Porsche Boxster Engines
 

Hello to all. I am looking into getting a boxster and have been reading up on the topics on this site and I do have a question. On an earlier post, someone had reached 100,000 miles on his car and people were congratulating him for doing so and saying that they hope that their cars will also be able to reach 100k miles. My question is, aren't Porsche engines supposed to reach this kind of mileage and probably even more than that. I'm thinking maybe 200 or even 300k? I mean, isn't this one of the reasons that makes Porsches' so expensive? Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks in advance!

I could be all wrong, but I think the fact that Boxsters have only been out since 1997 would prove that it's not easy to put that many miles on a car that typically doesn't see stormy weather or harsh winters. I think the national average for annual miles on a Boxster is something like 7k~9k.

For one thing at least, the Porsche Boxster has only been in existance for 8 years, dating back to the 1997 model. Most drivers do not put 20,000 miles a year on their Boxster, so the chances of hearing about someone hitting 100,000 miles is not that common....I would even go so far to say that quite a few people do not use their cars as daily drivers either. There are probably more people that have hit 100000, we just don't hear about it that much....

Given proper care, I would think these engines could last well beyond 100,000 miles ;) .....

Ditto the above. Fact is, there hasn't been time to establish any benchmarks with this engine.

IMHO, the engine can run at least 200K without a major rebuild IF it is cared for appropriately.

On the other hand, I think we are getting about 25K on our RMS!

Just kidding!



:cheers:

I would even go so far to say that quite a few people do not use their cars as daily drivers either. There are probably more people that have hit 100000, we just don't hear about it that much....

Given proper care, I would think these engines could last well beyond 100,000 miles ;) .....[/QUOTE]


I asked the question in the this forum and the result is 5 out of every eight or 62.5% did use the car as a daily driver. In large metropolitan areas like NY or Boston I would say that the percentage drops because of the parking issue. Lucky for me I live in Long Island and drive 10 miles each way. :D

Miles per daily commute definitely makes a difference too, didn't think of that :) .....

Yeah, most people don't use them as daily drivers so they haven't hit 100K yet. My 18 year old 928 just hit 105K because the POs never drove it. When we bought our Boxster, the PO had put 21K miles on it in 3 1/2 years. We've had it two years and it now has 65K miles on it so I guess we're the exception to the rule. We should hit 100K in the next two years, but it should last much longer than that.

I would expect to get 300-400K miles if you take proper care of your baby and you stay away from the '99s that were manufactured during the engine plant problem. One of the guys who services and sells parts for the 928 said on average the engine's last well over 300K miles before requiring a re-build if they are maintained properly.

Here's the "problem" with Porsches:
Unfortunately, most of Porsche's initial owners (and other exotic car owners) are not "car people" who are truly interested in every aspect of a Porsche as a finely tuned performance machine. Most just have the money and want a cool car. They take pretty good care of it during the warranty, but usually sell it within 2-3 years. While under warranty, the bad thing that can happen is the owner doesn't hit the "oil change mileage" so they don't change it. Oil that isn't regularly filtered by the engine running forms acid and has a lot of condensation so it wears an engine down when they do drive it.

Often, the next owner gets the car because the depreciation hit has already occured and he could get into a Porsche for the price of a Toyota. Then you can have other problems occur. The new owner has no idea about the maintenance costs. he goes in for the 15K or 30K service and gets a bill for $800+. After that, he only gets the oil changed at a mechanic's shop for $80 and prays nothing really bad goes wrong.

After you drive a Boxster, you will buy one. Just get a complete PPI done by a dealer and if you can, get an oil analysis done too. The oil analysis will tell you a lot about how the engine has worn and if there are any internal leaks between fluids. :cheers:

Thanks for the great tip! This will really come in handy when I go hunt for mine! :D

Forgot to ask, how much does a PPI cost? How about the oil analysis? Thanks! :p

The local dealer charges $230 for the PPI.

I think your underlying logic that Porsche car's are expensive and thus their engines should be bullet proof is flawed.

Porshas are expensive because they make so few of them. How many people in your life do you know who own a Porsche?
Now how many people do you know who own BMW's and Mercs? probably allot more. Honda's, Toyo's etc? Way more.

Porshce have a very unique production process. They don't build unless they know in advance there is a buyer. Very few companies can do this and be profitable. And today Porsche is the most profitable company in the world. Quite an achievement. Nowadays Porsche simply don't make any bad cars, they are good, better and excellent. The Boxster is the most affordable option to be part of this exclusive little club around the world and although it may not be a HOnda in terms of bulletproof reliability its still very respectable.

Tips: even if it means travelling to nearby state, try to Buy the car in a state that has a lemmon law like a 6 month powertrain warranty here in New Jersey. And try and muster up the cash to get one that is still with at least a year of factory warranty so that you can continue extend the warranty with a company like warrantydirect.com Most extended warranty companies are hesistant to insure a car that whose warranty has elapsed. You can get a powertrain extended warranty for 50,000 miles for a one time fee.

It's about $20 for an oil analysis. You can get it done online (search for oil analysis and several companies have kits) or some local oil change shops do it. It would take awhile online, so that may not be feasible when purchasing.

Here's a good thread to see how P-car engines can hold up over time. http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforums/showthread.php?t=212759&referrerid=27688