Porsche Boxster reliability -- let's get better info

[eightsandaces]

We are all more than well read on the Boxster issues, still I'd like to add something my dad told me a long time ago that applies.

Any car is only as good as the mechanic that works on it and the owner's persistance to keep said vehicle maintained..

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by eightsandaces

We are all more than well read on the Boxster issues, still I'd like to add something my dad told me a long time ago that applies.

Any car is only as good as the mechanic that works on it and the owner's persistance to keep said vehicle maintained..

I'm not 100% sure of that....My Mom beat the crud out of her 96' Nissan Quest,only to change it's oil and filter on schedule....it lasted 240k miles without a hitch and would have lasted longer if it wasn't vandalized.

My Boxster has had weird annoying issues almost non-stop and it's pampered and hardly driven because of the weather.

[eightsandaces]

Originally Posted by blinkwatt

I'm not 100% sure of that....My Mom beat the crud out of her 96' Nissan Quest,only to change it's oil and filter on schedule....it lasted 240k miles without a hitch and would have lasted longer if it wasn't vandalized.

My Boxster has had weird annoying issues almost non-stop and it's pampered and hardly driven because of the weather.

There are always exceptions, coming from the car business I can tell you in general, beat & mistreat your car and you can expect it to be unreliable...

[mkaresh]

We have updated reliability stats for the Boxster and Cayman that include owner experiences through December 31, 2009. In terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2008: 67, small sample size

2005: 103

2003: 125, small sample size

2002: 167, small sample size

2001: 125

2000: 129

1999: 133

With more data this time around, we're seeing more consistent results from year to year. Only the 2002 doesn't fit with the others.

The 2002 and 2003, both with small sample sizes, are worse than average. The other years, including those with decent sample sizes, are about average.

I'd like to report specifically on the IMS failure rate, but we will need more participants to do this. A small number of IMS failures have been reported.

A big thank you, once again, to everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates, possibly including additional model years depending on the number of participants, in May and August.

Porsche Boxster reliability comparisons

[mkaresh]

354 Boxster and Cayman owners now signed up. A very good start, but more remain needed to provide precise results for all model years.

Not yet signed up? Details here:

Car reliability research

[mkaresh]

Recently enhanced the related repair history survey so that it can (optionally) be used as a personal car maintenance record.

As always, more participants would be helpful. Updated Car Reliability Survey results in May.

Car reliability research

[mkaresh]

We have updated reliability stats for the Boxster and Cayman that include owner experiences through March 31, 2010. In terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2008: 31, better than average

2006: 14, better than average, small sample size

2005: 71, about average

2003: 95, about average, small sample size

2002: 120, about average

2001: 129, about average

2000: 101, about average

1999: 129, about average

Note that these cars are driven an average of 5,000 miles a year, much less than the average car.

Fairly consistent results from year to year, with a clear improvement from 2005 to 2006. The results for the 2000 and 2006 might be a bit lower than they should be, judging from the results for other model years.

I'd like to report specifically on the IMS failure rate, but we will need more participants to do this. So far, with 180 986s participating for an average of about six months, only two IMS failures have been reported, and none since last August.

A big thank you, once again, to everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates, possibly including additional model years depending on the number of participants, in August and November.

truedelta.com/car-reliability.php?stage=pt&bd=Porsche&mc=239

[dennis]

I have only owned the car for 8 mos, but I can say when youre driving a boxster, there is a noticeable difference vs a S2000 or Miata. Reliability is another story, but in my opinion it is just not comparable to put the other two in the same grouping

[mkaresh]

Originally Posted by dennis

I have only owned the car for 8 mos, but I can say when youre driving a boxster, there is a noticeable difference vs a S2000 or Miata. Reliability is another story, but in my opinion it is just not comparable to put the other two in the same grouping

Are there cars compared here, earlier in the thread?

On the site comparisons are driven by which cars users compare when running price comparisons.

In a couple of weeks we'll start previewing the next set of results to participants. The preview results are actually updated as responses come in--for me it's like watching the results of a presidential election, only four times a year.

My focus: how many model years will we be able to cover this time around? It depends entirely on the number of owners that participate.

To help provide the best possible information on your year:

truedelta.com/reliability.php

[mkaresh]

Updated stats in about two weeks. 417 owners now signed up. Very good, but more remain needed to fully cover all years.

To help provide better information on your year:

truedelta.com/reliability.php

[mkaresh]

We have updated reliability stats for the Boxster and Cayman that include owner experiences through June 30, 2010. Other sources of car reliability information won't cover the more recent months until the summer or even fall of next year.

