Trying to figure out if my car is worth repairing/upgrading or not. It is a 2004 Carrera White Boxster 2.7 that is cosmetically in good condition, but now it needs exhaust work as one of the catalytic converters (bank 2) is bad. CE light has been on for some time and I can hear it rattling under the car. Had it checked at a locally well known, respected & reputable Porsche performance shop and was advised that stock cats sell for around $1000 each and the car has 4 (2 primary, 2 secondary) and that it is best to replace all 4 at once as the others may not be far from failing as well. From what I have heard, they are probably right. But the car is my daily driver and has 98k miles on it now and is only worth about $14k at best (stock in good condition). I owe $13k. So do I sink $4k into a stock exhaust system? Shop tells me they can install the Fabspeed performance exhaust package (sport headers, secondary cat bypass pipes, primary cats & maxflo sport muffler) for $4500. Not sure that makes sense either since the car is 9 years old & has 98k miles on it. If I'm going to have to spend around $4k either way on an exhaust system, I might as well get the performance exhaust & get a boost in HP/performance and a much better sound in the process, right? Seems like better bang for the buck than stock exhaust... but again... is it worth it? It has 98k miles on it and I drive it every day. What if the intermediate shaft bearing goes up & I need a new engine? I just spent $900 to replace the water pump and now there is a new whirring noise when the engine runs/warms up. Not sure it will last long enough for me to enjoy the $4500 exhaust system upgrade. Thoughts? If it was your car, what would you do?
