Another one bites the dust - value??
 

May 15th (six and a half weeks ago) I was elated to bring home my new-to-me '99 boxster with 65,700 miles on it. I bought it as a present to myself for my 26th birthday after dreaming about Porsche ownership for the last 19 years. (My dad has had 911s since I was 7). I got what I thought was a good deal on the car ($2000 under private party book value) and took it to my mechanic for a check-up. The bill was $1600 for the 60k service, front brakes, and spark plug tubes and seals. I was also aware as I picked it up that they wanted to change the ignition switch and figure out why the idle was high, but I wanted the car back and really didn't want to spend more money on it so I took it.

Two weeks later I drove the car to work with the top down and when I pulled in to a spot and tried to put the top up nothing happened. I thought it was the e-brake switch and it could be fixed for $160 or so and dropped it off at the shop again. This time the ignition switch had to be done and since the check engine light was back on I had them figure out why the idle was funky. I got it back with a new ignition switch, idle air control valve, and Mass Air Flow sensor for another $1400. At this point I'm $1000 over book value and the car runs great, so I'm happy.

June 29, after having the car back from the second visit for 10 days, I was having a great time at a PCA autocross in Hartford. I took an instructor for a run to see if I was good enough to become an instructor myself, and got approved. As I pull off the autocross course I heard an odd clanging noise that sounded as if a piece of metal was bouncing around in my engine or transmission, so I shut it off, called AAA, and had it flat-bedded back to the car's favorite place, the shop. At first they said they couldn't replicate the noise, but then were able to and weren't sure if it was engine or transmission.

Today I got the dreaded call. The motor is blown. Intermediate shaft failure. $11k for a new factory motor installed. $15k for a new factory 3.4 motor installed. Or, the shop may be willing to buy the car from me as a roller.

What should I do?
What is the car worth as a roller?
It is not a good day to be me. :barf:

Addiction,

So sorry to hear your news ! Are you sure it's the IMS ?

I thought IMS failure was extremely rare on a '99 :

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-general-discussions/17073-2003-boxster-s-prevent-ims-failure.html

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/problemareas

Nick

Here's my opinion for whatever it's worth.

If you are addicted to the badge and the particular car you bought and planned to keep it for 10 years or indefinitely, then replace the motor with a 3.4. You will have a wicked-fast boxster, especially if you keep the 5 speed tranny. You lose some top end (which you'll rarely enjoy anyway) and add a lot of low rpm grunt that the 6 speed trannies do not possess.

If you are not smack dab in love with your car and don't plan to keep it forever, then you would be throwing good money after bad because you'll lose your shirt in two years when you tire of the car.

I bought my 97 for $15,500. I've put $8000 into it with a salvage transmission, lots of repairs to the cooling system, suspension and emissions, and the balance on new rims, skirts, humps, xenons, salvaged seats out of a 2002 carrera, etc. If my engine blew tomorrow, I'd put a 3.4 or a 3.6 in it as soon as I saved up the cash to do it.

Why dump even more money into a car worth $12k?

1. I can't afford a newer 3.4 boxster at $40k (I pay cash for cars).

2. I am happy to keep my car for the next 10+ years and a new motor would serve me well and the cost would be amortized over many years.

I hope my thinking process on your sad situation helps you decide what to do.

Maybe a Chevy V8?
 

http://www.renegadehybrids.com

Check out this site. I just emailed them on the Boxster and whether they have anything in development of us.

I will keep you posted.

This is EXACTLY what I would do...


www.electricporsche.net


I sent those guys an email about your situation. I was meaning to do it just out of curiosity (or peace of mind!) in the event that similar fate were to befall my beloved BoxsterS. Seems to me that dumping $15K into a 10 year old car is a losing battle. Now on the other hand if its got no need for $5 gas you might have something good on your hands. :cheers:

I was never a fan of these conversions before, but given my current situation it seems like a bargain, if they were to make one for the boxster. Definitely keep us posted.