Repair frequencies, in terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2008: 36, better than average

2006: 47, better than average

2005: 49, better than average

2004: 67, about average, small sample size

2003: 94, about average, small sample size

2002: 118, about average

2001: 115, about average

2000: 92, better than average

1999: 117, about average

Important note: these cars are only driven an average of 5,500 miles a year, about half as much as the average car. No adjustment has been made for this.

Very consistent results from year to year. The result for the 2000 might be a bit lower than it should be, judging from the results for other model years.

I'd like to report specifically on the IMS failure rate, but we will need more participants to do this. So far, with 180 986s participating for an average of about six months, only four IMS failures have been reported, two of them over a year ago.

Thank you, once again, to everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates, possibly including additional model years depending on the number of participants, in November and February.

To see how competitors compare, and to sign up to help:

truedelta.com/car-reliability.php?stage=pt&bd=Porsche&mc=239

[mkaresh]

We have updated reliability stats for the Boxster and Cayman that include owner experiences through September 30, 2010. Other sources of car reliability information won't cover the months since April until the summer or even fall of next year.

Repair frequencies, in terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2008: 59, about average

2007: 61, about average, small sample size

2006: 53, better than average

2005: 45, better than average

2004: 71, about average, small sample size

2003: 55, better than average

2002: 92, about average

2001: 98, better than average

2000: 69, better than average

1999: 156, worse than average, small sample size

Important note: these cars are only driven an average of 5,500 miles a year, about half as much as the average car. No adjustment has been made for this.

I'd like to report specifically on the IMS failure rate, but we will need more participants to do this. A few more failures have been reported recently, but still about two to three per 100 cars in the past year.

Thank you, once again, to everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates, possibly including additional model years depending on the number of participants, in February and May.

To see how competitors compare, and to sign up to help:

truedelta.com/car-reliability.php?stage=pt&bd=Porsche&mc=239

[J'sboxie]

My 1998my boxie has not had one issue since I bought the car over 6 months ago...it is my dd and I have had nothing but fun!!!I have replaced tires and coolant cap(which I still add a small bit of coolant every 3 weeks) but other than that...no probs...oh..my mileage is 92,xxx and is a strong tip!!!

Now I know that is not a long time to own a car, but as I keep her "fresh" I can't see anything that bad! And if I have a problem, then I know that I can get help on this wonderful site. Oh wait...I do have one issue...The lever for the trunks does not unlock anymore...but that's okay...I use the small screwdriver method,lol

[mkaresh]

We have some new pages that display all reported repairs by problem area:

truedelta.com/car-problem-descriptions.php?stage=pt&bd=Porsche&mc=239&my=2002&gc=

From this page it's possible to select a different model year or specify a problem area.

[mkaresh]

We have updated reliability stats for the Boxster and Cayman that include owner experiences through December 31, 2010.

Repair frequencies, in terms of repair trips per 100 cars per year:

2008: 39, better than average

2007: 59, about average

2006: 49, better than average

2005: 54, better than average

2004: 88, about average, small sample size

2003: 58, better than average

2002: 124, about average

2001: 104, about average

2000: 90, better than average

1999: 106, about average, small sample size

Important note: these cars are only driven an average of 5,500 miles a year, about half as much as the average car. No adjustment has been made for this.

Six IMS failures were reported for the 2010 calendar year, most of them for 2004-2005 model year cars (with the 2005 being a 987 rather than a 986). Some of these failures might have occurred before the car was enrolled, in which case they would not be included in the above stats. So this count might err on the high side. The total sample size for 1999-2005 is 220 cars. No IMS failures have been reported for cars 2006 and newer.

Thank you, once again, to everyone who has been helping. We'll have further updates, possibly including additional model years depending on the number of participants, in May and August.

To see how competitors compare, and to sign up to help improve this information:

Porsche Boxster reliability ratings and comparisons

[jakekit]

Very cool data collection! I entered my newly acquired 2002. All the little things I'm doing to baseline are probably skewing things a little bit.

Very interested to see how the trends continue.

[stateofidleness]

just curious, but is there any validation of the data being submitted? maybe VIN number requirement of person submitting the claims?

Garbage in, garbage out! What can I say, I'm an analyst.

[mkaresh]

The problem with such validation is that hardly anyone would go through the effort to provide a VIN. The quality of the resulting information would be harmed far more through reduced sample sizes than helped by making it harder for people to report on cars that don't actually exist. Especially since there's never been any evidence of the latter.

The big problem is getting people to report on the cars they do have, not keeping them from reporting on cars they don't actually have.

[SoK]

signed up for this back in September when i bought my car. Good work!

[lifeisgood]

Originally Posted by stateofidleness

just curious, but is there any validation of the data being submitted? maybe VIN number requirement of person submitting the claims?

Garbage in, garbage out! What can I say, I'm an analyst.

Ditto. Incase of exhange in ownership.