New to this forum: Boxster help required

[Fatrat]

Hi all

This is my first post in the Porsche forum

I am looking at replacing one of my current cars and one of the cars I am considering is a Boxster.

I have a £7K budget and there appear to be some nice looking examples around but even if they are relatively low mileage they are still 14 years old or so.

What kind of issues have other owners faced with Boxsters of that age? Anything I specifically need to look for?

Thanks

[mollytherocker]

Hi

It would seem that nobody is helping you because this is a well trodden path. There are many areas you need to be aware of, not least the engine. But, just as important is everything else as these are old cars now, so there is much to check.

Start here.

http://www.hartech.org/porsche_996_997_Boxster_fre...

Dont be put off though, just do your research and buy a 'good' car. Good luck!

Edited by mollytherocker on Wednesday 20th April 20:57

[Fatrat]

Thanks

I'm sure others have asked similar questions but it's new to me

Thanks for the link. That gives me plenty to read

[Rockster]

Fatrat said:

Hi all

This is my first post in the Porsche forum

I am looking at replacing one of my current cars and one of the cars I am considering is a Boxster.

I have a £7K budget and there appear to be some nice looking examples around but even if they are relatively low mileage they are still 14 years old or so.

What kind of issues have other owners faced with Boxsters of that age? Anything I specifically need to look for?

Thanks

My standard reply is the Boxster is just a used car so give it a thorough used car check out.

Visit the car cold, turn off the A/C -- you test this later -- and when you turn the key to on be sure all warning lights -- including the imprortant CEL -- come on then go off.

The engine should fire right up and settle into a relatively smooth though fast idle. (A co-worker compared the engine in my 2002 Boxster to a "sewing machine".)

Let the engine idle while you get out and walk around the car. Check body panel fits, gaps, and panel condition, but keep an ear on the engine as it idles and warms up.

You should not hear any distinct ticking, knocking noises, any groans or other abnormal sounds. It helps if you have experience listening to healthy (and sick) engines.

After some time then have the seller take you out on a test ride. The route should cover around 15 miles and give the driver a chance to demo the car as you intend to use it.

Back at the starting point then you take the car out and drive the same route, drive the same way. You must experience the car on the road in its natural state.

When safe do a hard acceleration from near idle to near redline and ideally upshift and keep going a bit. The engine should pull smoothly and gain RPMs with no hesitation. Afterwards, it should idle like a 100K mile cab engine, that is with no drama no varying idle, no roughness.

An exceptionally stiff clutch is likely a worn clutch. A grabby clutch likewise. They get grabby when the disc wears down the rivets. An overheated clutch can be grabby too, though. Clutch life is all over the map but can be exceptional. (My 2002 Boxster's clutch is original and the car has over 300K miles.)

With a Tip be sure to do a k-turn with the Tip cold then again after it is warmed up. You want to shift between reverse and drive a few times in rapid succession to make sure the Tip can keep up.

After the test ride/drive then give the car a thorough used car checkout. If you can get your hands on the check list the techs use to CPO a used Porsche you can use that list. While you can't do all the tests/checks you can do enough that afterwards you should know if the car is worth proceeding with or not.

If after all of the above if you still like the car arrange for a PPI. Among other things this gets the car in the air so it can be carefully inspected for any issues, primarily leaks. This is one reason why you want to spend some time with the engine running and the car on the road. (The other reason is this gives the DME a chance to run through the readiness monitor tests and to turn on the CEL if it finds a problem.)

Every gasket, seal, o-ring, hose, hose fitting, hydrualic line, line fitting/connection, dust boot gets checked for any leak sign. From the camshaft covers to the RMS. From the CV dust boots to the power steering rack dust boots.

The general rule of thumb is one should have set aside 10% of a used car's purchase price for "just in case". With the Boxster I'd offer the more sensible amount is 20%. While you are buying the car at a discount to its new price the car is still rather expensive and no one discounts service costs because of a car's age. If the car doesn't manifest any problems/issues then you have the money. If the car does manifest an issue/problem, you can get the car repaired and back on the road with minimal delay.