I understand you logic and why you love the car. It would worry me that the used 3.4 engine could let go too. This does happen in the other motor sizes I understand.

Just a thought, albiet a discomforting one.

Guy up the road from me had a 944 conversation. Jesus, was that fast.

For $15k I can have them put in a brand new Porsche factory 3.4. My mechanic has flat-out refused to install a used 2.5 or 3.4, which I agree with. I have already ruled out the possibility of a new 2.5 because $11k for essentially what I originally had is just plain silly.

Probably the only two realistic options are:

1. Sell the car for whatever I can get for it as a roller (Any ideas what $$ that might be??)

2. My mechanic recently put a new 3.4 in a 996 race car that was then wrecked on the track. He is looking in to how much it would cost to acquire and install that motor for me.

If I can get that "new" 3.4 in the car for under $13K I'll probably do it and then keep the car indefinitely. If that's not possible I'll likely dump it. I paid cash for the car, but I'd have to beg my dad to loan me the money for the new motor. I bought a condo 3 months ago and am out of cash after the 986 purchase and repairs.

All I have to go on is what my mechanic said and the fact that the noise I heard sounded just as described in the threads you linked to. It still runs, but to quote the mechanic "it's about 5 revolutions away from bending all the valves and destroying itself." I told him if it's only a core at this point, let the valves bend - what do I care?

How about 2.7 or 3.2 motors? I would think they are somewhere between the 11k and 15k figures?

Just more options.

The car is probably worth, as a roller.....hold onto your ass... what you paid, minus what it will cost to fix it, divided by two. The mechanic is not going to buy it for the difference in what it's worth and what the motor costs him. Why invest the money to risk just getting what he would get if you pay him to fix it?
So, if you paid 20 and it will cost 11k (and it's always more) you're looking at probably four grand for the car, as is.

I was looking the same route, but spent my cash as a down payment and financed 20k to get an '06, certified car, warranteed out to 5/2012 and another 89k miles.

Speaking of warrantees, what is the deal if an indy puts in a new motor and what is the deal if the dealer does it? You will at least get some kind of warrantee on the new motor from the factory and it may be quite alot more difference from the dealer than the extra cost.

decisions, descisions.....

Who is the mechanic. How was he able to determine it was the intermediate shaft. What month and year was your 1999 made - need to look at the black sticker on the drivers door.

IMS is very rare on pre-'01 Boxster's, I would get a second opinion about it. Has he dropped the engine and checked the bearings?

The mechanic is Dan Jacobs LLC (Hairy Dog Grrrage). He's a very well-known indy in the area with a great reputation.

He was able to determine the failure from the noise it was making as well as all the metal in my 1200 mile old oil and filter. He says that the outer coating comes off the ball-bearings and ends up throughout the engine, resulting in failure and the wonderful sound of metal shards destroying expensive (poorly designed) machinery.

I obviously don't have the car handy, but if I recall correctly it was made in May of 1998. Does that sound right?

My current line of thought is to dump it for whatever I can get for it and go for an older, reliable, air-cooled, brutal 911.

Don't think those older 911s are all that much more reliable.
Say this over, several times - Cam chain tensioner, cam chain tensioner, cam chain tensioner....
Then check out the maintenance schedules and see how much they cost. Say - valve adjustment, valve cover gaskets, warped valve covers, cooling fans, etc., etc.

$11k for a 2.5L replacement? That's nuts.

Get on renntech.org and talk to member 'tholyoak'. He has redone a lot of Boxster's engines.

Metal in the oil filter is not good. You first said you had a 1999. Some 1999 engines were sleeved. The engines were made late 1998 (but sold as model year 1999) to early 1999. I think you have a typo in your second message where you say May 1998.

TP, what is a sleeved engine? Is it good or bad, and is there anyway to figure out if my engine is like that?
Thanks! :cheers:

http://www.pca.org/tech/tech_qa_question.asp?id={F3EA752A-E838-43E5-A43D-BB4F445F5A8F}

Copy and paste the link to see if it works.

Thanks for the link, I had no idea that they had done that.