bought from a little old lady
 

I bought a 1999 boxster from a little old lady. Very spur of the moment purchase. They were downsizing and she can't drive it anymore. It has been very gently used with only 42,000 miles on it. Clean car fax (if that even means anything). I'm not sure if I will keep it but considering the low mileage and who owned it I could'nt pass it up. The top is in perfect condition but was rarely put up so there is a crease and some cracks in the back window. It will need to be replaced. The oil has been changed once a year. The brake fluid was flushed and replaced in 2004 at 20,000 miles. They also put on a new set of tires. Is there anything that I need to do to the car maintenance wise? Btw, I love the way this car drives. I can see why people love them so much. Thanks in advance for any help.

Congrats on the purchase and welcome. Now, lets see some pictures of your new car!

SB

Congrats on the new ride. I just replaced my top with a glass window top and its definately a must if your going to keep the Box. Lets see some pics

Wow, you fell for the oldest scam in the books... Nice little old lady selling a "lightly used" Porsche...

(just kidding)


You can't easily replace just the plastic rear window (you can try, but its a serious effort). Instead, most folks opt for a new top from a 3rd party manufacturer. GAHH makes a great product. If you go that route, get the acoustic material.

You can also try to polish the rear window. There are some specialty products that can help soften and clear the rear window. They work OK, but not really good enough if the top is creased and yellow.

Unfortunately, brake fluid from 2004 is well past its expected life (more like 3 years). Suggest you flush that.

While your at it, replace the oil and filter (once a year? So it was changed 12 months ago?). Also replace the oil filter, engine air filter and cabin filter. The cabin filter is a do-it yourself job its located in the front trunk.

Hah! Congrats on the car, I came on the thread thinking it was going to be a new joke!!
If you replace the top. I'd consider the extra to upgrade to a glass window, if you're going to keep the car. Even if you're going to sell it, it should be worth the extra as it will definitely add value. There are threads on the forum (do a search) for uprading. I believe you will have to replace the framework through a dismantler, but you may be able to get a good price on the whole thing (top and frame).

Congrats!

You have a lot of work to do.

Brake/clutch fluid flush and bleed - every two years!

Serpentine belt replacement - five year max!

Plugs - 45k mi.

Air filter (likely)

Coolant flush/fill 5yr./150k mi.

Battery - 5 year max.

Tires - 5 year max.

All these items have both a time and mileage service interval. This car is waaay past many of them.

Cheers!

Thanks for the input guys. I'm getting her detailed on tuesday so pics will be coming after that. I have been doing alot of reading here about the diy rear plastic window replacement. I will most likely go that route. The top looks brand new so i can't see replacing the whole thing even if it gets me the glass window. Can and indy do the brake fluid or is it dealer only? I'm afraid of what that is going to cost. I also know someone who has 19" carrera wheels and tires for sale. Might pick those up.

19's look stupid on a Boxster (my $0.02), ride quality suffers, tires cost more.

Brake fluid/flush is straight up - can do yourself and save some money to replace those dried out tires. Get a power bleeder from Bavauto and 2 Ltr. ATE Blue fluid.

Plastic window is doable, but probably a 7:10. If you haven't done this type of work before, have an auto upholsterer do it.

Cheers!

I gotta agree with LB about the 19's concerning ride quality and tire cost. 18's look great and give you LOTS more choice in tires at lower prices and keep the ride better.

Plus, Carrera 19's have an offset that require really large spacers... which translates into accentuated vibrations when your wheels are out of balance and they just might prematurely wear out your wheel bearings.

Welcome to our never-ending world of boxster mods, repairs, and maintenance!

I've flushed and replaced brake fluid before but not on a car with abs. Will that be a factor?

What about these wheels? They are the kind I am looking at.

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22820

ABS will not be a factor at all. The Boxster does have multiple chambers/bleeder valves in the calipers. Bleed inside valve first, outside last. You may get an ABS light on initial startup, but if properly bled, this will go out once the system pressurizes.

Obviously start with P-side rear and work you way to D-side front.

Definitely recommend power bleeder though. The pump-the-pedal method is a sure way to blow the master cylinder on an 11 y.o. car. Also, since the clutch and brakes share the same fluid reservoir, be sure to bleed the clutch slave cylinder too so you don't contaminate the new fluid.

As far as new wheels, what's on it now? Wheels/tires are a spendy pkg. and my recommendation would be to wait until you're sure the car is well sorted before blowing that $$ on nonessential stuff. No point in being the best looking car stuck in the driveway.

Cheers!

Cheers!

Thanks for the info. I will get the power bleeder for sure. Right now it has the chrome 17" factory wheels. They look great. $600 for the other ones seems like a good deal, buy I will wait though and take care of the important stuff first.

Definitely invest $62.97 (incl. shipping) in a Bentley shop manual. It'll pay for itself on your first project. Best money you'll ever spend on your Box.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?app=spoffers&do=amazon

I don't like those rims at all but thats just me....your car would look great with 19's....like mine.....

I will say my winter wheels are 18's and I originally had 18's for the summer...the ride isn't very different to me at all....I love the 19's...but there is obvious truth that they are more to replace...

I like the lobster claws. I currently have my snows on (Cayman 18s), but my original wheels are 19s. If you like the lobster claws, go with them. Just be sure the offsets are correct before you buy them (search on offset for more info).

Here's my car with the lobster's on:

http://i47.tinypic.com/30rxurs.jpg

I drove a car with 18" lobster forks and 19" lobster forks. I prefer the feedback from the 19s when cornering.

