'lo all,
It has been sixteen years since my last Porsche (a garnett rose metallic 944 with black fuchs…how I miss thee) due in large part to a small thing. My daughter.
The time has come that I feel the burning desire to once again regain my place in Porsche ownership, on the chariot of choice this time around is the Boxster. Model year 1999 through 2001 (Boxster or Boxster S, whichever is available at the price I’m willing to pay at the time I’m willing to pay it).
I’ve scoured the web, and run multiple searches but I still have a few lingering questions that I was wondering if I may obtain answers for.
Any and all help is greatly appreciated, so thanks in advance. Alright, in no particular order:
1) Are there any glaring common ailments with any of the ’99 though naught one cars? RMS? MAF? When kicking tyres what should I look primarily to?
2) I see the Boxster uses Lokasil cylinder liners from KS Aluminium Technologie AG, which are silicon enriched aluminum alloy. My question is: are there any known problems with this? I’m thinking back to the Nikasil horrors of BMW & Jag’s mid 90s debacle with high sulphur fuel. In theory these techniques should be for our benefit, but it seems that Lokasil was testbedded on the boxster… so I am curious, any adverse determinations?
3) How is the top for wear? I’ve never owned a cabriolet, and I’m not keen on seeing “new top!” “top just replaced!” in many of the ads I’m reading. As I understand it these are manufactured by the same company that does merc’s tops so I trust them to be of good quality, but if they are short lived items my question is: Can a DIYer replace/repair tops? How pricey is this luxury? What about the electric motors and such? I hate electrics in autos and prefer as many manual items as possible so if the electrics fail is there a manual back-up for top operation?
4) What is the Porsche recommended service interval for the Boxster? When does it occur (time and mileage) and what is involved with said service? I see a lot of sub 60k mile cars on the market, I’m guessing these are being unloaded to avoid a major service cost.
5) How hard is it to do general maintenance to the Boxster? Can I get to the plugs easily? Airfilter? Oil change? Clutch?
6) My daughter is still young, and lightweight, and I have a natural detestation towards airbags. Can a DIYer install the passenger side airbag immobilizer? How much does this part(s) cost? Can the airbag be deactivated without the use of a special seat?
7) This vehicle will be driven a helluva lot more than the ones I’m seeing on the market (I’ve put 80k miles on my audi in the past four years, and that time was split with another two vehicles) and my priority after the fact of smile factor is cost of ownership. Will a standard Boxster be that much more affordable to maintain than the S? Or is the cost irrelevant between the two/three engines?
8) Is there a way to disable ABS by way of a switch?
9) I figured out how to adjust the reach of the steering wheel, does it have a tilt?
10) Are the interiors generally worse for wear? Or are the examples I’m seeing simply been beaten upon?
11) Aside from the obvious (it’s a Porsche, it has a soul lacking in other cars) why should I get a used Boxster over a new Miata or lightly used S2k.
Again, thanks to any and all who read and/or reply. Any links are appreciated as well (I’ve been to the common ones such as 986faq).
Sorry for any duplicative questions
