Mt first Porsche - I got lucky!
 

My first porsche. Wanted one for years. Then saw that in the Boxster, they were http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1370798460.jpg
actually affordable!!

But at that time I didn't know of the IMSB 'problem'.

I was so blinded by my excitement, I bought the second Boxster I saw, and was hyperventilating so much I barely checked the paperwork or car. I just bought it!

But I started to get worried as I read about IMSB failures, and also spotting the last 3 service stamps in the book were probably faked (and later confirmed by my porsche garage).

2001 Boxster S, silver, great condition. GT3(?) alloys, embossed leather headrests etc.


I took it to my local porsche specialist and decided to go for a major maintenance service, since the others in the book are fake.

He checked cam shaft deviation, and he feels this is OK (just a tiny bit out of limit). The oil was very clean.
Most other things checked out OK. Clutch and gear box OK
Brake discs in v. good condition.

Only work that needs doing is to replace all brake lines as they are heavily corroded. Then maybe sometime replace front lower suspesion arts.

So, I got lucky really. Buying blind like I did could have been an expensive mistake.

It worked out fine in the end. And I have learnt a lot.

I am now a Porsche fan/owner for life! And next time I will have the knowledge to know what to check on the car.

It's the only car I have ever owned that gets me excited everytime I drive..

Congrats! Nice car!

Excellent ride! If you look ant the underside of the frunk lid (bonnet) there should be a factory sticker with a series of numbers. These will be the option codes that came when it was new.

Have fun and go for a rip!

and it's even the best color! ;-) Enjoy your new ride.!

my local Porsche specialist mechanic is very knowledgeable and thorough,

he went through the car with a very fine toothed comb,

pointed out everything, including a microscopic crack in the side repeater!

so I know every little problem that I can slowly fix. The only biggy is the brake pipes.


He got all the factory options off Porsche using my VIN, so I have a full print out.

Why on earth would anyone buy a crappy Ford / Renault etc hatchback when they can have a Boxster!

The perceived value of my car is about 4x what it really cost me :) and it has a 'cherished' plate so it hides the age of the car to non-experts

Congrats, great looking Boxster, and welcome to the forum! Glad it worked out for you and yes, life is too short to drive boring cars:cheers:

some young kid in a lime green Fiat behind me in a traffic queue took a picture of my car. Could see him in the mirror.

Get used to it...it happens a lot ;)

Welcome to the club!

Tomc88, You've bought a goergous example! The wheels are from 'Porsche Sport Design', a slightly separate part of Porsche that is, as I understand it, an industrial design firm and therefor design everything from watches to office furniture. From what I've been able to gather, they design a new wheel every year and when a customer orders a car it's available to them as an option. They are 2- piece wheels and I read somewhere(?) that the bolts are titanium!
Many of your comments mirror exactly how I felt when I bought my car- your first Porsche is truly a SPECIAL experience and the driving part is the best part of it! I tell people that I bought mine because of how it drives but they don't get that unless I let them do so too. :cheers:

A little off topic, but I'd like to nominate Dave S. for BEST PICTURE OF CAR!

What is a side repeater and what is/what does a cherished plate do?

A lot of Boxsters are well taken care of like most cars on this forum. But there are a few out there that are not which can cost big bucks shortly after purchase. Thats why a good ppi is always worth it. Your car looks amazing. Congrads and welcome to the forum.

yes,my wheels are two part. they are in very good shape, but a little bubbling on the outer part.

'cherished plate' is a licensed plate that didnt come with the car. old letter/number format.
where also on mine the year indicator doesnt match the car. so you cant tell age.

not sure how it works in the US,or if there is an equivalent - I am in the UK.


side repeater; also called indicators. the ones on the front wings as opposed to the bumpers (fenders as the yanks call them!)

so my wheels are 'porsche spot design'? cool bonus

they look just like these....
BBS Sport Design Split Rims (Porsche GT3 Wheels) - Newly Refurbished - Detailing World

Cherished plates and side repeaters on wings? Is this the Twilight Zone? :p

Welcome, and congrats on a beautiful ride. I'm sure you'll love it! I have the same wheels on my '00 S, as I guess you can tell from my avatar.

