Hi all,

Thanks to a great work opportunity I may be looking to buy myself an early 2000's Boxster S. I have found a 2002 S near me with 82k miles for about $16k. I have the full car fax report - back in 2007 it was purchased and returned due to ignition problems and a leaky window. I asked if these two problems have been fixed and am waiting for a reply. The car was also used as a lease vehicle for a number of years, and was only owned by the last owner for a year. Are there any major red flags here?

Also, the PCA page about buying a Boxster mentions the IMS/RMS issues, but indicate mostly the 1997-2000 models. I was considering the Flat 6 IMS retrofit as I will be moving to Georgia near where their facility is, but if there is an insignificant number of Boxsters from post-2000 that go through the IMS failure, I may forego it. Being that the vehicle has 82,000 miles, it seems to have been a pretty regular daily driver.


Any thoughts here? Thanks in advance.

 

See if you can find out if the IMS problem has already been fixed.

 

Not hearing any reason to jump on the car you describe. Take your time it's a buyers market, there will be a good selection for sale in GA might be best to wait til you move, be patient. E-mail your plan to Flat6 before you buy & take it there when you get one, they are the best!

 

Sorry causeway but it's not a good deal. I paid 16 for the same car with 57k miles more than a year ago.
Buy a car that has had the IMS replaced already, you'll sleep better. Although the higher mileage cars have a lower failure rate than cars with low mileage.

 

M96 motors are ticking time bombs regardless of year. Check to make sure the motor never overheated. Ims retrofit is needed on all m96 motors to be safe.

 

Buy the newest and lowest miles car you can be comfortable with. IMS failures are hit or miss... but just like bad restaurants and bad services, you will always hear exponentially more bad "reviews" than the good ones (i.e., engines with no failures).

There is a very similar thread on the 997 page and I posted link to a product review our PCA chapter technical editor did on the IMS Guard.
https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...gineering.html

Good luck with your search... there are plenty of these cars on the road, so you should cast a wider net for your search to find the best deal. G'luck.