How to make a 2001 Boxster S a Daily Driver?

[thom4782]

Couple of thoughts....

Change the oil frequently...I did my DD every 3000 miles using Motul.

The IMS issue is tricky. The root cause is the seals degrade due to contaminants in the oil and the grease washes out. Low miles is actually less desirable because the seals will have sat in acidic oil for a long time. By the time you see metal parts, the bearing is already failing and you're faced with whether you can purge all the bits from the engine. If you value the car and want to keep it for many more years, you may want to preemptively replace the IMS. If not, buy a Durametric and check whether the cam deviations are rock steady flat. If they wobble, it would be an indication of a failing bearing.

I had my boots done 4 years ago and it was about 1K in the San Francisco area.

If you do put in a new water pump, put a low temp thermostat in at the same time. And as Mike said, make sure the fans are running in both low and high speed. They run in low speed if the AC in on regardless of the coolant temperature. One can jump the relays to turn on the high speed fans. A search should tell you how to do it. If high speed fans work and the lows don't the the ballast resistor on the non-working side needs to be replaced.