Haha. All you're doing now is confusing the Septics. Side repeaters are called signal lights here. In North America, we generally get a licence plate that has nothing to do with the year of the car. Some states/provences will let you buy a personalized licence plate where you are allowed to spell names or sayings that you want, so you might get a plate with '98 pcar' as your personified plate. Otherwise, your plate is just some letters or numbers. Age isn't specified. And a note to the Americans on this forum. 'Septics' isn't a durogatory term. It's derived from the Cockney part of the UK werein they rhyme names and things to make them sound humorous . It doesn't make any sense to anyone that isn't Cockney, or at least that's how it was explained to me.

A friend snapped that shot of the car near the top of Mt. Evans, around 14,000 ft in elevation.

in the UK you get assigned a really boring number for your car, it also has a year signifier.

you can buy custom number plates, but you are really limited because format must be the same, ie 2 letters, then 2 numbers, then three letters

you can also buy older plates that use older formats,

so in the UK (and maybe other euro countries) getting your plate to spell something is quite a big deal!! saw 230MPH on ebay for £22,000!

Regarding "really boring" plates, the Poms are really - dare I say - paranoid regarding their cars identification....
All UK vehicles wear their original registration plates for life, so if a car is registered in Glasgow in 2003, the number plate immediately designates the car as a 2003 model registered in Glasgow, which to a very class conscious society like in the UK, can indicate you drive an old car.

So buying a personal plate (it's big business and they are purchased for really big $$) can disguise the age of the vehicle.....
To be seen with an old car can be really uncool......

class conscious?

not so sure UK is different than elsewhere, when I see the class and poverty divide across the whole of Europe, Australia and USA, but we shouldnt be talking about that here. All countries sell 'vanity plates'.


back to cars, There are differences between British English, and American English of course, but I find the biggest and most numerous differences are in car part naming,
bumpers/fenders, roof/hood, etc

Great looking car Tom. I like the grey color which should be easier to keep clean than my 2001 Boxster which is black. It looks like it is in really good shape. How many miles/kms on it?I have sent you a pm.
Cheers

But black is one of the Sexiest colors RecycledSixtie, so although its a pain to keep clean, it rewards you with compliments from fine looking woman ;)

I (the car really) got a compliment in a Costco parking lot last week from a gorgeous gal in a Mercedes.

Folks at work were stunned when I mentioned it was 12 years old. They though I bought it fresh off the car lot. One coworker has already considered selling his Mercedes SLC and getting a Boxster.


Tom, you will continue to love your Porsche forever, unless your in the few that suffer an IMS failure. (I think you might have double row IMS bearing which reduces your odds to 1%, which it is in my opinion negligible).

I drive the Boxster daily because it make commuting to work a pleasurable distraction rather than a chore, and my mind is not on work until I arrive, so perhaps its also therapeutic to drive a Boxster.

I've had mine for just over a year and am still as excited as ever to drive it.

Congrats on your new Porsche!

Your front bonnet should have all of the car's options as codes.
You can decipher them here from this link. MOTHER OF ALL PORSCHE OPTIONS LIST: Porsche Option Codes List: The Grandmother of all Porsche Options List. Decode your Optionshttp://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1370878569.jpg


Cheers

mines high, 112K miles

the mechanic and I examined the oil that was drained out and in his experience very clean,
and the cam shaft deviation was just on spec
-he's seen much worse and in his opinion my LMSB should be fine

unfortunately, we in NA didn't get the GT3 until 2004, so we missed out on gen1. Our GT3 had wheels that are similar to yours/mine but were 1 piece and I'm sure, a lot lighter! I'm refinishing mine as we speak and it's a lot of work. The clearcoat over bare aluminum lip, is the problem area as paint doesn't adhere to metal well without a primer coat. That thread you posted showed one solution- painting it. The other would be to leave the lips bare (!) and polish them as required(!!!!). I believe salt is the worst enemy here.:barf:

I understand why you felt lucky after purchasing your Boxster S, but when you buy into a marque like Porsche you buy into higher repair costs and maintenance.

As far as the IMSB failures are concerned, you need to put it into perspective. People will be unlucky and suffer failures, but you can suffer engine failure in any car you buy.

I decided to buy a 1998 2.5 manual, not because of the lower risk of failure, at the time I also knew nothing about the IMSB issue, but because it was more economical to run, cost less to insure and less chance of killing myself by being stupid with a 3.2 S.

I also have a personalised plate that is only 5 digits and with the upgraded lights and 18 inch turbo twist wheels it could easily be seen as a 2004 model.

Drive the car how it was meant to be driven, keep the oil flowing and service it often and try to relax and enjoy the ride!