I've just bought some poverty Pork…

[ajh38]

I haven't looked at the prices of these in a while but is it me or are they on the rise? I paid £9,000 for mine nearly 4 years ago, 52 plate, manual, 'S' now done 58k full history etc. Seems like I'd still be able to recoup my money now. As it's been an occasional car it hasn't cost me much to run.

[edh]

I think 986 Boxsters have been steady for a few years now, and the better cars are likely to move further away from the dross (I'm sure there are plenty of unloved ones out there)

Cmoose - a 986S in the best spec.. not surprised it went quickly. They still look good when sat alongside the current model, even better with the roof down of course. (excuse the track wheels )

[Phunk]

Bought a 986 with my eyes closed off eBay it was described as being in perfect condition apart from some stone chips and had a new MOT with no advisories.

Being a bit naive I bought the car without giving it too much of a check, the drive home showed that the A/C didn't work (likely condensers) and a knock coming from the front right.

MOT'd it at a local garage today who gave me an MOT failure for a ball joint and two pages of advisories.

Luckily the seller is covering some of the cost of the work being done. I suppose it means at least I'll have a car with lots of new parts.

[Mogul]

That Hamilton Grays S certainly looked good (potentially epic service history to 2011).

Arctic Silver with a double-dose of Metropole was on my shortlist when I bought new but no longer carries the same appeal but you can replace the top with a black one quite easily. Saying that, just spotted another mega specced low kms 2.7 has just appeared on the Swiss market in the same colour scheme...

http://goo.gl/UbyWzr

Low kms is of course no guarantee that it has been looked after terribly well and still strong money in GBP terms but there aren't many mint examples out there as we all know.

[Luke.]

Mogul said:

That Hamilton Grays S certainly looked good (potentially epic service history to 2011).

Arctic Silver with a double-dose of Metropole was on my shortlist when I bought new but no longer carries the same appeal but you can replace the top with a black one quite easily. Saying that, just spotted another mega specced low kms 2.7 has just appeared on the Swiss market in the same colour scheme...

http://goo.gl/UbyWzr

Low kms is of course no guarantee that it has been looked after terribly well and still strong money in GBP terms but there aren't many mint examples out there as we all know.

I'm loving your posts and the complete lack of regard for poverty pork pricing...

[Mogul]

^^ From what I've seen, your contributions to this thread have been priceless too.

[Bit of a Unit]

Collected Monday. Blue roof and leather. 88k full Porsche history, thick file of invoices and all mots. Only fault is the dreadful radio reception but research tells me I'm not alone there!

Made my commute more fun.

[OvalOwl]

Phunk said:

Bought a 986 with my eyes closed off eBay it was described as being in perfect condition apart from some stone chips and had a new MOT with no advisories.

Being a bit naive I bought the car without giving it too much of a check, the drive home showed that the A/C didn't work (likely condensers) and a knock coming from the front right.

MOT'd it at a local garage today who gave me an MOT failure for a ball joint and two pages of advisories.

Luckily the seller is covering some of the cost of the work being done. I suppose it means at least I'll have a car with lots of new parts.

My 2003 2.7 986 bought @ £5.5k on just over 100k miles (see up thread) has cost me a fair bit to get right, especially after I nerfed it into the side of a bus. Mechanically it's had three out of four longitudinal links (the fourth could do with doing soon as well) and missing cat heat-shields replaced. It was also given a full service (plus plugs, plus brake-fluid) since it had a run of four minors in the book. The accident damage to bumper, headlamp, wing and condenser I fixed myself for about £550. I am now aiming to build up the slush fund from its currently depleted state.

Edited by OvalOwl on Wednesday 3rd June 14:50

[SteveGRF]

I recently bit the bullet & happly own a 2004 3.2 Box, I started out with the intention of buying a As Chip As Chips Car.... but once I started looking into the pros & cons, risks, perferred colour, engine & gear box requirements etc .. I ended up spending more than originally intended as you do.
Even before I brought a Boxster & my engineer side of my brain would not let me drive one around without knowing that the IMS bearing had been changed; so true to word thats the first thing I had done £££ - every thing else I could live with.
This car is a sort of gap filler until I can afford my next TVR, but admittedly Iam really enjoying the whole Boxster driving experience. The lightness at the front of the car under speed (being mid engined) is the only thing I find strange compared to the front engined cars i.e TVR Griff, but Iam getting bolder or is that more confident

[Luke.]

Mogul said:

^^ From what I've seen, your contributions to this thread have been priceless too.

I posted a Cayenne Turbo a while back. That I actually bought. Shocker

[edh]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Mine then... Delivered March 1st 2000. (LFB also works & doesn't cut power...)

What happened to the clocks? Was that for MY 2001?

[edc]

OvalOwl said:

Phunk said:

Bought a 986 with my eyes closed off eBay it was described as being in perfect condition apart from some stone chips and had a new MOT with no advisories.

Being a bit naive I bought the car without giving it too much of a check, the drive home showed that the A/C didn't work (likely condensers) and a knock coming from the front right.

MOT'd it at a local garage today who gave me an MOT failure for a ball joint and two pages of advisories.

Luckily the seller is covering some of the cost of the work being done. I suppose it means at least I'll have a car with lots of new parts.

My 2003 2.7 986 bought @ £5.5k on just over 100k miles (see up thread) has cost me a fair bit to get right, especially after I nerfed it into the side of a bus. Mechanically it's had three out of four longitudinal links (the fourth could do with doing soon as well) and missing cat heat-shields replaced. It was also given a full service (plus plugs, plus brake-fluid) since it had a run of four minors in the book. The accident damage to bumper, headlamp, wing and condenser I fixed myself for about £550. I am now aiming to build up the slush fund from its currently depleted state.

