The Ying and Yang of Boxster Reliability

[mikefocke]

I owned a Honda, an Acura and a Boxster. All of the around the same vintage and mileage. The Boxster was by far the most reliable in terms of trips to the mechanic. It was also the cheapest to maintain despite me giving it extra love (Michelin N-spec tires, Optima AGM battery, an extra O2 sensor, etc.). It never left me stranded, not something I can say about either of the Honda products.

Unfortunately, it also depreciated the most.

[KRAM36]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

I owned a Honda, an Acura and a Boxster. All of the around the same vintage and mileage. The Boxster was by far the most reliable in terms of trips to the mechanic. It was also the cheapest to maintain despite me giving it extra love (Michelin N-spec tires, Optima AGM battery, an extra O2 sensor, etc.). It never left me stranded, not something I can say about either of the Honda products.

Unfortunately, it also depreciated the most.

My Boxster is a 2003, my daughter learned to drive in it and took her driver's test in it. When it came time to buy her a car she wanted a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder. So we found one, a 2003 model with 80k miles on it. I have had to make more repairs to that car then my Boxster that has way more miles. I bought the Eclipse for $4,000 and I bet I have put $3,000 or more into it in less then 2 years.

Right front knuckle busted on it while she was doing 65 mph, which folded the wheel under the car and sent her into a median. Luckily the median was snow covered and the car didn't bite into the ground and flip over on her, but the car did at least three 360° spins and slid a football field length before a hill that went up to another highway stopped the car.

Had to rebuild the whole right side suspension. Along with new wheels and tires and a new strut for the left side. There is also damage to the front bumper cover and the inner finder liner. Did a temp bonding fix on those. but I have a new bumper and finder liner bought for it.



Just got done putting new brakes on it. The front rotors were warped. Of course I got a nice set of drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic pads all the way around.

Right now it's leaking oil from both valve covers, needs an O2 sensor, needs a new alternator. The car has developed a squeak when you start up and stop. I have not tracked down where the squeak is coming from. It is clearly coming from the side that was rebuilt. I didn't replace the strut mount, so it could be that and the sway bar bushings need to be replaced, so it could be that.

I have all the parts bought to fix it, just have not had the chance to put them in.

Car looks nice though.

[jeepdad]

Interesting thread. As the owner of a 1999 2.5 approaching 100,000 miles, I understand it's only a matter of time before things fail. I'm not handy at all with a wrench, so I'm having to psych myself up for the inevitable repair expsenses. (There's also a big mystery at work with my Boxster, as I know next to nothing about the history of the car -- other than it was driven about 9,000 miles over a 7-year stretch by the previous owner).

In general, though, I've had very good luck with cars over the years. The only exceptions was a 1979 model Audi 5000s that had a tendency to overheat and required an engine rebuild, and a 1993 Nissan Sentra that seized because I (stupidly) let it run out of oil. My daily driver is a 2010 Maxima with 125,000 miles on the odometer. My only maintenance to date has been the scheduled oil changes and swapping out the transmission fluid at 100,000 miles.

[Smallblock454]

My Boxster was 64K Euro when i bought it new. Never expected that a Porsche, or a car in this price range would be very reliable when getting older. What do you expect? If you buy a Ferrari would you think it is a maintenace bargain?

A cheap used sports car doesn't mean that it's cheap to maintain.

Besides of that Porsche has decided to put parts for cars that are older than 10 years out of the spare parts depot. So prices for spare parts have raised enourmous in Germany.

[RBatsch]

I'm counting on these cars being reliable as I just bought a 2008 S with 190,000 KMs (120,000 Miles) and its all original, even the brakes, except the tires..."he says pounding on the wood table"! A friend has a 2002 with over 250,000 KMs (155,000 miles) and his is all original except for brakes and tires. Both cars have all regular maintenance performed but my car has seen mostly highway miles and thus the brakes which I will have to do this summer. I will keep a close eye on things such as the alternator and water pump and cam prepared to replace parts before they become an issue.