RE: Spotted: the £3K Porsche Boxster
Discussion
sunsurfer said:
Been looking at these for a while now - amazing value for money. My concern is the likely running costs - a poster has suggested £1800-2000 per year. Do those of you who have/had Boxsters agree with that?
I've paid £0 over 2 days so far, so can't comment personally. However, I was planning on updating my profile with my Boxster S and the costs that have been incurred by previous owners. I'll post a link when I've done that. From going through the bills, it seems the cost items are:
1) Brakes (2 sets in 70k miles)
2) Clutch (changed at 70k)
3) Tyres - 10k miles, ish
4) RMS/IMS - failed at 65k
5) Lower suspension arms (65k)
6) Bushes - seems to go through them almost as a consumable
7) Standard service - 4-600 quid ish, more for plug change
So, there's certainly a risk of averaging 2k per year over 2-3 years if there are lots of things that are reaching the end of their life.
That said, it should be closer to a 1k per year if the major ticket items have been done, IMHO.
yajeed said:
I've paid £0 over 2 days so far, so can't comment personally. However, I was planning on updating my profile with my Boxster S and the costs that have been incurred by previous owners. I'll post a link when I've done that.
From going through the bills, it seems the cost items are:
1) Brakes (2 sets in 70k miles)
2) Clutch (changed at 70k)
3) Tyres - 10k miles, ish
4) RMS/IMS - failed at 65k
5) Lower suspension arms (65k)
6) Bushes - seems to go through them almost as a consumable
7) Standard service - 4-600 quid ish, more for plug change
So, there's certainly a risk of averaging 2k per year over 2-3 years if there are lots of things that are reaching the end of their life.
That said, it should be closer to a 1k per year if the major ticket items have been done, IMHO.
Thanks for that. Looks like buying one with a good history of recent work may be the best option - particularly as it's the second car and probably do about 3000 miles a year.From going through the bills, it seems the cost items are:
1) Brakes (2 sets in 70k miles)
2) Clutch (changed at 70k)
3) Tyres - 10k miles, ish
4) RMS/IMS - failed at 65k
5) Lower suspension arms (65k)
6) Bushes - seems to go through them almost as a consumable
7) Standard service - 4-600 quid ish, more for plug change
So, there's certainly a risk of averaging 2k per year over 2-3 years if there are lots of things that are reaching the end of their life.
That said, it should be closer to a 1k per year if the major ticket items have been done, IMHO.
Hmm, I have a 944 Cab, we now have the weird situation where Boxsters are being advertised for less.
Never tried a Boxster but would be interested to try one side by side with the 944, cant imagine performance wise there is much in it both being a little over 200 bhp, handling wise I would imagine the Boxster is better being mid engined, plus it is about 20 years on in terms of design over the 944. That said there are a lot of Boxsters about, other than my own I have not seen a 944 cab in years and they dont have the IMS/RMS issues, they have rust and timing belt fussiness instead.
Never tried a Boxster but would be interested to try one side by side with the 944, cant imagine performance wise there is much in it both being a little over 200 bhp, handling wise I would imagine the Boxster is better being mid engined, plus it is about 20 years on in terms of design over the 944. That said there are a lot of Boxsters about, other than my own I have not seen a 944 cab in years and they dont have the IMS/RMS issues, they have rust and timing belt fussiness instead.
J4CKO said:
Hmm, I have a 944 Cab, we now have the weird situation where Boxsters are being advertised for less.
Never tried a Boxster but would be interested to try one side by side with the 944, cant imagine performance wise there is much in it both being a little over 200 bhp, handling wise I would imagine the Boxster is better being mid engined, plus it is about 20 years on in terms of design over the 944. That said there are a lot of Boxsters about, other than my own I have not seen a 944 cab in years and they dont have the IMS/RMS issues, they have rust and timing belt fussiness instead.
Oddly, I saw a red 944 cab yesterday in Bedford. Needed a bit of a scrub up and colour correction as it looked a little tired but it was still a decent looking thing.Never tried a Boxster but would be interested to try one side by side with the 944, cant imagine performance wise there is much in it both being a little over 200 bhp, handling wise I would imagine the Boxster is better being mid engined, plus it is about 20 years on in terms of design over the 944. That said there are a lot of Boxsters about, other than my own I have not seen a 944 cab in years and they dont have the IMS/RMS issues, they have rust and timing belt fussiness instead.
Boxster is probably cheaper to run, the 944 will club it to death on re-sale though
I drove a boxster S, an Elise 111R and an s2000 back to back a few years ago. Imho the s2000 had the best steering action and feel. The 111r had the best handling. The boxster was ok as an all rounder but didn't have the edge. The boxster was the only one I went out in alone. I still haven't worked out my assessment of the s2000. It contradicted exerting I had been led to expect about its relative merits. Suffice to say a 3k boxster sounds great value but imho the s2000 is a surprisingly worthy competitor. I bought the Elise by the way!
