Is it worth me buying this boxster or will it be a money pit

[bababoom]

Been offered a 2003 boxster 2.7 with 64k on the clock.
Not that that maters much as the ims shaft has snapped.
I can have the car for £2000 witch sounds cheap enough untill you start pricing up replacement engines

So what are you guys thoughts on this?

[SET3]

What's the price of another engine than from perhaps a salvage yard ?
Could strip it when done and turn it into a track car perhaps. Could be a good bit of fun.

[ooid]

Depends on the condition of the car. Are there any other issues apart from the engine? If not, replacement engine might be affordable and(if you are lucky) should do well. Or rebuilding the whole engine with one of the most expert companies, hartech is one of them;

http://www.hartech.org/rebuild-prices

On a different note, you can still buy running 986's less than 5k (for now!), without any engine problem.

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[steveo3002]

used or rebuilt engine will put it above what you could buy a runner for

[mollytherocker]

I just dont see the point in buying that with all of the hassle involved and then there is bound to be other issues as well.

Just buy a good car in the first place. Its not like they are much more!

[Evolved]

bababoom said:

Been offered a 2003 boxster 2.7 with 64k on the clock.
Not that that maters much as the ims shaft has snapped.
I can have the car for £2000 witch sounds cheap enough untill you start pricing up replacement engines

So what are you guys thoughts on this?

It's worth scrap, the engine is fubarred!

[mrbikerdood]

i had a 2.7 986 2yrs ago.... the IMS went and i sold on ebay for £2k ...the options i looked at were- engine rebuild with upgraded IMS bearing OR 2nd hand engine and get the IMS being upgraded both worked out £4k! so i let it go and and added £3k and bought a 3.2s 986 with the ims already done along with the clutch etc which i sold last month and upgraded to a 981 in white 3.4s manual :0
Si

[lordlee]

There's a 2.7 advertised on eBay at the moment for £1300. Try and get the car for £1250 and then it would make sense. Obviously only if the rest of the car is great.

[aPorscha-gwzvq]

Buying a second hand engine is a 50/50 shout on whether it works or not, they are really not worth the risk

[ooid]

About 12 months ago, there were replacement engines (2.7) from donor cars, 3.5k + VAT + 6 months warranty (excluding labour/fitting price).

Not sure about the current prices, but looks like current 2002-03 boxsters with that age goes between 6-8k on Autotrader.

You could get a much cheaper boxster (running) with a bit high miles, early say 98-2000, less than 5-6k and I do think they are more reliable if you also do some preventative maintenance.

[Escy]

aPorscha-gwzvq said:

Buying a second hand engine is a 50/50 shout on whether it works or not, they are really not worth the risk

That's not true.

[Mogul]

Given the current low valuations of 'working' cars, the going rate for a used engine should have fallen considerably otherwise, they will end up sitting on vendors' shelves ad infinitum.

If the subject car is cosmetically excellent and otherwise desireable, a replacement used engine could make sense.

I wonder how many 986 Boxster rebuilds Hartech are doing these days and what the typical customer profile is? I'm guessing that it would require a certain emotional attachment and a very long term ownership horizon.

[KMF]

when I visited Hartech with the club Baz was giving a leture on the engines. with regards to the 986-987/1 engines it was a case of "when" it all goes wrong, not "if" it goes wrong

[mollytherocker]

KMF said:

when I visited Hartech with the club Baz was giving a leture on the engines. with regards to the 986-987/1 engines it was a case of "when" it all goes wrong, not "if" it goes wrong

Whilst I agree with that view and have heard the man himself state it, ALL engines spew something up eventually.

Man has not created any engine that lasts forever. The question is whether a serious problem begins during your ownership. Thats the difficult, no impossible thing to quantify.

[Escy]

Your odds are shortened if the engine is made by Porsche.

[ooid]

Escy said:

Your odds are shortened if the engine is made by Porsche.

Did you have a chance to see how your current project boxster (V6 Audi) original engine look like? Ive seen some pretty awful examples on boxa, 3.2 mostly.

[Escy]

Not yet, it's got oil in the coolant so I'm expecting a cracked cylinder head as that's the common cause although I could get lucky and it be the heat exchanger.

It ran nicely, passed the emissions and the compression was spot on so at least I'll have a good bottom end to sell.

[ooid]

Escy said:

Not yet, it's got oil in the coolant so I'm expecting a cracked cylinder head as that's the common cause although I could get lucky and it be the heat exchanger.

It ran nicely, passed the emissions and the compression was spot on so at least I'll have a good bottom end to sell.

Very interesting. My 2.7 has been diagnosed with intermix exactly last year. OPC and another indy suggested it is probably be a cracked cylinder head. After a heavy investigation with a third expert, pressure tests and etc.. we found out its failed oil cooler and failed water pump. Heads were healthy but did loads of maintenance and upgrade on the engine since it was removed.