would not work windscreen wipers wouldn't work. They had the cheek to say first person to see will buy.  Took the keys back explained what if spotted and I'm no mechanic, they said og yeah we know about all that. Really. 

https://www.motors.co.uk/car-67604593/?i=32&m=sr

 

[Terryg]

49 minutes ago, Porschevirgin1968 said:

Well I've just driven for just over 2 hours to view a car key struggled in the ignition, heaters would not work windscreen wipers wouldn't work. They had the cheek to say first person to see will buy.  Took the keys back explained what if spotted and I'm no mechanic, they said og yeah we know about all that. Really. 

https://www.motors.co.uk/car-67604593/?i=32&m=sr

 

£8.5k for that??? Have 986 prices really gone up that much?

[½cwt]

1 hour ago, Porschevirgin1968 said:

Well I've just driven for just over 2 hours to view a car key struggled in the ignition, heaters would not work windscreen wipers wouldn't work. They had the cheek to say first person to see will buy.  Took the keys back explained what if spotted and I'm no mechanic, they said og yeah we know about all that. Really. 

https://www.motors.co.uk/car-67604593/?i=32&m=sr

 

Needs an ignition switch then at least, as for the rest, acceptable if offered at £4k to 4.5k and noted in the ad.

Good luck with the ongoing search.

[TV8]

Are you on Facebook? There were several good looking cars up north (that means above Milton Keynes for me) for sale when I was looking. I ruled them out as they had not gone through the ULEZ manual process and there is a lot of traffic in between but worth a look as second cars are hanging around a while!

This one is very similar to what I bought and I paid £8.5k privately with the top for that one but there is some damage to the rear bumper on mine. 
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306178638142?

[Porschevirgin1968]

21 minutes ago, TV8 said:

Are you on Facebook? There were several good looking cars up north (that means above Milton Keynes for me) for sale when I was looking. I ruled them out as they had not gone through the ULEZ manual process and there is a lot of traffic in between but worth a look as second cars are hanging around a while!

This one is very similar to what I bought and I paid £8.5k privately with the top for that one but there is some damage to the rear bumper on mine. 
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306178638142?

Yeah I'm on Facebook, I've actually seen a couple over the North East. Going to look at a 2.7 2003 with fsh today but they want 9k for it. See how today goes. 

[Bike Loon]

£9k? That will get you a decent 987.. thats a lot for a 986 2.7

[Porschevirgin1968]

12 minutes ago, Bike Loon said:

£9k? That will get you a decent 987.. thats a lot for a 986 2.7

Really? Full porsche service history and 54k miles on a 2.7

[Bike Loon]

Did I say that? No,  but you can get a much newer more modern car for that money with reasonable miles.

 

Your money, your choice of course.

 

[Porschevirgin1968]

7 minutes ago, Bike Loon said:

Did I say that? No,  but you can get a much newer more modern car for that money with reasonable miles.

 

Your money, your choice of course.

 

Still very new to the Boxster world, but prices seem to be going up, or maybe I'm just looking in wrong place and at wrong cars. 

[RedBarediver]

For what it's worth I bought my 2.5 for £3,500 from a dealer who probably thought it was lowering the tone of his forecourt and just wanted it gone (everything else was Ferrari and Aston Martin etc). I had serious rose tinted specs on when I bought it but all in all it only cost me £2,000 or so to get it running and looking good. Replaced brake booster and master cylinder, waterpump, various bits on the suspension, new tyres, new ignition switch, new heater screen matrix, new condensors, aircon regas, new wheelbolts, second hand exhaust and so on. Niggly little things. There is still a bit of work to be done (suspension still creaks a bit) and I want to replace coil packs etc. I did a lot of the work myself to keep costs down and it's hands down the easiest car I have worked on (and I'm no expert).

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't be put off by a rough looking example with spotty service history. If it's cheap enough and the major bits are good (engine, gearbox, suspension) then you could have fun fixing it up. Parts are fairly inexpensive (either through Autodoc or from Douglas Valley Breakers) and most of it is stuff that a fairly competent home mechanic can do himself with basic tools.

I've done about 13,000 miles with mine and it is absolutely the most fun I have ever had with my pants on.