Edited by griffter on Thursday 7th June 10:39
Almost bought a 2.7 996 Boxster a few months back. Lovely bright yellow with black interior. After doing huge amounts of research, the IMS/RMS didn't put me off, it was the running costs of consumables! I was tossing and turning between the S2K and the Boxster, but in the end settled on the mk3 MX5 2.0 Sport as it is vastly cheaper to run. I was looking for a new job at the time with a large commute. This is now not an option, so I'm thinking of swapping out the MX5.
Early Boxster roofs seem to be a complete joke to me. What's the point in it being electric if you've gotta get out the car to lower it? My manual roof can be lowered in literally 3 seconds
Early Boxster roofs seem to be a complete joke to me. What's the point in it being electric if you've gotta get out the car to lower it? My manual roof can be lowered in literally 3 seconds
Riknos said:
...Early Boxster roofs seem to be a complete joke to me. What's the point in it being electric if you've gotta get out the car to lower it? My manual roof can be lowered in literally 3 seconds
Agreed. I much like the simplicity of undoing two latches and bunging the roof back. Electric roof is unnecessary additional weight, cost and complexity.sunsurfer said:
Riknos said:
...Early Boxster roofs seem to be a complete joke to me. What's the point in it being electric if you've gotta get out the car to lower it? My manual roof can be lowered in literally 3 seconds
Agreed. I much like the simplicity of undoing two latches and bunging the roof back. Electric roof is unnecessary additional weight, cost and complexity.
sunsurfer said:
Been looking at these for a while now - amazing value for money. My concern is the likely running costs - a poster has suggested £1800-2000 per year. Do those of you who have/had Boxsters agree with that?
Yep, I'd agree. My running report below if your intrested.. This was written 4 years ago when I sold it (can't believe its been that long!). So the depreciation won't be as much, but I'd expect running costs will be more as the cars are older now, so about £2k fund should keep it on the road. 
My running report: http://motorcloud.net/porsche/boxster-retroview/
Summary of costs over 3 years...
MAF sensor £351
a clamp for something £1.48
electrical fault – £558.13
hard top kit £120.33
reseal cam box bolts £32.32
New steering rack £187.55
relay £12.94
(oil seals, ignition coil pack, rear anti roll bar bushes, brake fluid change) £344.65
wheel bolts £113.36
Radiators x 2 and Air condensers x2 £930.61
Rear screen – £250
Front screen – £60 (excess)
1 minor service (approx 400?)
1 major service (£550)
1 lot of front tyres (approx £200)
2 (or 3) lots of rear tyres (approx £300 per set)
full set of brakes (£300)
Hard-top – £700
Speedster humps – £400ish
Smart Top – £120ish
Clear Lights – £500ish
Depreciation over 3 years – £9,000
An approximately total of around £12,000-£13,000 over 3 years of ownership, using independent Porsche specialists for most of the repair work.
sunsurfer said:
Been looking at these for a while now - amazing value for money. My concern is the likely running costs - a poster has suggested £1800-2000 per year. Do those of you who have/had Boxsters agree with that?
Yes, my previous one cost that every for the 6 years I had it as a daily driver (approx 15,000 miles a year). It was worth every penny though!Paul O said:
Yep, I'd agree. My running report below if your intrested.. This was written 4 years ago when I sold it (can't believe its been that long!). So the depreciation won't be as much, but I'd expect running costs will be more as the cars are older now, so about £2k fund should keep it on the road.
My running report: http://motorcloud.net/porsche/boxster-retroview/
Summary of costs over 3 years...
MAF sensor £351
a clamp for something £1.48
electrical fault – £558.13
hard top kit £120.33
reseal cam box bolts £32.32
New steering rack £187.55
relay £12.94
(oil seals, ignition coil pack, rear anti roll bar bushes, brake fluid change) £344.65
wheel bolts £113.36
Radiators x 2 and Air condensers x2 £930.61
Rear screen – £250
Front screen – £60 (excess)
1 minor service (approx 400?)
1 major service (£550)
1 lot of front tyres (approx £200)
2 (or 3) lots of rear tyres (approx £300 per set)
full set of brakes (£300)
Hard-top – £700
Speedster humps – £400ish
Smart Top – £120ish
Clear Lights – £500ish
Depreciation over 3 years – £9,000
An approximately total of around £12,000-£13,000 over 3 years of ownership, using independent Porsche specialists for most of the repair work.
Great write up and thanks for the info on running costs - as someone moving on from a Mk1 MR2 this is a bit step!My running report: http://motorcloud.net/porsche/boxster-retroview/
Summary of costs over 3 years...
