1999 Porsche 986 Boxster 2.5
Discussion
Time for an update on the 986 as I’ve just ticked over 10k miles in her this year. The 911 has barely turned a wheel, which seems a shame, but I’m loving smoking around in this old thing. Genuine Porsche bangernomics!
It hasn’t all been plain sailing though, with ‘Babs’ letting us down and leaving me and my girlfriend stranded (for the first time in my driving life - rushes to touch wood/find a rabbits foot) right before the start of our summer holiday.
While that was a bit of a low, the highs have been mega and she’s wormed her way deep into my affections by getting on with being a great daily AND being able to capably throw herself down a B road with the roof down and stereo up when conditions allow. Brilliant little thing.
Let the updates commence…
Clutch Pedal Drama
The clutch pedal hadn’t felt great ever since I bought the car, despite a number of goes at bleeding it. It was particularly soft and when you were really pushing on with a fast shift the pedal would occasionally hang and get stuck to the bulkhead before popping back up. I’d learned to get used to the feeling and drive around it, but it wasn’t ideal.
The plan had been to get my specialist to take a look at it when it went in to have some new keys coded but fate got in the way first.
On a rainy Friday evening heading north out of London my girlfriend noticed that the pedal wasn’t returning properly as we were crawling through traffic. I managed to get some life back into the pedal pumping it a few times, and we finished our motorway journey that evening. Had a poke around underneath the car, but couldn’t spot anything.
However, come the morning there was no pedal at all, there was a brake fluid warning light on the dash, and a big puddle of fluid underneath the engine/gearbox. That will be a failed clutch slave then. Arse. And less than a week before we go on our big summer road trip. Double arse.
Thankfully a quick phone call to Angus at AMS meant he could squeeze the car in first thing on Monday, and I just needed to get the breakdown company to sort out getting the car to his unit. Cue an early Sunday morning, baking hot, hangover affected, trip on the back of a low loader for the first time in my life. Not fun.
Rolled off the low loader and looking sorry for itself outside AMS.
In the end, even with a brand new slave it still wasn’t feeling great so took the decision to replace the clutch master cylinder too. That made a very big difference and, although the pedal is still pretty light compared to the 996, is far more positive with no hesitation at all when shifting quickly. Job done.
I got Angus to code me up a spare key at the same time, so the total cost was a bit wince inducing. But you can’t drive a car without a clutch or if you lose the only key you have, so I couldn’t really do much about it. On the plus side I now have remote central locking working again. Result.
Summer Road Trip
With the Boxster back from its mechanical drama we were straight into finishing planning and packing for our big summer trip.
We’d booked our ferry to Spain some months previously and the plan was to take the Boxster over to Bristol for an evening to see some family, then an early morning run down to Plymouth before an overnight stay on the ferry to get us to Santander.
From there we knew we’d be heading east across the Pyrenees broadly in the direction of Carcassone to see some more family, before beginning to head northwards. We didn’t have much more than that as a starting plan, we quite like rolling with the punches on a road trip as I find overly planning things can make for a bit of a stiff experience. Some days you want the drive to go on forever, others you might only have a few hours in you.
I’d had a busy weekend before we set off for Bristol on the Monday - was up in Wales with some friends doing my first roadbook rally on a recently purchased CRF250 - Highly recommended! - but 500 miles entirely off road over two days meant I was shattered. Need to get properly bike fit for 2024.
I’ve been riding on the road for years but started falling out of love with it. Feels dangerous too much of the time. Only recently started exploring off road riding and it is so technical and enjoyable, even at 5mph. A great way to spend a weekend.
Fully packed and setting off via a quick trip to Westfield for some last minute sunglasses purchasing.
Anyone who has used one of these for any length of time will know how practical they can be. Luggage for two people for two weeks was easily swallowed between both boots, with room to spare for wine/cheese/beer on the way home. Stick to squishy bags and it’s a proper Tardis.
Unfortunately our crossing, on exactly the same day that Storm Antoni hit the UK, was the worst I’ve ever experienced over the Bay of Biscay. We knew things were going to be bad when the restaurant refused to take bookings past 6pm (“We don’t think we’ll be open and able to serve”) and little children were vomiting within 30 mins of leaving the port. Bad times incoming.
It doesn’t look that rough here, Plymouth in the distance behind us, but it got very, very bad…..
