Early 2.5 Boxsters

Early 2.5 Boxsters

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Boo152

Original Poster:

979 posts

198 months

Friday 24th October 2014
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I keep looking in the classifieds at early 2.5 Boxsters with seemingly well looked after examples looking very attractive avertised at much less than £4k.

My main car is a 993 and after 16-years of ownership I can safely say it's a keeper, so the prospective Boxster would be a direct replacement for the daily snotter, (AKA Mrs Boo's long-term early Audi TT roadster).

Reliability is important and (from what I've read) the early unstressed 2.5s are consistantly more reliable than later models, and suffer less from bore-scoring etc. Not looking for electrifying perfomance either, so not interested in later model perfomance creep, and, IMHO the early fried egg models are becoming the classics! I also know how the early 2.5 Boxsters drive having owned one from new back in 1997/98 prior to trading it in for the 993.

So, question for you long term Boxster owners - Am I opening myself to a world of pain at that price level, or should we just stick with the Audi?


m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
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What are they like to work on? A case of simple and logical or child size hands & special tools?

HAB

3,632 posts

226 months

Sunday 26th October 2014
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Watching this thread closely. 964C2 gone, and now Porscheless for 18 months. Bored! 2.5 986 looks more and more appealing.

Edited by HAB on Sunday 26th October 21:53

m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Monday 27th October 2014
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It would certainly be easier (and seemingly less likely to happen anyway) to walk away from a £4.5k Boxster than a £12k+ 996 911 Carrera. The (almost) lack of bore scoring and IMS problems is very very appealing for the sake of 50bhp over a 986 3.2S. The slimmer early cars also look much more like the original concept car, which is no bad thing.

delays

786 posts

214 months

Monday 27th October 2014
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Joined the 2.5 club earlier this year - loving it so far.

Go through the history re: mechanics listed above and you'll be in for no surprises. Engine has a nice, smooth delivery and sounds great above 3.5k rpm.

Negatives include the plastic rear window on the roof, which can be solved by buying a new hood - the chances of finding a car with this mod done at less than £4k are next to none. Indeed you can get it removed and re-sewn with a replacement plastic part, but the lined hood and the glass rear window of the newer aftermarket hoods are a bonus if living with the car day-to-day.

m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Monday 27th October 2014
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
In some ways I wish you hadn't said that! Any reason they don't suffer the bore scoring? Which years would I be looking at too?

m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Monday 27th October 2014
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Hmm now you're tempting me. So if I take my £8k budget, find the best £7k car I can and just get that done by a specialist then it should be largely free of non-general wear and tear trouble? I've had my dose with the BMW nikasil (as you may remember) so keen not to repeat!

ETA: So 3.4 996 Carerras might be ok too? Hmm where's works personal loan staff rate calculator...!?

m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Monday 27th October 2014
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Don't fancy those much! Just reading the £12k 911 thread you contributed to. I'd consider 'finding more for a 911 but only something that has had treatment worth 80% of the purchase price. Better off looking for hens teeth and a £6k Boxster 3.2S! Incidentally what's he cause of d-chunking (and what is it?) and the ovalling?

Boo152

Original Poster:

979 posts

198 months

Monday 27th October 2014
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Thanks for your reply cmoose, having read your answers on this and other threads, I value your opinion and expertise.
Sadly, I'm no Diy mechanic, whilst I am happy for my Porsche specialist to look after the 993, I fear that adding the extra cost of looking after a Boxster as well to the anual specialst bills could be a step too far!

I've therefore decided to stick with the Audi TT for Mrs Boo (whch has been relatively cheap to run over the last 8yrs)
Thanks again for your input cmoose.

m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Monday 27th October 2014
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Sounds like a deal! The PC has only been out of the box for 30 mins while I tried using it on my 323 when I bought it.

Need to shift the Westfield at the wrong time of the year first. May be slow going!

m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Monday 27th October 2014
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P.S. Don't take that to mean you can't borrow the PC whenever you want it. Just drop me an email.

m444ttb

3,160 posts

228 months

Tuesday 28th October 2014
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Yep, haven't moved since you came over in the 986. I'll check my diary and get back to you. A couple of busyish weekends coming up.

Just to amuse, my wife thinks I should get the 996 because it's more 'special'. This is after explaining that Id need some credit to fund the extra and the extra risks attached to the 3.4 engine (and the worst case costs that we couldn't cover)!