[Menoporsche]

2 hours ago, Bike Loon said:

£9k? That will get you a decent 987.. thats a lot for a 986 2.7

That’ll get you Mick’s very sorted 987 from Edinburgh. 

[½cwt]

There are few 986 cars out there worth paying over £7k for. Bear in mind the list of jobs and the price tag for them. I bought my 986S nearly 5 years ago and I've spent nearly £4 k on it since, albeit that includes some 18" wheels and tyres and retro fitting cruise, but not regular servicing.

If you want to spend £9k start looking at 987s or buy a cheaper 986 and be prepared do £2k to £2.5k of restoration work on it and you'll stil spend less.

Or buy in mid winter not mid summer.

Edited July 15, 2023 by ½cwt

[Gunscrossed]

One thing I noticed after viewing 5-6 over the last few weeks is that there’s sometimes very little between cars priced at the bottom end and the top. 
I think the 986 is a bargain at the moment in general but I’d expect a really good example for £8k.

contrary to other options I do think mileage matters if you’re paying decent money and want something to keep for a while.

[½cwt]

I think received wisdom is that whilst low milage is desirable, high mileage (low to mid 100k range) is not something to be scared of and that unless ultra low, sub 30k it is not worth paying a huge premium for and if low there needs to be very good evidence of it being cared for and serviced properly all the time.  Sub 40k miles is under 2000 miles a year, every year, for a 986 now.  On price, at £8k it should be pretty much faultless, whereas you can buy at £5k, spend £2-3k over 2 years and probably have a better car.

[Paul P]

2 minutes ago, Gunscrossed said:

One thing I noticed after viewing 5-6 over the last few weeks is that there’s sometimes very little between cars priced at the bottom end and the top. 
I think the 986 is a bargain at the moment in general but I’d expect a really good example for £8k.

contrary to other options I do think mileage matters if you’re paying decent money and want something to keep for a while.

I think mileage is a consideration .  But the general view is “history and condition beat low miles”

especially on 20 year old cars 

so a car with 90 k.  With receipts for suspensions brakes and good tyres and a file of paper with everything from replacement bulbs through annual oil service to minor / major service with work sheets is a better bet than the same car on 40k with nothing other than a stamp in the book from “honest joe we fix motors” every 3 or 4 years and a sketchy mot record of three years in a row with “cracked tyres and corrosion on disks” but only covered 80 miles. 
 

And even if it’s a keeper.  Realistically how many more miles are you putting on it - 20k - 40k.  I would still take the higher mileage well looked after example over the didn’t drive it because it costs money to keep it nice car. 

[Porschevirgin1968]

Well, after another disappointing viewing today i am extending my search, but I may not be able to get to some of the lesser priced cars further south, there seems to be more choice the further south you are. 

[Porschevirgin1968]

Does anyone live in Bucks on here, lol.

 

 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Porschevirgin1968

[iborguk]

£7,995, 106,700 Miles

MOT History https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/results?registration=YD05LUG

https://www.motors.co.uk/car-67769767/?i=4&m=ds

 

 

 

 

[Gunscrossed]

1 hour ago, Paul P said:

I think mileage is a consideration .  But the general view is “history and condition beat low miles”

especially on 20 year old cars 

so a car with 90 k.  With receipts for suspensions brakes and good tyres and a file of paper with everything from replacement bulbs through annual oil service to minor / major service with work sheets is a better bet than the same car on 40k with nothing other than a stamp in the book from “honest joe we fix motors” every 3 or 4 years and a sketchy mot record of three years in a row with “cracked tyres and corrosion on disks” but only covered 80 miles. 
 

And even if it’s a keeper.  Realistically how many more miles are you putting on it - 20k - 40k.  I would still take the higher mileage well looked after example over the didn’t drive it because it costs money to keep it nice car. 

I wouldn’t call 90k high mileage on a 986, it’s the ones on 120k plus, which still isn’t that high for the year.

[Gunscrossed]

Has anyone suggested this? Not an automatic though.

Former YouTube car

[Porschevirgin1968]

11 minutes ago, Gunscrossed said:

Has anyone suggested this? Not an automatic though.

Former YouTube car

I'm not sure how I have missed this tbh, I have messaged the seller. Thanks for that.