Need Advice: Inspection before purchase

[pmcaya]

I need some advice about inspecting the engine & running gear prior to purchasing 2003 Boxter base, auto, tiptronic.

I have a '82 924 that I've driven for over 15 years and find it easy to maintain with the help of 924.org. I'm a little apprehensive about the Boxter in terms of evaluating engine/drive train and maintainability. I'd like to have your input - perhaps a check-list of things to look at before purchase:

About the car: One owner Arizona car with 110K and good cosmetics. I intend to use it as daily driver - approx 10K/year. Test drive showed good function of engine/trans with tight handling & braking. Clean Car fax except for fender bender in 2009. Owner sold because he didn't want to drive in NY weather. No check engine light.

My main concern: How the heck do I get a good look at the engine and what should I look for? Also info about the infamous bearing problem. I don't mind the high mileage - Porsches like to be driven, but I hope for the same durability I've gotten from my 924. Thanks in advance for your help - Peter

[kjc2050]

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/14685-thinking-buying-boxster-must-read.html

[RandallNeighbour]

The nice thing about the 03's is that apart from the IMS issue, Porsche sorted out a lot of bad engineering and upgraded parts along the way from the first year model in 1997. So you've got that going for you. But they still used a lot of "high performance plastic parts" in the engine bay that do not stand up to the heat and age of a car you're looking at (accordion designed oil filler tube for example, which cracks over time and leaks oil onto your exhaust manifold.)

Stuff to check that may not be clear on my web page (can't remember now what's on it!):

Wheel Bearings and all suspension components: The 11 year old car you're looking at may have cracked bushings and worn bearings. These items wear out faster (prematurely if you ask my opinion) in 986s compared to any other car I've owned to date.

I would also pay to have a laser four wheel alignment done on the car before purchase. Shows all sorts of hidden damage if they can't bring it into range on all four corners. I sure wish I had done this on my purchase. If I had, I would have walked away.

[Perfectlap]

Daily driver in a four season climate with north of 100K miles onboard?

My advice, look for a car with much, much less mileage or start clearing out space for all the parts you'll be replacing on the car. The big expense in keeping them on the road is the parts and not really the labor.

If you want to press your luck with a high mileage car, then you need a pretty long list of repairs that have already been done. Namely, suspension, clutch/ims, and cooling components (the big three $$$). You could easily spend very close to the value of the car doing all of these.

I would recommend you download a copy of 101 Boxster Projects for your Porsche Boxster from Google Play or getting a hardcopy. It will cover all the big repairs, the cost of parts and labor. Once you're familiar with this car and find a car you like get a pre purchase inspection done by Porsche dealership. I think I paid less than $200 for top to bottom diagnostic down to which coil packs needed replacing and a very "interesting" looking estimate of all. But I knew what had to be done. Budget to that list of "need to do's" the things that typically fail on a high mileage car that look fine during physical inspection but go without warning like your AOS, starter, alternator, etc. Winters are very hard on these cars.


http://www.amazon.com/Projects-Porsche-Boxster-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0760335540/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415731542&sr=8-1&keywords=101+projects+for+your+porsche+boxster

[recycledsixtie]

[QUOTE=Perfectlap;424754]Daily driver in a four season climate with north of 100K miles onboard?

Being an ex owner of a 2001 Boxster sold last August I can pass on a couple of tips.
I had it for 3 years and drove it year round including snowy winters and below freezing temperatures.

It had no psm so I took it easy on the corners. I bought good winter tires and never got stuck. However you will hit windrows and it pounds the underside of the car. I know in NY state you get lots of snow.

The final downfall was the camshaft deviation that was out of tolerance. I do not know how it happened but I decided to sell the car with this problem. I do not know if the cold temps contributed to this problem. I now have a Lexus Rx which is more suitable for the winter.

It was the most fun car I have ever had. However I would not recommend it for snowy winters. Why? Too low and vulnerable to other vehicles and increased maintenance costs.
Trust this helps! Guy

[brjak]

Is camshaft deviation a large repair bill? how much does that run?

[recycledsixtie]

Originally Posted by brjak

Is camshaft deviation a large repair bill? how much does that run?

