How much of a risk is a 986 Porsche Boxster?

[300bhp/ton]

TheRoadWarrior said:

Genuine question here (Coming from the POV of knowing nothing about porsche engines). What does the RMS 'seal'? If it's between the engine and gearbox, why does it leak fluid? It's a dry clutch, so there shouldn't be oil sloshing around in there?

It's just the rear main seal, like a crank seal. Rover V8's, LS1's and many others can leak in similar places.

However in Porsches case they took the stance of replacing engines because of it but not always under warranty and charged obscene amounts for the privilege.

Personally I can't see it as an issue, just check your oil every now and again (like you should anyway). And at worse you might get a few drops on your drive after you've parked up for a bit.

It certainly isn't anything to actually worry about.

IMS however is a bit more serious and it's a shame Porsche still don't seem to have addressed it.

[falkster]

300bhp/ton said:

Really, or is this complete and utter tosh?

Quite agree! My wife has had hers for 6 years, second owner at 30k. She's done 65k in it and other than usual servicing (approx £250) its had discs/ pads, coil packs and tensioners.

[afrochicken]

300bhp/ton said:

It's just the rear main seal, like a crank seal. Rover V8's, LS1's and many others can leak in similar places.

However in Porsches case they took the stance of replacing engines because of it but not always under warranty and charged obscene amounts for the privilege.

I don't know anyone who replaced their engine because of a weeping RMS. I know people who replaced the RMS seal because of the weeping RMS. But not the entire engine.

300bhp/ton said:

IMS however is a bit more serious and it's a shame Porsche still don't seem to have addressed it.

I don't think it's a problem in the post 2008/2009 DFI engines. Mostly because there is no IMS on them. That's one way of addressing it.

OP, read Hartech's buyers guide. Then buy the car. Enjoy it. Look after it. Accept that just like any car, it might need some money spent on it at some point.

[dave_s13]

elephantstone said:

The Hartech scheme looks like something I would get. For my mileage it would be 72quid a month before VAT. That includes all labour/servicing and an MOT.. Would this be worth it do you think? Seems like a good if you need running costs spread out over time.

So thats £86.40/month
£1036.80 per year.

The question you have to ask yourself is "do I feel lucky?".

You could very well stick that amount in a savings account every month and only actually need to spend half of it over 12 months for routine servicing and a bit of fettling. Keep the car 2 years and sell on, you saved a grand.

On the other hand........

Warranties are mainly paying for peice of mind I reckon statistically speaking they don't tend to work in the customers favour, the house always wins, it has to otherwise the product wouldn't exist.

[Dalto123]

Would certainly echo what others have said on here. Buy on condition, not mileage. There are plenty of examples out there, good and bad.

Although we were very lucky getting ours in fantastic condition (can see a bit more info/thread on my Dad's in my Garage) a Major service was required and a couple of little things needed doing - upshot was a slightly higher bill than expected - you must bear in mind at the end of the day this was a £30k-£40k new, servicing costs can be a bit high at times.

But getting a big bill should be far and few between. Boxster's are generally very reliable and very well built. We've had a great year with our's, and hopefully will be taking it away for a tour of Wales this weekend

[tr7v8]

300bhp/ton said:

TheRoadWarrior said:

Genuine question here (Coming from the POV of knowing nothing about porsche engines). What does the RMS 'seal'? If it's between the engine and gearbox, why does it leak fluid? It's a dry clutch, so there shouldn't be oil sloshing around in there?

It's just the rear main seal, like a crank seal. Rover V8's, LS1's and many others can leak in similar places.

However in Porsches case they took the stance of replacing engines because of it but not always under warranty and charged obscene amounts for the privilege.


IMS however is a bit more serious and it's a shame Porsche still don't seem to have addressed it.

Engines were never replaced because of RMS leaks, they were changed because the RMS housing was wrongly machined. Only applies to very early engines. Later ones had upgraded RMS & different insertion done by OPCs.

