2003 Porsche Boxster S

2003 Porsche Boxster S

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geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
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So I've bought a new car!

This was my previous, you may have seen it on here:




And now I've bought a 2003 Porsche Boxster S. It's absolutely beautiful.
 
Photos of it outside the showroom before I bought it:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
And some crappy iPhone photos I took myself (no chance to use the DSLR yet).
 
Just leaving the showroom in York, to start a 4.5 hour drive to Cardiff:
 

 

 
 
My dad enjoying the car:
 

 
Home at last - first photo on the driveway:
 

 
 
My Nephew seemed to like it:
 

 
  
The car is beautiful. Paintwork is immaculate, it's been two stage polished, no dings, nothing. The car drives amazingly too. Rear wheel drive launches and a 3.2 flat 6 is unreal. I thought the celica was fast, but fking hell. This is unreal.
 
I've got a few things I'd like to do though! Here's the list:
 
Performance & Maintenance
- De-snorkel air vent

Exterior & Engine Bay
- Metal polish exhaust
- Respray rear badge silver
- Cayman spoiler Link
- Projector retrofit headlights Link
- Refurbish alloys & coloured centre caps Link
- Apply missing ‘Porsche’ caliper decal Link
- LED Cree indicators Link + Link
- Rear parking sensors Link
- Porsche dust caps Link
- Change alloys to 18” variants

Interior & Other Trim
- Buy BEAT 285BT Stereo Link
- Upgrade speakers
- Retrofit cruise control
- Retrofit on board computer

Other & Possibilities
- Exhaust bypass pipes with hand valves
- Auto-dimming mirror
- Fire extinguisher
- Heated seats
- Install dash spoiler control button


And here's what I've done so far:
 
Performance & Maintenance
- Modified roof relay (on-the-move opening)

Exterior & Engine Bay
- 5000k HID Xenon H7R Headlights
- 5000k side lights
- 5000k number plate lights
- Aero wipers

Interior & Other Trim
- USB charger

Refurbished & Replaced
- Battery 

Photos of the new sidelights and headlights:

Sidelights:
 

 
Headlights:
 

 
Due to the headlights having a shield over the bulb in the refractor lens, if you use a H7R bulb instead of a H7, you get absolutely no glare. It's fantastic - HID's in a reflector bulb hardly work, but some headlights are fine with it. The Renault Laguna and Honda Civic are two off the top of my head that come with them from the factory. I did this through sheer curiosity and it turned out great! I'm still going to retrofit projectors though.
 
 
I seriously need to clean this engine bay:
 

 
Button was broken on the spare key fob. Re-soldered a new one and it works fine now:
 

 
Did the modification to the roof so that you can lower it on the move without the handbrake:
 

 
 
So yeah! I'm over the moon with it smile especially since it costs £40 a month less to insure than the celica. Couldn't believe that.
 
I'll keep you guys updated!

Tickle

4,879 posts

203 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
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Well done, looks nice. Bet you are looking forward to some dry Brecon motoring too.

Enjoy, I'm sure you will thumbup

IanCress

4,409 posts

165 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
quotequote all
Very nice, if I had the space (or cash) for a 3rd car then it would be an old Boxster.
My only criticism would be the colour of the interior, it would look nicer in black. I've seen much worse interiors in Porsches though, pale green for example!

ajh38

871 posts

149 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
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Very nice, I have one in Guards Red and have had it for 4 years now. After realising that I'd only done 900 miles between MOT's I decided that I should use it more and had forgotten what a nice car it is to drive.

Great on sunny winter days like today. I have the same alloys as you and keep thinking about getting a set of 18's. Should decide now as I'm going to need some new tyres soon.

A couple of years ago I drove it down to Spain, it made the whole holiday more of an event, aside from one trip when I took my 205 it was by far the most memorable drive I have been on.

I hope you enjoy it.

Medic-one

3,105 posts

202 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
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Awesome, very nice!

After changing my mind a million times i've stopped looking at Elise's and VX220's and have started looking for exactly what you just got! I'm after a 2003-2004 S as well, and yours is stunning.

Worth joining this forum, i just signed up, loads of tips/advice : http://www.boxa.net/forum/

How are you finding it so far compared to other cars you've had/driven ?

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
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Really enjoyed the Celica thread, so looking forward to seeing how this progresses smile

RS Grant

1,416 posts

232 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
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Looks fantastic, I really like these facelift MK1 Boxsters.. the interior isn't my taste, but as the person above said, the grey looks a lot nicer than some of the horrific interior colours I've seen in Porsches before.


Cheers,
Grant

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
quotequote all
Tickle said:
Well done, looks nice. Bet you are looking forward to some dry Brecon motoring too.