That depends on what is causing it. It can be a simple thing like a solenoid or a sensor or it can be chain guides. I am not a technician. If you fix it yourself it will be considerably cheaper. Look under search for camshaft deviation. I was not prepared to spend the $$$ to fix it myself so I sold my Boxster quite cheaply. Winter was coming up and I needed something more suitable.

Cheers, Guy

[thstone]

Send me a PM with your email and I'll send you my PPI list for a starter. But be sure to get a professional PPI - do not do your own inspection!

There is a lot of maintenance on a high mileage 986/996. Plan on $2,000 per year and you should be fine. There will be years where you'll spend less and then there will be years when you spend more. The good thing about this is you can kind of spread out the financial pain - but I assure you that it will be constant and never ending and in several years you will have invested the price of the car back into the car to keep it in good nick.

There are no cheap Porsches.

For example, my 140K mile 996 needed new tires earlier this year ($1,100). Recently, I noticed the car was getting harder and harder to start and traced it to the starter. When I pulled the alternator to get to the starter, I found that the alternator bearings were making noise so that needed replacement. And the idler pulleys were making noise so they also needed replacement. And one of the throttle body intake boots was torn. No sense in replacing just one, so both got replaced. And ... well you get the idea: $1,400 in parts later, I should have it back on the road tomorrow. (this would have cost me $2,500+ at a shop).

[pmcaya]

I'm amazed how quickly this thread got "off topic" - now we're talking about "camshaft deviations"? I read "thinking about buying a Boxter" & FAQs - same comment - thread is all over the road and focuses on repairs & horror stories.

I thought I asked some basic questions that most owners could answer.

[78F350]

Originally Posted by pmcaya

I'm amazed how quickly this thread got "off topic" - now we're talking about "camshaft deviations"? I read "thinking about buying a Boxter" & FAQs - same comment - thread is all over the road and focuses on repairs & horror stories.

I thought I asked some basic questions that most owners could answer.

Try again. Your original post was not concise and to the point. We are easily distracted and beset by cam-deviant thread jumpers all the time.

Make a couple clear bullet statements and if they have already been answered hundreds of times in similar threads don't expect to get new and different answers.

Question:

I'd like to have your input - perhaps a check-list of things to look at before purchase:

Answer:

Send me (thstone) a PM with your email and I'll send you my PPI list for a starter. But be sure to get a professional PPI - do not do your own inspection!

Question:

My main concern: How the heck do I get a good look at the engine and what should I look for?

Answer: Not really a very different question from #1. RandallNeighbour, who posted a short answer to you, is a bit of an expert. Here's his long answer: Porsche Boxster Buyer's Tips, Mods, and More . Also see: Porsche Boxster 986 (1997-2004) / 987 (2005-2008) Technical Articles | Pelican Parts

Question:

Also info about the infamous bearing problem.

Answer: New info about the IMSB

...and please do not ask about what oil to use, which tyres are the best, or how to delete felines from your roof without doing a search first.

Thanks and welcome to the forums.

[thstone]

Ok, let me balance out my previous post with some of the positives;

1. My original Boxster engine finally failed (due to a cam lifter, not IMS bearing) at 146,000 miles. Besides the miles, the engine had 89 track days and over 10,000 runs up to redline (and several beyond redline!). This is amazing durability.

2. My 996 has 146,000 miles. At this level of mileage, you have to start to expect things to need replacement. To be fair, I could have let the alternator and idler pulley's alone. They were not squealing or making a lot of noise so I probably could have let them go another 10K or 20K miles until they really needed replacement and saved $700. It was more of a "while I was in there" thing.

3. The 996 with 146,000 miles runs like its brand new. The engine purrs like a kitten and its perfectly smooth. Unless something strange happens, I hope to get 200K miles.

4. It is almost impossible to put a price on the Boxster fun factor! The amount of joy, happiness, and fun that you'll experience in a Boxster has to be 10x or 20x whatever you might spend on a yearly basis keeping the car running. Is it worth it? HECK YES!

5. I love Boxster's! They are the most pure sports car that you can find with a stereo and real air conditioning. They shame the 911 (996) in pure handling and driving excitement.

In closing, if you liked your 924, you are going to be intoxicated with the 986.