Keep and fix? Bash and trash?
 

My $8800, 68k mi cop auction '99 Tip has finally been looked at by a mechanic.
He says the tires are cupped, the rear struts are shot, and it needs plugs/wires/seals.
Otherwise all seems to be well. Except maybe for the IMS. That's unknown.

You know all that adds up to big bux. His advice: to drive it like I stole it, sell it in the springtime and buy a better one.

The car has only very minor dings, is 99.99 complete and functional.

I'm commuting in it, and it does get pretty shaky above 70. But that is basically all.

Your opinion?

Are the struts doable by a shadetree mechanic?

The only other glaring defect is that the roof is unglued from the rear roof arch, the one that sits horizontally. I have now tried three different pliable adhesives to no avail.

Anyone found the right goop?

The do you repair
 

an 11 year old car is a question answered by many in many different ways.

There is no way to tell when the last problem is fixed or when the next problem will be so serious as to cause you to abandon the car.

For about $1200-1400 you can get the car running smoothly with tires, struts and an alignment assuming nothing else is found wrong while they are doing that.

Is it worth that to you or would you rather take a loss on the car now or later...because there are thousands of Boxsters for sale now and you'll be hard pressed to even sell one that doesn't run smoothly let alone has dents against the competition.

Only you can answer those kinds of questions because only you know your finances, your willingness to take risk, etc.

Easy... you keep the car you do the repairs and have fun. O'wise......

Easy...do you like the car??????? You keep the car you do the repairs and have fun. O'wise......

Eltren, if you do decide to fix'er up and don't mind putting used shocks on let me know, I have ones I took off at 53k miles. The fronts are already off and boxed up and ready to ship. I'm changing mine cause my roads are bad, I just got the car in Nov and because I just felt like changing them, I also enjoy working on the car. From tests I did on the used front ones they seem to have a ton of life left. The rears are coming off shortly and if ok I'd like get them to somebody also. I originally posted them for $60 plus shipping but really if I can help someone out and your roads are descent heck you can have'em for shipping.

I did the front pretty easy but had to be creative. The rear should be harder. I think a shadetree can do them ;) .

Oh they came off a 2000 'S', I think that is a match.

Dude, keep it! For less than $1,500 you can fix it up good as new and have a $50,000 sports car for a tad over $10K.

DUDE! The car is 11 years old with only 68K on the clock, that's an average of just over 6k a year...sounds like a good deal, low use car. The items you mentioned are normal wear and tear items, get 'em fixed and enjoy the car. :cheers:

P.S. Eltren, you might want to get another mechanic if he told you the car needs plug wires. Our cars run individual coil packs on each cylinder, no wires.

Put some tires on it. My 100k mile 2000 S that I bought a couple months ago would shake the wheel a little at highway speeds. One of the fronts was cupped. New tires make a big difference and don't cost very much.

I agree with Jaxonalden, find a different mechanic. Aside from the plug wire comment, he's giving you bad advice.

When a mechanic tells you it's time to get a new car because it needs struts and plugs, it's time to find a new mechanic. Those are just regular maintenance items. Next he might tell you to sell the car rather than investing in 9 qts of synthetic for an oil change.

Wow, doesn't take much to sell a Porsche these days...

That car needs some love.

I want to meet this mechanic. He sounds like a funny guy. :rolleyes: It sounds to me like you bought a 11 year old $50,000 porsche with no issues for less than $10,000. Good deal, do your maintenance and drive the thing. Needs plug wires...that just cracks me up.

When I bought my '98 Boxster back in March '09, it also needed rear struts.
The right rear one had leaked all its fluid out during it's 79k miles.
I bought a pair, and installed them myself in my garage, in under a day.

Ummn...
The part that sits down under the clam shell when the top is closed, or one of the upper beams, above your head?

If you're talking about the low beam by the clam shell, it's just double sided tape.
I bought it at Napa when I replaced my top last summer. The upper beams have no tape.

BC.

Thanks, guys, it'll take a lot to change me from "fix/keep"
 

Good observations all around...and in sync with my thinking.

I believe the shop is a good shop...giving them a try. The place is immaculate and organized...they just haven't really been that way with me so far so it may be a case of appearances being better than the truth. In his defence, part of his point is that there's boatloads of Box's out there now, at what seem like very reasonable prices.

How do you guys feel about WhipE350's kind offer (thanks, WhipE!)?
Would you install used struts with 50K on em?

A mystery: As I've mentioned, the car becomes a paintshaker at about 70 MPH...except when it doesn't. Twice now it's just smoothed itself out, no changes on my part. First time it was just for one day, this time it's going on two days. Still shakes, same frequency, lower amplitude and energy.

The only thing I can theorize is that whatever is clunking in the front end when I reverse with much lock may be having some effect...all of which makes me very nervous.

Starting to consider having it gone over by the dreaded dealer.
Anybody have a preference in Northern Va?

Oh and one more thing....
 

The car's most glaring, or should I say blaring minor glitch is a horn short that has to be in the wheel or column. Turn the wheel, hear the horn. Ditto hit a bump, push the wheel, pull the wheel...you name it. Diagnosis: frayed insulation in the wheel or column, hopefully in plain sight once I get the airbag off.

And that's the question:

Any huge gotchas to airbag removal, or further disassembly of the steering wheel and column...I have the book, but the book doesn't talk back.

Cheers!

Yeah - disconnect your battery and wait at least half an hour before working on the airbag. Unexpected deployment can be startling.

LOL!! Sorry it was just funny cause it's happened to me years ago!!!! :eek:

Make sure you have the suspension fixed and an alignment done before you replace the tires. If you replace the tires first, and there are problems with the alignment or suspension, you will only trash the new tires. Fix the susp. first, then get tires. Then drive it like you stole it.

Oh yeah. Get the IMS fixed. You can do it yourself with the Bentley manual, reference to these message board (with Renntech.org and PelicanParts) and a little bit of work.

Could be several things, strut/shock, shock bearing, could be as simple as a loose shock mount, outer tie rod or its ball joint, control arm or it's ball joint. A good mechanic can tell pretty quick, maybe as simple as an alignment. Cheaper to have it looked at then buy a new car. When you had it looked at recently did they say anything about the shacking?

Removing the airbag is cake, just wait 15 to 30 min minimum! I've taken mine off and on many times without issue....so what I want to hear is Hawkeye71 story! Really hope no one got hurt.

:cheers:

Yes
 

They say it's the cupped tires. But...cupped tires are a result of chronic overinflation, right? and knowing human nature, how likely is that, really?

The guy did say exactly what you guys are saying...suspension, align, see how it behaves, tires then, maybe. 'cause the tires that are on there have a ton of meat left on em.

Think I will take it to another shop, definitely get the struts done.

And read Bentley re IMS replacement. Gotta wait till at least March...no garage.

Cheers!