986 Porsche Boxsters
Discussion
great cars, fun to drive and own.
but
they can and do lunch their engines now and again - more so than most other vehicles, but not all. I wouldn't buy one without some form of engine warranty against rms failure. Got mine from Hartech with their warranty, and needed it as a year later it went 'chunk' and stopped. Still cost me in parts but it was 1/3 the price.
(But if you want a great one with fully rebuilt and re-engineered engine from Hartech, I may be selling - but at a fair bit north of your budget, unfortunately….. still love it but M135i and possibly Caterham coming means it may need to go….)
but
they can and do lunch their engines now and again - more so than most other vehicles, but not all. I wouldn't buy one without some form of engine warranty against rms failure. Got mine from Hartech with their warranty, and needed it as a year later it went 'chunk' and stopped. Still cost me in parts but it was 1/3 the price.
(But if you want a great one with fully rebuilt and re-engineered engine from Hartech, I may be selling - but at a fair bit north of your budget, unfortunately….. still love it but M135i and possibly Caterham coming means it may need to go….)
xcentric said:
they can and do lunch their engines now and again - more so than most other vehicles,
That's bit disingenuous - there is no evidence that you are statistically more likely to see an engine failure on a Boxster. The RMS isn't engine failure, just an oil leak which, if left unattended could cause an engine failure like any other oil leak - you can ignore it and top it up every morning if you wish.It's an amazing car though - if I hadn't started a family I would still have mine.
I read somewhere that the engine block bearing failure, (I think it's called the Rear main seal or Intermediate shaft seal, unless they are two different things?), anyway the failure rate on those is something ridiculously low like a few percent for all Boxsters. The downside is that the engine will die without any warning and you will need another one from a scrapyard or whatever.
That's sometimes enough to put people off I guess. I also heard they have cylinder lining and cylinder wall failure. I think this happens more if the engine has been tracked or thrashed from cold a lot because it scores the bores and then they fail completely. I remember Chris mentioning scored bores in one of his videos the first symptom I guess would be increased oil consumption.
I also remember reading somewhere that if the Clutch is changed on the Boxster this bearing is changed so it's far less likely to fail in the near future although it's still likely to fail at some point because it's not uprated. You can buy uprated 'fixed' bearings but they cost a lot so it's not really worth it you may as well take the risk.
I also read that it took until 2009 for them to completely get rid of the problems that made the 986 and 996 instantly blow the engine. It's not great reading but it's one of those things that if it does happen will wreck that year for you but if it doesn't, and it's really likely not to, you'll have a great sportscar. I don't know what the right answer is if you're risk averse maybe avoid a Boxster if you don't mind taking a little risk, and it sounds like it's only a little risk, do it because otherwise you'll regret buying whatever car you instead buy that you consider to be inferior or not right for you.
That's sometimes enough to put people off I guess. I also heard they have cylinder lining and cylinder wall failure. I think this happens more if the engine has been tracked or thrashed from cold a lot because it scores the bores and then they fail completely. I remember Chris mentioning scored bores in one of his videos the first symptom I guess would be increased oil consumption.
I also remember reading somewhere that if the Clutch is changed on the Boxster this bearing is changed so it's far less likely to fail in the near future although it's still likely to fail at some point because it's not uprated. You can buy uprated 'fixed' bearings but they cost a lot so it's not really worth it you may as well take the risk.
I also read that it took until 2009 for them to completely get rid of the problems that made the 986 and 996 instantly blow the engine. It's not great reading but it's one of those things that if it does happen will wreck that year for you but if it doesn't, and it's really likely not to, you'll have a great sportscar. I don't know what the right answer is if you're risk averse maybe avoid a Boxster if you don't mind taking a little risk, and it sounds like it's only a little risk, do it because otherwise you'll regret buying whatever car you instead buy that you consider to be inferior or not right for you.
Edited by iloveboost on Thursday 6th March 23:44
iloveboost said:
I read somewhere that the engine block bearing failure, (I think it's called the Rear main seal or Intermediate shaft seal, unless they are two different
yeah they are 2 differant things ...ones an oil seal that drips , the other is the shaft bearing failing and causing it to grenadeEdited by iloveboost on Thursday 6th March 23:44
The most costly thing is engine failure or problems, aside from crash damaged body work. You can mitigate that by getting something with a rebuilt engine, new engine or upgraded IMS bearing. Finding one if those will be hard though and more than your 5k. The best you can do is get something with good specialist history with 5-10k and at least annual oil changes.
