Because we don't have a red one.

I'm heading out on a 3+ hour drive. I have the trailer. Mrs AAZCD is staying home with the pooches since I'll be gone for over 7 hours.

Congrats on the new Boxster 

I think the rest of the pack would like to be with you.

Almost there. My MPG is low, just under 14. I'm wondering if Pepper needs a tune or the trailer needs grease. Probably my daughter filled it up with 87 instead of 91. I just pulled of for gas and ...of course the station only has 87.

Listening to an audio book, Terry Pratchett "Snuff".

Putting the good gas in, looking for a late lunch and heading home.

In reply to AAZCD :

That looks really slick in red w/the hard top. 

Good choice on the travel book.

I'd try to explain why I bought *another* Boxster, but this is GRM.

In summary, it sat on Craigslist for a month at $3,000. Someone had to buy it and apparently nobody else was stepping up.

I don't like to negotiate on a car without having seen it, but due to the distance and the seller being pretty straightforward about the condition, I made a $2,500 offer as: $1,200 for the car and $1,300 for the hardtop. No Challenge plans for it as of yet, but I like to keep options open.

Burger and onion rings are done now, back on the road....

We had a blue Great Dane. What a wonderful dog!! And congrats on the latest Boxster!

Its a good thing that there are no $2500 Boxters around here, in any color.

Congrats! Even if it doesn't run that seems like an awesome deal for a boxster with hardtop!

Here's another one for $1800.....

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/588679938541807/

Hardtop?!!

Great deal!

And I kinda like the 16 inch wheels, but should you choose not to use them, the buyer's market lies within the 944 and Super Beetle world.

Is that a 5 speed or a Tip?

I made it home at dusk. Mrs AAZCD told me to just leave it on the trailer for the night. I explained that I can't close the window with it on the trailer (rails block the doors), so I needed to unload it and might as well put it in the garage. Then we took the dogs for a short ride in Pepper and got ice cream.

I want to start figuring out what I bought and get to work on it, but I'm forcing myself to wait until tomorrow. Here's some basics:

• It's a 1997 5-speed manual with 184k miles.
• Runs and drives fine, interior is in good shape.
• Has some minor dents and some hail damage - mostly to the rear trunk lid.
• The coolant tank was just replaced, but the "hoses aren't connected well and leak".
• IMS bearing was said to have been replaced by the previous owner - no details.
• Good regular maintenance with documentation until the last couple years.
• I smell an oil leak after running it for a while.
• Soft top doesn't work, minor window/door issues.
• Chipped tail lights and headlights need a polish.

The issues are all stuff I have dealt with before and most of the parts needed are in my garage and shed. As a '97 with over 180k miles, it's hit the bottom of depreciation and would not be easy to sell for a profit even if I do make it pristine. For now I plan to fix the issues I find and enjoy it for a while as what it is.

Woody: I like the 16s too and I think they are appropriate on a '97. I'll probably keep them, but I might want to pick up some old 944 16" phone dials too, see which I like better.

Congrats, Jon. Glad you snagged it, your Boxster count was a little low.

Love it! 

I saw a $500 black hard top listing while traveling for work and have yet to find one for less than 1k since.

Wait, my Cayenne gets 15mpg all the time anyway.. what does yours get? Is it a 3.2?

A few more notes about yesterday. Gary, the seller, had bought the car in 2012 and had taken good care of it most of the time he owned it. About two years ago his wife got stuck in a hail storm and the cost of the repair was close to the value of the car. Not serious damage, but visible dents in every panel. He decided not to repair. After that receipts for maintenance pretty much stopped, but he still did some work himself such as trying to replace the coolant tank.

Lots of people had contacted him about the car, but most of them were expecting it to be flawless or trying to just get the hardtop without the car. I made it clear that I intended to drive there with a trailer and hand him the agreed cash as is/as described. I didn't inspect it beyond opening the door until after I handed him the money.

He's a good car guy and has a couple corvettes. Here's the '77 that was in his garage:

I also saw an *original* 1957 T-Bird when I stopped to eat just East of OKC. Beautiful interior with just a slight haze on some of the metalwork. Sorry I didn't get more pics. The owner was really nice, but I didn't want to be like a stalker.

I only did a little bit of work on it today. Mostly just looking over the engine and checking the oil. The left rear suspension and shaft are almost new. A shop had changed the wheel bearing and not got the half-shaft bolts torqued. When the shaft let go, the shop replaced everything on that side that it damaged. The right side is dirty, but looks good. There's a few oil leaks. Definitely leaking from the spark plug tubes and probably from the oil cooler o-rings. Not hard to fix and I'll probably put in an upgraded 'S model' oil cooler.

The engine oil looked really good and the car has a spin-on filter adapter. I poured some oil from the filter into a mason jar. Nice color, no sediments or solids, and it smelled right.

The soft-top has a damaged frame and some stitching coming out on the rear window. I have an almost new top that came from my Challenge car that I'll swap onto it.

The front tires are good, but the rears have a typical Boxster wear pattern - no tread left on the inside. A pair of 'daily-driver' 16s shouldn't be too pricey.

With an initial assessment done, I decided that I need to make more room in the driveway and finish stripping and scrapping my '02 parts car. I managed to close up some gaps in my parking and get everything lined up on the same angle. Note: my daughter keeps one of my '99 Boxsters at her place now which is good because it won't fit.

A shot of the line-up before I put the covers back on. This is what too many looks like.

Tomorrow I'll pull the suspension off the parts car and see what else is worth keeping. I hope to haul it away on Monday or Tuesday. The black one on the far left will become my new parts car and the hearse is mobile parts storage for now.

Vigo said:

Wait, my Cayenne gets 15mpg all the time anyway.. what does yours get? Is it a 3.2?

Mine's an '04 with the 4.5. On the highway I usually get 16-18 mpg, but with a car on a trailer 13-15. It's almost up to 170k miles now, but is still a good reliable go-anywhere SUV.

You don't have a speed yellow one either......

:0

And I had to share with the twitterverse. Nice score.