Thinking of buying a Boxster ? - MUST READ !

[DEye]

G'Day Eh !

So I'm new to this forum, had a couple of Cars.
2002 MINI Cooper - Dropped a Valve - Gone.
1990 Miata - Running Fine - But to Small - My head touches the roof.

Been interested in getting a Porsche for a while, and I *fit* in a Boxter.
So I'm trying to walk into this with my eyes open.

Been lurking and reading some of the threads here and wondering how much i'm looking at for yearly maintenance / repairs realistically.
I'm looking at a 2002 Sport Touring edition with 90K.
I'm going to ask have it taken it to a Porsche dealer and give it the once over.

Someone referenced Edmund's Cost of ownership - and it comes up with this.

http://www.edmunds.com/porsche/boxster/2005/tco.html?style=100510880

About 2k to 3k a year ?
I've done a fair amount of work on the last two cars, pulled all the suspension off, bushings, brake lines, pads rotors etc... - No Engine work

Can you work on these cars your self - it seems like it based on some posts - But Heck - I have yet to actually *see* the engine

Thanks,
Don

[t2-bxtrs]

Don,
Welcome to the Forum, you sure are in the right place.. just a matter of time before you actually own one with an informed decision.
At least you are doing your research now, (before buying) than later (meaning you already bought one) !
There are a lot of respected individuals here at the Forum , and one of them is already in this chain of Threads, Mike Focke is his name and you can start browsing his article on buying/owning.maintaining one.. There are plenty of contributors in this Forum and names you would be familiar with as you get comfortable surfing the Forum...
At the end of all your research, it would still help to buy the best condition,well optioned and not necessarily lowest mileage car.. Color of choice would be yours.... and the differences between years... 97-02,and 03-04 and so on....
Good luck on your search.... you'll have this permagrin on your face once you own and drive one...
Happy Boxstering !
t2 (986 04S)

[DEye]

The more I read about the RMS/IMS issues and their pervasiveness - the more I think of the MINI...
They gave me a *Free* engine - over 7k later it was installed
Except for them not filling up the tranny + 4K and wanting to change the ECU to put out the CE light - life would have been Good.

Now I'm not saying that I believe it will happen - but it sure sounds like a *could* happen.
Do I fell Lucky
That makes me seriously think about getting the Extended Car warranty ( if i can get it on a US car imported into Canada)

[clickman]

Originally Posted by DEye

That makes me seriously think about getting the Extended Car warranty ( if i can get it on a US car imported into Canada)

I looked into aftermarket warranties about 4-5 years ago, and you couldn't get them in Canada. You had to have bought the car from a Canadian dealer. Maybe things have changed...

As it was I did that - bought my 01 from a Canadian dealer, and I bought the extended warranty. Waste of money.

If you're handy and like working on cars, these are easy cars to work on in spite of the engine being "hidden". Between the Bentley manual and all of the uber-helpful folk on this forum, I started off with brakes (snap), have done a few other projects, and am currently doing a project that includes replacing water pump, low temp thermostat, "S" oil cooler, fuel filter, motor mount, and a brake/clutch fluid flush.

As I get more confident of working on the car, my plans are that when the Box is hibernating for the winter, I'll change the clutch, and at the same time do the IMS and RMS. I'll probably do the spark plugs and tubes at the same time.

For some reason I have no interest in doing this sort of work on my other cars - I just find it fun on the P-car.

[WhipE350]

Don, I have to second Clickman, if you are getting the bug to work on cars these are great, I got mine with 53K miles in Nov and have learn and enjoyed working on it so much. Getting warm in the garage and the weather is nice for driving so I'm slowing down my projects. I will say though I got a great car, when I look back on the records from the previous owner it really has been a great car, above average in repairs. I have found things to do because I wanted to do them.

If you are really worried about the IMS either plan on replacing it or buy one with the fix already. Once you get the car you'll get hooked and find so many things you want to do, or maybe not, it depends on your requirements. In my case i wanted a car to work on. If you are interested I'll PM you the history of my car...you'll see most stuff was just fun.

I ended up getting new rims (18 inch) and really love the car...once you get used to a convertible and every cars unique rattles or squeaks you'll start just feeling the car. I like driving mine most at night on smooth winding roads, I could just drive it for hours. I find by the weekend I find excuses to go for a ride. For me it is addictive. I have a bad back so driving to work hitting the clutch all the time is not fun so I drive the Benz.

The hardest thing for me now is avoiding big hits like Aerokits and expensive headers and cats.

Good luck!

[DEye]

I can certainly appreciate the sentiments you both put forward, I got into the same spirit with the last two cars I've had, to the point where I started to wonder is I was too obsessed with the MINI to the point of turning it into an Object Art - looking every where for photo opportunities, and enjoying getting back into working on cars.

I have not given up on the purchase, just got a does of reality I guess.
I'll be getting the car checked out, and will indeed consider looking into getting the IMS job done ASAP should i take the plunge.

Thank for the support,
Don

Originally Posted by clickman

I looked into aftermarket warranties about 4-5 years ago, and you couldn't get them in Canada. You had to have bought the car from a Canadian dealer. Maybe things have changed...

As it was I did that - bought my 01 from a Canadian dealer, and I bought the extended warranty. Waste of money.

If you're handy and like working on cars, these are easy cars to work on in spite of the engine being "hidden". Between the Bentley manual and all of the uber-helpful folk on this forum, I started off with brakes (snap), have done a few other projects, and am currently doing a project that includes replacing water pump, low temp thermostat, "S" oil cooler, fuel filter, motor mount, and a brake/clutch fluid flush.

As I get more confident of working on the car, my plans are that when the Box is hibernating for the winter, I'll change the clutch, and at the same time do the IMS and RMS. I'll probably do the spark plugs and tubes at the same time.

For some reason I have no interest in doing this sort of work on my other cars - I just find it fun on the P-car.

Originally Posted by WhipE350

Don, I have to second Clickman, if you are getting the bug to work on cars these are great, I got mine with 53K miles in Nov and have learn and enjoyed working on it so much. Getting warm in the garage and the weather is nice for driving so I'm slowing down my projects. I will say though I got a great car, when I look back on the records from the previous owner it really has been a great car, above average in repairs. I have found things to do because I wanted to do them.

If you are really worried about the IMS either plan on replacing it or buy one with the fix already. Once you get the car you'll get hooked and find so many things you want to do, or maybe not, it depends on your requirements. In my case i wanted a car to work on. If you are interested I'll PM you the history of my car...you'll see most stuff was just fun.

I ended up getting new rims (18 inch) and really love the car...once you get used to a convertible and every cars unique rattles or squeaks you'll start just feeling the car. I like driving mine most at night on smooth winding roads, I could just drive it for hours. I find by the weekend I find excuses to go for a ride. For me it is addictive. I have a bad back so driving to work hitting the clutch all the time is not fun so I drive the Benz.

The hardest thing for me now is avoiding big hits like Aerokits and expensive headers and cats.

Good luck!

[jsmith]

i have learned about the alphabet soup check list, ims, rms, aos etc etc, specially after getting really close to getting my dream car. the search continues, and this one popped up on ebay. car has 4 owners, third one allegedly a porsche mechanic. i don't think he's on the forum as the car is not in the for sale section.

Porsche : Boxster 986 in Porsche | eBay Motors

i asked if he checked the dtc's on the airbag, since this is a known item with a TSB and a kit to address the problem. came back saying there was nobody in the area that could read it(???).

still watching and thinking about it, what do you guys think?

[WhipE350]

Wow these prices have come down in the last two years. Was the IMS replaced with the LNS one? Nice rims also. Seems hard to go wrong at that price.