Porsche Boxster 986.2 3.2

[Fat Albert]

After 3 years of cheap motoring came to an end in September when my Saab 9 3 Convertible failed its MoT I used my Daughter's Clio 0,9 TCE Dynamique S (A real hoot!) that she is learning to drive in for a few months.

With her test imminent I managed to secure Senior Management Approval for a long overdue return to Porsche Ownerhip and blagged myself a 2003 3.2 from a backstreet dealer in Stevenage, 109k miles, Seal grey, loads of options, long overdue a service and a blown stereo amp...but it had 11 stamps in the service book (8 OPC) looked and sounded straight and I got it for a good price.

I drove it 400 miles over Christmas and then dropped it into Dove House Motors in Rushden for Tony to do a post-purchase check and a major service. He gave it a relatively clean bill of health, just the front disks/pads needed imediately, with tyres and rear brakes needed over the next 12 months, with some other minor niggles I can work on as we go forward. They also pointed out that it has an Aerokit rear bumper and an aftermarket exhaust (not sure which one)

So now that is done I will book it in to a Hi Fi specialist to have my Alpine Bluetooth/USB/Aux head unit fitted and a harness made to go through the bulkhead and bypass the amp which will cost £100-200, but should get that back when I sell the existing head unit and multichanger.

Really pleased so far, it drives well and that flat 6 just behind your ears is addictive (but i don't need to tell you chaps that!)



a few pics:








In Dove House:



A Great pair of Christmas Presents!

[Codswallop]

Looks great - best wheel and colour combo for the 986 IMO.

[Fat Albert]

Thanks Codswallop, it has the light grey interior which makes the cockpit feel much less of a 'coal hole'

about 700 miles in now and still thoroughly enjoying every excuse to take it out, took my son up to the sailing club for some pre-season training in his Catamaran and his new Rooster 90l Kit bag fits exactly in the front boot!

[Krikkit]

Very nice, have a soft spot for the 986.

Boring, but what's the economy like? Seems like a great daily if you don't need masses of luggage space.

[Fat Albert]

Thanks Krikkit.
The economy is not boring as it was part of the selection criteria from senior management that if we have a 2 seat convertible it must be 'sensible' on running costs, unlike my old XK8.....

Obviously I am still in the honeymoon period of needing to hear that flat 6 come on song at 4k and go to the redline...so overall I am getting around 23-24mpg for short winter journeys on country lanes.

However i did fill it up and then do a long journey after Christmas, and sat rolling in traffic on an A road at 50-60 it showed 33mpg and for the whole 200 mile journey, which included going through Milton Keynes with all those roundabouts (twice), it returned an overall average of 28mpg, which was probably a bit better than my old SAAB 9 3 'vert 2.0t and better than I expected, so pleased with that!

[RS Grant]

Looks great, was between one of these and a Honda S2000 for me and I chose the Honda.. but I still really like the facelifted 986S, especially in that colour with those wheels.

[Shnozz]

Brings back some memories. I bought a 2003 3.2S with 18" carreras about 10 years ago. Was very intent on the 986.2 and with those wheels. Bought from Dovehouse in fact as I lived just down the road at the time.

Cracking car and did a few euro trips in it with no bother. Luggage space is superb when you take into account both boots.

[GrandAndrew]

Yeah, as others had said, that’s a great colour combination, they’re at a sweet point in motoring history for me as they’re modern enough to use whenever you want but not awash with technology. You can enjoy it for what it is, a very capable sports car.

Here’s my Guards one;

[Fat Albert]

Thanks Chaps, yes I agree that it is a modern, but analogue car. I was torn between a boxster or a Z4, but having driven a Z4 3.0 auto and then a facelift 2.7 boxster my mind was made up immediately.
the Z4 is a great, great car, but you feel that there is a software layer between you and the road, whereas the Boxster has that immediate and connected feel.

I thought about the S2000, but as one of the decision criteria was around it being a car my Wife would find easy to drive I felt that the extended rev range, plus my love of low down torque (having had 7 Saab, 1 Subaru and 1 Porsche Turbos!) meant it wasn't for us.

I did see one in the fastest colour, and they do look great - but it was a Tip and I have had a couple of Guards red Porkers before:



My Wife and daughter used it for shopping and filled both boots which is impressive, but my 944 & 968 could fit a mountain bike in the boot! In fact the guy I bought the 968 from drove it over from Northampton with his bike in the boot and cycled the 25 miles home!



Just got back from the audio place, he will have to make a custom harness to fit my head unit and bypass the amp. I will leave the sub out for now, but he is going to put all the cables in place to add an amp for it later on. (probably once I have sold off the Becker Head unit and the CD multichanger), so it is booked in for the 22nd to have that done

[GrandAndrew]

I’ve always wanted a 944, guess that comes from being born in the 80’s! How do you think the relatively modern Boxster compares to the older ones and their fabled build quality?

[billzeebub]

Looks like a great find. As they get older and most are financially in reach of the 'oik' element the trick is to get one that hasn't been neglected (too much!). You seem to have pulled it off. I'm on my fourth 986 S. Always seem to come back to them. Nothing else gets close as a package. I have used them as daily drivers and also as 2nd/roadtrip cars. Driven over 100k miles in them combined and never had anything more trouble than a flat battery. I have driven 987/981 and still prefer the feel of the 986. A true analogue Sportscar. They can be made even more addictive by doing the exhaust bypass mod (sports exhaust), the best money I've ever spent on a car!

