High Milage/ older model Boxter info
Discussion
After selling my S2 (I'll have to change my user name I suppose....DOH), I quite fancy a Boxster but the ones I can afford are all early models, some of which are high milers.
I notice there are quite a few with new gearboxes and clutches which leads me to think they have problems with them, are there any particular cars I should stay away from?
How are the engines on the boxster?, will I be the same as buying a 944 in as much as if looked after they go on more or less forever, and what else (apart from service history) should I look for.
I don't mind doing a few jobs (as I did on the 944) but what are the Boxsters like to work on.
Thanks,
Andy
I notice there are quite a few with new gearboxes and clutches which leads me to think they have problems with them, are there any particular cars I should stay away from?
How are the engines on the boxster?, will I be the same as buying a 944 in as much as if looked after they go on more or less forever, and what else (apart from service history) should I look for.
I don't mind doing a few jobs (as I did on the 944) but what are the Boxsters like to work on.
Thanks,
Andy
The very first few thousand manufactured had many different parts to later ones, and engines therefore cost a lot more to fix - so I would go with at least 1 year old or newer.
They are a strange car because if they last - they run probably better than 944's as they age with no noticeable reduction in peformance and huge mileages possible.
However - if they fail they are more expensive to repair - but although it seems that they are more prone to failing - even some 944's originally failed (usually big ends) but we never got to hear about it years ago due to there being no internet forums and plenty of places capable of repairing them.
When the Boxster first came out we could not obtain spares to repair engines or gearboxes - so the only option for relatively minor failures was a new engine or gearbox replacement and the cost of this combined with internet forum postings for owners to vent their frustration, have given them a poor reputation.
Spares are now becoming more available but because so few specialists have managed to repair them in the past (and even if they have they have relatively little experience of doing so) - it is not so easy to obtain local quotations for repairs.
Having said that we have not yet been unable to repair and engine or manual gearbox.
The few weak spots the engines have are different from the similar problems early 911's. 924's and 944's had in that you could quite easily predict a general set of rules for them and if the appropriate maintenance was carried out they were almost bullet proof for years and well over 100K.
The Boxster has a few predictable weak spots (cracked ignition coils, failed variocam solenoids, corroded exhaust clamps and bolts, air mas sensors to name but a few) but inside the engines and gearboxes it is much more difficult to predict what may happen.
Incidences of failures are very rare but expensive if they occur - often just an intermediate shaft bearing failure (something they seem unable to resolve so far), a few timing chains, etc. They are a very inexpensive car to buy for what you get for your money but a rare failure may cost around £3.5 to £5K to fix (engine) or £1 to £1.5K (gearbox) if you are unlucky enough to be the one with that car.
I doubt you could carry out quite as much home repairs with the Boxster as with the 944, partly due to the need for diagnostic equipment and some special tools.
Your Boxster is likely to be too old for the Porsche warranty scheme, but we do operate a maintenance plan with a period of free cover and then a low cost contrbution covering future labour costs and this does include for engine and gearbox rebuilds (except tiptronics which anyway are much more reliable).
Presently the Boxster S and 996's we have in stock come with 12 months cover included FOC and a free service at the end of it. There is no better cover I am aware of to protect a buyer of such an old Porsche.
Unfortunatley we do not currently have an old 2.5 Boxster in stock - but you could keep looking at our web site in case one turns up (www.hartech.org).
Baz
They are a strange car because if they last - they run probably better than 944's as they age with no noticeable reduction in peformance and huge mileages possible.
However - if they fail they are more expensive to repair - but although it seems that they are more prone to failing - even some 944's originally failed (usually big ends) but we never got to hear about it years ago due to there being no internet forums and plenty of places capable of repairing them.
When the Boxster first came out we could not obtain spares to repair engines or gearboxes - so the only option for relatively minor failures was a new engine or gearbox replacement and the cost of this combined with internet forum postings for owners to vent their frustration, have given them a poor reputation.
Spares are now becoming more available but because so few specialists have managed to repair them in the past (and even if they have they have relatively little experience of doing so) - it is not so easy to obtain local quotations for repairs.
Having said that we have not yet been unable to repair and engine or manual gearbox.
The few weak spots the engines have are different from the similar problems early 911's. 924's and 944's had in that you could quite easily predict a general set of rules for them and if the appropriate maintenance was carried out they were almost bullet proof for years and well over 100K.
The Boxster has a few predictable weak spots (cracked ignition coils, failed variocam solenoids, corroded exhaust clamps and bolts, air mas sensors to name but a few) but inside the engines and gearboxes it is much more difficult to predict what may happen.
Incidences of failures are very rare but expensive if they occur - often just an intermediate shaft bearing failure (something they seem unable to resolve so far), a few timing chains, etc. They are a very inexpensive car to buy for what you get for your money but a rare failure may cost around £3.5 to £5K to fix (engine) or £1 to £1.5K (gearbox) if you are unlucky enough to be the one with that car.
I doubt you could carry out quite as much home repairs with the Boxster as with the 944, partly due to the need for diagnostic equipment and some special tools.
Your Boxster is likely to be too old for the Porsche warranty scheme, but we do operate a maintenance plan with a period of free cover and then a low cost contrbution covering future labour costs and this does include for engine and gearbox rebuilds (except tiptronics which anyway are much more reliable).
Presently the Boxster S and 996's we have in stock come with 12 months cover included FOC and a free service at the end of it. There is no better cover I am aware of to protect a buyer of such an old Porsche.
Unfortunatley we do not currently have an old 2.5 Boxster in stock - but you could keep looking at our web site in case one turns up (www.hartech.org).
Baz
I once had a Boxster MY 98 Boxster which I sold with 80k km on the clock. Never had an issue. The hood is in my view the weakest point and pretty costly to replace. I must admit that I drove top down whenever possible, leading to two issues: When it's too cold, then the plastic rear window suffers. When the roof is wet, it gets creases. It is worthwhile to check the hood very thoroughly.
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