May I please pick your collective brains?[/

[mikefocke]

The '97-'05 Boxster has a ~$600 in parts IMS upgrade available of better design and materials and the replacement has had zero failures over 3+ years and 3500+ cars. The ideal time to do the upgrade is when the clutch is replaced. Cheaper to do with the stick shift car than with the auto-manual TIP cars.

The '06-'08 Boxster (and potentially any Boxster with an engine replaced after about mid '05) has (or probebly has) another IMS design which appears to fail even less frequently but whose upgrade is about 3 times more expensive in parts and labor to upgrade.

The '09- Boxster has no IMS in its engine. Thus no IMS problems.

The Porsche IMS does fail sometimes, no one totally knows why. Frequent oil (3k miles) changes with good oil seem to reduce the probability as well as frequent exercise. But even following Porsche's ridiculous oil change recommendations, the failure rate is nothing like reading these forums would have you believe. Which is not to say there isn't a big financial impact if yours should be the one.

Wonderful cars.

As for the Miata, drive one and if your size fits and you feel comfortable driving it for a multi-hour drive...do it. I was quite comfortable in my Boxsters for hundreds of miles at a clip...and around cones and corners. I'm 6' and was as heavy as 220.

The '05 and later Boxsters have larger cockpits than the ''97-'04 models.

[maj75]

Same basic boat, recently purchased a 2000 Boxster S. Here's my opinion:

There are a ton of these cars available. Many have had extensive repairs and upgrades. The year/mileage of the car was less important than the repairs and upgrades.

I found a high mileage car, but with a rebuilt engine, LN IMS bearing upgrade, new clutch, new lower control arms, new rear bearings and a new top with a glass back window w/defog. Make sure you get the records for the maintenance, upgrades and repairs. I got a 12 month/12K mile warranty on the engine. I passed on a bunch of cars because they had NO records. Don't take a car salesman's word for anything...

I have driven the car almost 5K miles since I got it in July and so far, so good. It needs a few details, but I don't mind my 90 mile commute nearly as much. Looking forward to cooler weather so I can drop the top more.

$10-15K will get you a very nice example. Less than that and you are probably taking a chance. There are plenty of Boxsters that are less than $10K, but you will be hard pressed to find any maintenance records and they usually have obvious problems like a CEL, or the top not working.

Beware of buying a "bargain" Boxster with a problem. There are few "bargain" repairs when your car has PORSCHE on the front...