A couple of glasses of wine were quickly consumed to help with a bit of sleep and we then spent approximately 15 hours in our bunk beds trying to a) not be sick b) ignore the HUGE shudders through the ship with each wave smashing into the bow and c) trying to sleep through the quiet, but constant, din of distant car alarms below deck. When we finally awoke and dared venture out into the ship we were greeted with a welcome bit of French/Spanish sunshine and fairly calm seas. You know the crossing was bad when, whilst you’re grabbing a morning coffee, even the seasoned staff on board look green, they are packing away hundreds of life jackets, and there’s a team of people cleaning up broken glass everywhere!
Once we disembarked, and spent a good hour in the passport queue (cheers Brexit….), we were able to crack on to our first destination - San Sebastián.
It’s about 200km and 2 hours from the port to our first stop, along fast flowing, beautifully surfaced Spanish tarmac. I couldn’t wait to drop the roof and get stuck in. Unfortunately it was absolutely belting it down with rain! The big sunny driving days will have to wait…
We had booked to stay in a small hotel in the centre of town - Hotel Trueba (https://www.hoteltrueba.es/en/) - for a couple of days to explore the city. I’m a big fan of Spanish food and we both really wanted to soak the place up. Cue 48 hours of very, very, very good beer, wine, meat and cheese. Hotel was good, if a touch soulless, but we couldn’t argue with the location. Perfect for a base to explore the city.
Some beautiful parks and architecture everywhere in San Sebastián
The bay looking moody on an early morning walk
Despite the heat rain wasn’t too far away. On a really hot day I imagine this is packed.
Insane tapas like this on every corner. Food paradise.
Those couple of days also allowed me to deal with the first minor mechanical issue with the 986. When we’d pulled into the underground car park I could hear a savage exhaust rattle from under the car. I was initially terrified it was going to be something related to the back box or manifolds (they are 24 years old after all….) but thankfully it was just the aluminium exhaust trim on the rear bumper. They are riveted in place normally and they had simply failed after all this time. Was lucky to not have lost the piece entirely and the small tool kit and assorted fixings/bodge materials I had packed came in handy. A couple of mins of swearing and the trim was secured with a couple of stainless Allen bolts, a few washers, some nyloc nuts and we had a pretty decent OEM looking repair. Hopefully this would be the last time the tools came out….
That looks pretty OEM to my eyes.
All this time in bars allowed us to get into planning our next step of the trip. We already knew we wanted to do a bit of mountain hiking/walking and settled on spending a few days in Cauteret,
Using a useful Google map of all of the Pyrenees Passes I found on PH I was able to craft a 7 hour, 350km, route that took in a number of passes and would prove to be a solid test of the 986.
San Sebastian to Cauterets - https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1eldvWo...
An early start in San Sebastián kicked off one of the best driving days I’ve ever had. The weather was perfect, around 25c, the roof was down all day, and the car didn’t skip a beat the entire time. It was mercilessly thrashed up Col after Col and came back for more.
Other than a quick stop for lunch in Arrette, we didn’t stop moving. Living in London I don’t have epic driving roads on my door step and suddenly having access to this almighty playground of roads was a joy. Bar a few cyclists the roads were empty and we revelled in hearing the little flat six singing up every climb, induction howl and exhaust note echoing off the rock faces, the sun, smell of the trees and fresh mountain air filling the cabin mile after mile. It was outstanding.
Babs cooling off while we ate a spot of lunch. Wasn’t much fun getting back into it with the heat though. Roof down asap!
I couldn’t tell you which Cols were best, everything melted into one long sinewy road over the course of that day, but I didn’t tire of the journey. The last mile was as rewarding as the first.
Without AC we did struggle a bit if we had to stop in traffic for any length of time, you need to keep moving to stop the heat soaking into the seats, wheel, yourself, but otherwise it was a lovely way to travel. Cars like the Boxster are made for days like that.
The endless climbs did get the car pretty warm. Nothing the recently refreshed cooling system couldn’t handle, but after stopping at the top of one Col for a few pics it was pretty clear the old girl was pretty hot when I could see tiny wisps of black smoke coming off the cats and exhaust box and filtering up through the rear spoiler and bumper. Yikes. Best get moving before we set something on fire!
We stayed in an unremarkable Airbnb in Cauterets, but filled our days with absolutely beautiful walks up the local glaciers. Coupled with plenty of good French wine, beer and food we were living our best life. Only downside to the whole town was that parking was a total nightmare. Sometimes spending 30 mins driving around town looking for a space.
The locals enjoying the view…..
Which turned out to be SPECTACULAR
Not a bad spot for a picnic.
My kind of route planning. Long mountain walk done, cold beer, tasty food, bright sunshine. Winning.
