Boxsters with reliable engines
 

To contrast all the negative posts about IMS failures and such, I thought I'd start a thread where folks who have never had a major engine failure could post the year, engine and mileage of their reliable Boxsters. I really like my Boxster and it is a great car.
I'll start but my mileage isn't all that impressive:

2003 Boxster S (3.2L) 15,000 miles and has had no issues. ;-)

Dave S.

There have been a couple threads like this lately, but I'll bite.

1999 Boxster (2.5L) 33,000 miles
No RMS, IMS, or slipped sleeve issues (Knock on wood) :cool:

2002 Boxster S, 3.2, 22k miles. Driven hard at many autocross and D.E. events. I have had no leaks or mechanical issues as of yet. :cheers:

My 2001S has 65K and no issues - and it's been driven quite briskly in the 20K miles I have owned it. As for the IMS failure rate, I think people are getting too wrapped up in worry. I personally know about a twenty people with Boxsters/911s (with the M96 engines) and none of them have had a problem or actually know anyone who has - first-hand knowledge at least. I think some people just need to have something to fret about at any given time (IMS failures, global warming, bird flu, radon, Manbearpig, etc.).

rick, you gotta drive that thing more!

MY99 107,650. No major catastrophes (knock wood) Daily driven, autocrossed at least once a month. New shocks, replaced a water pump over a year ago, due for an oil change. :cool:

2002 S, 15k miles...occasional autocross. Nothing but oil changes (but I will be installing the LN billet oil filter adapter come spring). Out of all the PCA folks I know with Boxsters and 996's, only one case of implosion and that was a '99.

2001S, 41K. I am (on those days when it gets above around 30 degrees in my garage) working on the alternator. (I'm thinking it's just the voltage regulator, but we'll see...) No other engine problems---minor, major or otherwise.

(Knocking on my desk---wood!---as I type. :o )

So far so good. '02 2.7 TIP with around 40k. Did have the RMS fixed under warranty and was told, " This will solve the problem". Fingers crossed etc. Looking forward to spring when I can get out and drive it again.

AKL in the frozen "globally warmed" Northeast. ;)

1999 2.5L 5-speed
138,000 miles
i race it!

no major engine problems to date (fingers crossed)
no RMS

2000 2.7L 5 speed
I bought the car from dad,, and he bought it from original owner who was a neighbor.

car had repeated RMS leaks at about 12k miles - dealer put in new engine. So my car hasn't been 100% trouble free.

BUT, the car now has 75k and has had ZERO engine/drivetrain problems since the RMS issue was corrected.

so the replacement engine has over 60k miles of trouble free operation.

Car was daily driven by my dad for 6 years.

2004 S Anniversary Edition. 27,000 miles.

At 21,695 I experienced the following: " Customer states that there is a fluid leak under vehicle. Found oil leaking from rear main seal. Remove and reinstall transmission. Measure Crankshaft and install new rear main seal. Clean Engine after repair." The time was 6.4 hours, and no charge because of warranty. The parts were the RMS and four screws. I don't know the rates at this dealer but I would assume around $110, so say $700 labor and probably less than $100 for parts, if you were paying for them.

That's it for the motor. A few other niggling squeaks, and the driver's armrest/door storage bin cover was replaced after about 2 years because the soft rubber stuff was peeling. No problem since.

Matt

2003 Boxster S
28,500 flawless miles. I've put on 10k of these miles with nothing but scheduled maintenance, which I do myself. The previous owners didn't have any problems that I'm aware of. I bought it right as the factory warranty was ending.

03 S with 28k miles. Mostly street use with occasional autocross. No issues besides a pretty loud knock and slight RMS seep that went away. Had it flatbedded to dealer for the knock. They couldn't find the cause. I believe the scan tool said it was a cylinder misfire. They drove it around and it actually fixed itself. I put a bottle of techron in the tank the week before it happened and that was the only variable. Never used it before then and have never since and the engine seems to run well.

2000 S 3.2L 6speed

36,000 miles

At 30K besides the normal service items, also needed to replace front motor mount, both inner CV joint boots and battery. Also fixed "oddments tray" (armrest) hinge and the hose for the windshield washer had to be reaffixed to its fitting (washer fluid was pumping out the bottom of the car when activated) which was an easy fix.

01, base model, manual tranny, 65+K miles. No engine issues at all. No leaks, no weird sounds, knocks, hiccups or whatever. I track it at least twice a year and drive it almost daily. I've replaced brake pads and rotors, the ignition switch and .......that's all I can think of. (oh,, the driver's seat heater isn't working but I haven't had the time to do anything about it yet. oh well) It's been 100% reliable and trouble free so far. (Knock on wood, which seems to be a common thing to do on this thread!)

Bob

25,000 miles and no problems. 3.2 986S with 6 spd bought new in April 04.

2000 Boxster S
Engine history
No problems until 46K
46K replace drive belt tensioner pully
46k power steering hose replaced
77K O2 sensor
79K DME replaced
79K Oil separator
79K Air Mas Sensor
79K Right Cam Cover Seal
82K Water Pump
82K Left Cam Cover Seal
88K Vacuum Reservoir and Change over Valve
Current mileage 95K

I have a 2001 BMW 3 series with 135K and the Boxster maintenance is comparable.

These problems are about average in my experience with German cars.

I'll DEFINITELY be knocking on some wood after this post...
2000 S with 114xxx miles.
Headers + modified cats + modified muffler (CEL, 1117, reset every 200mi)
EVO intake. No MAF CEL since replacing oiled filter with AEM Dryflow
Suspension mods, brake mods, short shifter, but those things have nothing to do with the motor
2 years of regional PCA autocross success, plus plenty of spirited touring
Almost daily driven, and she's running great. It's a long-time dream come true.

