Porsche Boxster S in Spain.
Discussion
I bought this car about 2 months ago. It was a bit of a gamble as it was purchased unseen. In fact I had never even sat in or looked closely at a Boxster prior to purchase. Seems to have paid off so far fortunately and I am delighted with it. It is LHD and lived in Ringwood Hampshire with its second owner for the last 11 years (it had a private reg on it during this time). It spent the first 3 years in Germany where it was registered originally. It is a 3.2S 2000 model with 80000 miles and a full service history and an option list as long as your arm. This includes lithtronic lights, sport suspension, 18 inch alloys, sat nav, 6CD and Bose sound. The clutch and IMS bearing have never been changed, so fingers crossed there.
I made a flying visit to collect the car and then took the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander. I arrived in Santander around 19:00 hours and planned to drive part of the way to Malaga and stop off for the night. In the end I drove the 1000 km non stop in about 9 hours with one fuel stop south of Madrid.
Some pics of it in its new home the morning after the drive down:
Never been a big fan of black wheels and never really seen this colour combination before. They would not be my first choice but are growing on me and are immaculate so will keep them like this for time being. Tyres are very recent.
It was priced very competitively even for a RHD car. The fact it was LHD made it too good to pass up and a similar car here in Spain would cost easily double what I paid, even allowing for the taxes etc and re registration when I get round to that.
Appologies for this new thread and those who posted in the previous one, had to delete it as the pics got completely jumbled.
I made a flying visit to collect the car and then took the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander. I arrived in Santander around 19:00 hours and planned to drive part of the way to Malaga and stop off for the night. In the end I drove the 1000 km non stop in about 9 hours with one fuel stop south of Madrid.
Some pics of it in its new home the morning after the drive down:
Never been a big fan of black wheels and never really seen this colour combination before. They would not be my first choice but are growing on me and are immaculate so will keep them like this for time being. Tyres are very recent.
It was priced very competitively even for a RHD car. The fact it was LHD made it too good to pass up and a similar car here in Spain would cost easily double what I paid, even allowing for the taxes etc and re registration when I get round to that.
Appologies for this new thread and those who posted in the previous one, had to delete it as the pics got completely jumbled.
I fitted some LED number plate lights.
Original bulbs:
LEDs
I like the crisper whiter light of the LEDs compared to how they were.
Have still to fit the front fog light and side light LEDs.
I had the headlights out to check if they were RHD or LHD and was relieved to find they are the original ones from Germany. Strangely the adjustable levers were set up for European driving too despite it being in the UK the last 11 years.
Another small thing I did was to wire up the second rear fog light. I found a youtube video for this and all that was required was to identify 2 wires and bare back a small section on each then join them with a wire. I did this as the Spanish "MOT" requires that if there is only one rear fog light then it should be on the left side. The Boxster had the right one only working. Best of all is to have them both as it is now.
Sadly as a result of removal and refitting the headlights, a small triangular piece of reflective plastic (headlight infill) fell out during a drive. I must not have clipped it in properly. I have not got round to buying a replacement yet. Just can't quite part with the 75 Euros for a new one. It must be one of the most expensive small bits of plastic on the planet. Kind of hoping a used one will pop up E Bay in the meantime.
Took it out for a spin to the mountains at El Chorro a few weeks ago. It was likely sometime on this trip that the headlight infill fell off.
The main niggle I have with the car is a creaking sound coming from the front suspension when the car is hot. It happens when going quite slowly on poorer quality roads. A quick internet search showed that it was likely coming from the lower front drop links and the creaking could be fixed by using a syringe and needle to squirt in some spray grease, then seal up the needle hole with silicon.
Decided to give it a try and thought I would save some cash by making my own car ramps in true Blue Peter style. They did not cost me a penny as the wood was stuff I had lying around. I made them 30 cm wide and the same height on the highest rung. I had to make the slope quite gentle due to the very long front overhang on the car. Looking forward to reversing on when I come to do oil or spark plug changes.
The ramps are not exactly pretty and not exactly small but they are strong and do the job. Only thing is I can barely lift them so tend to drag them around.
Some ramp pics:
Also fitted some clear side indicators.
Delighted to say the creaking sound has completely gone now and the ramps performed perfectly.
Edited for spelling.
Original bulbs:
LEDs
I like the crisper whiter light of the LEDs compared to how they were.
Have still to fit the front fog light and side light LEDs.
I had the headlights out to check if they were RHD or LHD and was relieved to find they are the original ones from Germany. Strangely the adjustable levers were set up for European driving too despite it being in the UK the last 11 years.
Another small thing I did was to wire up the second rear fog light. I found a youtube video for this and all that was required was to identify 2 wires and bare back a small section on each then join them with a wire. I did this as the Spanish "MOT" requires that if there is only one rear fog light then it should be on the left side. The Boxster had the right one only working. Best of all is to have them both as it is now.