One thing that I did notice was that driving around in a car like this in the mountains doesn’t go unnoticed. In the UK no one gives you a second look if you tool about in a car like this, even with the roof down, but throughout this trip we got looks everywhere we went (possibly accompanied by a quiet ‘stupid sunburned Englishman and his silly car’ just out of earshot) but children and adults alike seemed to enjoy seeing the budget Boxster carving up the mountains. It also allowed the French/Spanish local rally drivers something to target when we were on some of the passes. You can never truly know how quickly a tired old Seat/Renault/Peugeout can really go unless it’s pitched into battle with an equally tired old Boxster down a mountain pass with a young hot shoe at the wheel. They were FAST
Cauterets now complete, we had another glorious day in the mountains en route towards Vielha for a couple of nights, somewhere I’ve stayed before in Ski season but it was lovely to visit in the summer.
Cauterets to Vielha - https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1WrwYfE...
The Col Do Tourmalet and the Col De Peyresourde were highlights on that run, and once we arrived (where we stayed at a great hotel in the town centre - https://www.hotelriunere.com/en) we could settle in for more walking/hiking/eating.
Quick break. Starting to look a bit dusty and even more second hand than usual.
I enjoy cycling a lot, but these guys were crazy in the heat. Not how I’d spend my summer holiday….
Another solid lunch stop.
Sitting pretty at the top of one of the Col’s
Our last bit of mountain driving had us leaving Vielha, and Spain to head a little more NE towards a small village near Carcassone called Siran to stay with some family (and make very welcome use of their swimming pool!) for a few days.
The end of the mountains
Shirt: Models own. I’ve never needed a swimming pool so much in my life. The heat was pretty insane in Siran.
The scenery was changing out of the mountains and we started getting treated to endless avenues of trees. Not a bad view for mile after mile.
The weather had got pretty spicy at this point. We were regularly seeing 35c and were glad to be out of the car for a few days. The area around Siran is covered in Vineyards so we were able to spend time wafting between them trying the local grape juice and generally having a very pleasant time.
Minerve looking particularly dramatic.
We also took the time to visit the beautiful nearby town of Menerve and visit an outstanding restaurant - Relais Chantovent - for a truly lovely lunch. Four courses of excellent food washed down with perfectly chilled white, rose and a bit of red. Recommended. There is another restaurant in Minerve that is supposed to be even better, Aux 2 Rivieres, but they open on alternate days to ensure they get a fair crack at the tourists. One for the next visit.
By this point we’d planned most of the trip home, a short trip up to Monpazier for a night, a few days in Il De Re for a final chill, before one night in Le Mans, a short squirt to Caen and then the ferry home. The driving had become a bit less exciting at this point, it’s still lovely pottering through rural France with the roof down, but it was tough to match the highs of the mountains (literally and figuratively).
To save this turning into a travel piece I’ll wrap up the rest of the trip with a bit of a photo dump:
Looking out over Vielha on another baking hot hike. We earned our cold beers on this trip.
A vintage Peugeout looking achingly cool in Monpazier. Great little town for a pit stop for a night or two. Excellent hotel: https://www.hoteledward1er.com/fr/
Couldn’t swing by Le Mans and not do the museum. First visit for me. Need to come back for the race….
As with a lot of race tracks, videos and games don’t do the elevation change justice. The climb up to Dunlop was much steeper than I expected.
There was a bike trackway on while we were there, but the place felt like a ghost town. I imagine it feel very different on a Sunday afternoon as the race wraps up. Very much a ‘big boy’ circuit.
First time I’ve seen an F1 in the flesh. Royalty.
Oh to be able to hear this run…..
Unwashed race winning cars might be my new favourite thing. Very cool. Also, surprisingly small.
I think you’ve stolen my headlights mate…..or have I pinched yours? Either way, we’re in good company.
Old town Le Mans very pretty. Again, need to experience it on race weekend!
After a MUCH more agreeable crossing, and having crawled through the UK border for 1.5 hours (Thanks Brexit….again), we found ourselves quickly back in the traffic and bustle of London, wishing we were back in the mountains!
Only slight fly in the ointment of the trip was, having gone back into the office the day after we got back, being told that I was being made redundant. Somewhat soured the general ‘I’m feeling so chill after a nice holiday’ vibe that I had carried back with me. Still, they were ****’s to work for, so it will probably turn out to be the right thing in the fullness of time!
