Planet 9

I found a garage queen 2005 Boxster with under 10,000 miles. However, the warranty is over. I am hesitant to pull the trigger and be on the hook for some horrendus repair bills. I've heard Porsche's have excellent quality but I've heard the repairs are huge. This is my first Porsche. A dealer purchase, CPO, provides long-term peace of mind, but at a price. What are your opinions as to which way to go.

my opinion is try getting the CPO if you can...

if the car being sold by the owner is CPO'd to begin with, you can only transfer the CPO via private sale.

I'm currently hunting for a Cayman and I am only considering CPO cars. It costs the dealer $2000 to certify a car so you may have to pay a bit more. The dealer I am dealing with also does quite a bit more to make sure the car is as close to new as possible so for me, it is worth it.

Non Certified "garage queen" Porsche's can be very expensive to repair.....making the CPO Warranty look very good!!!!!!....make sure you have a trusted Porsche technician go over the car very carefully before you close the deal. CPO from dealer is a much more "comforting" way to purchase a Porsche. CPO Porsche is a great way to own a Porsche automobile. I know, I'm on my second one.

I'm on the other side of the fence from the previous posters; I would choose the right private party sale over a CPO car.

Of course, it has to be just the right sales conditions. One owner cars only, no significant warranty claims, a check-out by an independent repair shop unless you're a technically saavy buyer and can do it yourself, low miles, preferably a real garage queen with no rain/snow driving, no track driving, complete maintenance records, and a price significantly below dealer CPO prices. Over the past year I've found several of these cars and even helped someone buy one. I didn't buy such a car myself only because when I was buying I decided it was worth it to me to have a car exactly how I wanted, so I ordered a new one.

On a 2005 car it is not clear to me how CPO is such a big win anyway. The warranty is good for a maximum of six years from the manufacture date, so as of this posting date for a 2005 you're looking at two additional years or so. On a true garage queen is this really a big deal? I'm not so sure.

Then there's the dealer factor. Did they really perform the checklist? How many people drove it / test drove it under what conditions? Was it a lease return? (My advice is to avoid leased cars. Some people don't abuse them, but many treat them like the rental cars they are.) How long has it been sitting outside in the sun and the weather? And the CPO warranty doesn't cover everything... it is really worth the cost adder?

The only reason I can think of to prefer CPO is if you really don't have the knowledge to judge a used car and its owner, and taking that responsibility makes you uncomfortable. In that case I could probably justify CPO, but otherwise it looks like a very expensive and incomplete insurance policy, but I still wouldn't choose one unless the dealer could answer a lot of questions about the car.

The dealer CPO Porsche is carefully inspected and is delivered "showroom" condition to the buyer. The complete carfax report is available to the buyer, the tires ($$$$!!!!) are Porsche n tires within the required tread spec, the battery, brakes, and other important functions are brought back to factory specs in order for the car to fall within Porsche's strict demands of a CPO car. The paint is original and only the very slightest road damage (scratches, stone chips) are allowed and are noted before the purchase. A later model (I agree not much point in an '05 model) with low to normal mileage is worth it in my opinion. Of course, much of this is dealer dependent, my dealer is very careful when certifying a car.

You can always purchase an extended warranty from the dealer on the garage queen so you can be protected from the repairs. As always it comes down to the cost.

I think you can make a reasonable argument for both cases. If private make sure you get a PPI from dealer then get it warrantied from a company that the dealer uses. Keep in mind that some private warranty companies pay at the companies coverage rate. In the past, I had another Porsche that I purcahsed a private warranty. They did not cover full costs by dealer and I had to pay any difference.

Personally, I went with a CPO, one owner, non-lease, full service history provided by dealer, no paintwork etc. In fact the dealers son owned the car. So far. they have covered any warranty issues and even some that were not covered (i.e. paint flakes from ash tray cover)...

True........the CPO warranty that continues for the two years following the orignial four year warranty is virtually indistinguishable from the four year warranty.........in fact.........my service advisor told me that for all intensive purposes it is the same. I have had issues that were covered that I was very happily surprised when I heard "it's covered on the warranty", eg. replacing the ignition cylinder in the dash.

As long as it checks out with and has a trail of service history no big deal. It has been put to you about purchasing a warranty from the dealer. There are several types of coverage lengths and deductibles and all well worth it. Also you can haggle with the dealer on the price of the warranty. Any GM worth his sand will make you a deal on a warranty to get you behind the wheel.
Good luck!

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Flyboy