Sadly as a result of removal and refitting the headlights, a small triangular piece of reflective plastic (headlight infill) fell out during a drive. I must not have clipped it in properly. I have not got round to buying a replacement yet. Just can't quite part with the 75 Euros for a new one. It must be one of the most expensive small bits of plastic on the planet. Kind of hoping a used one will pop up E Bay in the meantime.
Took it out for a spin to the mountains at El Chorro a few weeks ago. It was likely sometime on this trip that the headlight infill fell off.
The main niggle I have with the car is a creaking sound coming from the front suspension when the car is hot. It happens when going quite slowly on poorer quality roads. A quick internet search showed that it was likely coming from the lower front drop links and the creaking could be fixed by using a syringe and needle to squirt in some spray grease, then seal up the needle hole with silicon.
Decided to give it a try and thought I would save some cash by making my own car ramps in true Blue Peter style. They did not cost me a penny as the wood was stuff I had lying around. I made them 30 cm wide and the same height on the highest rung. I had to make the slope quite gentle due to the very long front overhang on the car. Looking forward to reversing on when I come to do oil or spark plug changes.
The ramps are not exactly pretty and not exactly small but they are strong and do the job. Only thing is I can barely lift them so tend to drag them around.
Some ramp pics:
Also fitted some clear side indicators.
Delighted to say the creaking sound has completely gone now and the ramps performed perfectly.
Edited for spelling.
Edited by el romeral on Saturday 7th February 06:40
.blue said:
That looks like fun! Congrats OP
It absolutely is great fun, especially knowing I paid just 5 grand for it - probably less money than about 70-80% of the other road users. Looking at it though, you would never know, especially when I get it onto Spanish plates as they are not age related.I read about radiator and potential cooling problems due to debris being sucked into the front intakes. Looking in I could see some leaves etc. The only way to get at them was to remove the front bumper.
Bumper and intake scoops removed showing some of the debris:
Sure enough I found loads of leaves, feathers, beech nuts and an acorn. Thought there might be a squirrel in there at one point. A lot of the debris was trapped between the front AC radiators and the coolant ones further back. I brushed out what I could then hoovered and finally flushed with a hose. Can also see the triangular headlamp infill trim piece that fell out (right headlamp).
I decided to spray the grilles with satin black paint as they were quite faded and did not look very good. I think they started platinum colour?
Faded grilles:
I also bought some black guttering mesh to fit behind the grilles to prevent the larger debris from getting through. Never used a glue gun before but one my daughter has for a school project proved just the job (hopefully not too much Blue Peter going on here?)
Glueing the mesh onto the back of the black grilles:
Grilles fitted back into bumper:
Job done:
I decided to spray the centre grille surround black aswell (was silver before). I think it works quite well in black and am happy with the way it has worked out. Overall it seems to have freshened up the front end and hopefully helped the radiators and cooling efficiency.
I think I have driven it about twice with the roof up since I got it. May well use the roof more in the height of summer to keep cool. I will most likely get the wheels put back to standard at some point. At the moment they are immaculate (must have been done recently) and the tyres virtually brand new so will likely wait until either the wheel condition deteriorates a bit, or it needs new tyres.
A few minor things have been completed in recent weeks:
Old pedals were a bit drab.
Fitted some nice aluminium ones.
Fitted some clear LED rear lights.
With silver indicator bulbs
Fitted a rear diffuser.
Found the rather dusty engine.
And wiped it down a bit.
Got the car registerd on Spanish plates - form Oct 2015 & smaller front one.
Fitted a new Panamera style rear badge.
Finally, painted the wheels silver.
Old pedals were a bit drab.
Fitted some nice aluminium ones.
Fitted some clear LED rear lights.
With silver indicator bulbs
Fitted a rear diffuser.
Found the rather dusty engine.
And wiped it down a bit.
Got the car registerd on Spanish plates - form Oct 2015 & smaller front one.
Fitted a new Panamera style rear badge.
Finally, painted the wheels silver.
Thanks for comments.
With the car's immaculate condition, a bit of freshening up and Spain's daft system of allocating a current year reg plate to imported or re registered cars, most do not believe it is 16 years old! The plate says Nov 2015!
For 30E worth of spray cans and a few hours work, I was delighted with the results. The quality is not as good as the professional red/black job but visually, for most, it is better. Have not played snap or knockout whist for a while though....
With the car's immaculate condition, a bit of freshening up and Spain's daft system of allocating a current year reg plate to imported or re registered cars, most do not believe it is 16 years old! The plate says Nov 2015!
DDg said:
How good does sticking playing cards around the rim work? Can you see any red still? Even really close up?
Dooh. I can't lie. There is one small section of red which I did not quite get to, right behind the rim. You can't see it looking square onto the wheel. If you look down on it, it shows a little. Not a problem for me. If I were ever doing them again I would ensure a bit more paint coverage in that area. I could even revisit it now and fix it.For 30E worth of spray cans and a few hours work, I was delighted with the results. The quality is not as good as the professional red/black job but visually, for most, it is better. Have not played snap or knockout whist for a while though....
Edited by el romeral on Monday 22 February 14:03
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