Porsche Boxster reliability -- let's get better info

[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.

[mkaresh]

We have updated the reliability stats for the Boxster and Cayman to include owner experiences through March 31, 2011.

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

2008: 41, better than average

2007: 65, about average

2006: 54, better than average

2005: 73, about average

2004: 62, better than average, small sample size

2003: 65, better than average

2002: 112, about average

2001: 83, better than average

2000: 84, better than average

1999: 97, better 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.

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).

No IMS failures have been reported for cars 2006 and newer. None have been reported for any year since the beginning of 2011, with over 220 owners of 1999-2005 cars participating.

Rear main seal and air/oil separator repairs are far more common.

We'll have further updates in August and November. With more participants we could provide more precise information and cover all model years.

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

Porsche Boxster reliability ratings and comparisons

[Earn]

This is good info. Like other I've wondered about IMS failure rates.