2005 Boxster - Cost to Own?

[WhipE350]

Mango, I'll second everything others have said here.

Was your BMW expensive to maintain, did you do the work yourself? Some of these cars are very reliable, I have a 2000 'S' and looking at the service records from

the previous guy it was really no more then most other cars. I mean he paid more for the basic services but when a car takes 9 quarts of synthetic oil it adds
up.

I tend to buy oil when they have the 5 quart specials with filter for $30 so for $65 I get two filters and enough oil for one change. One of the reasons folks change the oil that often is to check the filter for medal filings from possible IMS failure.

Regarding the IMS problem, do some reading and assess for yourself. Some think it is as high as 10-20%, others like me think it probably is <2%. I'll be replacing mine this fall but only because I really enjoying working on the car and doing the clutch, IMS, and RMS would be a great experience, also curiosity to see the IMS in my car drives me too.

I really have to strongly second the whole 401k thing, you'll be 51 like me before you know it and will look back and be so happy you saved.

Here are the costs for basic maintenance and repairs I did. I also did a bunch more stuff that completely was not needed. I got my car last fall with 53k miles on it:

Needed:

- Oil change: $65
- Odometer bulb: $5
- 4 18inch Fuzion ZRi tires from Tirerack: $560 + $60 shipping + $60 mounting
- Front brake pads and rotors: $30 (Mintex) + $145 (Balo Coated)
- Clean radiators: $0
- Rear trunk shocks: $26 (Tuff)
- Fasteners for ragtop latch: $35 (Had someone else do this)

Preventative:

- Serpentine belt: $30 (Contitech)
- Spark plugs: $55 (Bosch)
- Trans fluid: $40 (Red Line)
- Fuel filter: $30 (Mann)
- Flush brakes and clutch: $15 (Super Blue)
- Fuel additive: $5

You can see everything here can be done in your driveway or garage, it saves a bunch. Whatever you end up doing get a PPI. Also look on this forum for members selling, I know if I buy again it would likely be from a member. Good luck!

[MangoTheHuman]

The Bimmer was obviously more expensive to get work done then a Honda, but I treat my cars well and never had a lot of big expenses because of it. That being said, I did have some freak things happen like a window motor blowing ($375), a sensor going bad ($500), etc.

**************** happens and I just want to be prepared if something like that happened in a Porsche I do not have the technical expertise to fix it and not a clue what the cost would be.

And don't worry guys - I have had a 401k going since I graduated college

[clickman]

3000 miles between oil changes is excessive unless you're beating the crap out of the car

[surf40]

The reason your Porsche mechanic said he hadn’t done any IMS replacements on 987’s is because you can’t replace the IMS on a 987 without rebuilding the whole engine. Rate of IMS failure is believed to be the same on the 987 as the 986 engine (from all I’ve read on the internet)

[stephen wilson]

Well, you're going to get some EXTREMELY varied opinions.
Most '05 987's have the same IMS as an '04, and thus CAN be replaced without tearing down the engine. It's completely unknown whether the IMS update in ~'06 was an improvement or not. I doubt there is any benefit to changing the oil more frequently than every 5k, or annually, whichever comes first.