MAF sensor £351
a clamp for something £1.48
electrical fault – £558.13
hard top kit £120.33
reseal cam box bolts £32.32
New steering rack £187.55
relay £12.94
(oil seals, ignition coil pack, rear anti roll bar bushes, brake fluid change) £344.65
wheel bolts £113.36
Radiators x 2 and Air condensers x2 £930.61
Rear screen – £250
Front screen – £60 (excess)
1 minor service (approx 400?)
1 major service (£550)
1 lot of front tyres (approx £200)
2 (or 3) lots of rear tyres (approx £300 per set)
full set of brakes (£300)
Hard-top – £700
Speedster humps – £400ish
Smart Top – £120ish
Clear Lights – £500ish
Depreciation over 3 years – £9,000
An approximately total of around £12,000-£13,000 over 3 years of ownership, using independent Porsche specialists for most of the repair work.
I've owned a 3.0 Z4 roadster for 4 years, and in 30k miles have only spent the following:
Tyres:
2 x sets of rears ( last set only just put on) 1 x set of fronts ( still with 4mm and 25k miles on them to date.)
Servicing:
1 service every 2 years = 1 x Oil service ( £ 140) and an Inspection 2 ( £ 300) Next service due is next March @ £ 140
Other work:
2x rear springs @ £ 150
Disa valve £ 150
Glovebox lock £ 40
Bonnet sensor £ 10
Brakes: Front & Rear discs & pads £ 400
That makes £ 300 per year for maintenance at 7 -8k miles pa.
I've got 231 bhp, 0-60 in under 6 sec, 155mph top speed and it costs the same as a budget hatchback to run.I've always fancied a Porsche, but when comparing the running costs with my Z4, there's no way I could justify it.
Tyres:
2 x sets of rears ( last set only just put on) 1 x set of fronts ( still with 4mm and 25k miles on them to date.)
Servicing:
1 service every 2 years = 1 x Oil service ( £ 140) and an Inspection 2 ( £ 300) Next service due is next March @ £ 140
Other work:
2x rear springs @ £ 150
Disa valve £ 150
Glovebox lock £ 40
Bonnet sensor £ 10
Brakes: Front & Rear discs & pads £ 400
That makes £ 300 per year for maintenance at 7 -8k miles pa.
I've got 231 bhp, 0-60 in under 6 sec, 155mph top speed and it costs the same as a budget hatchback to run.I've always fancied a Porsche, but when comparing the running costs with my Z4, there's no way I could justify it.
Shurv said:
I've got 231 bhp, 0-60 in under 6 sec, 155mph top speed and it costs the same as a budget hatchback to run.I've always fancied a Porsche, but when comparing the running costs with my Z4, there's no way I could justify it.
TBH the running costs aren't that different so long as you avoid OEM parts and dealer labour rates (for either car, frankly).I don't know where people get this idea that Porsches are hugely costly to run - this Boxster was a <£30K car new and it's costs will reflect that. The big issues will the seals aside, there's nothing massively wallet breaking about it - I know several people who've run Boxsters of varying ages with no trauma whatsoever (some even as daily drivers).
One of the more interesting issues would be depreciation tho - your BMW Z4 is a much harder resell than any Boxster because there's more around, they're more spec. sensitive and so on...
sunsurfer said:
Been looking at these for a while now - amazing value for money. My concern is the likely running costs - a poster has suggested £1800-2000 per year. Do those of you who have/had Boxsters agree with that?
My boss has had one from new and hers comes in at around 1k per year running costs.On the acceleration thing the 2.5 had much shorter gearing than the 2.7 and S. This means that despite having much less torque the actual torque difference at the rear wheels at a particular rpm in say 2nd gear would be much less than the headline figures. ISTR the final drive in the 2.5 was about 8% or 9% lower than the later cars.
No idea why Porsche went to such long gearing yet put 6 speeds in the S, back a generation cars like the 944 S2 and 968 had shorter gearing much like the 2.5 which is why they are always much quicker than ppl expect in mid range acceleration and hence on track.
Personally I quite fancy spending a bit more on the 2.7 as its supposedly the most robust engine out of that whole 986/996 water cooled generation, has a useful power increment over the 2.5 and if one is handy with spanners you could always put the 2.5 final drive in there or look at just a complete gearbox swap over (I believe the only difference was the final drive ratio).
No idea why Porsche went to such long gearing yet put 6 speeds in the S, back a generation cars like the 944 S2 and 968 had shorter gearing much like the 2.5 which is why they are always much quicker than ppl expect in mid range acceleration and hence on track.
Personally I quite fancy spending a bit more on the 2.7 as its supposedly the most robust engine out of that whole 986/996 water cooled generation, has a useful power increment over the 2.5 and if one is handy with spanners you could always put the 2.5 final drive in there or look at just a complete gearbox swap over (I believe the only difference was the final drive ratio).
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