The £4k Boxster (courtesy of A Flintoff, TG and a hangover)

[sinbaddio]

Having woken up yesterday with a stonking hangover from Father's Day and a vague recollection of watching the new Top Gear, I decided to go and buy a cheap Boxster a la Freddie Flintoff.

I've been toying with the idea of a Boxster for a while as a bit of fun. Got an MR2 Roadster as cheap plaything currently, and whilst I love it it could be with being a touch quicker, so an early Boxster seems to tick the boxes.

I went to view one locally, an S, 2000 plate, and it was a real bag of nails. So I headed back to work and got on Ebay. Found a 2002 with an hour left at £3.5k. This one is a 2.7 manual, 95,000 miles, some history. MOT's looked OK. An hour later I'd won it! Pick it up on Thursday - shall update then.

[TheAngryDog]

Looks decent in the pics - the alloys are a bit ghastly though.

Does the 2.7 suffer IMS issues?

[LordGrover]

Enjoy!
I did similar last year and loved every mile in it.

Caution! If you get the bug like me, you'll be 'upgrading' to a more recent/potent one in short order.

[sinbaddio]

TheAngryDog said:

Looks decent in the pics - the alloys are a bit ghastly though.

Does the 2.7 suffer IMS issues?

I believe so, and it's not had a bearing replacement so that could potentially cause a problem. I'll get it thoroughly checked over next week.

I'm quite keen on the wheels, they've just been refurbed. I'm not totally sold on the finish, but that can be easily changed.

[sinbaddio]

LordGrover said:

Enjoy!
I did similar last year and loved every mile in it.

Caution! If you get the bug like me, you'll be 'upgrading' to a more recent/potent one in short order.

Haha - funnily enough I was in Chester yesterday afternoon (after having won the car) and popped by the Porsche dealer. I was very tempted stick a deposit on a recent S, but I refrained. It probably won't be long........

[martin mrt]

I have just watched Sunday’s TG and found myself looking for a cheap Boxster too. I’ve always fancied one.....

I look forward to seeing how this progresses

[Jimmy No Hands]

I sold used Porsche for several years and these early Boxsters were always seen as incredibly good value. Stiff enough (better with some mods) low COG and mid engined and better weight distribution than a 996. I always felt more confident in them than I did a 911. The split rim alloys are Sport Design, and were on the GT3. Also optioned on 986's, so keep them!

[deebs]

sinbaddio said:

TheAngryDog said:

Looks decent in the pics - the alloys are a bit ghastly though.

Does the 2.7 suffer IMS issues?

I believe so, and it's not had a bearing replacement so that could potentially cause a problem. I'll get it thoroughly checked over next week.

I'm quite keen on the wheels, they've just been refurbed. I'm not totally sold on the finish, but that can be easily changed.

Getting to the actual bearing requires the gearbox and clutch removed (so a fair bit of work involved to be able to inspect) The quoted figures for replacement are generally ~£1200 at an indy (as example, Revolution Porsche list the replacement cost on their website).

Personally on a car bought for £3500 I think I'd leave it as it is and run the risk. The USA based Eisen class action lawsuit put the failure figure at 8% although that's generally thought to be too low, even if its 20% I dont think I'd spend £1200 as insurance against writing off a £3500 car on 1 in 5 odds.

ETA: I like the wheels and enjoy!!

Edited by deebs on Tuesday 18th June 13:49

[PistonBroker]

Great stuff, look forward to seeing how it turns out.

I've not watched TG yet - in fact, I wasn't sure I was going to bother! - but if there's cheap Pork content then I shall go dig it out on iPlayer.

My watch list is chock-full of these at the moment. Disney in August has put paid to it this year, but Mrs PB spotted I said 'when' I get my Boxster and didn't seem to think I was too gone on when I said I expected it to be some time next year.

[sinbaddio]

deebs said:

Getting to the actual bearing requires the gearbox and clutch removed (so a fair bit of work involved to be able to inspect) The quoted figures for replacement are generally ~£1200 at an indy (as example, Revolution Porsche list the replacement cost on their website).

