50,000 miles of 987S
 

I'm 300 miles away from the 50,000 mark in my 2005 Boxster S. I picked it up in May of 2005.

The car is currently at my dealer getting some last minute minor details taken care of. In addition, my car popped its first-ever check-engine light, which as everyone knows is usually an emissions thing. Sure enough, my evap system is leaking.

No biggie.

As I head into my extended warranty period, I thought it'd be a good time to reflect on the car.

Pre-20,000 miles experience:

• "Shoestring" tension lines in cab top came loose three times.
• Tranny replaced twice due to failure that PCNA (and certain ex-members here ;) ) tried to blame on me. Zero problems after third replacement and no change in driving style by yours truly.
• Took car to dealership multitude of times for radio issues.
• Rattling windstop was serviced a multitude of times.
• A bunch of minor recalls.
• Trim ring around shift boot replaced because it wouldn't stay in place.
• Low-tone horn replaced once due to failure.
• Key replaced once after I dropped it on the ground in the supermarket and it exploded into a zillion pieces. Quality is job #1.
• Rear PASM shock replaced at 20,000 miles due to failure
• Rear-view mirror replaced at 15,000 miles after developing streaks in glass.

Post-20,000 miles experience:

• Dead pedal replaced once due to cracking.
• Driver seat was replaced at 30,000 miles or so due to stitching failure.
• RMS replaced somewhere along the way with the "new design". No leaks since...
• AC unit's controls were peeling at around 40,000 miles. Unit was replaced and I noticed that the controls are no longer rubberized. Must have been a common issue.
• Passenger-side rear tail light housing replaced once due to fogging (may have been due to prior rear-ending)
• Retrofitted PCM replaced once shortly after receipt due to weird software glitch.
• Axle boot came loose once on right rear, spewing axle grease on inside of wheel.
• Front thermostat sensor popped out of its housing around 45,000 miles, was replaced.
• Replaced floor mats once due to wear from my heel.
• Passenger-side driving light in fog light housing replaced.
• Glove compartment started rattling, dealer replaced.

Miscellaneous comments:

• Front brakes and rotors replaced once.
• Oil changed every 10,000 miles.
• Still on my original clutch (I never dump the clutch or launch the car)
• Fourth set of rear tires, second set of fronts. Rears got punctured twice.
• Have only had one door ding.
• Got rear-ended once. (nothing major, just bumper parts replaced)
• Got backed into once. (minor)
• Still loving the Reus audio upgrade, still hate Bose.
• Never bought the $300 chrome exhaust tip, on principle alone. :)
• Did buy the $50 aluminum-look gas cap. :o
• Lots of sandblasting in the glass, but no cracks or chips.
• Clear plastic fender guards around the side vents are a bit yellowed.
• Lots of chips in the side vent paint.
• Clear bra has helped immensely. New ones cover the entire hood, which would've been nice.
• Nose scraped twice on pavement.
• Sad that a PCM nav upgrade costs over $300.
• One self-inflicted nick in rear bumper from me dropping the car key two weeks ago :(
• Still have grease streaks on windows after reporting the problem a zillion times.
• Three speeding tickets, one fix-it ticket for missing front plate.
• Front plate has never been attached to car. CHP does not apparently enforce their fix-it tickets.

Total amount spent on any repairs and maintenance beyond tires, brakes and oil changes: ZERO.

Suffice to say, the guys at Pioneer Porsche know me very well now and I've had an exceptional experience with the service department. In a way, I guess that this could be a lesson learned on buying a first-year model of ANY car.

But I've learned that Porsche does take care of their problems. I can't complain too much--they've given me a loaner car each time I've taken the car in for anything--saves me some gas and mileage. :) The car's pretty well shaken down and after PCNA and I came to a bit of a settlement, I'm happy to have a 100,000 mile warranty in place and very confident of continuing ownership of this car.