Yeah, my back window cracked after a week of freezing weather here in Florida. Like you, my top is in near perfect condition. I priced a auto top shop and he has done 4 Boxster tops recently with bad back windows...$450. Porsche wanted $1600 for the same job. :cool:

There is 18inch lobseter for the boxster?!?!? I tought it was only offered in 19..

So I researched offset for the Carrera lobster claws. Found a car on this site with them. et57 for the front and et46 for the back. Wheel size is 19x8 front and 19x9.5 back. Are the ones that came factory for the boxster different? BTW, I love your car! Did you paint the wheels black or did the come that way?

Congrats on your great deal! Here's a couple of differing opinions for you (the great thing about forums!):

Firstly, the brake fluid. The reason for changing brake fluid is that it is a hygroscopic fluid (absorbs water over time) and this will of course affect the efficiency of the brakes. (so far we probably all agree). BUT, as the fluid absorbs water it gets darker in color, so if your fluid is still completely clear then you don't need to flush it, regardless of how long it may have been in there. (the part we likely don't all agree on, but I think changing things that are still good just because the service manual says so is a crock) If the fluid is starting to darken then, by all means, change it.

Secondly, the top. I just don't get why everyone is so hot to get the glass window "upgrade". It is smaller than the plastic window (less rear visiblilty), more expensive, and I really, really hate the orange defroster lines. I don't think that just replacing the window is a good idea - looks like crap no matter how well it is done. Replace the whole top with a good quality one. If you do have your heart set on the glass window you can buy a glass window top upgrade that will fit your existing frame.

I got my replacement top (plastic window) for my '99 from Prestige out of England for about 2/3 the price of GAHH and I am very happy with the fit and quality. Prestige is one of the few that can "weld" in the plastic window, unlike many aftermarket suppliers who just stich it in. You can do the replacement yourself if you are careful and slightly mechanicall inclined.

Good luck with your project!

Mark

Yeah. A guy at my office has the 18" lobster forks on his Boxster S.

Well, we agree and disagree.

You absolutely CANNOT determine the moisture content in brake fluid by simply looking at it.

The ONLY way to accurately check it visually is with a refractometer.

An SAE study of 5000 3-yr. old cars found an avg. brake fluid moisture content of 8%. At 10% moisture content, you may as well be running pure water through the system. So changing the fluid every two years is not only prudent, but proven to be necessary.

Brake fluid is indeed hygroscopic and this means that not only will it hold moisture, but it will actually absorb moisture from the air. All brake hydraulic systems are 'open' in that they have a vent (usually in the cap) to prevent a vacuum from being created and every brake application causes this vent to pull in outside air. Not only is this a safety issue with potential fluid boil causing inefficient braking, but the moisture trapped by the fluid will lead to corrosion of the hard lines and brake internals.

I totally agree with you on the aftermarket glass window tops and would add that these also prevent you from putting the top into the 'Service' position making filter and fluid replacement difficult to impossible.

Cheers!

Mark
Thanks so much for the input. The boxster community is great. I will check out the color of the brake fluid and make a decision to flush or not. I really don't think it is going to be that bad. I have known the woman I bought the car from for over five years. It sounds cliche but the only thing she ever really used the car for was to go to church on sundays and a few trips up north. The rest of the time it was in her garage. Thats really the reason I bought the car. I wasn't looking for a boxster but now that I have one I love it! I'm not sure what I will do about the back window yet. The weather is nice in Phoenix so most of my driving will be with the top down anyway.

Don't bother checking the color of the brake fluid... it will not tell you a thing, except maybe that it's REALLY bad as opposed to just bad.

If you don't know when it was last changed, or if it was 2 or more years ago... change it!

Cheers!

I will gladly defer to Lil B's obviously better knowledge on the topic of brake fluid (and just about everything else Porsche, for that matter). A classic case of fact vs. folklore. And I guess I'll change my brake fluid when I pull 'er out in the spring...sigh*

Sounds like I will be doing the brake/clutch fluid in addition to all the other things. I don't want to cut corners on maintenance.

The numbers you quote are correct for a 987. I'm not an authority on whether they will work on a 986 (19s were never a factory option on a 986). Others will need to chime in. The thing you have to watch are offsets listed for rear wheels. 997 / 996 rear wheel offsets are generally et65. Wheel stores say these wheels will fit a Box, which is correct if you want to slap a big spacer on. But it sounds like you're looking at a set of wheels that are designed for a Box. Offset determines how far in and out a wheel sits on the hub. You want to be sure there's enough room to miss suspension pieces, e-brake cables, and fender wells. Buy a set of wheels with the wrong offset and you've made an expensive mistake.

I previously had an 01S and bought a set of 18" Carrera S wheels from Wheel Dynamics. I see they currently don't offer them in 18", so maybe they're no longer available.

Thx for the compliment. Limited Editions came with the wheels in black from the factory. I'm generally not a fan of black wheels but think they work well in this situation.

Thanks, but there are many more here who know more about these cars than I.

But, I guess if you've been around long enough for 1700 posts, you do pick up the odd tidbit now and then.

Cheers!

Here are the pics

Another great day in sunny Scottsdale AZ.

Congrats on your new ride! My Boxster's certainly kept a smile on my face, despite all the repair work I've had to do on it.

If anyone has not mentioned this, I'd get a full inspection done on the car. Usually people do a Pre-Purchase one, but since you already bought it that won't be happening. My dad got a 2004 S500 last friday and got a free inspection from the Mercedes-Benz dealer, it's very cheap insurance (he just needs to replace some wear and tear suspension stuff, he tells me).