IMS was redesigned several times, bigger, different bearings. Culminating in it being designed out in the 09 on engines.
Mine runs on thicker oil & non-SM rated oil & hopefully this will reduce/minimise/negate the bore scoring & IMS failure issue.

[Globs]

Devil2575 said:

elephantstone said:

I just don't fancy a £1000 bill and my new pride and joy left useless on the drive.

If that is the case then, IMHO, you need to be looking elsewhere.

To be honest even a Ford or a Vauxhall can leave you with a 4 figure bill these days.
I certainly wouldn't be looking at a Porsche if the prospect of a 1k bill is a problem for you.

Agreed.
If you can't afford a £1k bill (all of my 930 service bills were well over that, most considerably so) you should be looking at something else.

[CraigJ]

I have a 996 (not a boxster but similar parts prices) Owned it 6 months.

Cost so far.

Rear tyres £300 (blackcircles.co.uk)
Major service at local Specialists inc aircon regass £395
2 exhaust clamps from Porsche £28 each
Resistor for rad fan (low speed) £68

Buy on condition. Make sure its had money spent when its been needed. My car was Serviced by Spec cars Malton for about 5 years with the last owner. I called them and they told me what had been done to the car.

Just bear in mind that things can go wrong with any car you buy. Some bits may be cheap some expensive.

[Globs]

CraigJ said:

Resistor for rad fan (low speed) £68

They are still using resistors to slow fans down??
For £68?

Crikey.

[BRMMA]

Spent 7.5k on my 3.2s over 3.5 years and 38k miles, some of the things replaced
Clutch
Gearbox refurb (a lot of Porsches from that era suffer with second gear popping out)
Cv boots
Springs
Arb
Tyres x 8
2 x wheel refurb (sport design split rims don't take long to get scruffy)
Radiators
Ignition switch
Boot solenoid

I did a full running report in boxa.net under the user boxrr if you want more details

[Devil2575]

dave_s13 said:

Devil2575 said:

300bhp/ton said:

Still pricey, but I bet you'd struggle to do the same thing to a Fiesta for less, which sort of puts it in relative terms.

I seriously doubt it.

I DIY'd a compressor on my Toyota Corrola Verso.

Initial diagnostic of why A/C fooked - £40
£110 for the compressor off ebay, fitted myself (took an hour or so)
Aircon regass another £40

So £190 all in. You can spend between £3-800 on a compressor alone depending on if it's remanufactured or new, and where you buy it from. I doubt Porsche make their own but you never know?

Just an example anyway, there's usualy a cheap(er) solution if you can do a bit of groundwork and mess about with thing.

Great cars anyway (Boxsters not Corrolas!)

I'm not suggesting at all that it's not possible to save a bit of cash if you shop around and are prepared to get your hands dirty, or just use a local mechanic you trust.
But if you do the same with a Fiesta it's going to be cheaper stil because the parts will be cheaper. You will be able to get everything for a fiesta from your local motor factors where as many Porsche bits will be main dealer only.

For example Mintex dics and pads for a Mk1 Focus zetec 1.8 are a lot less than the same for an E36 BMW 328.

I've done a fair bit of car maintenance myself over the years, and bits for cars like fords are cheaper than premium/prestige brand.

Another example, Focus 1.8 has a single coil pack that you can buy off ebay for what? £20?
BMW 330i has 6 coil packs that you can get off ebay for £50 each.

[Globs]

Devil2575 said:

I'm not suggesting at all that it's not possible to save a bit of cash if you shop around and are prepared to get your hands dirty, or just use a local mechanic you trust.
But if you do the same with a Fiesta it's going to be cheaper stil because the parts will be cheaper. You will be able to get everything for a fiesta from your local motor factors where as many Porsche bits will be main dealer only.

For example Mintex dics and pads for a Mk1 Focus zetec 1.8 are a lot less than the same for an E36 BMW 328.

