986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post

laphan · 11-15-2010, 12:37 PM

I just bought 02 boxster with 47K miles 1 month ago. So far, the car runs great. I think this is the best car I have owned so far. Can't say about reliability but this forum really helped me deciding on whether I can afford a boxster or not.
I love this car, not cheap to maintain but this little bugger brings me smile whenever I drive it (not my DD).
I got mine for pretty cheap ($12K, the car came fully loaded with Nav, lithronic headlamp, full leather, etc.). It has oil leak from either RMS or IMS and I was prepared to face the IMS/RMS issue.
I'm about to send it off to my local Porsche mechanic for LN engineering IMS, 997 RMS, water pump, tranny fluid change, AOS and clutch work. The total job might cost me $3-4K.
After all these fixes, I figured that I can have a nice reliable weekend Boxster for total of $15-16K that I don't have to worry about engine blowing up on me at any time.
I was in the same situation like you, but after reading this forum, I decided to avoid Boxster with 2.5L engine knowing that engine has issue with cylinder liner (can't be prevented). I can deal with IMS issue (LN engineering has the fix) and I can live with other common issues.
I expect this Boxster to be reasonably reliable, but I don't expect "Japanese car" reliability out of it.

My suggestion is, buy a boxster and keep your old car for daily drive.

11-15-2010, 12:37 PM	#6
laphan Registered User Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: MI Posts: 144	I just bought 02 boxster with 47K miles 1 month ago. So far, the car runs great. I think this is the best car I have owned so far. Can't say about reliability but this forum really helped me deciding on whether I can afford a boxster or not. I love this car, not cheap to maintain but this little bugger brings me smile whenever I drive it (not my DD). I got mine for pretty cheap ($12K, the car came fully loaded with Nav, lithronic headlamp, full leather, etc.). It has oil leak from either RMS or IMS and I was prepared to face the IMS/RMS issue. I'm about to send it off to my local Porsche mechanic for LN engineering IMS, 997 RMS, water pump, tranny fluid change, AOS and clutch work. The total job might cost me $3-4K. After all these fixes, I figured that I can have a nice reliable weekend Boxster for total of $15-16K that I don't have to worry about engine blowing up on me at any time. I was in the same situation like you, but after reading this forum, I decided to avoid Boxster with 2.5L engine knowing that engine has issue with cylinder liner (can't be prevented). I can deal with IMS issue (LN engineering has the fix) and I can live with other common issues. I expect this Boxster to be reasonably reliable, but I don't expect "Japanese car" reliability out of it. My suggestion is, buy a boxster and keep your old car for daily drive. Last edited by laphan; 11-15-2010 at 12:46 PM.