Some new owner questions -- seeking feedback

[williamsF1]

hi' - congrats on the car ! sounds like you got a good one!

make sure your coolant cap ends with serial .01 (if not its a 20$ upgrade), you could also check the actual tank for hairline cracks - this is very common on 6 year old boxsters... I happened to my car and ended up costing me a new water pump also + a scary experience with a a lot of coolant dropping from my car !

if you do not have any oil drip whatsoever I would only look to filters and make sure to change all oils and important fluids

Things you can 'expect' to cause problems within a few years could be the MAF (try cleaning first) and the AOS they tend to cause problems... search the forum about this, this is very well documented in case you don't already know everything about this

Enjoy the car as much as possible
Personally I am looking hard for a black hardtop for my car so I can bring it into the winter season.

Regarding leather I can really recommend ColorPlus.com

They sell a excellent cleaner which got the darkness out of my seats. I then applied their soffner and wasnt expecting much as my seats allready felt 'soft' but I was very surprised to experience they got a lot nicer. My next step is their leather color which is mixed from original Porsche color codes to match - I have savannah and I really hope this can perform a small miracle and bring the savannah color back to life... it's a bit expensive though but well worth it!

Another interiour upgrade I really like is a new style steering wheel. If you have the old style 4 spoke wheel, upgrading it to the 3 spoke really made a difference for me.

I don't like the alu packages much (too plastic) of course that is an option, I have seen people who do the paint job themselves with better results imho. One alu upgrade that many prefer is the alu dial bezels or white dials - both cheap.

Painted center console to match the color of your car perhaps ?

www.design911.co.uk has a pretty big selection of Boxster interior and exterior upgrades - my next will probably be new exterior air vents.

And please post pics of the car

[fatmike]

Originally Posted by williamsF1

Enjoy the car as much as possible
And please post pics of the car

I can't post pictures becauser I'm too busy driving it to stop and take some photos... I can't belive how much I like this car! I will get some pictures put up shortly.

Thank you (and the other posters) for the initial feedback.

Mike

[fatmike]

Your right, need some pictures:

[Grizzly]

Hey Mike,

Welcome. The car looks great. If it doesn't have floormats, you should get a nice set before you grunge up the light colored carpet.

Where are you in Jersey? I grew up across the bridge in Philly.

[7th gear]

Originally Posted by Grizzly

Hey Mike,Welcome. The car looks great. If it doesn't have floormats, you should get a nice set before you grunge up the light colored carpet...

agreed! very nice!!!
i've got that carpet color and i've got floor mats. make that your next purchase as new mats increase your hp by 2 points

[fatmike]

I'm in Chatham, NJ. I bit further north.

Regarding carpets -- I will pick them up right away. Not sure what happened, I suspect that the prior owner tossed them instead of trying to clean them.

[fatmike]

Update:

Well my glorious September has turned a bit cloudy so far here in October.

The Boxster did marvelously for a while, but its started to run a bit "ragged" over the past week. No doubt I've driven it more in the last month then at any other point in its life. At first I thought I was imagining it, but I am not. The CEL hasn't come on, but I'm sure it will if I keep driving it (which I'm not).

I suspect an AOS issue. I occasionaly have a little more smoke at start-up than anyone could consider "normal". Also at start up, the idle is a bit irratic. While driving the exhaust isn't quite right. IF you lift your foot on the throttle, there is an exhaust "burble" as you de-accelerate. This is likely a throttle body issue -- hopefully caused by a failed AOS. I say hopefully, because I've been able to read on this forum about a failed AOS and the symptoms to know that its a relatively easy fix.

I was hoping to be proactive and stay ahead of these things -- oh, well.

I've made an appointment to bring it into a dealership for a check-up & we'll see what's up.