Enjoy, I'm sure you will thumbup
I really can’t wait for the summer for this very reason. Will be fantastic to try some decent roads out!

IanCress said:
Very nice, if I had the space (or cash) for a 3rd car then it would be an old Boxster.
My only criticism would be the colour of the interior, it would look nicer in black. I've seen much worse interiors in Porsches though, pale green for example!
Ah now you see, I purposefully looked for one with this interior because I think it goes really well contrasting against the black body with the roof down. Black with black seems a little dark, but the contrast works really well. But I agree on some of the colours with their interiors!

ajh38 said:
Very nice, I have one in Guards Red and have had it for 4 years now. After realising that I'd only done 900 miles between MOT's I decided that I should use it more and had forgotten what a nice car it is to drive.

Great on sunny winter days like today. I have the same alloys as you and keep thinking about getting a set of 18's. Should decide now as I'm going to need some new tyres soon.

A couple of years ago I drove it down to Spain, it made the whole holiday more of an event, aside from one trip when I took my 205 it was by far the most memorable drive I have been on.

I hope you enjoy it.
Same here, I’m looking at the 18’s too. Some advice though - these cars are meant to be driven a decent amount to what I’ve heard! People who garage them for months are normally the ones that have problems. Leaving them doesn’t do much good for seals and what not, which can seize up and cause trouble the next time you fancy going for a hard drive. But, this is what I’ve heard and in some respects it makes sense I suppose. I haven’t got much choice as it’s my daily smile

Tell you what though, with the roof up on the motorway, it’s quieter than the Celica. That’s incredible.

Medic-one said:
Awesome, very nice!

After changing my mind a million times i've stopped looking at Elise's and VX220's and have started looking for exactly what you just got! I'm after a 2003-2004 S as well, and yours is stunning.

Worth joining this forum, i just signed up, loads of tips/advice : http://www.boxa.net/forum/

How are you finding it so far compared to other cars you've had/driven ?
I’ve driven a 996 and a 997 convertible before and they were fantastic cars. The balance on this one seems a bit more ‘refined’, but that’s probably because of the mid-engined layout. The last car I had was a 1.8 190bhp inline 4 with 130lb-ft torque. This one is a 3.2 260bhp flat 6 with 240lb-ft torque. The difference behind the wheel is outstanding - I’m still getting used to rear wheel drive acceleration!

Podie said:
Really enjoyed the Celica thread, so looking forward to seeing how this progresses smile
Thanks, much appreciated smile in the new year when Christmas is out of the way, I’ll start getting some good photos up and some decent progress on that to-do list.

RS Grant said:
Looks fantastic, I really like these facelift MK1 Boxsters.. the interior isn't my taste, but as the person above said, the grey looks a lot nicer than some of the horrific interior colours I've seen in Porsches before.


Cheers,
Grant
It’s weird, I prefer the interior to the 987, but prefer the steering wheel of the 987. Maybe I’m biased.

Medic-one

3,105 posts

202 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
quotequote all
geraintthomas said:
I’ve driven a 996 and a 997 convertible before and they were fantastic cars. The balance on this one seems a bit more ‘refined’, but that’s probably because of the mid-engined layout. The last car I had was a 1.8 190bhp inline 4 with 130lb-ft torque. This one is a 3.2 260bhp flat 6 with 240lb-ft torque. The difference behind the wheel is outstanding - I’m still getting used to rear wheel drive acceleration!
I've got a 3.0 V6 GTO (4WD) with over 500 Bph and bought a Jag S-type R (4.2 supercharged V8, RWD) earlier this year, so to me it's probable gonna feel slower then my other 2 but i also had a Renault sport clio 182 last year and that was so much fun, so chuckable and great on the little countrylanes, and that's the sort of fun factor i'm after again, but with a bit of bootspace and a few luxuries.

Does it feel 'chuckable' to you ? The Jag and GTO are great in a straight line, but after a blast along the countrylanes in the 182 I'd return with a smile on my face, you reckon the boxster will give you that feeling ?

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
quotequote all
Absolutely. Go and test drive one, you'll love it.

Medic-one

3,105 posts

202 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
quotequote all

Cool. May i be cheeky and asked how much you've paid for it ?

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
quotequote all
Of course. £7,500.

It was £8,500, then dropped to £8,000 (no interest this time of year), then after two weeks of haggling I managed to get them down to £7,500. It was a trade sale.

It's got full Porsche main dealer service history, 82,000 on the clock, immaculate body (not a single ding or scratch) and everything works as it should. Mechanically sound, clean MOT's and beautiful to drive.

