advice please--987 vs 986--value for money & reliability--ot

[carspath]

I currently run a series 1 mx5 1993 with 128,000 miles on the clock

I absolutely adore the car ,as with my limited driving ability , and the congestion and cameras on UK roads , I can drive the mx5 to a higher proportion of its abilities , and still keep my license intact and have fun , than I could a higher powered , wider tyred , car

the car is wonderfully well balanced , and its narrow width is a major advantage in the real world

I have just returned from a great 3,500 mile trip to Italy , which included my annual visit to the Lamborghini factory , as well as early morning drives on the futa and raticosa passes and the twisty sarteano road .
the last was a real delight
and my series 1 car proved totally reliable , and totally enjoyable throughout

however, my wife was not completely happy , as the mx5 has no air-conditioning , and I am actually in the very fortunate position where my wife is now actually asking me to buy another car---any car as long as it has A/C !!

my thoughts instantly went to an elise , and a boxster
the elise has the advantage of a reliable Toyota engine , but limited boot space for long trips abroad , while the boxster has the ims, bore scoring and rms issues to count against it

I have also briefly considered the vx220 , and the s2000




there are 2 boxsters I am presently liking :


-an early high mileage ( 2002 , 90,000) , 986 BOXSTER S (252 BHP) with a plastic screen , for about £6000



-a 2006 (registered in march 2006 by the selling dealer , but who knows when it was actually produced by the factory ) gen 1 , 987 BOXSTER S with 280 bhp , with 70,000 for about £13,500



both cars are private sales without any warranty , and have full main dealer service histories



I am acutely aware of the ims and bore scoring issues
ideally I would go to a gen 2 987 , and so eliminate the ims issues totally , but this is outside the present budget

so the questions are :



-would I still have the risk of bore scoring with a gen 2 987 car ?

-would I be best off hanging onto the mx5 , and saving up for a gen 2 987 (if borescoring is genuinely no longer an issue with the gen 2 987)

-does anyone know for sure when the factory started using the larger ims bearing in the gen 1 987 --the date or the chassis number after which the larger bearing was definitely used ?

-would you go for the £6k car or the £13.5 k car-----bearing in mind that the ims could give way with either car at any time ?

-is there much difference in the driving experience between a boxster S of the 986 variety vs the 987 ?

- any other cars that you would consider--- working A/C essential , AND must be fun to drive slowly as well as quickly



anyone with a low owner,v good condition, FSH 987 in a red or yellow ,or best an arancio (orange ) boxster considering selling ?


thanks for your thoughts

[carspath]

thanks for all the replies

I had a 944 turbo 220bhp from 1994 to 2006---really great car, but v expensive to maintain at an opc , and I seemed to hate the sort of heat you found in southern france and Italy
a really civilised car , and I did consider a 968 , but I thnk that ive got the 944/68 t shirt

my wife actually likes the elise
took a 217 bhp car for a test drive last week, but it seemed terribly expensive for what it did----great composure around corners and on bumpy roads
and the prices of 2nd hand cars , sadly for me , seem to be as bullet proof as the Toyota engines

I wonder if a 986 S with 252 bhp will be significantly faster and more fun than a totally wrung-out 1.6 series 1 mx5 with 114bhp ?
there is fun in almost, but not quite, hitting the rev limiter in 3 or 4 gears

do you think a boxster S ~(986 or 987 gen 1 ) would repay , in driving pleasure, the extra costs of maintainance , insuarance , road tax , and angst of the ims going pop, vs a basic mx5 that you could rev like there is no tomorrow

[carspath]

thanks edc

who is it that you go to for the clutch and ims at £1k ?

I thought that it cost a lot more to do the ims

do you get yours done at a set time interval?

thank you

[carspath]

csmoose & davidjg & others ,

please could you elaborate on the specific dates of the boxter S cars that are least likely to give me grief in terms of bore scoring, ims , and rms problems



the 2 cars I am looking at are a :

- 2002 986 with over 90,000miles at £6000 ,

and a

- uk 987 that was first registered by the uk selling dealer on 1st march 2006 with over 70,000miles at £13000

both are with FSH , but private sales with no warranty


do the dates of these two S cars, ring any alarm bells ?
should I be holding off, and looking for earlier or later cars?
the gen 2 987 is well outside budget sadly

anything to suggest that one of these cars is preferable over the other

interestinly, the insurance premiums for both these cars was identical

thank you for all your help

[carspath]

in addition to replying to what I have written in the posting immediately above, please would csmoose explain to a newbie , exactly what you mean by the sentence below :

'' The possible joker in the pack is the MY2006 3.2 987 which may have the final large single-row bearing, but opinion is divided on whether that actually happened - the bearing, not the car existing! ''

i'm confused , should I be seeking or avoiding a :

-MY2006 3.2 987

-the final large single-row bearing


on this basis , is a 1st march 2006 boxster S a car to seek out or one to avoid

thanks