I've done a fair bit of car maintenance myself over the years, and bits for cars like fords are cheaper than premium/prestige brand.

Another example, Focus 1.8 has a single coil pack that you can buy off ebay for what? £20?
BMW 330i has 6 coil packs that you can get off ebay for £50 each.

Eurocarparts and Pelican Parts in the US do a good range of Porsche parts. Porsche themselves however are very pricy for parts - if you can source the same Bosch parts elsewhere you can save a fortune.

[edc]

Just do it I've just come back having spunked a load of cash on M030 suspension and it drives even better than before now. New Geo set up, new front 997 top mounts

[300bhp/ton]

Devil2575 said:

I'm not suggesting at all that it's not possible to save a bit of cash if you shop around and are prepared to get your hands dirty, or just use a local mechanic you trust.
But if you do the same with a Fiesta it's going to be cheaper stil because the parts will be cheaper. You will be able to get everything for a fiesta from your local motor factors where as many Porsche bits will be main dealer only.

For example Mintex dics and pads for a Mk1 Focus zetec 1.8 are a lot less than the same for an E36 BMW 328.

I've done a fair bit of car maintenance myself over the years, and bits for cars like fords are cheaper than premium/prestige brand.

Another example, Focus 1.8 has a single coil pack that you can buy off ebay for what? £20?
BMW 330i has 6 coil packs that you can get off ebay for £50 each.

I doubt all that many parts are Porsche main dealer only. Porsche make very few of the actual parts, so it's only likely certain trim or odd items that you won't be able to find cheaper.

In fact for the example I used rad & condenser.

Porsche bits where about £200 for parts, a quick ebay says the Fiesta bits would have cost £90-100. The regas and misc items would cost the same and I suspect not a huge labour difference, I was being generous for the Porsche as I don't know what access is like to the items. But lets say 2hrs less for the Fiesta.

This means a Fiesta on a one off job could be £100-120 cheaper on parts and maybe £70 less labour.

But the reality is we are talking less than £200 difference. £320 vs £500.

Considering you in your ownership may never do this, or only do it once I don't really think for a £5-6k budget it's a deal breaker.

Pads and discs you are only likely to change every year or so, not every month. So again, even if they cost a hundred quid more, the real world cost over time is relatively low delta compared to running most other cars.

[Globs]

300bhp/ton said:

I don't really think for a £5-6k budget it's a deal breaker.

That's the total pot size IIRC, so the car needs to be at least £1.5k less than that.

[300bhp/ton]

Globs said:

300bhp/ton said:

I don't really think for a £5-6k budget it's a deal breaker.

That's the total pot size IIRC, so the car needs to be at least £1.5k less than that.

I don't understand your point.

[elephantstone]

To be honest guys. Getting a boxster is starting tp seem like too much of a faff. I dont earn alot and i understand a Z4 could sprout some bills at me but i think thats tye t im going to go. Probably the 3.0, the interior is alot more modern and i love the sound of that engine.

[edc]

What's the faff? It's just a car and you need to check the same basics as any other car. All cars with have their specific concerns to look over. Some of the parts are shared with VW/Audi such as switchgear and electrical stuff.

[elephantstone]

edc said:

What's the faff? It's just a car and you need to check the same basics as any other car. All cars with have their specific concerns to look over. Some of the parts are shared with VW/Audi such as switchgear and electrical stuff.

The likely hood of a big bill is enough to scare me off I think, yes the Z4 might do the same but the paranoia will be smaller. This is the most expensive car ive ever bought and to be worried about it all the time will taint the experience I feel. Plus its not the Boxster I REALLY want, I WANT the MK2 so maybe in a couple years time I will trade up out of the Z4 and into that.

[edc]

When you say mk2 you mean 987? If so, then until the gen2 987 they suffer all the same 'problems' as the 986 just you have spent more on your initial purchase