It's not got the most optional extras unfortunately - no litronic headlights, standard speakers, 17" alloys, etc. But these are the things I plan to improve. I'm doing a projector retrofit on the headlights, upgrading the speakers, upgrading the wheels to 18" boxster variants, adding parking sensors, heated seats, etc. Basically just adding things that were optional extras.

I'd much rather buy this car with a basic spec and know that it's an immaculate, un-molested and mechanically perfect example, so that I can improve it myself smile

Dalto123

3,198 posts

162 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
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Looks like a lovely example you got there. Black really suits the 986, especially in facelift guise.

My old man just sold his (pre facelift) S after about 3 or so years of ownership as his weekend toy. Short runs around town, extended motorway drives, country roads and track days were dealt with, with ease. Aside from consumables and servicing (reduced rates by OPC's) it cost next to nothing to run. Perfect!

Totally get what you say about the acceleration - I don't think many people realise that these are still properly quick and capable cars. If you want it to make a bit more noise, get a silencer bypass done - it'll make a proper Porsche growl biggrin

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
quotequote all
That's exactly what I'm getting done smile ProSpeed in Cardiff quoted £130 to do the job as they've done it before. Brilliant value for money!

Heaveho

5,279 posts

173 months

Wednesday 9th December 2015
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Got some 18" Boxster alloys for sale if you're interested, like lobster claw variant but obviously 1" less diameter ( crab claw? ). Tyres are Continentals, fronts have a few thousand more miles, rears are knackered but just legal.

geraintthomas

Original Poster:

897 posts

106 months

Thursday 10th December 2015
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Not looking at the moment buddy as I'd struggle to afford them before Christmas! Will give you a shout soon though. How much you looking for them?

CallorFold

831 posts

132 months

Thursday 10th December 2015
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Car looks fantastic! Make sure you keep this thread updated biggrin

Andy665

3,599 posts

227 months

Thursday 10th December 2015
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I had a Boxster S up until 6 months ago, always wanted one but for some reason I never got on with it - it did everything I expected it to do but always left me cold - no logical reason for it at all

Yours is a lovely example, make sure you check its got the correct expansion cap - Porsche are on I think the 5th version - buy the latest version if yours has not got it - well worth checking to see if the expansion tank has been replaced as they are prone to developing hairline cracks - I lost most of my coolant last Christmas - only opened up when it got hot - its a horrible job to replace unless you have 3 right hands and 18 very slender figures - new tank is about £200

Adamski69

175 posts

109 months

Thursday 10th December 2015
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Excellent purchase dude, you will grow to love it more and more the more you use it, and use it you must! We bought our 2001 986 S approx 7 years back and it has been immensely enjoyable as an everyday / fair or foul weather / fun / euro strop tool.

It is Lapis Blue with Savanah and came with all the spec, litronics, full leaher etc etc etc. It had around 20k miles on it when we got it and it now has 96k. A specialist has looked after it for all its servicing and maintenance requirements and with the knowledge he has and experience with the brand has saved us a small fortune with up keep, find a good specialist would be key advice as many things Porsche will just quote to replace have very easy, relatively cheap and workable solutions to fix, in one case saving over £1400.00 on a 'fix' that it didn't really need. Quick pic of said car...



It is bog standard, runs Contis as P Zero's got difficult to get but really happy with the ride on 17's, drove one with 18's and the ride got a bit crashy at times, but just a personal thing.

You are right about parking them up, don't. We did it 2 years back for the winter, garaged, started it every weekend etc but when it came to putting the tax back on it it needed discs (they corrode on the backs way faster than the front faces, coil packs, Air Oil Seperater, battery, then the alternator went so incl a service approx £2k. When it was on year round commuting duty it was flawless and between services kept and eye on fluid levels but it just needed fuel to make it go. We love it and will probably never sell it now.

Oh, and on a few trips down through europe loaded with 2 adults, a wek of luggage on a boot rack, 40 odd bottles of wine, pots of mustard, boxes of glasses and all the other cr4p one accumulates whilst travelling returned a very respectable 35mpg on the motorway slogs. Amazing.smile

Heaveho

5,279 posts

173 months

Thursday 10th December 2015
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geraintthomas said:
Not looking at the moment buddy as I'd struggle to afford them before Christmas! Will give you a shout soon though. How much you looking for them?
Hi, they won't be barmy money, and they're not advertised, so won't be going anywhere quickly. You can have them and 8 tyres for £250 if you want them.......the wheels aren't perfect obviously, but they aren't buckled, the insides are clean and tidy when you look through the spokes, and they looked very decent on my car. If you want to pm me your number, I can text you some pics, can't get them on here as I don't have a lead for the new phone yet, and I'm a numpty at doing the whole pics thing anyway!

Your car looks great in the pics.

Cheers, Andy.