I am another guy that have had several Miata's over the last 15 years, used for both dd and tracking, that decided to make the move to Porsche. After talking to current and previous owners on my local Miata site, and tons of research on this forum, Pelican Parts, and other web based sites, I decided on a 2004S. I found the one I wanted in the PCA classifieds. A 2004S garage queen, 27K miles, all service records including documentation of the RM and LN IMS install at 18K as preventative maintenance.
I flew to PA and drove the car back to Atlanta and could not have been happier. I drove the car for one week and 1200 miles when it happen to stall at a red light. Upon trying to restart the car it sounded like belts and big metal parts had been thrown in a dryer and someone hit the start button. After 3 tows, one being to the local Porsche place (idiots), it is now resting at Jake Raby's shop in Cleveland, GA. Had I of found his website in my initial research,
Home I probably would have never taken the Boxster yellow brick road. Jake sent me a video of what they discovered when they removed the oil filter canister and it made me sick to my stomach. The canister and filter were totally contaminated with main and rod bearing particles. Engine is shot! Now the cost to install a built Raby engine with all of the upgrades to correct the known weak spots in the 986-24 Porsche engine is the same price I paid for the car. I can't say enough about Flat 6 Innovations, their expertise, and their customer service. What I can say is buying a car with this engine in it is a total crap shoot. Buyer beware. I had a great 1200 miles and 7 days in this car but it costs me about $16K.