Alternator + Idler Pulleys
Thankfully the only real mechanical from the summer trip was the exhaust trim (I’m going to claim that as a win for my pre trip prep though there was possibly a bit of luck in there too…) but a few days after getting back and on a cold start I noticed a particularly nasty high pitched whine that changed with engine revs and stuck around over a few days of use. Hmmmm.
Obviously, in budget Porsche land, every new engine noise is a recipe for immediate thoughts of exploding IMS bearings or bore scoring etc. In reality, after 10 minutes of faff to get access to the belt side of the engine, whipping off the belt and starting the car showed that the engine was still ticking over pretty silently. Unfortunately it also showed that all the idler pulleys (which I had checked earlier in the year) were now pretty noisy and the alternator in particular was feeling very grumbly.
Removing the pulleys isn’t too painful, other than the tensioner being a pain to get a spanner on the back of, and once removed they were definitely running pretty dry. I’ve previously replaced the bearings in the pulleys on my 996 so know that you don’t necessarily have to pay Porsche the £90 EACH for the 3 idlers.
Unfortunately, after ordering the same bearings that I’d previously used in the 996, I also now know that there was clearly a change in part code/manufacturer at some point and the 2.5 Boxsters use different pulleys and therefore different bearings!
For anyone stumbling across this on google (and double check what your car comes with first!) the correct bearings for the early cars/pulleys are: 6203-C-2HRS-C3.
Correct bearings ordered from RS for the princely sum of £25, plus £20 to the chap at the local garage to borrow his hydraulic press, and we had all three pulleys ready to go for approximately 50% of the cost of one new one from Porsche. Result.
Picture from before I removed anything but you can see how the pulley and alternator are mounted together here.
Removing the alternator is a slightly different story. One of the idler pulley mounting bolts does double duty as part of the mount for the alternator. The alternator itself has a sleeve in that same mounting hole and when everything is torqued down the alternator body is pinched against a casting on the engine block. Bit complicated to explain, and not easy to take pictures of.
Pic stolen from another forum but you can see how the long bolt sits in that groove and pinches everything together.
On the plus side it’s a really solid mounting that allows one bolt to do multiple useful jobs. Great. On the down side, getting said sleeve to shift so that you can remove everything that has sat in exactly the same spot in the engine bay, with thousands of heat cycles and general grot, with almost ZERO space to work, is a MISERABLE experience.
You have to crack the (very long) bolt off, pull it out a bit so that it’s loose but still threaded into the sleeve, get a drift on the bolt head, smash it hard enough with a hammer to get the sleeve to move enough to start rotating the alternator, realise that you’ve not hit it hard enough, hit it again whilst praying you don’t accidentally smash it too hard and the aluminium alternator bracket will snap clean off the body. Rinse, Repeat. All while thinking of the £500 Porsche would charge you to replace the alternator with a pukka Bosch one if you break this one. While you’re wedged between the drivers seat and the rear bulkhead. And it’s raining. Deep joy.
This pic pinched from Pelican Parts. I was too busy swearing at the car to take pics. Basically, whack that bolt until something breaks or you get the alternator out.
Side note: Obviously using official OEM Porsche parts prices is a bit silly when you could get an off brand alternator off of eBay for circa £130 (ignoring how good that cheap alternator might be) BUT it’s important for me to able to maximise the man maths and convince myself (and my other half) that when I am able to fix the thing for pennies the potential saving has been HUGE. This is Porsche bangernomics after all.
After about 40 minutes of hammering, swearing, and wriggling, the alternator was finally starting to loosen up. I could now begin to rotate it around its LHS mounting bolt and clear the engine casting. At this point you’re fighting with it in about 16 different dimensions. You need to clear the casting but you can’t go too high or you’ll hit the intake, you can’t move it left because of the intake, there’s no space in front or behind it. It can basically only come one in one very, very specific way. It took forever.
She’s out. Grim job. No room to work at all. Still, if this one lasts 23 years then it might be someone else’s problem next time!
Alternator finally out, connections on the back easily removed (thankfully) and run down the road to my local starter/alternator place - big shout out to Pete at Unistart (https://unistart.co.uk) - who took a quick look at it and recommended a new bearing, new regulator and some other internal replacements. Cost? £75 all in and he turned it round in 8 hours. On a Sunday. Incredible service!
Refitting went surprisingly smoothly given how much it fought me on the way out and once I’d got all the new pulleys, refreshed alternator and new belt on, the whole thing fired up and was SO MUCH QUIETER. I think the old alternator/pulleys had been on their way out for a while and I just hadn’t realised until they really started to grumble. Has made quite a difference to cabin noise at slow speed.
