If Your Boxster Engine Died (out of warranty)
 

would you:

A) Call it a day, sell as a roller and walk away

B) Rebuild it or get another used/new Porsche engine (can be non-Boxster engine)

C) Put in a non-Porsche engine

D) Other (please state what this would be)

P.S.

If you have decided to replace the original please post the costs and if you upgraded in any way.
That would make this thread useful in searches.

P.P.S.
for those of you who are curious, cost to go with a Chevy V8 would be ~13-14K with labor, not including used or new donor motor... that could range $4K-$10K+

911 engine swap
just because "A" is not a option
"B" cost the same or more as "D", so doesn't make any sense
"C" interesting but kinda hard(I would do 996 with ls7 tho)

and the winner is "D"
I did it and the total cost with 3.4 20K miles engine, ims upgrade , swap etc at around 6000$

C:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vkENe0nejo

Renegade Motors in Vegas the Subi conversion or the Audi V8...in this order

Combo of a and d (selected d)

Sell it but get another

d) Claim it on insurance and buy another car.

I have the facelift 986 so I would sell the hard top, soft top, lights etc and scrap what's left and buy a 987.

eBay engine replacement. Cheap and easy.

I would put in a used engine and SELL it.

There is no acceptable reason why my engine should ever blow up. I don't track the car, I drive it respectfully, don't overrev, and I maintain it very carefully. If my engine were to blow under these conditions, I have no further use for the car and it's just a matter of salvaging what I can out of it.

I think it is pathetic that we continue to have discussions like these on the various Boxster/Cayman forums. The troubles of other people suck a a lot of my enjoyment right out of the car. The fact that I have personally had no trouble out of it continues to give me hope that I won't be one of those "stuck" with major engine problems. If not, I would sell it tomorrow.

I voted that I would put another engine in mine. Would try to get a 3.6 for it as the car itself is in great condition inside and out.

Do these cars ever rust? Don't think I have ever seen a Boxster with rust.

^ I used to feel this way as well. Until I did some back of the envelope math and realized that between purchase, upgrades, major maintenance and consumables I've got over $60K into a car that still looks good enough to get a compliment from another motorist every other drive. No rust, paint still shines, the interior looks great. It could use a little paint work freshening up every so often, but for the money I'd get selling I simply would not get something remotely comparable. And if the replacement were also German, I've got a bunch of new things to worry about all over again. If the Boxster engine replacement can be done for a sensible price, statiscally, I'd be good to go for another decade or longer... certainly if I quit driving it 10K+ miles a year.


But looking back now I think my policy would have been wiser had I switched out of water-cooled non-Metzer Porsches every 2-3 years max. Not that the wet engines are so terrible, but more that these flavor of Porsches start to collapse in value just as the really expensive, non-engine repairs start to emerge. double whammy. I think the only Porsche, that I could actually drive with some regularity (without fear of seeing value evaporate as the odometer ticks up like the air-cooled) would be 996/997 GT3. Those engines ensure some sustainability in the car's overall value for a non-collector/non-garage queen Porsche. And the car iself is much faster and better handling than any of the air-cooled Porsches by a long way. Too bad the engine is in the wrong place or that Porsche never bothered to put a Metzger in a high end midengine coupe. Completely retarded decision that presumes high end rear engine and mid-engine could not coexist. So in a perfect set up the GT3 would be keeper, the Boxster would be the girlfriend of the month and who knows what would be the daily driver, maybe a Wrangler.

"B", I like knowing exactly what is in my car and how it was driven and maintained. I do not like band-aid repairs and prefer to tackle the failed component/s and all relative preventative maintenance at the same time since it is mostly free labor. I used to do this with my British sports cars and they were a lot of fun and more reliable in the long run than most.

If I could improve upon the original part, I would. But for the most part I like keeping the car near stock.

auto insurance in Oz covers catastrophic engine failure? or is this a separate warranty?

Based on my experience, it's best to walk away since even a used motor with all the "while you're in there" expenses will exceed the value of the car. Also the dealer that sold me my 01 new would not accept it as a trade on a new 981S since the motor had been replaced.