Awesome car!

- 2006 987S
- Just over 25,000 miles
- Driven about once per week, April-October, at least 300 miles when taken out
- 4 Oil Changes
- 1 brake fluid flush
- 1 air filter
- 4 new tires
- 1 alignment
- gallons of wax, leather conditioner, window cleaner and tire dressing!


I will forever be a Porsche owner.

I have a 2001 3.2L S with 31,000 miles no problems. did the 30k maintenance myself. seems to have some kind of oil under it but no leak yet. I am a student so got no money for repairs thats why I hope nothing goes wrong.

my buddy has a 99 996 with 190k on the 3.4L and that gives me hope.

54,000 as of today. Never any major issues...ever.

In other words, this is the jinx thread :)

2001 Boxster S six speed manual, 65,000 km (41,000 miles).

Porsche Centre replaced 4 x driveshaft rubber boots (only one split but others starting to crack), AOS bellows and front engine mount @ 60,000 km service (all under warranty).
No other problems, no oil usage, no squeaks or rattles. Very happy camper apart from the engine is very noisy on startup from cold which, I believe, is the timing chains rattling before the tensioners pump up with oil. Sounds awful though!!

majority of these are VERY low mileage cars...

where's the 80k+ crowd? probably in the shop :)

1998 boxster made in Fin 86000 miles no motor problems ,not even a water pump ,I heard 98 was a good year ,drive it pretty hard sometimes

1998 Boxster with Tip, 58K of which I put on over 30K in the last two years ( and it gets put away on the winter) Besides maintenance all I did get was a CEl which was because of a loose wire. I drive hard and fast. Ed

Bought a 2.7 2000 Boxster about 10 months ago. Not by DD, but already put about 9,000 miles on the car. No problems at all. Love the car! Had a 928S in the past and this car is a totally different Porsche experience.

I have had a number of issues with my 2000 base boxster, which now has 84K on the clock. But almost all of them were a result of me mucking around with the car, ECU chip, exhaust, intake that sort of thing.

The only thing that comes to mind was that comes under the heading of a reliability issue is that a bolt fell off the transmission housing and I started spilling tranny fluid. I noticed this black trail of fluid that followed me down the street into my driveway.

I thought my tranny was toast and took the car to the shop and saw the bolt was missing and was still sitting on the plastic undertray, they topped off the fluid and put the bolt back in, no problems since. So I would say no issues with engine or drivetrain for 84K and the sucker runs like a top. BTW, I change plugs, oil, and clean the air filter very regularly.

Ed

:cheers:

My motor has just about 28k miles on it and is sitting on the floor of my garage on a dolley. It is a 99 2.5 Has had every issue discussed, AOS, RMS, now the dreaded intermediate shaft has left the building. I was not nice to it at all though. IA Supercharger I think may have contributed to the shaft going.

97 boxster with 107k on it.

After I replaced the transmission, coolant tank, primary radiator, oil filler tube, all the suspension arms, the wheel bearings, the stereo head unit, the instrument cluster, the front and rear trunk hatch struts, and a half dozen other things that have crapped out on the car other than the motor, I have found the car to be VERY reliable :D

Of course, the "incredibly reliable motor" that sits behind my seats was replaced just before I bought the car at about 75k from what my mechanic can guestimate. I've not had one problem with it since I took possession of the car in July 2004.

That's 4.5 years of redlining the motor every time I drive it, and driving it like I stole it every chance I could do so.

So, all this to say, if you replace nearly everything on our cars at least once you end up with a very reliable car.

98, 78K miles, no payments, no warranty, no worries. Very few unscheduled repairs in 3 1/2 years of ownership. A spirited driver with lots of Auto-X and track days. I do not flog my car though. Normal street driving between 2.5-4.5k rpm. Track days 3-6k rpm. I rarely touch the rev limiter.

2002 S with around 49K on it, of which I am responsible for 3K. (Relatively new to me.)

I had to replace the clutch after I purchased it. Otherwise, the car is awesome to drive and own! And this time of year is perfect for the car. I drive top down every where I go!

Thanks for this line of posts. It was getting depressing around here.

James :cheers:

hardly anyone here has over 100k.... hmmm.

You're posting in the wrong thread... stop ruining it.

We see rainbows and hearing children's laughter, all the time.

100k
 

I have seen many early ones 97-98s and 99s for sale with over a 100k, just look on ebay ,Its funny my local mechanic who works on imports porsche and bmw also mercedes and has worked on boxsters ,told me he has never seen or heard of a boxster engine failure

2001 Boxster, 5 speed.
purchased 2-1/2 years ago at 57K miles CPO now have 86K miles
repair done: rear plastic window, rear left axle bearing and cv boot
still have the tires and brake that came with purchase.
daily commuter car no other problem.

85,000 on a 1999 2.5l. Bought it about two years ago with 60K on the clock.

It's a daily driver and hopefully will make it well past the 100k mark (otherwise I may need to get a 3.5l engine for it..)

CEL light kept coming on about a year ago but, after cleaning the MAF with some electrical contact cleaner, it's been fine ever since.

2001 S with 62,000 miles. When I bought the car it had 42,000 ad complete records. According to those RMS/IMS leak fixed at 18k (updated new seals,flange,case bolts per tech bulletin in 2005). I've had zero problems in the time that I have owned it other than scheduled maintenance.

2001 S. 93,000 miles and driven almost daily. I have had it since 70,000. Airbag light is on. Other than that in great shape.

2002 Base 71,000. Made in Finland. I have put 8,000 of the miles on the car since last May. Previous onwer had no issues 2,300 was put on it over one 5 day period this past New Year's. No RMS No IMS. Changed oil at 67, 500. I'll do it again at 75,000.

The Honeymoon is still on (JINX!)