Funtoy
 

Earlier this fall the local used car dealer in our town had a somewhat sad looking 2002 Boxster S sitting in his lot for $8999. After driving by it for several weeks my wife and I decided to take it for a test drive. First time in a Porsche for both of us, but we weren't back at the dealer before my wife said "I want it".

Back home I checked out Boxsters on the Web and read all the scary stuff, but also a lot of enthusiasm for the car. So we decided to have a PPI done. Found a Porsche specialist right here in town and went down to schedule a PPI. Turns out he had a much nicer 2004 S with a DOF IMS retrofit, but for $14000. After a test drive I decided that this was a much better deal and called my wife to come over for a test drive. To make a long story short we decided to make the leap.

We have now had the car for 2 months and not regretted making the purchase for one moment.

It does have a few things that need to be done. The worst is that the rear trailing arm bushings are shot. They rattle badly when going over bumps. If I accelerate the rattle goes away so I'm confident its the trailing arms.

So what do we plan to do with it? Its the first toy car we have ever owned, so its not a daily driver. Driving on the back roads with the top down has been a delight and the occasional full throttle acceleration on highway on-ramps have been thrilling. I just can't get tired of the sound it makes and am amazed at how smooth it is all the way up to red-line.

So this is another thing for the two of us to enjoy together. My wife still isn't comfortable with the clutch and manual transmission, so I am doing most of the driving, but I am sure that will change.

I and a mechanic friend of mine will be doing autocrosses and I do want to do a track day or two, but most of the driving will be back roads with the top down.

Life is good and retirement is the best, especially with a Boxster S! Hopefully we will be able to enjoy it for a long time.

Anker

Purchases
 

My plan is to do as much maintenance as I can do myself, so my first purchases were the Bentley service manual and 101 Projects. I also purchased a CD with the Porsche service manuals and downloaded the Porsche original parts manuals. Have been through them by now and am really impressed with the amount of detail and fairly confident that I can handle most of the simpler tasks.

I also joined PCA as soon as I had a VIN in hand. SCCA was next.

I only have a two car garage and the Boxster is the third car, so where to store it in winter? The answer is a ShelterLogic garage in the back yard. It has been erected, but I still need to put a floor with a vapor barrier in it.

Finally a full tool set. I have a pretty comprehensive tool collection, but decided that the Boxster deserves its own dedicated tool box. Still not complete, but getting there.

Winter projects
 

Yesterday the brake pad wear warning came up, so I broke out the new tools to check all pads and disks. I am waiting for Harbor Freight's Black Friday sale to purchase a shop jack, so I had to use the puny jack in the frunk. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to use it. The front brake pads are worn down, but the disks still have about .5 mm left on them before they have to be replaced. The rears pads have lots of wear left. Rear disks also have about .5 mm before they have to be replaced. Placed my first Pelican order for brake pads, wear sensors and brake brake pad dampers for the front. They will be installed just before she goes into winter hibernation.

My spring project is replacing the rear trailing arms. Will be ordered in the late February time frame and installed as soon as its warm enough to work on the car in the garage.

Excellent choice with the '04 with IMS solution.
On your tools and books: half the fun is getting your hands dirty! :cheers:

Congratulations on your purchase.
Brake pads and trailing arms are grate first projects.
You will be surprised to see how relatively easy these cars are to work on.
a specially with the help of the forum. :cheers:

Welcome and congrats. Please post a picture of your car, when you get a chance.

Congratulations!

We'd all love to see your new car, post up a few pics!

Here she is:

https://photos.smugmug.com/All-Image...BS_2415-X3.jpg

Not having the mirror doors on the sun visors bugs me. Looking for a pair. The lights don't work either but that's less important.

Today's project - emergency brake
 

While reading the brake pad and disk replacement instructions I noticed that a properly adjusted hand brake should lock at 4 clicks. Mine goes up about 10 or 11, so if the weather cooperates today I'll adjust the shoes and the linkage in the console. If not, it will go on the list!

Sun visor R&R...
 

Anker,

These worked great for me.
Suncoast Porsche Parts & Accessories Sun Visor Mirror - Euro, No Lights

Great looking car!

Thank you, BoxsterSteve!

Congrats. Great choice with the 04 S.

Although it's Boxster, not 'boxter'.

Thanks! :-) That was embarrassing.

Funny how your brain wants to type one thing and your fingers type something else.

Edit all my posts and my signature.

I has 2 shelter logics in NY and the both collapsed under show. No, not Buffalo, the Poughkeepsie area. So be very careful of your Box.

I have a mechanic friend who has a lot of experience with them. It is a domed garage and I will put straps between the verticals to increase the strength. But thanks for the warning!

Ok. Now we need to teach you how to resize your picture :D

If you haven't replaced the shoes you should be able to do everything by adjusting the linkage behind the console under the cubby. The adjustment on the shoes themselves with the toothed gear adjuster is just for when you change shoes. (I believe :) ) Dealing with the shoes is a pain so I would start with the linkage first :)

Thanks for the advice, steved0x! Will do the linkage adjustment and skip the shoe adjustments!

Took my 10 year old grand daughter round the neighborhood and then gave the keys to my son in law so he and my daughter could catch the Boxster bug.

Top down, of course, even though the temps were around 40.

Next week she will be prepped for hibernation, sob!

https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...f5&oe=58B2021D

https://scontent.fbos1-1.fna.fbcdn.n...e8&oe=58C814BE