Pick of the Day: 2000 Porsche Boxster, still a terrific sports car value

While searching for a Pick of the Day, I was all set to feature one of the Toyota MR2 Spyders on our site, but after looking at the prices for these cars, which seem to run between $14,000 and $20,000, I had a better idea. I did a search for Porsche Boxsters and found that you could buy one of these immensely better cars for the exact same amount of money.

This to me is absolutely crazy in that the Boxster is a superior car to the MR2 Spyder in every conceivable way. It is more comfortable, better equipped, better finished, has more storage space and offers considerably more performance. Also, the car is a Porsche and not a Toyota, which to me makes the choice between the two obvious.

The Pick of the Day is a great example of one of these fine cars, a 2000 Porsche Boxster finished in Arctic Silver metallic paint with a black leather interior, and with just 42,000 miles on its odometer.

This Porsche is being advertised on ClassicCars.com by a dealer in Rowley, Massachusetts, and it ticks all the boxes for one of these cars. I say this having owned a 2001 Boxster S, which I kept for a number of years.

The number one issue of concern when buying a Boxster is the notorious IMS bearing. If it has not been replaced, it is likely to eventually fail, and causing quite a bit of damage when it does. Always ask about this before buying one of these Porsches, and if the answer is no, then factor between $1,500 to $2,000 to have it replaced into the price for the car.

Happily, the seller says that the 6-speed manual car has indeed had the IMS bearing replaced at 36,000 miles, and the replacement is documented. The seller adds that this Boxster includes a comprehensive spreadsheet that its owner kept that describes all repairs and maintenance done to the Porsche since it was new.

It is also good to know that when the IMS bearing was replaced, the owner went to the trouble of  replacing the clutch. This Porsche is equipped with factory-correct 17-inch wheels that wear Michelin Pilot Sport tires. The fact that the car is also running tires of this quality and not some off-brand replacement also speaks to the overall quality of the car.

The photos in the ad are quite complete and show that the Porsche looks to be completely original and in excellent condition. The picture go as far as to illustrate a slight paint flaw around the driver’s side rear indicator assembly.

I have written about Boxsters quite a lot, and I still feel that these cars are the single best way to enter the world of Porsche.

With an asking price of just $14,900, this car offers a ton of fun top-down motoring for the money. Sure, it may never truly appreciate in value, but the first generation 986 Boxster remains the absolute best Porsche deal on the planet.

To view this vehicle on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.