Edited by OvalOwl on Wednesday 3rd June 14:50

At the age and mileage nearly all 986 are unless they have had some overhaul type work then you are going to be the one forking out. That might be condensers and rads, brakes, suspension arms, drop links, clutch, exhaust brackets. Then there is stuff you might want to change for peace of mind like waterpump.

[edc]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I did the body coloured centre console on my last car too. On the 550 it's just silver, which looks pretty much like the outside. No metal effects. If the car has a dark interior like Metropole or black then I think a silver or body colour accent helps to lift things. With the roof up on a dank day it's a bit drab and claustrophobic otherwise. But, each to their own

[markoc]

Bit of a Unit said:

Collected Monday. Blue roof and leather. 88k full Porsche history, thick file of invoices and all mots. Only fault is the dreadful radio reception but research tells me I'm not alone there!

Made my commute more fun.

Looks a dead ringer for my old one (RY03NKS)

[Phunk]

edc said:

OvalOwl said:

Phunk said:

Bought a 986 with my eyes closed off eBay it was described as being in perfect condition apart from some stone chips and had a new MOT with no advisories.

Being a bit naive I bought the car without giving it too much of a check, the drive home showed that the A/C didn't work (likely condensers) and a knock coming from the front right.

MOT'd it at a local garage today who gave me an MOT failure for a ball joint and two pages of advisories.

Luckily the seller is covering some of the cost of the work being done. I suppose it means at least I'll have a car with lots of new parts.

My 2003 2.7 986 bought @ £5.5k on just over 100k miles (see up thread) has cost me a fair bit to get right, especially after I nerfed it into the side of a bus. Mechanically it's had three out of four longitudinal links (the fourth could do with doing soon as well) and missing cat heat-shields replaced. It was also given a full service (plus plugs, plus brake-fluid) since it had a run of four minors in the book. The accident damage to bumper, headlamp, wing and condenser I fixed myself for about £550. I am now aiming to build up the slush fund from its currently depleted state.

Edited by OvalOwl on Wednesday 3rd June 14:50

At the age and mileage nearly all 986 are unless they have had some overhaul type work then you are going to be the one forking out. That might be condensers and rads, brakes, suspension arms, drop links, clutch, exhaust brackets. Then there is stuff you might want to change for peace of mind like waterpump.

List so far is:

Front control arms
ARB drop links all round
Disks & Pads (Not that bad but don't have much life left)
Air con condensors (x2)
Wheel refurb (Has anyone tried chrome powder coating on split rim lips?)

There is a bit of a leak from the RMS however the clutch is still fine, so I'll wait till that needs done.

Anything else I should think about?

[edc]

Phunk said:

List so far is:

Front control arms
ARB drop links all round
Disks & Pads (Not that bad but don't have much life left)
Air con condensors (x2)
Wheel refurb (Has anyone tried chrome powder coating on split rim lips?)

There is a bit of a leak from the RMS however the clutch is still fine, so I'll wait till that needs done.

Anything else I should think about?

You are treading a well trodden path. You can treat your car as a commodity and fix as things break, longer term it's not necessarily that cost effective as you pay for the same labour 2 or 3 times over. I go for the fix it before it lets you down preventative maintenance approach. Have a look at boxa.net there are a lot of documented blogs in the member rides and running reports section. I've done this twice myself and have put loads of reports and photos with costs and parts too.

But in addition to your list; the remainder of the suspension arms, front top mounts, waterpump, clutch (don't leave it too late or you may knacker the flywheel too and you unnecessarily add another £200 or so to the bill), hard brake lines corrosion, exhaust brackets, front engine mount, coolant cap and maybe in the back of your mind the expansion tank as they have a habit of small cracks or just letting go entirely with age, if the windows are slow/squeaky then the window regulator, headlight switch, ignition switch. You can go pretty mad trying to pre-empt everything and some things are not a catastrophic fail but the warning signs creep up on you if you are aware of what to look for.

Then you get into the realms of man maths. Waterpump noisy? Let's add in a low temp thermostat too. Pads need doing? Why not get those HEL braided lines and some better/more expensive brake fluid and those GT3 ducts too as well as putting in some uprated pads. Suspensions arms need doing? Why not get some tricked out adjustable rear toe links and really go to town on the geo and set up. New tyres? Why not get wheel refurb done too (or in my case the other way round!).

[edh]

Coolant expansion tank (nasty fiddly job..)

[Ray Singh]

Chap two doors down has a 03 plate Boxster S in black with black leather. Nice looking car.

70k miles.
Full history.
Bose.
4 x toyo proxies.
I dont think that much has been changed on the car since new.

Cat D damaged in 07.

How much should i go in with?

[Bit of a Unit]

Ray Singh said:

Chap two doors down has a 03 plate Boxster S in black with black leather. Nice looking car.

70k miles.
Full history.
Bose.
4 x toyo proxies.
I dont think that much has been changed on the car since new.

Cat D damaged in 07.

How much should i go in with?

6.5k. He'll want more but you'll find it tricky to move on, should you want too. No cat d that car would be 8-9k all day long (assuming mint condition) but under 7 it's value. Being seven years ago any major issues would have manifested themselves by now.

[edh]

Sounds like it may be ready for that long list of jobs posted above... £6.5k sounds OK if everything works, but if it's close to a new clutch, needs suspension arms, rads, aircon work etc. then it will soon become an £8-9k car.