New Owner – Yeah !
 

Well, I finally did it. I now own the car I have dreamed about for many years. I am the proud owner of a triple black, 1999 Porsche Boxster.



A couple of years back, I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 1987 Porsche 924S. I traded both in on a 2004 Jaguar X Type and missed the 924 every day. So, I traded in my 2 year old Jaguar with 20k miles on a 7 year old Boxster with 20k miles and I couldn’t be happier ( not sure what I will do in the winter, I live in Chicago, but I’d deal with that when the time comes ). Thanks to all for the great info I have found on the forum, such an incredible wealth of information ! I love everything about the car except for the rattle from the windscreen, but apparently that is unavoidable.

Couple of questions :

I have been calling around to see how much the 30k mile service will run and I was surprised about the range in prices :

Dealer 1 $850
Dealer 2 $1499
Dealer 3 $1140
Dealer 4 $920
Dealer 5 $1000
Dealer 6 $672
Dealer 7 $1200

I had each dealer read of what that covers and all read off the same list ( needless to say, I am going to Dealer 6, which of course is the farthest from where I live )

Any feedback on why such a wide range of prices ? I know each dealer is independently owned, but that is ridiculous.

Also, I was thinking of getting the following upgrades from Performance Products :

Power Flow Kit $445
Dansk Exhaust $755
Powerchips $840

Web site claims 13 hp from the air kit, 12 from the exhaust , and 18 from the chip.

Any experience with any of these products ? I would like to boost the HP, but not at the expense of the vehicle. This will be my daily driver, unless there is snow or salt on the road.

Only other change I would make is getting the glass rear window. Not enjoying doing “the chop” every time I put the top down.

Thanks for your input in advance…

NickCats, welcome to the forum. Great looking car! Your screen name makes you sound like a Northwestern fan.

Save you money on HP gains (since most are questionable at best) and invest a fraction of the money by joining the PCA and the Chicago Region PCA. Enter a few autocross and DE events and learn to "really drive" the car to its inherent potential. There is a lot more HP there than we know how to utilize.

Who is dealer #6. I live in the Chicago area too. FYI- Motor Werks in Barrington only charges $110 for an oil change...this is the cheapest by far in our area.

Welcome! :cheers:

wow that's the cleanest garage I have ever seen.

if you want to spend some money on mods go for cosmetic ones. Not much bang for the VERY expensive buck with this car.

p.s.
buy your snow tires early. They run out for this car especially on 18" wheels.
Better yet leave the car home when it snows. Not worth the risk. I've had some VERY interesting momements after getting unexpectedly caught out in what was rain and quickly turned into car spinning snow.

Congratulations and welcome to the club! Bmusatti and Perfectlap have good points - especially on tires. You have time to find good deal on tires and winter wheels. And chasing small hp gains with massive cash infusions is hard for most to handle.

Hi,

Congrats on the new Car! Those aftermarket mod power increase numbers you quote are extremely optimistic, expect to see less than half that. BTW, I'm not a fan of chipping a Boxster, the DME performs too many functions, way beyond what a normal ECU does...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Bmussatti, thanks for the response ! Actually, I’m an Alabama fan ! Got my undergrad at U of A ( Roll Tide ! ). Cats is my last name.

I have joined the PCA, just waiting for the membership information in the mail. I would like to get involved in the Chicago chapter, looks like they have a lot of great events planned. I agree with your comment about learning to “really drive” the car. I definitely have a lot of room for improvement. Funny, I received the same response on the Jaguar forum when I inquired about modifying my Jag…

I heard the autocross and DE eats up tires and brake pads pretty quick. Any advice ?

Dealer #6 is Rizza in Orland Park. I’ve been out there when I was looking for my Boxster, and I really liked the people there. Thanks for the info on MotorWerks, I work in Hoffman Estates and live in the NW burbs so that is the closest dealership. They quoted $850 for the 30k, but I think for $180 less Orland is worth the trip.

Perfectlap, wish I could claim the garage, but those are the pictures from the dealer where I got the car. Thanks for the advice on the tires, but I agree, I would hate to drive the car in the snow ( and the salt ) if I can help it. BTW, love the red interior on your S.

Sounds like ya’ll are in unison on the mods. I agree on the chip, I’ve heard some horror stories. I think I’ll take the advice and rather than do the exhaust and intake I would be better off learning to be a better driver.

BTW, car came hardwired for an Ipod and it works great ! I got to talk to the previous owner and he told me how he did it, so if anyone has the CDR-220 and is interested let me know. Only required two parts and was pretty cheap to accomplish.

Thanks again to everyone for the advice…

hey, nickcats...why is your car still for sale on EBAY?

EBAY Link

I hate it when dealers do that. you call and they tell you they still have the car. you go there and it's gone.

I'll have to check it our when I get home.

Ebay is blocked here at work...

Thanks,

Nick

I think the two cars are different, you can tell from the rims. NikCats I think got the better looking of the two (I think they are the turbo style rims).

Hey NickCats,

Excellent choice!

I looked at your car when I was shopping for ours but my wife wouldn't sign off on black (clearly the best color IMHO). There was something about washing it every night before she put it to bed that she had an issue with...whatever.

It looks great and I love the turbos.

Welcome
 

Very nice car and wheels. I'm sure you will love it.
Agree with others here. Don't worry about more HP, just improve your driving skills.

wow, nice garage and the porsche in it not bad either. heheheh welcome to the club. i agree with everyone else in the hp dept. save your money and take your car to the track where you can easily waste you money many times over and much much faster. i just got back from thunderhill here in cali and you dont know what you drive untill youve pushed the boxster to the limits. this car was built to be on the track. some people have mixxed feedback on this subject but ive desnorkled the intake, which basicaly cost nothing, and the sound at around 3500 rpms and above may i dare say, "farrari"like.

I wish I could tell give you some heads up about Rizza in Orland, since I live there, but I never really dealt with them other than the one time I went in the show room to see if I would fit in a Boxster before I bought one on eBay. The people I dealt with there are nice, and Rizza Porsche just got its own showroom facilities, so that can be a plus. I do all the work on my car myself, so my only contact there is in the parts department.

asnigro, thanks for the compliment. Love the car ! They are the turbo rims...

Grizzly, black is definitely a love / hate relationship.

Haven't owned a black car since 1995, looks great when it is clean, but very difficult keeping that way...

rdynamix, gave up on my HP fetish. Just need to find time for the track...

Tuner, brought the car to Orland Friday for the 30k. I was very impressed with the way I was treated. Very professional and accommodating. I live in the NW burbs and they were $180 cheaper than MotorWerks in Barrington for the 30k so it was worth the drive ( left the house at 5 am, 90 to 290 to 294 was a blast with no traffic ! )

Nick

Nice clean car! I have a triple black as well. I hate getting it dirty so drive in dry weather only. I like the aftermarket wing as well. How many miles?

28k when I bought it, 30k now.

I like the wing as well, never saw one before and I think it hooked me on the car.

I looked at about 15 Boxsters before this one. Miles, condition, and good deal sold me on this one...

Now if I could only stop going into the garage 5 times a night to look at it...

Nick

I purchased my car from Rizza in Orland and they are fantastic to work with. I have been having warranty work done by Napleton Porsche of Westmont only because they are closer to where I live (they have been excellent to work with as well, but I think they may be a little on the expensive side for non-warranty work).

Yes, autocrossing is hard on your tires but it is a lot of fun! I have been running a few events lately and would be happy to give you information as to where I run or if you would care to join us for an event (I've been the only Boxster at the events I've attended). Drop me an email at proth@tvmax.net if interested.