I was wondering what happened. There are more tinkerers than you think. It’s not the money in the 986 engine. It’s that it’s just iffy. We are not talking ground breaking design. The car is fantastic.

Whenever I have tried to post to any thread, i am told it is waiting moderator approval and nothing posts. This may not post either.

So... what I'm gathering... you're a low-income schmuk-bloke and a bottom feeder? Welcome, again, to the club.

No, no... he spent the $$$big bucks for a nicely hardened engine in his 2004 SE. What I get from reading his post is that we should look at swapping $1,000 NA Miata engines into our old 986s.

I guess….
 

…..I’m not being clear.

These 986’s have engines that cost $30,000 to replace.

If you bought the car for $10,000, and the engine grenades, it will cost you three times as much to repair it as it did to buy it.

This scares people away who are looking for a cheap sports car to tinker with and drive on weekends.

That’s all.

And yes, I bought a very clean, low mileage, well cared for, 2004 “50 Years of the 550 Spyder Edition” Boxster S.

I bought her in 2015 and have put 50,000 miles on her since.

I love this car.

Cheers.

Oh, no. You made yourself quite clear.

Cheers.

For me...

#1 Unappreciative noobs/one posters. They'd pop in, post a question/issue. Experienced owners like myself would go to great lengths to answer their questions and assist, but receive nothing in return. Not a "thanks". Not a "hey, that helps". Not even a reply in a lot of cases. Why waste my time? Without that, it's just us old members finding reasons to bicker. :)

#2 Pelican censorship. They soured it for me. Couldn't even share cool deals or basic links.

You hear that, Pelican? Go suck an egg, you money grubbing ***hats.
You pushed people like myself and Fred away...I doubt I'll be back much, if at all. Before last month, I hadn't checked the site in years.

RIP

Newbie perspective
 

As a relative newcomer and not-yet-owner of a 986, I'm still very appreciative of what life seems to be left here. I have had some really excellent insight into a car I'm considering buying and those who have contributed have been both positive and realistic, with no negativity that I am able to detect.

As a lay-person who is still brand new around here, I think these cars are simply mismatched between their cost to buy vs their cost to own.

I'm currently shopping for a cheap boxster, like $12k is the top of my budget, and there are a handful of cars at and under that price point near me. But of the ones I've checked out, none of the owners look like they could handle the cost of taking a 20 year old Porsche to a mechanic, independent or otherwise. If they have done their own maintenance they haven't kept records so it's hard to believe that they have kept up with the necessary care and feeding.

Beyond that, buying a cheap sports car these days, 986 or otherwise, is becoming less and less justifiable these days. The price of premium fuel around me is $4.50 and unleaded can dip as low as $3.79. If I were just shopping for a fun drop-top a miata is going to be infinitely less expensive to live with.

I think pristine examples are becoming collectors items, and thus not really driven much, and rough examples are becoming parts cars for the remaining few who are brave enough to try to work on a 986 themselves.

Again, take everything here with a grain of salt, I'm new to the forum and still shopping for my own Boxster so my experience in the space is limited to say the least.