Which year Boxster for £15k?
Discussion
Hey all,
In the market for a new car and the Boxster S 987 has really caught my attention. Have been researching these for a while now and am curious as to the following:
Would i be better off with an
05-07 3.2S Boxster and get the IMS bearing upgraded
or
07-09 3.4S Boxster and chance the bore scoring
Or is there an alternative option to these? Are there any other expensive repairs that i should watch out for? I dont think £15k will sneak me in to a nice Gen 2 unfortunately.
Cheers
In the market for a new car and the Boxster S 987 has really caught my attention. Have been researching these for a while now and am curious as to the following:
Would i be better off with an
05-07 3.2S Boxster and get the IMS bearing upgraded
or
07-09 3.4S Boxster and chance the bore scoring
Or is there an alternative option to these? Are there any other expensive repairs that i should watch out for? I dont think £15k will sneak me in to a nice Gen 2 unfortunately.
Cheers
With a bit of flexibility and maybe even waiting a couple of months you should be able to get a 987.2 2.9
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
edc said:
With a bit of flexibility and maybe even waiting a couple of months you should be able to get a 987.2 2.9
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
The 2.9 still suffers from borescoring http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...
sunnydays94 said:
Are there any other expensive repairs that i should watch out for?
There's a rough rule of thumb for running any older used car which is to allow a maintenance budget of 5% per year of what the car cost when brand new.So if a car cost the original owner £40,000 that means allowing a maintenance budget of £2,000 per year of your ownership. If you get to the end of the year and haven't spent that much then stick the change in a jar on the mantelpiece; you might need it next year.
Obviously you would hope to spend less than that averaged over the years but at least going in with your eyes open suppresses the risk of unpleasant shocks.
Great cars whatever you decide.
My honest opinion would be to focus on the history files of the car you're looking at rather than be too concerned about whether it's the 3.2 or 3.4
I've just sold my 2006 987 3.2 with 72k miles that I owned for 2 years and purchased with a solid history file with everything in check. I possibly got lucky and bought and sold at the right time but I suffered zero depreciation and had it serviced at my local indie (Brian Miller, Edinburgh) with no major bills and had the IMS etc checked out prior to sale by Brian.
My honest opinion would be to focus on the history files of the car you're looking at rather than be too concerned about whether it's the 3.2 or 3.4
I've just sold my 2006 987 3.2 with 72k miles that I owned for 2 years and purchased with a solid history file with everything in check. I possibly got lucky and bought and sold at the right time but I suffered zero depreciation and had it serviced at my local indie (Brian Miller, Edinburgh) with no major bills and had the IMS etc checked out prior to sale by Brian.
I am not sure why and dont think hartech do, however i read a while ago from hartech that they hardly ever see 3.4 boxsters 987.1 in for bore scoring however see plenty of 3.4 caymans, very strange when on the face of it failure rates should be the same. Over the years i have bought quite a few boxsters so therfore have read 1000's of classified ads and can also say i never remember seeing a 987.1 3.4 boxster stating replacement/repaired engine compared to plenty of caymans, interesting.....?
I know its the same engine and that's why it seems to be odd to not see boxsters with replacement engines, i accept what you are saying with production numbers but find me a boxster 3.4 with engine issues in the classifieds, i havent looked today but guess there wont be any, could it be due to slightly better cooling/airflow to the engine by the design of the boxster against cayman??
Be good if hartech respond with a more up to date view on it!!
Be good if hartech respond with a more up to date view on it!!
I think driving style may be responsible for the disproportionate amount of cases between the two, it is the only logical reason. Either that or boxster sellers are so much more switched on to keeping quiet about any issues when selling!!
Whatever i do find this an interesting topic. How many owners of failed caymans appear on forums, compared to owners of boxsters with bore score, im on all the major porsche forums like you, recall loads of caymans, cant recall a boxster??
I not after being right or wrong, i just find it interesting after being an owner of a number of m96 97 engined cars!!
Whatever i do find this an interesting topic. How many owners of failed caymans appear on forums, compared to owners of boxsters with bore score, im on all the major porsche forums like you, recall loads of caymans, cant recall a boxster??
I not after being right or wrong, i just find it interesting after being an owner of a number of m96 97 engined cars!!
jimmy p said:
I think driving style may be responsible for the disproportionate amount of cases between the two, it is the only logical reason. Either that or boxster sellers are so much more switched on to keeping quiet about any issues when selling!!
Whatever i do find this an interesting topic. How many owners of failed caymans appear on forums, compared to owners of boxsters with bore score, im on all the major porsche forums like you, recall loads of caymans, cant recall a boxster??
I not after being right or wrong, i just find it interesting after being an owner of a number of m96 97 engined cars!!
girls drive boxsters and don't go on car forums, it's that simpleWhatever i do find this an interesting topic. How many owners of failed caymans appear on forums, compared to owners of boxsters with bore score, im on all the major porsche forums like you, recall loads of caymans, cant recall a boxster??
I not after being right or wrong, i just find it interesting after being an owner of a number of m96 97 engined cars!!
My cousins Boxster engine failed, she did not post it on here, she paid £5k to Porsche, 1/2 the price of what was asked (good will lol) and got a new engine, no ones any wiser.
it's the same engine same issues just less girls on forums
So what are the spec differences between the m97 and the m96 3.4? The m96 doesn't have the same reputation for bore scoring and the later cars don't have ferrous pistons. And yet the m97 3.6 and 3.8 are known to bore score so it seems to be a design characteristic, not a question of chassis location between the two.