The Porsche 986 Bathtub…
Since the alternator/pulley replacements the car had been good as gold and was pressed back into service as my daily without putting a foot wrong….for about a month.
I’d mentioned before about some running repairs to the roof and doors to make sure everything was watertight and over our nice warm summer I’d had no issues whatsoever - famous last words!
I’d stopped at a friends house one afternoon and parked on his sloped driveway for a few hours. It was dry day but when I got back into the car I could see about 1/2 an inch of water above the carpet on the passenger side of the car. The side of the car that has all of the alarm/immobiliser kit under the passenger seat. Argggggghhhhh!
Reaching down the carpet was SOAKED. A lot of water had got in, or been accumulating, and had clearly spent a lot of time building up in the passenger side of the car. Drivers side was dry, thankfully, but we had a big problem to solve on the passenger side.
I got home and whipped the passenger seat out right away. The floorpan is divided into a couple of sections under the seat and people often have issues with the roof drains getting blocked and water running into the car from the rear, behind the seats and flooding the alarm ECU. Thankfully all the carpet behind the seats and in the helpful bathtub Porsche had built for the ECU was no more than a tiny bit damp, I think due to osmosis more than anything, but there was a LOT of water getting into the front of the car.
Under the carpets is some very dense sound insulation foam that just acts as a massive pond when it starts to get wet. You’d never, ever be able to dry it out without lifting the carpets up. So that’s what I did.
Trim removed from the sill to allow the carpet up and then got a little heater in to start drying things out. Now to start figuring out where the water was coming from. You can also see my homemade door membrane in this pic. That’s going in the bin very soon….
All of the drains for the roof and battery tray/scuttle area were clear, so that started pointing towards the door or window.
After much time spent with the hose, and many hours tweaking the window alignment, door alignment and double checking the roof, I was able to pinpoint that water was getting in through the door membrane. The one I’d replaced before and was all smug that I’d sorted out with some butyl tape and pvc. Idiot me.
In my defence, part of the reason it wasn’t sealing properly was that, after much messing about to spot it, it seemed that the door speakers a previous owner had fitted were putting a tiny bit of pressure on the door/door membrane when the door card was fitted and it meant that a) the door card clips wouldn’t quite sit flush and seal properly, and that the door card itself would sit slightly proud of the door and wouldn’t pinch against the membrane effectively.
When it rained water would wick through the membrane and door card clips, run onto the top of the door seal and then slowly but surely wick into the passenger side carpet. It must have been doing this for months to fill up the way it did.
New membrane on. Only took Porsche 3 goes to get one ordered in that hadn’t been damaged in some way in transit. Parts manager at Porsche East London was tearing his hair out.
Bought some 14mm speaker spacers to allow the door speakers a bit more breathing room, along with pulling the trigger on a proper Porsche passenger side door membrane, and the thing has been bone dry since.
Service + QOL Improvements
Finally, on Monday this week, I gave it its latest service.
The 911 gets posh Millers Nanodrive oil (£££) but we’re on a bit more of a budget with the 986 so a fresh oil filter, 10 litres of Comma 5W50 Synthetic and we’re good to go.
Into service mode once again. Have to be a bit more careful with the plastic window in low temperatures.
Also took the opportunity to do some other small jobs that I’d been meaning to do for a while:
Got a set of spark plug tubes to replace the current one’s that were leaking and making a right mess.
Old tubes pictured here. Seals were completely squished and were letting quite a bit of oil seep out. They were still a pig to remove though. Conventional wisdom suggests using a transom boat plug to remove them but I find a small pick on the inside edge of the tube will pop it out much more easily. Coil packs replaced at some point and all in good shape.
I also replaced the cam solenoid cover on the drivers that was leaking (also a slightly crappy job when you realise that one of the bolts is so tight to the chassis rail that it can only be undone in tiny bits with a spanner. Getting it back in was also fun…)
And finally, the big (read: not fun) one for this service, the AOS (Air Oil Seperator) bellows.
The AOS on this era of 986/996 is well documented. When they fail in a 996 it’s a bit of a drama that can, best case scenario, lead to an embarrassing smoke show when the engine is running or, in very unfortunate circumstances, lead to hydrolocking the engine with oil. It’s also a proper b
d to change as it’s right at the back of the engine bay. On a 986 the part is the same but thankfully you can get access to it at the top of the engine through the service hatch.The bellows connect the head/crankcase to the AOS and over time they tend to get cooked with heat and the rubber perishes and starts letting oil seep through and make a mess of the engine block. That’s what had happened to mine.