Personally on a car bought for £3500 I think I'd leave it as it is and run the risk. The USA based Eisen class action lawsuit put the failure figure at 8% although that's generally thought to be too low, even if its 20% I dont think I'd spend £1200 as insurance against writing off a £3500 car on 1 in 5 odds.

ETA: I like the wheels and enjoy!!

Edited by deebs on Tuesday 18th June 13:49

Thanks for the heads up - that's a good shout. Plus, my thinking is that at 95k miles the likelihood is that it'll be ok, although having read up a bit it can happen any time. I'll take the risk, it's pretty much the whole point of buying cars like this!

[And then she]

Welshbeef - is that you...?





(nearly 6 years now - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[TheJimi]

See, I think you got it right first time. The MK3 MR2 is a cheap toy. Cheap to buy, cheap to run and there's a limit to how daft a bill it's likely to throw at you.

None of the above applies to a Boxster, and you're a braver man than me

(Edit: not true - I'll give you "cheap to buy")

Still, looks like a nice car, hope you enjoy it and it plays nice with you.

Edited by TheJimi on Tuesday 18th June 15:00

[mikal83]

TheJimi said:

See, I think you got it right first time. The MK3 MR2 is a cheap toy. Cheap to buy, cheap to run and there's a limit to how daft a bill it's likely to throw at you.

None of the above applies to a Boxster, and you're a braver man than me

(Edit: not true - I'll give you "cheap to buy")

Still, looks like a nice car, hope you enjoy it and it plays nice with you.

Edited by TheJimi on Tuesday 18th June 15:00

Funny that, I've just sold my Boxster and am looking for a nice mk 1 MR2

[Willber]

I had one of these and it was a great car. Handling extremely good and way over-tyred for the power so you can really throw it into corners. 2.7 can be wrung out properly without getting into silly speeds. Short shifter is a good mod and I put a 996 throttle body and inlet pipe on mine which seemed to give it a bit more shove mid range. I bought a cheapo Chinese backbox for it which sounded ace but droned a lot. Have fun with it!

[ooid]

martin mrt said:

I have just watched Sunday’s TG and found myself looking for a cheap Boxster too. I’ve always fancied one.....

I look forward to seeing how this progresses

Was amusing to see that boxster also suffered from over heating. Mine destroyed its original engine due to crap heads and water pump failure.

They are fun cars but needs complete rebuild of cooling system. New rads, pipes, fans, tank, pump and etc.. than good to go

[sinbaddio]

Thanks everyone for all the comments - all advice gratefully received.

Picked the car up yesterday morning and then drove it about 200 miles (long way home) taking a variety of roads - B/A and motorway.

Initial thoughts are positive. There's a bit of play in the gear movement is the major concern, but I'm not sure if that's just how they are?

No engine overheating issues, including being stood in traffic for around 20 mins.

Overall I'm very pleased. It's booked in at my local garage for a service in a couple of weeks. I'm also going to send it to Unique in Bolton for their healthcheck. Final plan is to join my local TIPEC group. I already know the guys there as a good pal is a member - their knowledge and expertise is worth the subscription alone!

Fingers crossed it will be reliable as it's hopefully going to be the vehicle of choice for my honeymoon UK tour starting on Sunday 1st July (although I do have a rented Merc R107 for the first few days)!

I shall keep updated as and when there is any news.

Cheers - Simon.

[sinbaddio]

Back from the honeymoon. The R107 was fantastic. We used it from Monday till Wednesday, when we swapped back to the Porsche. Then we did circa 600 miles in three days without a hiccup! Absolutely brilliant including some great fun around the North Yorkshire Moors! So far so good!

Will add a few more pics later:

Approach to Hawkstone Hall, Shropshire

[Court_S]

Good to hear of no issues especially as you’ve jumped into the deep end with regards to using it!

[therealsamdailly]

Lovely job. More pics required

[CrashBang]

If the gear change you speak of is the looooong throw with a sprinkling of vagueness, its how they are.

There are solutions to fix this, but its not a fault per-say