I have to say, and perhaps it's just me, but if I were to buy such a cheap premium sports car, I would fully expect to spend the same again (at least) in bringing the cheap car up to scratch.
For starters, I would assume that if the car is close to a decade and a half old, it may be worth changing suspension, bushes, brakes - and then get the engine and running gear checked out by a respected professional. For me, to fully enjoy such a car, as opposed to just 'posing', I need to sure that when I enter a corner fast, the car will look after me - and I would never risk that until I knew that the underpinnings at least are as good as new.
Just because some are dirt cheap now doesn't mean the bills are equally as cheap. If you know this then you won't be disappointed.
For starters, I would assume that if the car is close to a decade and a half old, it may be worth changing suspension, bushes, brakes - and then get the engine and running gear checked out by a respected professional. For me, to fully enjoy such a car, as opposed to just 'posing', I need to sure that when I enter a corner fast, the car will look after me - and I would never risk that until I knew that the underpinnings at least are as good as new.
Just because some are dirt cheap now doesn't mean the bills are equally as cheap. If you know this then you won't be disappointed.
chris watton said:
I have to say, and perhaps it's just me, but if I were to buy such a cheap premium sports car, I would fully expect to spend the same again (at least) in bringing the cheap car up to scratch.
For starters, I would assume that if the car is close to a decade and a half old, it may be worth changing suspension, bushes, brakes - and then get the engine and running gear checked out by a respected professional. For me, to fully enjoy such a car, as opposed to just 'posing', I need to sure that when I enter a corner fast, the car will look after me - and I would never risk that until I knew that the underpinnings at least are as good as new.
Just because some are dirt cheap now doesn't mean the bills are equally as cheap. If you know this then you won't be disappointed.
Ofcourse i will be doing the same. Its nice to know if you are buying an immediate headache though.For starters, I would assume that if the car is close to a decade and a half old, it may be worth changing suspension, bushes, brakes - and then get the engine and running gear checked out by a respected professional. For me, to fully enjoy such a car, as opposed to just 'posing', I need to sure that when I enter a corner fast, the car will look after me - and I would never risk that until I knew that the underpinnings at least are as good as new.
Just because some are dirt cheap now doesn't mean the bills are equally as cheap. If you know this then you won't be disappointed.
I don't know the full facts about older Boxsters but when I looked at it the risks didn't seem different from buying any "cheap" car which was originally an expensive car. In all cases you can buy them for Fiesta money but they will still have Porsche/Merc/BMW running costs.
One rule of thumb is be prepared for annual maintenance of 5% of the NEW cost of the car. That's roughly £300 on a Fiesta but £2,000 on a Porsche. Big difference. Obviously with a bit of luck you'll be well below those figures, but it's best to be prepared.
One rule of thumb is be prepared for annual maintenance of 5% of the NEW cost of the car. That's roughly £300 on a Fiesta but £2,000 on a Porsche. Big difference. Obviously with a bit of luck you'll be well below those figures, but it's best to be prepared.
I'm on my second one now and take the same approach as the first. I drive it as intended not for posing on the high street. That means in the first year whether it is needed it not I change the 4 wishbone arms and 2 front and 2 rear track control arms. That's about 450-500 in parts. These cars are about the handling and they are sensitive to the correct geo and the suspension working in harmony.
If you are getting a 2.5 then there's not much to worry about. If you are going to do the arms anyway then I would focus on getting an otherwise well maintained one with as best you can find bodywork, ideally full extended leather and the hardback sports seats, and not worry too much about any suspension cljnks and use that as a bartering tool. Everything else is largely superfluous or you can add it later eg heated seat pads, short shifter. £5k should get you something pretty tidy and perhaps a few hundred left over to do brakes or aircon condensers etc.
edc said:
If you are getting a 2.5 then there's not much to worry about. If you are going to do the arms anyway then I would focus on getting an otherwise well maintained one with as best you can find bodywork, ideally full extended leather and the hardback sports seats, and not worry too much about any suspension cljnks and use that as a bartering tool. Everything else is largely superfluous or you can add it later eg heated seat pads, short shifter. £5k should get you something pretty tidy and perhaps a few hundred left over to do brakes or aircon condensers etc.
The 2.5 less likely to bum me?Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff