I am looking at a Boxster 2015 that has been put on the market by CarMax. The car has factory warranty but given it's not sold by a Porsche dealer and thus not certified, is there anything I should look out for or get inspected?

Thanks in advance!

 

The fact that it has around 3 years of factory warranty left should give you some comfort. Doesn't Carmax give a short warranty too?

You might want to have a Porsche dealer to dump the computer to check for over-revs just to make sure that the engine hasn't been mistreated (if it is PDK it will not have a problem). Since oil changes are expensive, you may want to get them to do a fresh oil change for you (of course you need to make sure that they will use a Porsche-approved oil).

 

I just bought a 2015 GTS from a non Porsche dealer with 5800 miles. It was just fine, no issues and under factory warranty. Just check the car with a paint meter to make sure it hasn't been repainted and of course the carfax.

 

The 2015 Boxster is just a used car. You should give the car a thorough used car check out. That is it a recent model, that it has some factory warranty left -- I assume that it is being sold by a non-Porsche dealer doesn't affect the factory warranty (I know it affects -- voids -- a CPO warranty) -- but you should confirm with PCNA that the car retains its new car warranty -- doesn't change the fact it may have a problem. While the warranty probably would cover this I think it would be best to know beforehand so you can make a better informed decision.

Have the seller take you on a 15 mile drive and demo the car like you intend to use it. Afterwards, then you switch seats and take the car on the same 15 mile drive and drive the car the same way.

You must spend time in the car in its natural state on the road with the engine running with the car being used.

After your test ride/drive then give the car a through used car check out. Assume nothing works until you verify it does.

After all of the above, if you still like the car and believe you can buy it for an agreeable sum it would be a good idea to get a PPI by someone who is very experienced with Porsches. The idea is after all the recent use -- from your test ride/drive -- to get the car inspected for among other things any leak sign.

But of course the PPI would also check for any signs of accident damage/repair, bent or damaged steering/suspension/drivetrain components, etc.

While it is assumed a PDK can't let the engine over rev my info is under some special cases this is not true. While probably rare to leave no leaf unturned you should have the DME over rev counters read along with the engine runtime and time stamps. The engine run time and the odometer give you a way to sanity check the mileage vs. engine run time. Divide the odometer miles by the engine run time to get the average speed. "30" is about average. Any higher and the car was used mainly on the highway -- or track -- and any lower and the odds are it was used more as an about town cruiser.

"Real low" and this suggests maybe tampering. Sometimes lease cars get this treatment if the lessee has driven the car over the lease miles limit and seeks to dial back the odometer to just under the limit or much closer to the limit to avoid or minimize the penalty for exceeding the miles limit.

 

Not sure if OP has already bought the car or not, but I've been through this song and dance with Carmax before. I've bought several cars from them over the years including three Porsches. They can be a real headache to deal with, but sometimes they have the exact car you want at a fair price.

They won't let you take the car over to Porsche for a PPI ahead of purchase under any circumstance. You have to buy it first, but they do have a 72 hour no questions asked return policy (like in the commercial with the yellow corvette). Last time I made an appointment with Porsche for the PPI on a Monday. I did this before buying the car to be sure they could get me in within 72 hours. I bought the car on Sunday with Carmax financing. Once the car checked out OK the next day at the Porsche dealer, I went ahead transferred the loan to my credit union with better rates. They cut me a check to buy out the Carmax loan with no pre-payment penalty. Had the PPI turned up unacceptable issues I would have not transferred the loan, the car would have gone back to Carmax for a "no hassle return" and I would have kept searching for a car.

Also Carmax has inexpensive warranties that are much longer than Porsche's PPI, but you can still get work done at the Porsche dealer. They used to be 72 months, but I believe they are now 60 months. I've never had to make a major claim to see how they honor, but it provides some piece of mind for a relatively low cost.

Again, if OP already bought a car, maybe this info will be helpful for others.

 

I bought an 03 from a VW dealer. The VW dealer had the local Porsche dealer inspect the car and they performed a bunch of maintenance. OF, align, fluids, etc. The car had the IMS done so I bought based on the work and IMS/Clutch being done.