This is the most reliable car I've owned...

[Boxtaboy]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this is the most reliable car I've ever had. 15 years, and 72K miles on it. Ok granted, I don't have that many miles on it for the age of the car, but below are the only things I've ever had to replace on the car. Everything else is still original and working. All the instrumentation and dash bulbs are still working, the HVAC display is still good/A/C still blows strong without having to recharge, CDR 220 radio is still original and works, IMS is original, car has never needed an alignment, as it tracks straight, tires wear normally for the car, and steering wheel perfectly centered, ignition switch/clutch switch still original. Knock on wood big time, as I don't want to jinx myself, but this car has been more reliable than any of my previous and current cars (Audi, BMW, Infiniti, Benz). How can this be? A sports car being reliable?!...anyone else have this experience? At this rate, I'm not sure when I'll be able to replace the car. LOL

Items replaced:
Water pump replaced at 58K (original failed)
Polyrib belt at 50K (as a precaution)
Motor Mount at 58K (original failed)
AOS at 65K (as a precaution)
E-brake switch for top operation at 65K (original failed)
Factory 03 top and frame with glass window (changed in 09 when plastic window of original top ripped)
3-stalk levers for directional indicator/cruise control/wipers (directional cancel/return failed)
Coolant tank (at 40K ish)

Regular maintenance items:
Oil and filter changes every 12K or 2 yrs
Fuel Filter at 58K
Spark plugs at 30K and 60K
Brake pads changed and 1 rotor set as needed
Cabin filter every 15k

[jcslocum]

A properly maintained car and some lick! Good looking ride.

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by jcslocum

A properly maintained car and some lick! Good looking ride.

Thanks! I try to keep it from lookin 15 years old, even though it is.

[KevinH1990]

I don't think my car has been unreliable, but it does not compare well to my 1996 Infiniti G20 or some of the other Asian cars I've owned (Toyota Corollas, Camry Highlander, Mazda Miata.)

I think your benchmarks (primarily German makes) may have something to do with your assessment. You may also have just been fortunate and purchased a very reliable example. You had to replace your water pump at lower mileage than I did, but some of my big ticket repairs such as the clutch and fly wheel didn't hit until almost 100k miles.

Although my Boxster is more expensive to maintain than a Corolla, you just don't get the same driving excitement from an economy car.

You car looks great by the way. Those wheels set it off. I think I used your instructions when I installed my 04 top and frame which has been a great upgrade.

[Boxtaboy]

You may be right. I don't have many Japanese cars to compare it to. The Infiniti FX35 wasn't the most reliable, but most of it was taken care of by the warranty so I can't complain. Thanks for the compliment on the wheels. They're prob my fav mod that I've done on the car besides the 03 top. Yours sure looks like it's nice and clean too.

[rick3000]

I bought a 986, because my dad had a 944 for twenty years and it was very reliable. My 986 has never left me stranded, but I have had a fair number of issues, but nothing that wasn't a common failure/issue.

Your maintenance schedule looks good, but only changing the oil every 2 years or 12,000 miles concerns me. The oil should be changed at a minimum annually, and while the owners manual says 15k miles, I think most people would agree a 3k-6k oil change schedule is much better for the engine.

[PaulE]

Mine's been very reliable too. It is a 2003 S bought new in September 2003 and about 64,600 miles to date. In 2012 at about 33,000 miles the car was making a very harsh screeching metallic sound when I started it so I had it flat bedded to my indy garage - they looked it over, found nothing, got my permission to start it and there was no noise -it's never happened again, they didn't hear it but thought it could have been a collapsed lifter. At 42,000 miles I preemptively upgraded my IMSB to the LN single row pro, put in a new water pump, new Porsche antifreeze, serpentine belt and AOS. The clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing and flywheel were all in great shape so they went back in. At that time, the RMS was bone dry so we decided it was best to let sleeping dogs lie. But then the RMS started to leak and the oil fill neck was also cracked around 48,000 miles, so they were fixed. The clutch was still perfect though and is still going strong at 64,600 miles.

I've only ever had 2 potential strands. The first was driving home to NJ from my first HDPE at Mosport last July at around 60,000 miles. The idler pulley on the serpentine belt was starting to fail and making noise, but I made it home and had it replaced. The other time was last month when the electrical switch portion of my ignition lock failed. The car had the good sense to let that happen at home - the car would still start and shut off but the headlights wouldn't come on and the ignition key wasn't locking when I got it out.

