RE: The ?5K Boxster: Spotted
Discussion
J4CKO said:
_Neal_ said:
culpz said:
J4CKO said:
I call Custard....
Was that referring to my post?
I recently bought a leggy 3.2 S for under £3.5k.
Tons of history, great engine, noise, steering and handling. I'm starting to 'get' the whole Porsche thing now.
But its also been an eye opener in terms of average build quality and lack of robustness compared to other similarly-aged cars i've owned.
Every time I investigate a fault or niggle I find another 3 lurking, and many average DIY jobs take a lot more time and effort due to the mid-engined layout.
In many ways its like owning an older classic car. You either consider it a labour of love and put financial reason aside, or just live with the faults and enjoy it for what it is.
So i'm just going to sort the noisier / riskier issuss, and pray the clutch doesn't go and shaft me for £800+.
Tons of history, great engine, noise, steering and handling. I'm starting to 'get' the whole Porsche thing now.
But its also been an eye opener in terms of average build quality and lack of robustness compared to other similarly-aged cars i've owned.
Every time I investigate a fault or niggle I find another 3 lurking, and many average DIY jobs take a lot more time and effort due to the mid-engined layout.
In many ways its like owning an older classic car. You either consider it a labour of love and put financial reason aside, or just live with the faults and enjoy it for what it is.
So i'm just going to sort the noisier / riskier issuss, and pray the clutch doesn't go and shaft me for £800+.
Be interesting to see how this pans out, I've just bought a slighter more expensive boxster (it's not yellow and is a 2.7) and put it in for some forward thinking tweaks and remedial work - this has cost about 33% of the purchase price!
I would warn anyone looking at this to check the brake pipes, its a horrible job to do yourself or very expensive!
I would warn anyone looking at this to check the brake pipes, its a horrible job to do yourself or very expensive!
culpz said:
J4CKO said:
_Neal_ said:
culpz said:
J4CKO said:
I call Custard....
Was that referring to my post?You do know the engines are famous for blowing up on these right, iirc it was 1/10 that fail under warranty alone. It was 10k for a 986 S engine 10ish yrs ago, they only offered a 2 yr warranty on a 50k with options car for a reason.
The 2.5 drives like a tank, the bus steering wheel is a slippery joke. The later S models like most porsches suck the life force out of you everytime you drive one, the exhaust muffler directly mounts to the rear of the chassis so cracks aftermarket exhausts at the cats, and yes servicing is wallet rape at a main dealer.
Oh and the Cayman can suffer from knocking on the engine, even rebuilds wont fix it.
Thats why there all getting scrapped, cheap german crap.
Only Porsche id have would be a Vintage Speedster or early 911 RS or Targa, and just to look at cuz they are death traps.
The 2.5 drives like a tank, the bus steering wheel is a slippery joke. The later S models like most porsches suck the life force out of you everytime you drive one, the exhaust muffler directly mounts to the rear of the chassis so cracks aftermarket exhausts at the cats, and yes servicing is wallet rape at a main dealer.
Oh and the Cayman can suffer from knocking on the engine, even rebuilds wont fix it.
Thats why there all getting scrapped, cheap german crap.
Only Porsche id have would be a Vintage Speedster or early 911 RS or Targa, and just to look at cuz they are death traps.
noble12345 said:
You do know the engines are famous for blowing up on these right, iirc it was 1/10 that fail under warranty alone. It was 10k for a 986 S engine 10ish yrs ago, they only offered a 2 yr warranty on a 50k with options car for a reason.
The 2.5 drives like a tank, the bus steering wheel is a slippery joke. The later S models like most porsches suck the life force out of you everytime you drive one, the exhaust muffler directly mounts to the rear of the chassis so cracks aftermarket exhausts at the cats, and yes servicing is wallet rape at a main dealer.
Oh and the Cayman can suffer from knocking on the engine, even rebuilds wont fix it.
Thats why there all getting scrapped, cheap german crap.
Only Porsche id have would be a Vintage Speedster or early 911 RS or Targa, and just to look at cuz they are death traps.
Quite amazing that one sees any Porsche on the road at all, even even half of this is true.The 2.5 drives like a tank, the bus steering wheel is a slippery joke. The later S models like most porsches suck the life force out of you everytime you drive one, the exhaust muffler directly mounts to the rear of the chassis so cracks aftermarket exhausts at the cats, and yes servicing is wallet rape at a main dealer.
Oh and the Cayman can suffer from knocking on the engine, even rebuilds wont fix it.
Thats why there all getting scrapped, cheap german crap.
Only Porsche id have would be a Vintage Speedster or early 911 RS or Targa, and just to look at cuz they are death traps.
+1 on the references to Porsche 986/996 series Porsche servicing. The £1K it cost me to replace the main coolant hose on my second 996 Turbo (the supposedly "bulletproof" Mezger engine) finished me off. The fact that 2020 hindsight research showed is due to a fundamental design fault in the part was the final straw. There's no such thing as a cheap Porsche - regardless of the purchase price.