OP: A nice 986 3.2, preferably anniversary with cocoa, or a nicely optioned 987 3.2. Note that these span the VED changes so two identical cars could have very different road tax rates. When I was looking I did see a couple of 100,000+ mile 987.2 Ss but these are few and far between.
OP: A nice 986 3.2, preferably anniversary with cocoa, or a nicely optioned 987 3.2. Note that these span the VED changes so two identical cars could have very different road tax rates. When I was looking I did see a couple of 100,000+ mile 987.2 Ss but these are few and far between.
I know hartech mentioned somewhere that issues with 3.4 987.1 boxsters are very rare, just looked on their website and there is too much info on everthing for me to go through for a mid morning debate. However this is quoted on revolution porsche website who are also a highly recommended specialist particularly with 987's,
"Scored cylinder bores. This issue is talked about a lot on the internet, but is relatively rare on Boxster 987s. It can be a problem on the 3.4, but in our experience it is much more common in the Cayman engine than the Boxster."
And yes again i fully understand the production numbers issue, like i said earlier it would be nice if someone from hartech commented who are in a far better position than all of us to comment.
Over and out for me for now as life calls!!
Have a good day all!!
"Scored cylinder bores. This issue is talked about a lot on the internet, but is relatively rare on Boxster 987s. It can be a problem on the 3.4, but in our experience it is much more common in the Cayman engine than the Boxster."
And yes again i fully understand the production numbers issue, like i said earlier it would be nice if someone from hartech commented who are in a far better position than all of us to comment.
Over and out for me for now as life calls!!
Have a good day all!!
Can't fault the logic, assuming the acutal numbers explain away the disparity (not sure what they are).
But (at the risk of tempting fate) my experience of the 3.4S Boxster has been great. I boought it a couple of years ago with 52k on the clock, and have added another 6k over a couple of years. It's a runaround - it goes to the shops, gets parked at the station, and drops my daughter at school sometimes. I had it inspected before buying, including a borescope (suggetsed by Bob at RGA) which came back clear, I had it servied by an OPC a week later, and it's due in again next month for a major. But it's not losing oil, it drives really well and pulls like a train when I get a little heavy footed. I've been really pleased with it.
My other thought is whether this could be to do with driving styles? My experience of Boxster and Cayman buyers is that Cayman owners tend to be more enthusiasts and likely to press on, do track days, etc. whereas I know a lot of people that drive Boxsters that would never dream of this. I don't want to stereotype too badly here, but based on what Hartech describe on their site it sounds like the problems are happening more to those that might be inclined to "make progress" than those that generally take it easy.
But (at the risk of tempting fate) my experience of the 3.4S Boxster has been great. I boought it a couple of years ago with 52k on the clock, and have added another 6k over a couple of years. It's a runaround - it goes to the shops, gets parked at the station, and drops my daughter at school sometimes. I had it inspected before buying, including a borescope (suggetsed by Bob at RGA) which came back clear, I had it servied by an OPC a week later, and it's due in again next month for a major. But it's not losing oil, it drives really well and pulls like a train when I get a little heavy footed. I've been really pleased with it.
My other thought is whether this could be to do with driving styles? My experience of Boxster and Cayman buyers is that Cayman owners tend to be more enthusiasts and likely to press on, do track days, etc. whereas I know a lot of people that drive Boxsters that would never dream of this. I don't want to stereotype too badly here, but based on what Hartech describe on their site it sounds like the problems are happening more to those that might be inclined to "make progress" than those that generally take it easy.
jimmy p said:
Bit of a generalisation there mr d. There are plenty of male owners of 3.4's on boxa.net. Was the one you refer to a 3.4 then??
but how many girls on boxa.net ;-) , I am a member there and own a Boxster, but on the whole you see 90% Boxster owners with females in.Again "hartech" don't see many Boxster because girls would not know what/who "hartech" was, OPC will get the cars back.
Edited by Porsche911R on Monday 19th September 11:10
I've had my gen1 boxster 3.4 for a few months now and am thoroughly enjoying it.
I spoke to a lot of dealers and specialists about engine issues and still went for a 3.4 as the car sounded right.
Generally I was told 3.2 IMS is far less frequent than 3.4 bore scoring, as has been said the issue is worse in caymens (what I was told) and even more pronounced in 911's. I was also told cars that had sat in traffic a lot are more likely to suffer and also automatics suffer more as they shift up sooner loading the engine up more.
Mine had 70k on when I bought it, only 2 owners and started life doing motorway journeys then was a second car for the couple I bought it from. It doesn't appear to use any oil and the exhausts stay soot free so I hope mines ok.
Bore scoring is much talked about but how many people go on forums just to say my car is still free of bore scoring issues.
I spoke to a lot of dealers and specialists about engine issues and still went for a 3.4 as the car sounded right.
Generally I was told 3.2 IMS is far less frequent than 3.4 bore scoring, as has been said the issue is worse in caymens (what I was told) and even more pronounced in 911's. I was also told cars that had sat in traffic a lot are more likely to suffer and also automatics suffer more as they shift up sooner loading the engine up more.
Mine had 70k on when I bought it, only 2 owners and started life doing motorway journeys then was a second car for the couple I bought it from. It doesn't appear to use any oil and the exhausts stay soot free so I hope mines ok.
Bore scoring is much talked about but how many people go on forums just to say my car is still free of bore scoring issues.
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