Porsche Opportunity

So I have an opportunity to buy a 2006 Porsche Boxster with 25k miles for above challenge money, but not much.  The catch: IMS went. The story goes the previous owner did not maintain the car well. My co-worker's wife bought it and they went through and cleaned it up and drove it.  It shut down on them one day with a low oil pressure warning, so they had it towed to the dealer...who proceeded to start it.  Of course they are denying it. So he had it towed to a local specialist who found debris in the oil.  

If I put a replacement engine in it will probably be higher mileage. I'd put an IMS oil feed line in of course. If I did that would it be worth it for a fix and flip?  Keep for a while?  Cosmetically the car is great!  It appears NADA retail is $16k. 

Biggest issue for me is time since I have a toddler in the house, so this will be a longer term project. 

If I decide to pass I will on the info here.  

WWGRMD?

In reply to PMRacing :

What would be involved with repairing the existing engine?

In reply to Knurled. :

They were quoted worst case of a complete rebuild. About $4k in part and $8k in labor. At that point they declined.and decided to sell. I don't have all the tools for engine rebuilding but I have no issues doing a swap and maybe rebuilding the engine at a later time. 

Have you priced a known good engine?

Ls motor, with turbo ?

In reply to Gearheadotaku :

I haven't but was told $5-7k.  I was planning on researching this weekend.

Given the toddler, I’d say skip it and buy something else that requires less work and that you would want to keep

No. 

Renegade Hybrids

I own both a 996 and 986.  An 05 is an M96 3 timing chain variocam plus engine. If it’s the 2.7 they are pretty easy to acquire.  You’d better off getting an 06-08 2.7 with the much larger IMS bearing no oil feed needed or available that I’ve seen.

If it’s an 05 3.2, that’s the rarest and most expensive M96.  It’d cost a fortune.  

If you decide not to do this, I am super interested.

GRM would LS swap it as noted above. The smart money would just stay away since you've got a toddler and not enough time to build a super boxster. 

I saw the car in person today. It is very clean. I still need to run the numbers to see if it would be worth it. My FIL would be the main investor and I'd be providing the labor and most parts.  Time is the big issue so it would be a long term project. Any suggestions for decent sources for a used engine? Thanks!

You'd be better off trying to get that 928 beside it. My 2 cents. 

Ermagerd it’s blue. I’d be tempted to give you a quick 50% profit. That’s a beautiful car. 

Put a 3.8 in it. 

IMO, decent runners are cheap enough that anything over scrap price for a non-runner makes zero sense. 

“NADA” never bought a car from anyone. Check REAL PRICES. And think about what you’d really get for it if you advertised it as “X0,000 miles on engine. 25k on chassis.”

IIRC, mental scored a runner in the same price range you’re talking about a couple years ago.

$2-3k does not seem like a “steal” IMO.

edit: What Woody said. Lol.

Anyone put a Subaru motor in one ?

Or put it away until someone comes up with an EV kit for it,

First, I'm with Woody on this one.

Second, what sort of debris? These engines are notorious for the chain tensioner pads disintegrating when following the factory oil change schedule or worse. That's essentially a complete teardown of the engine to get at everything.

That said, I'd be surprised if that causes a low oil pressure light but it's still worth checking what kind the debris is - metal or plastic.

I guess you could play it Ruf and stick a 3.4 in there, but used engines on those are a gamble unless you know exactly where the engine came from.

So, back to Woody's point..

I would recommend looking into a factory Porsche short block.

If you choose to pass on the opportunity, I would be very, very interested in it.

If it was me, I would buy this car and buy a wrecked one and piece them together, parting out the wrecked one. I suspect a 25k mile Boxster is worth more than some people think. $2500 car, $2000 wrecked one, fixed car is worth $8000, parts from wrecked car are worth $8000. Presto - $16000 in sales from $4500 in purchases, minus fees and shipping, take about 80-100 hours of work. $100/hour for your labor.

I just gave you my formula, now sell me the car for $3500. ;-)

I forgot there's a guy about 50 miles from me who parts out lots of 986, 987 boxsters and sometimes 996 911's. 

Still interested here in TX.  Let me know.  

In reply to Stampie :

So about that 928...Details? Asking for uh...friend.

I've decided to pass. I will post up details from the owner next week.

Thanks for all of the feedback everyone!

PMRacing said:

I've decided to pass. I will post up details from the owner next week.

Thanks for all of the feedback everyone!

Any updates here?