Access is through the drivers side rear wheel and as long as you’re happy to thread yourself between bits of brake disc, gearbox and suspension components it’s really easy to change. Hope you can sense the sarcasm.
My original plan was to whip the old bellows out, and squeeze the new ones into place without removing the entire AOS, using my remote hose clamp pliers. That quickly became a no go.
Getting the old ones out were easy, the old rubber simply fell apart in my hands, but it was clear that the new bellows just wouldn’t fit without a lot more space to work.
I’ll save more paragraphs of me writing about how much of a faff it was, but in the end the old AOS had to come out completely, which was fairly painful even with the service hatch open, the new bellows got fitted and then the whole thing got wriggled back into place and sworn at for circa 45 mins while I tried to find a way to get both hands into the engine bay to nip up the jubilee clip on the bottom. Crap job. Reminded me of the coolant tank. I pity the guys who do this on the 996.
Old AOS looking a bit grotty but otherwise in good shape. Ready for a quick clean up and new bellows to be fitted.
And this is the Jenga puzzle that you’ve got t wriggle the AOS back into. Imagine doing this in a 996 where the AOS is basically up against the inner rear bulkhead and you can’t access it from above…..
On the plus side, after all that grief the car fired up on the button and was as smooth as silk. I’m fairly sure the old bellows was probably contributing to a slight vacuum leak and the car has been much happier at idle using it this week. Well worth the effort.
Phew. That’s the 986 up to date. Another Readers Cars essay. I always promise myself I’ll keep the updates light and then end up spending hours writing it up
As always, if you got this far then I genuinely appreciate your patience and interest.
No firm plans for the car next - it will ferry us around over the festive break and I might see if I can nab a cheap track day in the new year and see how she fares - but otherwise I'm just enjoying making the most of Porsche Bangernomics.
If you just looked at the pictures then I’ll sum the whole lot up and try and leave it on a high:
Old cars sometimes behave like old cars and things break, but this Boxster has proven it’s worth all year and is rapidly in the running for best ‘bang for buck’ car I’ve ever owned. It’s been mega. If you don’t mind a bit of time on the spanners then buy one now before they all get expensive. On a country road, with the roof down, and the 2.5 screaming towards the redline, you won't regret it.
Merry Christmas PH
PS. There’s loads of cheap ones on FB at the minute! Treat yourself!
PPS. Link to the PH map I found that shows all the cols/passes in the Pyrenees. Super useful: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=18HXi...
Hats off to you OP that’s one old girl that’s getting a lot of TLC.
We had a very early P plate 2.5 and it was a joy to drive. Chassis was always capable of handling much more power and you can see why they eventually developed it the way they did after getting over the 911 sales loss risk paranoia.
Ours had an unfortunate incident when someone interrupted a scrote knicking the Astra parked next to it who then floored it in reverse with full lock on. All the panels down the offside had to be replaced. We also had the back window go when the FIL who we’d lent it to when we were away skiing dropped the roof at 2 deg C. We were quite fortunate to be directed to the trimmer from our nearest OPC who had recently retired and did the job for half their price. Glass on the later cars was a no brainer.
I worked at the time with someone who bought one new and didn’t spec AC, then again, he did live in Aberdeen ! Ours was decently spec’d with terracotta full leather and was pretty much the launch spec in silver. In the end we sold it after a reported oil leak from the forward end of the engine which meant it having to come out. We had a few niggles with it (it was about 4 years old when we got it). IIRC they were built somewhere other than Stuttgart to start with, quality was a bit patchy.
Roll the clock forward 20 years and I chose a 987.2 3.4S manual to replace the Tuscan that was then starting to bankrupt me. I had the same double clutch servo failure in the first month and a few other things. Latest service at my Indie highlighted a number of wallet busting advisories which all seemed to be £1,100 each or so (rad cooling link pipe behind the front bumper must be made of platinum given the Porsche price). Had to be a bit selective and will get those done over the Summer. Funny how the S still craves more power, that chassis is fundamentally a gem. All those engines just love to rev and rev, never run out of puff. A proper classic and a joyous analogue experience compared to some of the bloated, gizmo laden stuff we now must have.
We had a very early P plate 2.5 and it was a joy to drive. Chassis was always capable of handling much more power and you can see why they eventually developed it the way they did after getting over the 911 sales loss risk paranoia.
Ours had an unfortunate incident when someone interrupted a scrote knicking the Astra parked next to it who then floored it in reverse with full lock on. All the panels down the offside had to be replaced. We also had the back window go when the FIL who we’d lent it to when we were away skiing dropped the roof at 2 deg C. We were quite fortunate to be directed to the trimmer from our nearest OPC who had recently retired and did the job for half their price. Glass on the later cars was a no brainer.
