No Porsche for me...

[Morelli]

1999 Boxster

The time has come ladies and gents. After less than one year, I have had my fill of dealing with my Boxster. I had my fun, and she was a blast to drive when she was working...but I've just been through too much and I am done.

I bought her with 57k or so. At 59k I did the 60k tune up, oil change, and perforated my airbox. That one ran just under $1000. My convertible top also only worked when it felt like it, so I had them look at that. They replaced something in there, and it worked for them. That was about $300. Then shortly after, I crashed it. My fault completely, but I used the occasion to put on a 996 front bumper from NR Auto. Big mistake. The bumper was crap, it hung down WAY too low, scraped on everything, and then the areas where it was bolted on, on the left side, gave way. I then put on a Boxster S front bumper, and lowered the car one inch on H&R springs, and also installed H&R front and rear sway bars. It then became the best handling car I had ever driven. That whole thing ran me a couple grand. Oh, and did I mention the top still didn't work right? They replaced another part, at no cost of course. Then I needed new tires. Slapped on some S-03's, and almost $900 later, we're golden. Then shortly after, she died on me one day as I was about to leave to go to a club one night. Turned out to be the MAF, and an O2 sensor. $600 and change later, it's fixed. Oh, and by the way, the top still doesn't work right. Then a couple weeks later, as I am exiting the freeway, I come to rest at idle...but my idle is jumping violently between 1250rpm - 2100rpm...like I am revving it.

I had officially reached my breaking point.

Took her right to the shop. Dropped it off with the full intent of never picking it up again. I told the shop to fix the problem, and contact one of their wholesalers to pick it up. I don't even want to look at it...I cannot deal with it any more. To make things worse, the only shop I trust is 10 miles away. Doesn't sound too threatening...but I live in LA. Even worse, their business hours are the same as mine. That means that I can drop my car off on Friday (I leave work at noon on Fridays), and pick it up the next Friday. In the meanwhile, I get to put miles on my cousins NSX. Fun, yes...but it is not my car and I don't like driving it too much...because it's not mine to have fun with. I have had my cousins car now for almost three weeks as I wait for Bank of America to send my payoff slip...did I mention I just paid her off with refi money? Fun.

So, looks like I am going back to Lexus. I think I am going to pick up another SC300. I have had two in the past, and they are one of the best all around cars ever produced. Just cannot go wrong with that car, and if I can find myself a 5-speed...I'll be the happiest man alive.

I had my fun, but I don't think I could own another Porsche without a warranty on it...talk about leaving a bad taste in my mouth...

That sucks. Sorry to hear the news.

I am so skeptical of cars with higher milage and even more so now. I have friends that have similar stories with used sports cars. I think the typical life of a Porsche starts with someone who doesn't really know how to drive the car and drives it really hard and sells it. The second owner thinks they got a deal on their hands and takes the extra money to modify the crap out of the car. The third owner is the proud owner of a screwed up car with a whacked out stereo, tricked out bumper, exhaust systems, 20 inch tires, and a perforated intake? (what the hell is that?).

[mjw930]

Let rationalize this post for a moment. From what I read there were 2 things wrong with the car (a high mileage, 6 year old car at that). A finicky top and a MAF/O2 sensor issue. The first should have be fixable by a competent shop with knowledge of the top mechanism and the updates since '99. The second was the failure of 2 components that are common to ALL EFI equipped cars and fail at a similar rate regardless of make (yes, your Lexus will be just as vulnerable). The idle issue sounds like the result of a botched EFI diagnosis IMHO. There's probably another sensor that either caused the MAF error, was masked by the MAF error or the MAF / O2 sensor installation was botched, just like the "top fix".

ALL of the other issues and money spent were the result of customizing, i.e. self induced. :ah:

Enjoy the Lexus, it sounds like you're better suited to that level of performance and style.

I've owned 9 Porsches in my lifetime from my original 914 2.0 through my '89 930 and now my Boxster S. Each one of them had a unique charactor. Every one of them had it's quirks but ALL of them put a smile on my face that no other car I've owned (20+) could ever come close to.

[Porschekid]

Yeah, it doesn't really sound like all that much went wrong with the car. Faulty top should have been fixed but it sounds like the dumb shops fault for replacing the wrong thing. 2 bad sensors... they go bad in all cars and it might have gone bad if you put in a K&N filter when customizing. Possibly could have just been cleaned instead of replaced. All of the other money when to routine maintenance, customization, and accident repairs.

[Brucelee]

I would echo these comments.

You had two things go wrong with a 6 year old car. I guess I am curious why you did not look into a warranty as you clearly seem like the type who would find this comforting.

RE: the Lexus SC.

I have owned 5 of these over the past decade. They are fine cars AND I have had to repair issues on several of those that I have owned.

To wit:

Timing belt, tensioner, water pump, power steering ( A known problem on early models) ECU, cam sensor etc. etc.

No used car is bullet proof! Having said that, the Lexus SC is a fine car indeed.

Good luck.

[Morelli]

No need to defend your honor people, as it seems that this is what you are doing.

I am simply disappointed with my experience. Bottom line. I'm not necessarily looking for your worlds smallest violins or rolled eyes, as it is somewhat childish. Personally, I am a man with no patience, and this car happened to wear mine thin...membrane thin...I honestly expected more from it, and even though everything that went wrong was somewhat routine, it all fell in a way that made me just not want the car any more. I am very, very picky about cars. Put it like this...I live in LA. I drive to Vegas all of the time...and I would NOT feel good driving it to Vegas. There is no way I would entertain the thought of driving it to Vegas. That is pretty much my deciding factor. That means I am no longer comfortable with it, simple as that.

Plus, I am entertaining the thought of dropping a 1JZ-GTE into the SC300, that's the Japanese Toyota Soarer engine, 2.5L turbocharged...with a small amount of tweeking, she'll run past 911's. The SC is a severely underrated car, with an engine that routinely runs past 200k miles.

Hell, at least I can have back seats again. :ah: