Budgeting for Boxster ownership
 

Hey guys,

I am looking to pull the trigger on a 2002 Boxster S with 105k miles on it for $8k pending the PPI comes out good.

After buying the car I would have about $2000 in the bank just for initial repairs that may pop up. My wife has me on a bit of budget with regards to my toys, and i can put away about $200 a month towards maintenance, repairs, ect.

Do you think this would be sufficient budget in handling the high costs of service and repairs, and keeping the car in good shape? I can do some of the simple repairs myself such as brakes, and oil changes. It wont be a daily driver, mostly just running around town, and weekend trips here and there. I expect to put between 5-8k miles a year on her. Any advise would be appreciated.
Thanks :cheers:

I think as long as the car doesn't need any major work done such as clutch, or suspension right away, you should be ok. $2400 a year is about what it cost me each year on average to keep her running. Has the IMS been replaced? If not, you may want to have this done which could cost anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000.

I've spent maybe $2000 total on the car in 5 years of ownership.

About $400 per year. My biggest expense has been tires (average about 12k miles per set).

+1

You always hear $2k a year and maybe one year it's only $1k but next year it's going to be 3. In 7 years I spent less than $2,000 on an '03 base that started out with 80k miles. Biggest expense was tires. But I fixed everything myself except for the alignment, which cost about $100 at the dealer. Granted, I only put 13k miles on in those 7 years but still, if I had to pay $2k a year I couldn't afford to own the car in the first place.

the answer
 

IMO this is the answer let us know on the PPI

Hey, Vins.

Having owned many sports cars over the past 50 years, I can say with some certainty that there's always a good chance you'll get bitten on the butt by a major non-maintenance related repair within any 20,000 mile or 2-year interval. I'd put the odds of a $3,000 repair at about 1 in 15. If someone offered me those odds in a lottery, I'd play every day.

"Normal" cars and trucks I've owned have always been way less likely to incur a major repair, in or out of warranty. Those odds are in the 1 in 100 range or better. If you can't live with the higher costs of ownership of a sporty car, then don't go there.

Cheers,

Dave
:cheers:

Don't let this discourage you, but see my post "what you don't want to have happen"
http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/62450-what-you-dont-want-have-happen.html

Just an example. :)

Really depends if your a DIY or you need a Shop
I'm a DIY and in 4 years 35k miles I have spent about $1200 in actual parts that needed replacing and roughly $700 in other parts as Preventative Maintenance.
Tires, Brakes, every car needs them. Boxsters do wear tires about 2x faster

So If I was saving 200/month, I could have bought another Boxster after 4 years

105k miles --- I know it is recommended to replace the suspension every 100k. I don't know if anybody does that or not, but that was a bit pricey for me as I'm not rich and I let someone else do the work. (Suspension scares me for some reason)

I don't, but should, budget for repairs. I just wait til something breaks and then park it until I can afford it. I think I got most of the major stuff handled so anything I would need now is only a paycheck or two away. It's been a rough couple of years lately, but I think I'm in the clear for a while now. Knock on wood.

It depends on how much preventative maintenance you want to do and how much aesthetic fixes. I put about $4,000 into my car shortly after I bought it. Most of that was preventative maintenance and improving old stuff to get it up to snuff. Only three things were actually failures, the top mechanism, starter (starting to grind) the AOS (and even the AOS wasn't a clear need.)

Tires: $700 13 and 9 years old, front and back.
Maintenance: $1500 Oil, filters, belt, AOS, bulbs, oil analysis
Broken: $500, Top, Starter (grinding)
Aesthetics: $400 Climate screen, shifter boot, visor mirrors, paintless dent, touchup paint
Improvements: $900. Short shifter, Double Din GPS radio, rear speakers, tethered gas cap

P.S. This is the cost of doing ALL the work myself and buying used parts off Ebay. You will pay considerably more if you go to an independent mechanic and even more than that if you go to a dealership. For example someone posted a similar top/clamshell failure as mine and it cost them $3000 at the dealership to fix and repair the clamshell.

Find a good one and that budget will be more than enough. I looked at a lot of worn out Boxsters when I was looking. Patience led me to the 986 I now have had for 4 years with nothing more than oil changes, tires, fluid flushes and then optional upgrades. I will get the LN bearing when I have my clutch replaced which will be.....? It still works perfectly. The funny thing is, the car I bought, in excellent condition, I purchased for less than what many of the worn out ones were asking.

Gas, Insurance, Tires, General Maint, Brakes, Minor Repairs, Leaks, Major Repairs.....
Check IMS, Check the res tank in trunk to make sure it was replaced also...common issue. Check online for cost of parts in your town and see what the common issues are and price it out that way. If you don't do oil changes yourself your budget will get eaten up quick! Go invest some money in tools and a reader as that alone will save you money in the long run.

So many variables....and luck - who can say what it will cost. There are so many hidden gremlins that even a good PPI can't see, like IMS for example.
And when you say running costs - what are you including? Insurance and gas or just fix-it stuff?
If you went out and bought a decent, new car, you would have a monthly payment in the $350ish range or so. If you can spend less than that on a high performance sports car like this, that's a pretty good deal I would say.
Budget $200/month - and if you don't need it, you've got a little pot of money for retirement or what-not.

Thanks for the insight guys, much appreciated. PPI turned out fairly well. I will need to replace the brakes, and rear tires very soon, but other than that its in great shape.

So, did you buy it? Pics if you did :D