Edited by billzeebub on Wednesday 10th January 19:32

[el romeral]

GrandAndrew said:

I’ve always wanted a 944, guess that comes from being born in the 80’s! How do you think the relatively modern Boxster compares to the older ones and their fabled build quality?

Many years ago I owned a 944 2.5 and currently have a 986S. Possibly the 944 felt even more solidly built than the 986? Nothing in it though, for me and both seem very well put together. My lingering memory of the 944 was that it had too few cylinders - if they could just have used three quarters of a 928 engine instead of a half!

[Fat Albert]

el romeral said:

GrandAndrew said:

I’ve always wanted a 944, guess that comes from being born in the 80’s! How do you think the relatively modern Boxster compares to the older ones and their fabled build quality?

Many years ago I owned a 944 2.5 and currently have a 986S. Possibly the 944 felt even more solidly built than the 986? Nothing in it though, for me and both seem very well put together. My lingering memory of the 944 was that it had too few cylinders - if they could just have used three quarters of a 928 engine instead of a half!

yes, absolutely agree, I had heard that the Boxster was a lower build quality, but I haven't found it that different to the frontrunners so far, perhaps some of the touchpoints, like door handles, felt chunkier and better made on the old cars.

My 944 Turbo had the Promax Stage 1 Boost Enhancer so was probably a little quicker than the Boxster S and I could certainly out-run a Boxster in the twisties. (Had a guy come up to me in the farm shop queue asking me what the hell i was driving as I had left his 2.5 Boxster for dust!). I also got many nods of approval and filling station conversations with men of a certain age who had almost my exact car on their bedroom wall as a kid

The 968, strangely, felt a lot more modern and well put together than the 944, even though it was basically the same car! But there was something intangibly better about it. I missed the boost of the 944, but once the Variocam hit at 4,000 it made a reasonably good noise for a 4 pot (Janspeed Exhaust) and had some urgency. I had some very odd filling station conversations with people that either had had a 968 or who had absolutely no idea what it was and had never seen or heard of them.

I like the idea of a 968 with a 3.75 litre V6!!

[Fat Albert]

billzeebub said:

Looks like a great find. As they get older and most are financially in reach of the 'oik' element the trick is to get one that hasn't been neglected (too much!). You seem to have pulled it off. I'm on my fourth 986 S. Always seem to come back to them. Nothing else gets close as a package. I have used them as daily drivers and also as 2nd/roadtrip cars. Driven over 100k miles in them combined and never had anything more trouble than a flat battery. I have driven 987/981 and still prefer the feel of the 986. A true analogue Sportscar. They can be made even more addictive by doing the exhaust bypass mod (sports exhaust), the best money I've ever spent on a car!

Edited by billzeebub on Wednesday 10th January 19:32

Thanks Bill, I hope it is a good one! I did walk away from quite a few - None were terrible, but there were some clear warning signs/alarm bells like 19" wheels with DieYoung Slipmaster tyres or oil leaks, or autotrader pictures taken in the height of summer.

two things surprised me in my search;
1. all of the cars I tested drove very well, they were all solid feeling with no slackness, rattles or groans.
2. At my price point there seemed to be very little history with the cars, my last 2 Porkers were bought with A4 ringbinders full of receipts

One of the things I liked about this one is that it had consistently done 5-9,000 miles every year, which meant it was used and enjoyed regularly and hasn't been sat around neglected.
My 968 had been a garage queen for 10 years, so cost £2,000 in the first few months in brakes, wheel bearings and other niggles as I started using it every day.

I also used the MoT history checker when choosing which cars to view and only looked at cars that only had tyres/brakes/bulbs as advisories as that shows that they were being maintained properly between MoTs.

Lastly, Tony and Simon at Dove House were a huge help, whilst my Wife's Lexus was in for some work and after I had driven 3 and rejected them, they went through my list of 9 to view and whittled it down to 3 based on model, extras, history and exterior/interior colours for resale.
They actually put one that I had rejected due to its lack of history documentation back on the table as it was a rare colour and appeared to have been looked after extremely lovingly (and was cheap).....but it wasn't an 'S'!!

[Fat Albert]

Hold the Front page!

sat in the car waiting for the other half, supping a coffee yesterday and realised that the single cup holder pulls out into a double!!

Surprise and Delight Feature!!

[Shnozz]

ha ha ha!

Wait until you have to change a headlight bulb and you will marvel at the engineering of the headlight clusters and the rack and pinion...

[Fat Albert]

Came through my garden gate onto the drive on Friday and still get a pleasant surprise when I see my little lump of (grubby) Pork smiling at me!

[Fat Albert]

Well, Phase 1 of the HiFi upgrade/fix is done!
£180 to remove the old head unit/amp/cd changer and fit a replacement loom to bypass the amp to the speakers, fit my Alpine head unit with microphone placed behind the steering wheel.

When i have sold off the old kit I will do phase 2 which is to add an amplifier back in to power the Bose sub that is behind the seats.

Really pleased so far, obviously lacks bass at the moment, but the upper & Mids are reasionable with the Bose speakers and of course I now have USB/Bluetooth/aux in capability to bring it into the 21st Century.

It is not the last word in classy looks or quality but it does the job, and of course it is just plug 'n' play to upgrade the head unit in the future

[Shiv_P]

All you need to do now is get a cheap phone mount and run android auto on your phone
Got all your music, navigation, internet radio on an easy to use interface and bluetooth'd to the car

[Fat Albert]

already got one!
I run Waze as my normal Nav app and a mixture of the 8GB USB stick and Spotify on my phone for music, it worked very well in my Saab and the Bluetooth volume goes high enough to deal with conference calls in a noisy convertible at speed