To keep or sell, serious maintenance problems
 

I bought my Boxster 6 months ago, had a Porsche 60,000 mile check up, she's always been dealer maintained and I have the records. Everything looked great. Since then the following has failed(as in physically left the car stranded or running very poorly condition, non of this is preventative)
-Engine mount
-ignition switch
-water pump
-fuel pump
-shift linkage shaped(this pissed me off)
-thermostat
-mass airflow sensor

"Small" things that failed
-Convertible top
-air oil separator
-Driver's seat



I love the car, but part of me says sell this poorly made piece of sht now, and buy one of those Corvettes that you hate or go back to BMWs! And the other half says you've already replaced everything that's going to fail why sell it now. What would you guys do?

The selling is up to you. However, I always keep in mind a column I read in Automobile magazine a few months ago by Ezra Dyer. He posited that you can go buy a 9 year old, $60,000 car for $15,000 but when it came time to fix it - you were still dealing with a $60,000 car. It's not going to be cheap.

What year model is the car? Mine's a 2000 and I just finished replacing most of the stuff you listed, and the top also. Went through the same thing, but I feel like I have a new car now. Mine's 12 years old. Stuff fails, degrades, etc, especially on a car that's meant to be driven hard. I'm doing my RMS, IMS as we speak!

Porsches aren't cheap to own.. plain and simple. Especially as a daily driver, as mine is, the maintenance is more "obvious". I'd say stick it out. The stuff you've replaced are all known "replacement" items so far. Nothing you listed is "off the wall", except maybe the driver's seat.

Truegearhead, you have a very smart spouse. Keep her.

Any jackwagon can purchase a (prior owned) Porsche. Now, keeping one and maintaining one requires a whole different $kill level.

None of what you listed seems out of line given the mileage. I never owned a Porsche that didn't eat some money during the years of ownership. The true question is does it make you smile to drive it and what is that worth during a human lifetime, it's why we are all here awaiting spring. This year I have a warranty, wow what a concept...

PS Next week I become that jackwagon

I would keep her. Looks like you have done the work and should be somewhat in the clear for a while if not how much for a well maintained Boxster. I would love to own one that has all that just done on it.

You don't mention what yr your Boxster is. My guess based on your list is that it's at least 10 yrs old. The items you've listed are pretty common weak points on the 986. About the only ones you haven't experienced yet are a window regulator failure and rear wheel bearings. Other than that, your list has them covered. You might be on your way to many trouble free miles now that you've replaced these items. Porsches are not Hondas when it comes to quality and reliability. They're a low volume producer of sports cars.

Four yrs ago I was kind of in your same shoes. I had purchased a CPO 01S in July 2005 and many of the items on your list also failed on my car. Some were covered by CPO, some were not. By Dec 2007 my warranty was several mo gone and I was concerned about a major expense. So I did the only logical thing and bought a brand new 2008 Boxster S. Kind of illogical if you think about it, but I did have the peace of mind of a 4 yr warranty. What I found since is the 987 has been a much better, more reliable car than my 986. The only item that has failed is the water pump and it was covered by warranty. Everything else has been 100% rock solid. And she's not a garage queen - I have 28K miles on her.

I haven't told you what to do. Only you can make that decision. Just wanted to give you some options to think about.

I have to go now and find some wood to knock on after bragging about my 987.

The death knell of aging luxury/sports cars is not bad engineering or inferior parts, it is owners who cannot afford to maintain their vehicles. I am in the auto repair business and see folks that are in over their heads every day.

Yesterday I told a customer that she needed to sell her 97 540i with 177k that needs $1500 in work just to get close to zero for a five or six year old camry or honda. She is unemployed and needs a BMW like a hole in her head. It might appeal to her ego but it is simply creating more problems than it is solving in her life.

Don't take this advice as being mean or rude but since you are asking the question above, you are answering it at the same time whether you are aware of it or not. You are simply looking for validation from us.

What you really said was " I bought a dealer maintained car hoping I could beat the law of averages and buck the trend for expensive porsche ownership but I found out that I am not so lucky and it has cost me a wad and now I am hurting and wonder whether my luck will change or am I still going to suffer".

Vegas was not built because people beat the trend.

So what it boils down to is can you afford the cost of keeping up a porsche? Only you can answer that.

Very good post. And I'd add.........."do you have the passion" (to you last statement)?

The wisdom of all these posters above me simply amazes me. I will add my 2 cents worth as a newbie having owned my 2001 Boxster base for less than a year. I am in my 60's and retired and went from a '99 Miata Mx5 to my Boxster. I did a huge amount of research. I got a PPI done, small rms leak etc(no oil on garage floor), auto spoiler disabled. Got some $$$ off the asking price and I will probably have the rms, ims done in the next couple of years. Have had the cv joints overhauled. I knew that I could not run this car for the cost of the Miata but the Boxster is so much more car. Only u can make the decision to keep it or not.

I'm certainly not new to the used lux car market, and believe it or not the boxster are parts are very reasonable compared to the BMW M parts that I'm used to. My 2002 M3 for example had a $750 water pump fail! I'm also religious about preventative maintenance. The thing about the Porsche that I hate (when compared to older BMWs I've owned) is that the Boxster keeps getting me stranded. Waterpump, shift linkage, ignition switch all left me dead away from home. I think I'm going to keep the car because I really do enjoy it! I need to identify what else could fail in the next 20,000 miles and then go ahead and replace it. The wheel bearings are a great place to start. Any other suggestions?

^^^^^^ Now THIS is a True Porsche Owner....I applaud you Sir. :cheers:

I was hoping it was going to be more along the lines of this, but I guess I'll take what I can get.

-Side note, I searched for "Porsche Girls" to find that picture and got mostly wrecked Porsches. True story, search yourself.

http://www.fquick.com/images/pics/9157.jpg?1255104897

You have done all the normal repairs it should be like new now!!

Just in time for the IMS bearing to fail...

Smokin hot or not..... Don't sit on my spyder

They like it cuz it's orange. ;)

That is what you get if you let any of these lovely ladies drive your Porsche. Ha ha although I would have a very hard time saying no to the Miss Daisy Belt.

waterpump and thermostat should have been done at 60k maintenance.
you are lucky your ignition switch made it to 60k! mine was replaced at 50k

shift linkage is just bad luck along with MAF and fuel pump

common time for the motor mount to go

AOS is hit and miss, some live a long time, some fail early

Got mine in Dec. Actually it's for my daughter. If she goes away to college then the car stays home. Either way I plan to keep this baby for a long time. Here's what I've done so far:

AOS
All brake pads
All sensors
All spark plugs
All Spark plug tubes
All coil plug tubes
Original seats (used)
Rear underbody lining
Original muffler
Original spoiler
Oil change
Fuel filter
Air filter
Cabin filter
All manifold boots
2 O2 sensors
Side lights
All 4 wishbones
All 4 Drop links
All 4 control arms
2 track rods-rear
Both outer tie rods
Soft top
and some little things I can't remember
Not to mention all the tools I acquired

Need to do:
RMS
IMS
Low temp thermostat
Possible MAF
Possible clutch
Possible Secondary air system overhaul
Alignment
Wheel balancing
Some painting when all is done

Sometimes I feel I need to part this out and be done with it. But, Love working on the car and I know it will run good for a few years with prudent maintenance and the IMS nightmare behind me. I just can't wait to be done and be driving with the top down. Very soon.

If it's an old car then expect issues. It's an expensive car to have and maintain. That's for sure. Save some money by doing the maintenance/repair yourself. Plus you get the therapeutic bonus! ;)

FYI, did/will do all the work myself. Except alignment, balancing and painting.