It's been nothing but a joy to drive and I still get comments from people that can't believe that it has 50,000 miles on the Odo. "Still looks brand new!" I'm still enamoured with my choice, although I wish I had spec'd her out a little differently when I ordered her.

Well, you certainly had your share of issues with the car, but the problems appear to be less serious than my first year Porsche Cayenne (engine replacement at 18,000 miles, etc). I'm also impressed that you worked out a longer warranty with PCMA - Good job. In contrast, I have owned my '08 987 S for almost one year and the only item(s) I needed were routine oil changes, and to say I am very pleased with the car would be an understatement.
You state that you are still enamored with your car, but my question is, knowing what you know now, would you have still purchased the car?
vincesf

Interesting question. The answer is "yes". I can't imagine having gone these past three years with anything different.

But, that answer could have been "no" were I a different person. If I were my mother, for instance, I'd say "no".

I think the ownership experience could have been very different were I not a gearhead already that had worked on cars and owned Real Clunkers before. As much as I wasn't impressed that the car had so many issues, Porsche handled them in the appropriate manner and mostly, the car has been solid.

And yes, no engine problems. That's been a big relief. The transmission had me very very puzzled though.

Great right-up, Eslai. Very thorough as always. I expect to have your mileage in about 2 more driving seasons.

Eslai,

Great write up. One thing that would be interesting to find out is how much $$$ was spent on warranty work. When I purchased my 986 I received a 5 year 60k warranty from the factory as incentive. From date of purchase to end of warranty the dealer racked in about $35k from Porsche for my claims/repairs.

You can get this information from your service advisor.

Its nice to see a 987 wtih 50k miles.

~James

How do you take care of a no front plate ticket in San Diego County?

How much did you really pay for that silver gas cap?

1. Normally you put the plate on, go to the Police/Sheriff/CHP, show them the plate on the car and they sign off the ticket. I've found in two cases now that when the CHP write something in on your ticket, it doesn't seem to get into their systems. I have ignored a smog referee write-up from the CHP once in the past with no ill effects and there was never any mention of my front-plate write up on the Boxster. I imagine the system isn't set up very well to handle these cases.

2. I really paid "zero" I guess. When I first bought the car, Pioneer Centres gave me a $50 gift certificate to their parts counter. At the time I didn't see how I could possibly spend any money on additions to such a perfect order, so I just blew the ticket on the gas cap. LOL WHOOPS.

Suffice to say I've added a few useless things over time:

1. Bling Bling Gas Cap
2. PCM
3. Red seat belts
4. Sport steering wheel
5. 18" cayman wheels
6. Leather-trimmed Cayman gauge hood
7. Leather-trimmed center console stack sides
8. Alumalook-painted lower side mirror arms
9. Side pocket umbrella. In SoCal.

All except 1, 2, 3, and 9 were second-hand at least...well I did have to buy an airbag for the steering wheel.

Talk about burning money. I'm retarded. But look!! I didn't buy the chrome exhaust tips!!! :o

Can you tell I'm not married?

I resemble that remark!! Note the chrome exhaust tips.

Glad to hear that you would still have purchased the car, knowing what you know now.

vincesf

wow, that quality product.
so, it owuld have been easier for you to post what DIDN'T break on that car lol

Thats a lot of things replaced! My base has 56K+ quickly heading towards 60K. I do not have record unfortunately, but I do have a Stuttgart dealer stamp in the book. So I know it was well taken care of.

I do have stone chips and a few bumper dings from the PO, but I don't mind because it's my daily.

It's good to see P-cars being driven!

At almost 60K the list of things I know I need on my dime:
Brake Pads - possibly rear rotors
plugs
air filter
oil change + filter
serp. belt
tires soon enough

Those are all wear items, I can't complain too much.

Good advice on buying the 1st year model of any car. I had nightmares with issues on my 2004 Cayenne, but once they were cleaned up it was pretty reliable. My 2004 Boxster S has been pretty solid so far (knock on wood). I guess by the end of the model run they'd sorted most things out.