Educate me
 

I may in the near future be in the market for a boxster, likely 2003, or 04. I know porsches pretty well overall, but not a ton about boxsters. I would like a hardtop, and it must be manual, must. I have a few questions:

How are they in snow (i live in Rochester NY and it would be driven daily, with snows for the winter)

-How reliable are they, problem areas, things to look for

-Hows the MPG?

-What oil do you guys use?

-How much for a general service?

-and now for the kicker.... I have 30-33k to spend, should i go S or regular, what are the differences?


Also how do i make the forum read from the first post down to the last, its killing me that it doesnt.



Thanks guys

In order:

1) if you get winter tires they're *great* in snow. If you leave the summers on.. good luck. I live in Toronto *waves from across the lake* and have never felt even a little bit uncomfortable in the winter. I don't have a hard-top and haven't really missed it.

2) I can't really speak to this since I bought mine new (2005). So far it's been great. No problems. I know.. I know.. I've jinxed it now.

3) great on the highway in my 987. If I keep it around 115 (70mph) I can cruise along at around 30-32 mpg. My city mileage sucks.. something like 14mpg. I'm pretty sure I'm averaging around 23-25 mpg for my entire time with the car.


4) Mobil 1.. 0W40, I think.. though I'd have to look. The dealership does my oil changes for me.

5) again.. can't say. Never needed it. Service *is* expensive,though. My dealership charges $115CDN/hour. Oil change was just shy of $300.

6) others will answer this better than I.. but I'm thinking buy the best car you can afford. With a used car it's such a balancing act of mileage, year, service history, etc.

Good luck!

Allow me to add my .02 worth. My Boxster was my 1st Porsche and I purchased in July 05. I bought it without knowing about this site. Did fine with the purchase but you are wise to pick the brains of these members. They are patient and knowledgable.

1. I purchased Bridgestone Blizzaks in Nov and am very happy with them. Tried all-seasons last winter and they didn't work (my last car was mid-engine / rear drive and all-seasons were great). You are smart to get snows. Beware - I spent $1100 for my set.

2. Probably the weakest part is the Rear Main Seal. I'm not an expert, but it seems the '90s models suffer from this problem more than the 2000s. The years you are looking at may be in the clear. The experts on this site can give you better info, but the RMS is the weak point. (Search RMS and see how many posts appear.)

Boxsters also eat tires at an alarming rate (approx 15K mi). And there seems to be quite a bit of diff in the price of 18in tires vs 17s. But the 18s look great. Don't even think about buying a set of aftermkt wheels. They are outrageously expensive (up to $1250 PER WHEEL).

Brakes will also wear out but that's from all the fun you're having. Quality pads can run $100 per axle. They are very easy to change yourself.

3. I have an 01S 6sp and I get 20mpg in town and 26 hwy.

4. Mobil 1. Only needs to be changed annually but you need 9 qts. If you change it yourself, be sure to have a LARGE drain pan.

5. If you are a do it yourself guy, one of the members (pardon my poor memory) has a web site with tips on how to do the items yourself. Great info. Also, you may want to purchase a Bentley manual on Boxsters.

6. See RandallNeighbour's list on what to know about buying a Boxster. Great info. When I was looking, I talked to a used dealer in PA who dealt mostly with Boxsters. I was like you, not knowing whether to go S or base. He described the differences (6sp, bigger brakes, bigger mtr) and said to go with the S. Great advice. Purchase the newest S you can afford.

Couple of items to chew on.
- Now is the best time to by a conv. Esp now that everyone's tapped out from Christmas. Sellers are desp for buyers.

- If you are willing to travel, you will be able to find 2-4 yr old Boxsters with insanely low miles. Mine was 4 yrs old with 15K mi. I saw a 3 yr old with 6K, but it was not the color I wanted. The Boxster is a lot of people's weekend / 3rd car.

- Porsche Cert Vehicles. You will find lower priced cars when buying from an individual, but you may want to consider a PC car. If a Porsche dealer deems the car worthy, they will certify it which adds 2 yrs to the warranty. That reduces the worry about those RMS problems. And if you do have to travel to buy the car, you feel more confident about the car (hasn't been wrecked, mechanically sound, etc).

Good luck with your purchase. You will love it. :D

Terry

15k miles for tires?! Is that right?!!!!!

yap :D I bought a set of Kumho exsta 2 months ago and i see both rear tires are cupping towards the inside :( not sure if alignment or balancing would help...i might bring it to the shop next weekend....

Look in the top right corner... just about under the link that says "Private Messages." There should be a link that says "Quick Links" with an arrow next to it. Click that and a menu will drop down. From there select "Edit Options." On that page look for the "Thread Display Mode" section. Adjust accordingly.

Yeah, that sounds about right. I got 17k out of my rear tires with several auto-x runs and some spirited street driving. That is pretty typical for any performance car with performance tires believe it or not. If you are just using the car for A-B daily driver work then you might see slightly better life.

Great stuff so far guys, keep the good info coming.