Do your Boxster running/fixing expenses...
 

amount to more than you thought before you bought it or less?

The DIY guys are in a different league as they just have to spend on parts.

There is also the factor that if it is not broken then do you replace to be preemptive or do you let it go until it breaks?

For myself as I bought my 2001 Box base with only 30k miles I have had few issues.
So overall I have been pleasantly surprised and it is about what I anticipated for running/fixing costs a year - about $1500 to $2000 a year.

And you including the DIY guys/girls?

As a caveat my question is totally insensitive to those who have had an IMS failure.....:(

DIY saves money for sure but a quick look recently at my largest bills from my indy seem to show that very rarely is labor half or more of the total bill. Since my indy's hourly rate is a reasonable $85 (cheap considering their experience and specialization), I've only had a few instances where labor exceeded ~$700. Yet parts for Porsches will always be over-priced.

As for as my expectations. This is a tale of two Porsches. My mostly garage kept and weekend only Boxster was by far the most reliable car I'd ever owned... up to the first 70K miles only one unexpected repair and even at the dealer it was less than a $400 fix.
Then came the other Boxster, the one with next 20K miles and it all came home to roost. Big big money (relative to the market value of the car itself). Most everyone I know think I was nuts not to sell but in my mind I didn't see the point until the 9A1 Porsches hit the second-hand market with depreciation all baked in. I knew that was going to take a while so I hunkered down and put some extra pennies in the piggy bank each month. My lesson learned is "in by 20K miles out by 50K miles" when it comes to water-cooled Porsches. Let the first owner take the depreciation hit, let the next owner deal with major maintenance bills. I recently read a 993 owner speaking of the same decision to sell in advance of the "big wave".
Now I don't know if I'm too interested in sticking with Porsche. Sometimes I think that if not for the Boxster I doubt I would have owned a Porsche at all, or no more than a year or two as rear engine cars really aren't my thing. I only wish Porsche had decided to have flagship cars for rear and midengine fans respectively. My "dream" workhorse Porsche would be a 918 Spyder with a conventional engine and a whole lot less carbon fiber and unobtainium.

I hear you Perfectlap. I sometimes think that this will be my first and last Porsche.
At the age of 67 I am enjoying this car. My wife is much more practical and thinks the sun rises and sets on her 2002 Camry. Her car costs little to run and mine more. She reminds me often.

I did lust after a 911 but somehow the Boxster has filled that void and I have not been disappointed. I know my Box and know what it needs. It has never failed to start in cold or warm weather, never left me stranded. The 99 Miata was not a good cold weather car as the battery was too small and had to be plugged in to heat the engine block.

This is as good as it gets and it is very good.:)
G.

I'm of the opinion that a manual transmission Boxster Spyder will be as good as it gets for a Porsche sports car in the modern era. Still the lightest, non-electric steering, non-automatic shifting, non-grand touring, non-garage queen, Porsche still left.

I'd have to say that maintenance costs are much lower than expected, about on par with my Tardis. I'm not including discretionary upgrades here. When I got the car my thinking was that it would have to be serviced by highly trained gods because it was a Porsche. I quickly realized (due in no small part to this forum) that it is just another car and I can do most of it myself. Now, have I spent more on tools than I would have spent on maintenance? Um, no comment.

Do you really start your Boxster at -30 without plugging it in?

My operating costs have been about what I expected (~$2K/yr each) for my street Boxster (before it became a race car), the 996, and the 944. I DIY as much as possible but still use indy shops fairly often. Overall, I am very happy with P-car ownership.

Less than I expected.

+1 for less than I expected, but I haven't had to pay anyone to work on the car, except for mounting/balancing tires and a 4 wheel alignment.

$3,200 total from August 2008 to present. Heck, over $1k of my total is for seats and a new top!
All maintenance is up to date, with the current mileage at 116K.

The car has been an absolute blast, easliy as much fun now as when I purchased it. I do wish that the interior materials were more durable but that's about it.

I'm in the more than expected camp. 04 S with about 60k mi and a mostly clean PPI. I am reluctant to add up the bills!

Clutch/ LNE IMSB/ RMS were elective, but the clutch was pretty well worn. Job was included in my plans when I bought it.

Within a few months though I needed a new coolant tank, then water pump, leaking cam oil seal and oil pump seal, CV boots (intact) started to leak grease from the clamps loosening up. To be fair I was tracking the car some and suppose that contributed to some of these items.

I also got new RE11s and 4 wheel alignment.

At one point I was a bit disappointed. But the last 2 times on track the car ran like a champ and was a lot of fun. Great on weekend blasts too.

For 2014 have set aside for AOS if needed. Also have a bunch of brake parts and box of ROW M030 suspension bits.

Although major repair costs are a constant threat, I've found overall costs lower than expected. I think the reason for me is that there are so many good DIY sources that aren't available for non-enthusiast cars. Between my Bentley manual and the various forums I'm usually able to find 3 or more write ups of each job. This allows me to tackle some fairly major projects with a fair degree of confidence.

The things that have cost me are the various modifications that aren't a temptation with other cars. I've added a hard top, 996 gauge cluster, heated seats, rear speakers, a 6-channel amplifier, garage door opener, variable intermittent wipers and various other enhancements that make the car a little more personal. I've managed to keep the costs fairly reasonable, but they have added up.

My next scheduled modification is a dual din navigation system.

Less...but that does not include all the upfront mechanical upgrades I did with IMS bearing etc...