I've had other typical things - tires damaged due to road hazards that had to be replaced, a couple of bent light alloy Carrera rims, torn CV joint boots, burnt inner headlight lenses on my Halogen lights. The burn marks were just starting but the lights were never great, and I had highbeam burn marks as well even though I rarely get the chance to drive with high beams. So I upgraded to Nine8Six's projectors. I've also had one of my horns fail a couple of times, I think that was the result of going through automatic car washes which I don't do any more and haven't had that issue again. I also had to re-sew the Velcro straps to the edge of my convertible top that wrap around the push bars in the top frame over the door windows.

Spark plugs and coil packs last about 30,000 miles for me, my front pads and rotors were replaced at 60,000 miles, the rears are still original, my original battery lasted until March 2009, the replacement Interstate H7 is still going strong. I use a CTEK battery tender whenever my car is parked in the garage.

Upgrades I have done include adding the factory rear speaker kit, my car came only with dash speakers, the OBC addition with PDwight's wiring harness, the hard top, Ben006's ball bearing short shifter, the Suncoast cup holder that fits in the arm rest compartment, a set of 2003 17 inch wheels and tires, the previously mentioned Nine8Six projectors, and smoke gray front side marker lights. Planned upgrades for this year are a second center console storage bin to replace the CD holders, an underdrive pulley and the ROW M030 suspension kit.

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by rick3000

I bought a 986, because my dad had a 944 for twenty years and it was very reliable. My 986 has never left me stranded, but I have had a fair number of issues, but nothing that wasn't a common failure/issue.

Your maintenance schedule looks good, but only changing the oil every 2 years or 12,000 miles concerns me. The oil should be changed at a minimum annually, and while the owners manual says 15k miles, I think most people would agree a 3k-6k oil change schedule is much better for the engine.

Thx, I know I'm a little lazy on the oil change schedule, but it's what the factory recommends, so I'm at least not diverging. Lol
http://www.porsche.com/filestore.aspx/default.pdf?pool=usa&type=download&id=maintenanceintervalsforporschevehicles&lang=none&filetype=default

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by PaulE

Mine's been very reliable too. It is a 2003 S bought new in September 2003 and about 64,600 miles to date. In 2012 at about 33,000 miles the car was making a very harsh screeching metallic sound when I started it so I had it flat bedded to my indy garage - they looked it over, found nothing, got my permission to start it and there was no noise -it's never happened again, they didn't hear it but thought it could have been a collapsed lifter. At 42,000 miles I preemptively upgraded my IMSB to the LN single row pro, put in a new water pump, new Porsche antifreeze, serpentine belt and AOS. The clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing and flywheel were all in great shape so they went back in. At that time, the RMS was bone dry so we decided it was best to let sleeping dogs lie. But then the RMS started to leak and the oil fill neck was also cracked around 48,000 miles, so they were fixed. The clutch was still perfect though and is still going strong at 64,600 miles.

I've only ever had 2 potential strands. The first was driving home to NJ from my first HDPE at Mosport last July at around 60,000 miles. The idler pulley on the serpentine belt was starting to fail and making noise, but I made it home and had it replaced. The other time was last month when the electrical switch portion of my ignition lock failed. The car had the good sense to let that happen at home - the car would still start and shut off but the headlights wouldn't come on and the ignition key wasn't locking when I got it out.

I've had other typical things - tires damaged due to road hazards that had to be replaced, a couple of bent light alloy Carrera rims, torn CV joint boots, burnt inner headlight lenses on my Halogen lights. The burn marks were just starting but the lights were never great, and I had highbeam burn marks as well even though I rarely get the chance to drive with high beams. So I upgraded to Nine8Six's projectors. I've also had one of my horns fail a couple of times, I think that was the result of going through automatic car washes which I don't do any more and haven't had that issue again. I also had to re-sew the Velcro straps to the edge of my convertible top that wrap around the push bars in the top frame over the door windows.

Spark plugs and coil packs last about 30,000 miles for me, my front pads and rotors were replaced at 60,000 miles, the rears are still original, my original battery lasted until March 2009, the replacement Interstate H7 is still going strong. I use a CTEK battery tender whenever my car is parked in the garage.

