Where are all the blown up boxsters ?

[jcoit]

I've been lurking around for several months studying up on the Boxster. I am absolutely convinced there will be one in my garage in the near future. However, I am set back in deciding how to go about my future ownership. My personal budget has been set at 15,000. There are obviously alot of boxsters to be had in this range. But I am very leery of the engine history along with the typical mechanicals that come along with owning a porsche.

So I thought I would investigate the option of buying a rolling boxster and getting in line for one of these Raby rebuilds. I like the idea of more horsepower and reliability. Not to mention starting from scratch in the engine and transmission dept. Trouble is I have yet to find much in the way of blown up boxsters for sale. Any help out there in that regards?

As well, my searching has led me to think that there is a distinct possibility there arent as many blown up cars out there as one would think and I may be knee jerking myself into a very in depth rebuild project when I could just find a nice 15000 drivable car and forge ahead. Thoughts?

[SeanZ4]

...and for 15k you should be able to get a fairly nice Boxster with a good history. I had all the same concerns a few years ago when I bought my '00S. I did as much homework as I could and bought one anyway. I did get mine from a P-Dealer. I probably paid a little more than I would have from an individual, but it came with 4 pages of maint. work they had done on it and a year wtty. (which I used)

Not sure on finding a roller but here would be a good place to start.

http://www.oklahomaforeign.com/

good luck!
sean

[Mark_T]

Why don't you talk to Jake? He probably sees more rollers than just about anyone. Would save you the shipping if he already had the car there.

I think your budget might be a bit shy for that project, and talking with Jake would also give you a realistic estimate of the total cost of a project like that.

I'd find a nice '99 with at least 70K on it and drive it till it pukes (if it ever does) and then get the 3.4 swap done. That's kinda my plan actually.

[jcoit]

After reading tons of post and anything else I can find on the net about these cars, I am starting to think along the lines of some who say,"you dont hear from all the happy boxster owners who's cars are 100K plus with no issues". But luck doesnt run in my blood, if anyone is going to buy one that will blow in 1000 miles it will be me.

I guess what I am looking for is some input from those that have taken on the challenge of starting from blown up to Raby improved. Costs involved and was the extended time worth the end result? My preferred end result would be an improved and reliable engine in a low milage chassis. That to me would justify the added cost if not simply for the piece of mind and performance desires I have.

[papasmurf]

putting a raby rebuilt/upgraded engine in a rolling chassis is probably going to exceed your 15k budget. Some people say you can pick up a boxster with a blown engine for 3-4k but I have not seen them myself and I would rather part mine out than sell it like that. You can find 97-99 models pretty frequently in the 80-120k mile range from 7k on up. I would possibly take my chances with one of these and save the extra money for what happens down the road. The raby engines I am sure are very, very good but the warranty I think is only 1 year or two at the most. I am sure you would probably not have any problems with a set up from him but I would not expect it to be like buying a new car with a 4yr 60k mile warranty or something like that.

[mikefocke]

Rolling car $5k
Raby 'cpo' $8k
Installation $2k

At the end you have a 10 year old car with a tested engine that has perhaps 5 of the major failure causes addressed but not the other 16 or so. And little or no warranty...though I'll bet Jake would try and work out something to try and help you. But since the engine isn't one of his total rebuilds, he isn't warrantying it like one, or pricing it like one.

There can be other failures that take down the car. You haven't done anything to the clutch in this scenario and the trans and suspension are old.

The more assurance/warranty you want, the more you pay. The more risk you assume yourself, the less you pay initially. And sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

[Boxster101]

[QUOTE=jcoit]After reading tons of post and anything else I can find on the net about these cars, I am starting to think along the lines of some who say,"you dont hear from all the happy boxster owners who's cars are 100K plus with no issues". But luck doesnt run in my blood, if anyone is going to buy one that will blow in 1000 miles it will be me.

I totally agree. I don't think the number nor the percentage of Boxsters with blown engines is nearly as great as those who make money from rebuilds would have us believe.

[jmatta]

I would purchase the nicest Boxster you can find in the $12k range and have the LN IMS update done and drive it.

[Jake Raby]

[QUOTE=Boxster101]

Originally Posted by jcoit

After reading tons of post and anything else I can find on the net about these cars, I am starting to think along the lines of some who say,"you dont hear from all the happy boxster owners who's cars are 100K plus with no issues". But luck doesnt run in my blood, if anyone is going to buy one that will blow in 1000 miles it will be me.

I totally agree. I don't think the number nor the percentage of Boxsters with blown engines is nearly as great as those who make money from rebuilds would have us believe.

Keep that attitude.. If you ever end up a statistic, you'll understand that a certain reality exists. That happened to at least 3 people that I know this year, to include one of our most vocal critics..

I simply state what we experience as a reality, we do see a higher concentration of failed engines, because that is our specialty and we see them from all over the country.

Not taking some sort of a preventive measure, even if its just a change in driving style, simply isn't wise.

FWIW- We'd much rather carry out preventive measures, instruct classes, provide resource materials and develop the engines instead of creating updated engines.. We provided more updated engines in 2010 than I wanted, and 2011 already has a jump start thats twice as heavy as we entered into 2010 with..

BTW- We are closed this week, but that didn't mean that the problems took the week off.. When I logged into the phone system today we had three failure calls since Thursday.

[mts]

[QUOTE=Boxster101]

Originally Posted by jcoit

After reading tons of post and anything else I can find on the net about these cars, I am starting to think along the lines of some who say,"you dont hear from all the happy boxster owners who's cars are 100K plus with no issues". But luck doesnt run in my blood, if anyone is going to buy one that will blow in 1000 miles it will be me.

I totally agree. I don't think the number nor the percentage of Boxsters with blown engines is nearly as great as those who make money from rebuilds would have us believe.

But it really sucks when yours is the one to go. 50% of the Porsches I have owned (100% of the Boxsters) have experienced an engine failure.....statististically speaking that makes me....

[thstone]

Met a guy yesterday with 208,000 miles on his 1998 Boxster. No engine problems whatsoever.

Anectdotal evidence is just that. We can all find as many examples as we want to backup our position.

As for me, I am going with the best data that there is and that is Consumer Reports reliability history which says that Boxster engines are very reliable.

[baxster]

Quote:


"Not taking some sort of a preventive measure, even if its just a change in driving style, simply isn't wise."

Originally Posted by Jake Raby

What kind of a diving style is considered "preventive" to help prevent a LMS failure?
I've read that tracked Boxsters seem to have less LMS failures. So I'm hoping the answer is something like "don't lug the engine".