Couple of things to pay particular attention to.

Be sure the door bottoms and under the seat areas are dry. Water in the cabin can ruin the security module which is located on the cabin floor under one of the seats. On USA cars it is located under the right hand seat, the passenger seat.

Be sure the water drains -- under the front trunk lide on either side of the battery box -- are free of trash. You'll have to have a Torx tool kit to remove the Torx scew that holds each cover in place. I think you need the Torx bits with the small hole in the center as there is a "pip" on the screw for security purposes.

There are two water drains in the back one on each side of the top located under the clam shell arm. You'll have to put the top in the service postion to expose these.

Be sure after the test ride/drive when things are hot you sniff around the car for any odor of antifreeze. Check the areas at the front of the car, where the radiators are located. Get down and peer into the ducts. If there is a lot of trash budget to have the bumper cover removed and this trash cleaned out.

Sniff around the coolant tank cap. Older caps can leak and so can the coolant tank.

Check brake rotor condition. A 1mm lip on the edge of the rotor indicates the rotor is pretty close to its replace by time, due to wear.

Check tire condition. Uneven tire wear, common at the rear, signals alignment can be out.

With proper alignment and street driving rear tire life can reach even surpass 20K miles. Front tire life is double this.

Look at the canvas top. If the canvas is not smooth this is a sign the rubber sheet underneath is deteriorating and if the top doesn't leak now it soon will. A new aftermarket top (at least available in the USA from GAHH) costs (USA) approx. $1400 (installed) and based on my experience is comparable in quality to the factory top but about half its price.

Each window should drop smartly about half an inch when either the inside or outside door handle is pulled. If the drop is feeble or the window rocks/tilts when it drops, this is a sign of worn out window regulator.

With the A/C on both radiator fans should be running at least on low speed. A non-functioning radiator fan can be a bad fan motor -- in one case with my Turbo the fan motor shaft snapped! -- but it can be a bad resistor.

With the engine up to temp and idling if you hear a buzzing from the back this can be a loose converter brick. It can also be a loose heat shield. There is a big difference in the cost to address either of these two problems.

Oh, issues as the car ages... Well, things wear out. Water pump, fuel pump, the coolant tank ages and develops a split along its bottom seam. The plastic rear window can crack/split. Various switches like the clutch interlock switch, cruise control deactivation switch at teh clutch and brake, the brake light switch can wear out. Door lock hardware, the switch or controller, door latch switchs, window regulator can wear out. Recently I had to have both door membranes resealed and one was found with a tear and was replaced. If these fail water can get/colllect in the door.

Fortunately my car's starter, alternator, A/C compressor are ok. Radiators are original as are the hoses. But not all cars will enjoy this long service life on these and other items. You just have to pay attention to the car and when it is trying to tell you something's not right get the car in and have the problem diagnosed and fixed, or fix it yourself if you want.

[Escy]

Get on your hands and knees and have a look where the trans bolts to the engine, it's common for the crank seal to leak (RMS) and coat everything in oil. Also, make sure you open up the expansion tank cap and check for sludge/mayo, that's something I really wish i'd done.

[ooid]

Escy said:

Get on your hands and knees and have a look where the trans bolts to the engine, it's common for the crank seal to leak (RMS) and coat everything in oil. Also, make sure you open up the expansion tank cap and check for sludge/mayo, that's something I really wish i'd done.

The sludge/mayo issue is a bit underexplained I think. In principle, yes if the whole area is covered with sludge that means there is a massive intermix issue in the car. But I've seen boxsters where there was no trace of sludge but still needed IMS and engine update and also seen very healthy cars were there was a very tiny layer of oil floating above coolant. (Extremely thin)

As with the previous part, driving the car and checking the history is sort of enough, as IMS really difficult to diagnose early (IMHO).

[Escy]

I'm referring to the intermix issue when I suggest checking the expansion tank.