What year Boxster would you get for most reliable?
 

I enjoy my 986 Boxster - and next year I am considering whether to do the IMS upgrades and further maintenance, or put that money towards getting a slightly newer Boxster as mine is a 2001.

Basically my question gets a bit away from the 986's and into the 987 cars.

It is my understanding that the 2009 Boxsters no longer have the IMS issues, so I am going to assume that these are pretty much the most reliable Boxsters of them all, correct?

Having said that, with the early 2005-2008 987's Porsche did change some of the IMS systems right? Or do I have pretty much the same chance of having a problem with a 2005 as my 2001?

Basically, if I get a 2005-2008 and still have to do the IMS upgrades, I rather just wait a little more and get a 2009 that will come out of the box (ster..) with no issues.

Is that solid thinking? The 2009's are starting to dip into the lower 30 and even high 20's now for a base, so I assume in a 1-2 years it will be at the sweet spot.

05-09.5 still have an IMSB, but it's too large to extract. this requires you to open the case and remove the entire thing. more labor = more $$$.

though the newer "non-IMSB" engines won't grenade because of a failed bearing, they too have their own issues.

I would not buy a 2005.

I'd buy a 2006 or newer, and feel pretty confident. Go research the True Delta surveys on the Boxster. Good info there.

Put the upgraded IMS in and enjoy the car without worry until you are ready for a newer one. Don't lose sleep over this. You'll pull your bearing out and like 99% of the folks that do it will be a perfect little double row with no wear...but at the end of the day you'll have an upgraded one in and can sleep.

Mine is a 2003 model, (touch wood) I have had no issues with it. Only money I have had to spend was for servicing and a set of rear tyres.

Unless you are counting the Pioneer double din, rear speakers, OBC & cruise that I added because I wanted to.

if you have a 2001 I would get a 2009 or newer.

I was at your same point just as the stock market was crashing along with banks nearly going kaput. I decided against taking on a new monthly payment on the high side.
But here's where I didn't predict things so well. The IMS/Clutch/Flywheel/RMS job costing nearly $3K quickly led to another round of repairs of things that went unexpectedly (AOS, starter, alternartor, coolant tank which of course led to needed suspension work and new tires/wheel dent repair. Just like that... it got expensive quickly. Mind you my car had always been garage kept and driven only on weekends but 10 years takes it toll, things don't last forever.

The thing to keep in mind is your mileage up here in north east. Our cars take a beating from harsher roads and the elements so major maintenance will come around sooner.
If you don't want to deal with all that go 2009 or try and spend as little as possible until you make your move.

Perfectlap, that's my fear - that ill do the ims upgrade and more things will need fixing by surprise. Instead I could put that money in a newer model.

I guess it depends on your mileage. I had zero, well almost zero repairs up until the first 10 years and 70K miles. I was swearing it was the most reliable car I'd ever owned. Then it was if the parts were engineered to go all at roughly the same time.

I suppose if you haven't put a ton of mods and money into the car get a 2006 S if you don't want to wait for an IMS-free 2009 S to come down some. In the other thread Jake Raby qualifies the 2001-2005 engines to have been the more problematic ones.
I followed the Porsche rule of upgrading every other series and sat out the 987 altogether.
Too bad the 981 is only just now coming out since I never, ever, buy new. Which means I'll be waiting a while for that depreciation.
With no monthly check to write the bank and a car that still gets compliments on every other drive, I'm in no rush.

"What year Boxster would you get for most reliable?"

Definitely 2009.5 or younger. I'll not buy a cayman or box that's older than this. I'm holding out for the 2013 cayman S, purchased sometime in late 2016 or early 2017 when there's snow on the ground.

I have a 01S that's paid for. When I get the IMS clutch done next quarter, I'll have about 10K total invested in repairs. It's in great shape and I enjoy it throughly. The way I see it, I'm way ahead in the money game if I spend a couple of thousand a year in repairs versus the $10,000 a year in new car payments.

My car is an 01 with 54k miles currently. Clutch is still pretty good, so I want to wait until sometime next year to do the IMS upgrade and clutch. I guess it is sort of a small gamble, hopefully no IMS issues pop up.

Basically, over the next year and few thousand miles, this is what I have to do for my car:

IMS upgrade and clutch: $2000
60k Service - $800
Pads and rotors: $1300
Fix rear plastic window: $500
Alignment/tire balance: $300

So that seems almost about $5k to get the car in tip top maintenance and almost brand new.

It's probably worth about $12-13k, so that's $18k in value I could use towards a newer car - but I'm not sure.

Since it's my third car, I want to keep it reasonable too, and not spend a fortune - but I want something reliable that won't give me too many issues.

Basically 2009.5 + is a safe bet, and they are near $30k now, probably upper 20's by the end of the year, which is not bad. a 2006 or so can be had for low $20's, but then I still have the risk of there being an IMS issue, even if it's more remote.

Aside from that maintenance, my car is mint - really good condition in and out, so it does feel good to keep it. It's basically my starter Porsche, and I planned to trade it up as I learned manual better and got a feel for it. (My other car is a BMW 335i and a Toyota Plugin Prius I use for work)

$1300 on Pads on Rotors seems to be a lot of money.
I am in the process of changing my pads and rotors and it's only costing me a $140 for front and rear rotors A great deal I found on ebay and I picked up front and rear brake pads for less than a $100.

Wow, that is a very hefty price. Unless you are tracking your car with high performance pads and somehow have ceramic brakes, costs should not be so high. Good quality set of brakes and rotors can be found for under $300.

Are you installing this yourself or are you taking it to a shop? A lot of these are not too difficult to do. You can get a good alingment/ balance for around 120ish and a rear plastic window sewed in for $300ish from what I've seen around the forums. As for the rest, they seem to factor in dealership costs.

That was the price quoted me by an independent porsche shop.

How can I tell if I need rotors too? My brakes are making a noise when stopping.

If your brakes are so worn that you're literally "grinding to a hault", then you need new rotors. Most shops frown on resurfacing CD rotors and for good reason.

Find out which axle is grinding and plan on 2 rotors for that axle. Have the other rotors measured with a micrometer (Many folks can estimate a rotors serviceability by the depth lip on the outside of the rotor).

The noise is more of a squeal, and not a grind.

To answer the OP question. I remember reading somewhere the 2000 MY cars are the best of the gen 1 series.