I worked at the time with someone who bought one new and didn’t spec AC, then again, he did live in Aberdeen ! Ours was decently spec’d with terracotta full leather and was pretty much the launch spec in silver. In the end we sold it after a reported oil leak from the forward end of the engine which meant it having to come out. We had a few niggles with it (it was about 4 years old when we got it). IIRC they were built somewhere other than Stuttgart to start with, quality was a bit patchy.
Roll the clock forward 20 years and I chose a 987.2 3.4S manual to replace the Tuscan that was then starting to bankrupt me. I had the same double clutch servo failure in the first month and a few other things. Latest service at my Indie highlighted a number of wallet busting advisories which all seemed to be £1,100 each or so (rad cooling link pipe behind the front bumper must be made of platinum given the Porsche price). Had to be a bit selective and will get those done over the Summer. Funny how the S still craves more power, that chassis is fundamentally a gem. All those engines just love to rev and rev, never run out of puff. A proper classic and a joyous analogue experience compared to some of the bloated, gizmo laden stuff we now must have.
It’s been five months since the last time I gave an update on the Boxster and, despite the occasional budget Porsche horror stories elsewhere in Readers Cars, there isn’t a lot to report! The car has been faultless since December.
I’ve been using it as much as I can and, while there hasn’t been too many opportunities to get the roof down over the last few months, it’s still been a great companion even in really grotty weather.
All good things come to an end…
Unfortunately we got notice a few weeks ago that we were going to lose one of the parking spaces we have for our flat so, with a heavy heart (and a desire to use the 911 a bit more), I decided to move the car on.
I switched the car back to its original wheels, gave it a deep clean, tried to take some good pics and spent a bit of time writing a decent advert that covered all the work I’d done.
Selling cars online can be pretty painful these days, but it’s a good time of year to sell a convertible and I priced it pretty keenly. Pleased to say that it sold quickly through Pistonheads and I had mercifully few idiots to deal with!
The seller had asked if I could drop it off to his on Saturday morning, so I was fortunate to have the chance to do one last roof down, crisp sunny morning, drive through London. It was marvellous, even crawling through town.
I’m sad to see it go, I’d have held on to it for at least the summer if I could have done, but happy that it’s gone to someone who seemed as enthusiastic about the car as I’ve been.
Final Thoughts
There’s always going to be a small amount of risk involved in buying and running a cheap Porsche, but this was a real pleasure to own, even with the small niggles it threw up occasionally. All the work I did myself kept the budget pretty light and it's been a good learning experience overall. When the roof was down, the sun was out, and you were making the most of that lovely little 2.5 flat six, there wasn't anyone on earth who wouldn't have been smiling.
These are fundamentally robust cars, especially the early ones, and people shouldn’t be afraid to give them a go. There’s absolutely loads of good resources online, and aftermarket suppliers have increasingly good value spares available that saves paying the Porsche tax for everything.
I maintain that these early 986’s are undervalued and represent incredible value for money, especially if you’re happy getting your hands dirty and doing some of the spannering yourself. This wasn’t my first Boxster and almost certainly won’t be my last.
I need to give some updates on the 996 (and start a thread for the Morgan +8 restoration…) so more rambling words from me soon....
The new owner had found this car through this thread, so hopefully he keeps it up to date on his adventures with the car!
A fond farewell to T218CBD - you were brilliant
I've really enjoyed reading your thread Mallone, some excellent pictures in there of adventures well had 
Mallone said:
These are fundamentally robust cars, especially the early ones, and people shouldn’t be afraid to give them a go. There’s absolutely loads of good resources online, and aftermarket suppliers have increasingly good value spares available that saves paying the Porsche tax for everything.
I maintain that these early 986’s are undervalued and represent incredible value for money, especially if you’re happy getting your hands dirty and doing some of the spannering yourself. This wasn’t my first Boxster and almost certainly won’t be my last.
I couldn't agree with this more, they're fantastic cars that provide access to a vehicle architecture which isn't available at a similar price point anywhere else. As a standard car or played with they're brilliant!I maintain that these early 986’s are undervalued and represent incredible value for money, especially if you’re happy getting your hands dirty and doing some of the spannering yourself. This wasn’t my first Boxster and almost certainly won’t be my last.