There’s a huge amount of nonsense written about this era of Porsche on here.
We bought a 52 plate 2.7 Boxster on 52k mileage 6 and a half years ago, and since then we haven’t had a single non consumable issue with it during the 46k miles we’ve put on it.
It had a new clutch and flywheel 3 years ago, a suspension refresh 2 years ago, but other than a few minor issues over the years, it’s cost us very little to run, especially this year when it’s cost us nothing whatsoever.
It’s my wife’s daily driver (I’m putting the winter wheels on this weekend), but it still gets driven properly by myself, including 450 very hard miles in a day with Reg Local of this parish.
The indy who looks after both the Boxster and my 911 has only seen one instance of IMS failure, and he suspects that was down to lack of servicing and booting the car constantly before it was warmed up.
They’re fantastic little cars to throw around twisties, and if mines engine goes pop tomorrow I’ll sell ours for parts and just buy another one.
That's actually the sort of colour I'd want my Porsche in, it seems to defuse much of the potential negative image by not taking itself too seriously ;-)
Definitely worth the article as these are surely the definitive bargain sports car nowadays, to buy at least. I personally doubt they will rise that much in price in the next five years, as there are so many out there and the engine is seen as a bit of a time bomb. It takes a long time to get through the 'cheap and poorly looked after' phase to the 'sought-after classic' one, especially with lots around.
M3333 said:
Exactly the reason I am caught wondering what to do with mine. Late 2004 986s with every toy except the PCM Nav which I am glad about because it's rubbish and very dated by today's standards. Mine has anniversary wheels etc. I have the original purchase invoice and all the Porsche stamps in the book with receipts. It's had an easy life and garaged. Never had an advisory on an MOT. I had the gearbox out and a new clutch fitted and at the same time had the IMS bearing changed and the RMS seal done. I really fancy a newer 981 or 718 but something tells me to keep mine garaged and look after it. It's a great little car we did the Italian Alps in it last year and it was perfect for it. Keep or Sell arghhhh
Worst "I've got a Boxster to sell" post ever 
I'll give you 2k for it. The money I'm not giving you will go to my local specialist, so you know it'll be well looked after!
Sunnysider said:
It had a new clutch and flywheel 3 years ago, a suspension refresh 2 years ago, but other than a few minor issues over the years, it’s cost us very little to run, especially this year when it’s cost us nothing whatsoever.
Great as it may have been, exactly how much did all that work cost though? 50% of it's value, or more?! My mate bought one of these and the same time I bought an Elise S1 about 14 years ago.
He had lots of reliability problems, the electric soft top needing full replacement and a respray due to paint fade.
Lost a chunk on it when he moved it on. Meanwhile my Elise was trouble free and sold for virtually what I paid for mine a few years after.
I was surprised at the poor build quality.
He had lots of reliability problems, the electric soft top needing full replacement and a respray due to paint fade.
Lost a chunk on it when he moved it on. Meanwhile my Elise was trouble free and sold for virtually what I paid for mine a few years after.
I was surprised at the poor build quality.
Norse_mann said:
Be interesting to see how this pans out, I've just bought a slighter more expensive boxster (it's not yellow and is a 2.7) and put it in for some forward thinking tweaks and remedial work - this has cost about 33% of the purchase price!
I would warn anyone looking at this to check the brake pipes, its a horrible job to do yourself or very expensive!
I had a rear pipe fail due to corrosion, during brake pressure test at last MOT. Car recovered to local indy. Rears were in a bad state and fronts not great. I had them replace all, including flexis, in exchange for a four figure invoice. As above, there's bit of labour involved.I would warn anyone looking at this to check the brake pipes, its a horrible job to do yourself or very expensive!
An expensive MOT then. Car is 2003 3.2s on 45k.
I had a 2003 Boxster S for 12 months in 2014. 84k miles, FSH, but was disappointed by the build and the parts prices.
The sunvisor kept flopping down and had to be resecured with a tie wrap. Air con wasn't very cold and is £stacks to fix, the condensors being in the front wings gathering stones as she roams.
The bushes in the arms started to rattle one after the other, and they come fitted to the arms, for £scary, even aftermarket, which were hard to find. Boot release actuator failed (switched to buttons from levers in 2003, bad idea), leaving work stuff in the boot. Had to remove the back bumper to get at the emergency pull cable. The 260 bhp version had a different rear exhaust trim that rattles when the spot-weld fails and is £lots to replace.I 'fixed' it with nyloc nuts.
The rear exhaust system clamps and bolts all corrode, the coils and oil separators are prone to failure, and then there's the lurking IMS bearing, which I survived. Rear driveshaft gaitors split, the 'S' is prone to this because of the thicker driveshafts apparently. I see they split again 2 yrs later at an MoT test (yes I check my old cars!) Brake prices for the 'S' as mentioned, are very high, even for aftermarket. Clutch was starting to get very stiff so I sold it on. Cost me almost £1 a mile that car for 1700 miles, NOT including fuel, VED or insurance, just in maintenance. Pro-9, bless them, only charged me £198 for a service. Apart from that, it was great.
