I've got an opportunity to buy a 2003 911 Carrera at a pretty good price.
It has 28,500 miles, no options, 6sp manual. CPO so I'm covered for two years.

I'm able to afford it, and know the maintenance isn't cheap if I go to the $tealership.
Looks like I can do the oil changes, and minor stuff.

Other than needing new rear tires often, is there any parts that have known failure problems?
Anyone know of a good independent shop in the Boise area?
How can I tell if it has any traction control?

Thanks in advance.

Prior "fun" cars 95 M3, 04 Audi S4, 2005 M3 (never another SMG for me tho.)

 

Welcome. Im sure others more knowledgable then me will chime in, but besides general maintenance, you will probably need a new clutch around 50K and some 996 have main seal issues.

 

You've pretty much identified things already. When you say the car has no options, I assume you mean it has few options. Which one's do you know of? Does it have PSM? If it does there is a button on the upper left of the center console labeled "PSM Off".

If you don't know what options the car has or doesn't have I think maybe you should spend a little time learning more about the cars before you purchase one. You'll have a better idea then of what is important to you and will make a better personal decision. There is no rush to get one right now, there are always lots of them for sale and it is a buyers market.

 

I looked through what edmunds lists as options for the car, and the only thing that I remember seeing is the 18" wheel's, te rear window wiper and power driver's seat with memory. The dealership only noted the "full color Porsche emblem on the steering wheel". (How could you possibly consider a car without that performance option? )
Of course there's 4 different 18" wheels on edmunds.
18's, sport classic, sport design, and turbo look. I've attached a pic. Which ones are these?

 

these are none of the above, I think they are called the MY02 5 spokes

 

Thanks, I'll just figure it as the generic 18's for option impact then.
I've been doing a spreadsheet with anticipated tires, maintenance etc. Looks like I need to set aside about $150 per month for the foreseeable stuff. I figured $415 for each 15K service, $985 a year for rear tires, $535 for fronts every other year, a clutch due in a couple years, then one every four years thereafter.

If anyone thinks I'm substantially off please let me know.
Thanks to all.

 

Those are the Carrera II lightweights.

I think your budgeting looks pretty good. The 15K services are light by about half if done by the dealer. But most of that you can do yourself easily.

Open the trunk lid and note the white sticker toward the front under the lid. There will be a series of numbers and codes. Write them down and post them here. I or someone else can decipher them for you to tell you what factory options came with the car. Or you can become a contributing member to Renntech and find them yourself.

 

Thx I'm going to look at it again in a little bit, I'll write down the codes.