Upgrades I have done include adding the factory rear speaker kit, my car came only with dash speakers, the OBC addition with PDwight's wiring harness, the hard top, Ben006's ball bearing short shifter, the Suncoast cup holder that fits in the arm rest compartment, a set of 2003 17 inch wheels and tires, the previously mentioned Nine8Six projectors, and smoke gray front side marker lights. Planned upgrades for this year are a second center console storage bin to replace the CD holders, an underdrive pulley and the ROW M030 suspension kit.

Pretty good I'd say. Glad to see it's still serving you well. I actually noticed one of my velcro straps in my 03 top (same one you describe) fell off. I am thinking of sewing it back, but my top still closes and opens perfectly, so I'll prob wait a bit.

[bwdz]

I don't think including regular maintenance items such as brakes, spark plugs, tires, windshield wipers, clutches and the like is fair as those are wear items which are not a reliability problem. Wear items also fare differently on sports cars as the mileage is usually lower but spirited driving causes some accelerated wear. Reliability is when something fails prematurely such as the top switch or your car quits or the water pump goes or whatever but not a wear item that is scheduled to be replaced. It is also difficult to compare reliability of a car just based on mileage as age also plays a factor. Seals get old and they also dry out faster if a car is not used regularly etc...

[PaulE]

Originally Posted by bwdz

I don't think including regular maintenance items such as brakes, spark plugs, tires, windshield wipers, clutches and the like is fair as those are wear items which are not a reliability problem. Wear items also fare differently on sports cars as the mileage is usually lower but spirited driving causes some accelerated wear. Reliability is when something fails prematurely such as the top switch or your car quits or the water pump goes or whatever but not a wear item that is scheduled to be replaced. It is also difficult to compare reliability of a car just based on mileage as age also plays a factor. Seals get old and they also dry out faster if a car is not used regularly etc...

I agree, I think my routine maintenance items have been more than reasonable! If I had more problems to deal with there would not have been as many upgrades!

[fanguy]

Two Audi’s never made it to next scheduled maintenance without a trip back for warranty work.

2010 Lexus IS 250C 1st year seat belt tensioner kaput 800.00 repair of coursed covered. 6 months’ later engine had to be rebuilt. Traded it for a Subaru Outback only in shop for scheduled maintenance.

Two Honda’s Accords 150k, 110k other than scheduled maintenance 2 CV joints.

Toyota Corolla 120K in 6 years only scheduled maintenance still had original battery and brakes. Drove a lot from Nashville to Tampa many Hwy miles could do it on 3 tanks of gas.

Had 7 VW never any problems, 4 VW in US, 2 bugs, camper and regular bus, when in Germany 2 bugs wife wrecked one (Polizie called and asked if I wanted her arrested for harming our daughter who was looking out the window in her car seat). Someone stole the second one, got a bus. A friend who had a Triumph Spitfire gave it to me when he went bates to the states never ran good.

Nissan Pathfinder 1st 8 months 2 alternators’ 3 radiators’. Got a call from Nissan NA, said they would swap any car I would like that they made. Went back to dealer, they owned about 8 different lines traded for Turbo PT Cruiser. One of my most favorite and versatile cars.
In 2005 when Gas was 3.60-3.80 a gallon and I used all most 3 tanks a week. Traded for a 2005.5 VW Jetta TDI 68 MPG I think I got around 840 miles a tank on trips great car. 160k only think replaced overflow tank. Took a job to an island where no cars allowed drove bikes and LP golf carts.

Currently:
2015 BMW X1 scheduled maintenance x2 and Takata cut your head off Airbag replaced.
2003 Boxster S, going on 6 months like show room 22K. Hoping for the best only time will tell. No worries have a great indie for things I can’t do. Doing is part of the Porsche experience for me.

[dghii]

Nice to see a thread where folks have had good luck with their cars! I bought my first Boxster a 2000S in August 2008 with 76K miles. I still have it at 132K miles and it has never stranded me, nor have I required the help of a professional mechanic to repair or maintain the car (thank you forums!).

Although I've bought and sold three other Boxsters I've been reluctant to let go of this one as it's been so trouble free.

I hope everyone's cars remain reliable and mine doesn't strand me as I may have jinxed it with my earlier statement...