I was going to buy this after reading the thread and so I sent my son to have a look at the car.He only went and bought it himself! First job is a new set of PS4 tyres and then we are off around to Folembray as a group of us have been hiring the circuit once a year for the last 20 years. One of the great things about the 2.5 Boxster is that they are only in insurance group 34, which is the same group as a MINI R53, so my son can afford insure it in London at the age of 24. Anyway we will try and keep it as well looked after as Mallone did as he definitely turned it from a diamond in the rough into a diamond.
Great work on saving this one. Owned a 2.7 986 for 5 years and loved it. Sold it and bought a 987 which I just didn't love as much. Now in a 996 coupe which is the best of the bunch, but there are days where I still yearn for a 986. Maybe a 986 to sit alongside the 996 is the answer...!
The early, basic spec cars are just so special to me.
The early, basic spec cars are just so special to me.
I've enjoyed reading this thread, and the updates. A solid buy, these .....
Mallone said:
These are fundamentally robust cars, especially the early ones, and people shouldn’t be afraid to give them a go. There’s absolutely loads of good resources online, and aftermarket suppliers have increasingly good value spares available that saves paying the Porsche tax for everything.
I maintain that these early 986’s are undervalued and represent incredible value for money, especially if you’re happy getting your hands dirty and doing some of the spannering yourself. This wasn’t my first Boxster and almost certainly won’t be my last.
I had the chance to buy my boss's 986 in 2000, and I simply couldn't afford it, having recently got married. My wife was happy for me to buy it, but I didn't want a bank loan at that point .... it had a great local plate too "BX 986". The things we passed up. Ho, hum .....I maintain that these early 986’s are undervalued and represent incredible value for money, especially if you’re happy getting your hands dirty and doing some of the spannering yourself. This wasn’t my first Boxster and almost certainly won’t be my last.
Binghambingham said:
I was going to buy this after reading the thread and so I sent my son to have a look at the car.He only went and bought it himself! First job is a new set of PS4 tyres and then we are off around to Folembray as a group of us have been hiring the circuit once a year for the last 20 years. One of the great things about the 2.5 Boxster is that they are only in insurance group 34, which is the same group as a MINI R53, so my son can afford insure it in London at the age of 24. Anyway we will try and keep it as well looked after as Mallone did as he definitely turned it from a diamond in the rough into a diamond.
Great stuff, love it when a car stays within the "PH collective" so to speak. Look forward to updates from your son! Will he be paying ULEZ on a pay per use basis? poppopbangbang said:
I've really enjoyed reading your thread Mallone, some excellent pictures in there of adventures well had
Cheers PPBB! Sorry I couldn't stretch to the 1.8T 20V conversion on this one......maybe next time round! 
Binghambingham said:
I was going to buy this after reading the thread and so I sent my son to have a look at the car.He only went and bought it himself! First job is a new set of PS4 tyres and then we are off around to Folembray as a group of us have been hiring the circuit once a year for the last 20 years. One of the great things about the 2.5 Boxster is that they are only in insurance group 34, which is the same group as a MINI R53, so my son can afford insure it in London at the age of 24. Anyway we will try and keep it as well looked after as Mallone did as he definitely turned it from a diamond in the rough into a diamond.
Was a pleasure to meet your son and I could sense his enthusiasm as soon as he saw it. Not surprised he stole it from under you! Let me know if you need anyone to make up the numbers at Folembray next year, would be a good excuse to take the 996 on track
DanG355 said:
Great work on saving this one. Owned a 2.7 986 for 5 years and loved it. Sold it and bought a 987 which I just didn't love as much. Now in a 996 coupe which is the best of the bunch, but there are days where I still yearn for a 986. Maybe a 986 to sit alongside the 996 is the answer...!
The early, basic spec cars are just so special to me.
Couldn't agree more. I just can't see me ever selling my '99 996. Something feels so special about them (and Boxsters of the same era). PPBB has got the perfect late 90's Porsche garage tbh.The early, basic spec cars are just so special to me.
RiccardoG said:
Great stuff, love it when a car stays within the "PH collective" so to speak. Look forward to updates from your son! Will he be paying ULEZ on a pay per use basis?
Binghambingham said:
Re the ULEZ charge. All Boxsters are exempt if you submit the Certificate of Conformity to TFL. Yet another reason to get one. They are the same price to buy as a good MX5 NA to buy now (although more costly to run) but you can drive them in London
I jumped through the hoops with TFL to get both my 996 and this Boxster an exemption. Bit of a faff with the paperwork, but pretty much every single 996 and 986 will pass the NOx test with the right piece of paperwork from Porsche.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff