I bought the highest mileage Porsche 987.2 I could find

I bought the highest mileage Porsche 987.2 I could find

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Gustavo7

Original Poster:

99 posts

123 months

Sunday 29th October 2023
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I have done 700 miles this week and it did not miss a beat!

First day was quite annoying as I didn’t realise you had to press the rear window demist button to get the door mirrors to heat up and clear in the morning. I’m used to bmws and you don’t even have to think about this.

Not having the automatic aircon was also frustrating and I must have adjusted both the temperature and fans digital sliders a good 12 times during the commute. Too hot, now too cold, now too hot, too much fan… you get the idea.

But the next day I had it all figured out and it was great!
6th gear is quite short (25mph / 1000rpm) but it still delivers 29mpg!

Comfort is fine, I’ve daily driven a z4m for 5 years and this is no worse! The Pioneer headunit with carplay & large touchscreen makes it feel very up-to-date.

Now, I do have a f30 320d on the driveaway which admittedly is probably the best car to pile these miles on, but having done that for a few years I’ve grown extremely bored of it. Couldn’t get to gripes with having to leave the house at 5:30am to get in a boring car, the Boxster will be acting as morning motivation and automotive cleanser for 12 months!!

MrBen986

512 posts

119 months

Monday 30th October 2023
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Gustavo7 said:
Not having the automatic aircon was also frustrating and I must have adjusted both the temperature and fans digital sliders a good 12 times during the commute. Too hot, now too cold, now too hot, too much fan… you get the idea.
Strange it doesn't have climate control, I think they'd for some reason made it an option by the time this was made, my 2001 Boxster S has it as standard!

I also have an F3x BMW alongside the Porsches, an F32 435i in my case, I find I'll pick car depending on weather, how tired I am etc, the BMW is great if you just need to get there without thinking about it, but even with a 35i, it's nowhere near as fun as a Boxster or 911.

GrandAndrew

876 posts

151 months

Monday 30th October 2023
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I think that looks superb and quite a bargain too. I don't think the mileage is too much of an issue, as another poster has said, we put too much emphasis on mileage in this country.

I've been all over Europe in Boxsters and covered many miles in the UK too, incredibly practical for a mid engined sports car, decent MG on a run, great turn of pace, handles just like you'd expect a Porsche to and good looks. Hard to think of something that ticks the boxes like one of these does. When I've been on long slogs abroad in one I've always been impressed by the way you can do 6 or 7 hours on the motorway in one and then turn off, come across a twisty road and the car just transforms from mile muncher to sports car.

I'm sure you'll have lots of great times in this one!

Gustavo7

Original Poster:

99 posts

123 months

Monday 30th October 2023
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FIRST NIGGLE!

So, I suspect I may have the HPFP (high pressure fuel pump) starting to fail!

The car has always taken around 3 seconds of cranking to start from cold which I put down to maybe old plugs, always started on first attempt.

HOWEVER, today when leaving work I had to crank it 3 times, each cranking attempt around 4-5 seconds long, then it fired up and drove perfectly, all power is there.

So, HPFP (a known weak point), LPFP or fuel filter…. My guess is the HPFP, besides the cost of the item, how difficult is it to change? I’m quite handy with tools.

Pent

268 posts

20 months

Thursday 2nd November 2023
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i had similar symptoms on a different car and changed the battery and it was golden... just a thought

Mr Tidy

22,398 posts

128 months

Thursday 2nd November 2023
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That looks like a great buy OP. thumbup

Interesting to see how it compares to your Z4MC too as I bought one of those 4 years ago. 131K on original bearing shells was certainly brave!

I hope the Boxster keeps your commute bearable. driving

PaulD86

1,666 posts

127 months

Friday 3rd November 2023
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Love that you're going to do big miles in it. Enjoy!

Gustavo7 said:
New Pirelli N2 rated tyres in May 2023.
The N rated Pirellis are hopeless. If you are using all year round and want to stay N rated then go for the Michelins next time, or even the Bridgestones. The Pirellis do not like cold or wet and wet preformance drops off a cliff with wear. Michelins transform this.

Trustmeimadoctor

12,613 posts

156 months

Friday 3rd November 2023
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havent porsche dropped the N rated requirement for their warranty now anyway so N rated isnt a needed thing any more

Gustavo7

Original Poster:

99 posts

123 months

Friday 3rd November 2023
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PaulD86 said:
The N rated Pirellis are hopeless. If you are using all year round and want to stay N rated then go for the Michelins next time, or even the Bridgestones. The Pirellis do not like cold or wet and wet preformance drops off a cliff with wear. Michelins transform this.
ahah yes! I already noticed that they dont like the cold or wet roads. (Thanks Storm Ciaranhehe)

so, I have done 1300 miles in the first two weeks, pretty faultlessly. The slight longer cranking in the morning/end of day doesn't seem to bother me much now as the car never fails to start. I have tried to source a new High Pressure Fuel Pump from Porsche and other outlets but it's pretty much impossible, got told to place an order and join the queue with no estimated delivery date. Parts are on back order as apparently the Ukraine factory got bombed?

Once it arrives I'll get it fitted but the cars runs faultless otherwise. I connected my OBD dongle to check fuel pressures and all seems ok, goes all the way to 120bar as it should. Things might get worse with use as the pump deteriorates to the point where the EML comes on, the car gets reduced power and/or fails to start. With no option than to wait for a new pump, I keep doing 120 miles/day!



A full service kit and the leaky coolant hoses have now arrived so shall be fitted soon!



soxboy

6,267 posts

220 months

Friday 3rd November 2023
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Well done for choosing one for the commute.
When I was commuting in mine it was horrible but only because so much was slow traffic, thankfully mine’s an auto. As long as you’re always going at reasonable speeds it should be fine (didn’t help that I hated the job and lasted 10 months).

Re the jobs, these are often age and not mileage related. I’ve had done coolant pipes and water pump.

Mine is a 987.1, bought at 12 years old with 130,000 miles on the clock. For £4,500.

Gustavo7

Original Poster:

99 posts

123 months

Sunday 19th November 2023
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Well think I found the culprit for the long cranking when cold… it was fitted with the shorter 987.1 spark plugs!!!

Must have been down on compression too, half the lenght of a spark plug is a considerable volume!

I have also replaced a coilpack which was accusing a slight misfire at idle. Seems to be much eager to start now! Let’s see how it behaves on tomorrow morning’s cold start! smash











Court_S

12,984 posts

178 months

Sunday 19th November 2023
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Hopefully that’ll have the slow starting sorted for less money and effort than the HPFP (I assume they’re horribly expensive like they are for a BMW).

sdh2903

544 posts

173 months

Sunday 19th November 2023
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Fingers crossed, that would be a really good cheap fix

Gustavo7

Original Poster:

99 posts

123 months

Monday 20th November 2023
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Well I'm pleased to share that putting the right plugs in solved the cold starting issue!



Not only that, but it seems to be doing 4-5mpg better than it was, I have never seen it in the 30's:




MrBen.911

512 posts

119 months

Monday 20th November 2023
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Amazing it was running as well as it was with those plugs in it!

Stedman

7,225 posts

193 months

Monday 20th November 2023
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I'm bar far an expert on these, but 29mpg on a run didn't seem correct. Now you know!

Gustavo7

Original Poster:

99 posts

123 months

Tuesday 21st November 2023
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MrBen.911 said:
Amazing it was running as well as it was with those plugs in it!
I know! Still embarrassed a Tesla 3 with half the spark plugs biglaugh

Stedman said:
I'm bar far an expert on these, but 29mpg on a run didn't seem correct. Now you know!
Even then 29mpg is quite good imo!


Anyway, after a few cold starts I can reiterate the starting issue is gone gone, I'm so chuffed!!


IroningMan

10,154 posts

247 months

Tuesday 21st November 2023
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Gustavo7 said:
Even then 29mpg is quite good imo!


Anyway, after a few cold starts I can reiterate the starting issue is gone gone, I'm so chuffed!!
Excellent!

Mine gives as good as 36mpg on a long motorway run, but PDK helps a bit.

Gustavo7

Original Poster:

99 posts

123 months

Tuesday 21st November 2023
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IroningMan said:
Excellent!

Mine gives as good as 36mpg on a long motorway run, but PDK helps a bit.
I bet it helps a lot, 6th gear on the manual puts you above 3000rpm @ 75 MPH, how's the PDK 7th gear?

DarkVeil

38 posts

18 months

Thursday 23rd November 2023
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How are you finding the long gearing?