I had considered another thinking I may have had a Finland Friday car, but the way to go I think, if you must, is a high mileage example (100k ish) that has had all the major items replaced. A '99 or 2000 S (I think the rear bumper shape is smoother) or save up for a 987.
The sunvisor kept flopping down and had to be resecured with a tie wrap. Air con wasn't very cold and is £stacks to fix, the condensors being in the front wings gathering stones as she roams.
The bushes in the arms started to rattle one after the other, and they come fitted to the arms, for £scary, even aftermarket, which were hard to find. Boot release actuator failed (switched to buttons from levers in 2003, bad idea), leaving work stuff in the boot. Had to remove the back bumper to get at the emergency pull cable. The 260 bhp version had a different rear exhaust trim that rattles when the spot-weld fails and is £lots to replace.I 'fixed' it with nyloc nuts.
The rear exhaust system clamps and bolts all corrode, the coils and oil separators are prone to failure, and then there's the lurking IMS bearing, which I survived. Rear driveshaft gaitors split, the 'S' is prone to this because of the thicker driveshafts apparently. I see they split again 2 yrs later at an MoT test (yes I check my old cars!) Brake prices for the 'S' as mentioned, are very high, even for aftermarket. Clutch was starting to get very stiff so I sold it on. Cost me almost £1 a mile that car for 1700 miles, NOT including fuel, VED or insurance, just in maintenance. Pro-9, bless them, only charged me £198 for a service. Apart from that, it was great.
I had considered another thinking I may have had a Finland Friday car, but the way to go I think, if you must, is a high mileage example (100k ish) that has had all the major items replaced. A '99 or 2000 S (I think the rear bumper shape is smoother) or save up for a 987.
ianwayne said:
I had a 2003 Boxster S for 12 months in 2014. 84k miles, FSH, but was disappointed by the build and the parts prices.
The sunvisor kept flopping down and had to be resecured with a tie wrap. Air con wasn't very cold and is £stacks to fix, the condensors being in the front wings gathering stones as she roams.
The bushes in the arms started to rattle one after the other, and they come fitted to the arms, for £scary, even aftermarket, which were hard to find. Boot release actuator failed (switched to buttons from levers in 2003, bad idea), leaving work stuff in the boot. Had to remove the back bumper to get at the emergency pull cable. The 260 bhp version had a different rear exhaust trim that rattles when the spot-weld fails and is £lots to replace.I 'fixed' it with nyloc nuts.
The rear exhaust system clamps and bolts all corrode, the coils and oil separators are prone to failure, and then there's the lurking IMS bearing, which I survived. Rear driveshaft gaitors split, the 'S' is prone to this because of the thicker driveshafts apparently. I see they split again 2 yrs later at an MoT test (yes I check my old cars!) Brake prices for the 'S' as mentioned, are very high, even for aftermarket. Clutch was starting to get very stiff so I sold it on. Cost me almost £1 a mile that car for 1700 miles, NOT including fuel, VED or insurance, just in maintenance. Pro-9, bless them, only charged me £198 for a service. Apart from that, it was great.
I had considered another thinking I may have had a Finland Friday car, but the way to go I think, if you must, is a high mileage example (100k ish) that has had all the major items replaced. A '99 or 2000 S (I think the rear bumper shape is smoother) or save up for a 987.
Poor effort from Porsche really, the question is - is the 987 any better in terms of reliability? If you get an early 3.2 it has the same engine issues as the 986! Still tempted by a 2.7 987 but i struggle with the fact its slower than my Z4 yet costs £3k more.The sunvisor kept flopping down and had to be resecured with a tie wrap. Air con wasn't very cold and is £stacks to fix, the condensors being in the front wings gathering stones as she roams.
The bushes in the arms started to rattle one after the other, and they come fitted to the arms, for £scary, even aftermarket, which were hard to find. Boot release actuator failed (switched to buttons from levers in 2003, bad idea), leaving work stuff in the boot. Had to remove the back bumper to get at the emergency pull cable. The 260 bhp version had a different rear exhaust trim that rattles when the spot-weld fails and is £lots to replace.I 'fixed' it with nyloc nuts.
The rear exhaust system clamps and bolts all corrode, the coils and oil separators are prone to failure, and then there's the lurking IMS bearing, which I survived. Rear driveshaft gaitors split, the 'S' is prone to this because of the thicker driveshafts apparently. I see they split again 2 yrs later at an MoT test (yes I check my old cars!) Brake prices for the 'S' as mentioned, are very high, even for aftermarket. Clutch was starting to get very stiff so I sold it on. Cost me almost £1 a mile that car for 1700 miles, NOT including fuel, VED or insurance, just in maintenance. Pro-9, bless them, only charged me £198 for a service. Apart from that, it was great.
I had considered another thinking I may have had a Finland Friday car, but the way to go I think, if you must, is a high mileage example (100k ish) that has had all the major items replaced. A '99 or 2000 S (I think the rear bumper shape is smoother) or save up for a 987.
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