Go Back   986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners > Porsche Boxster & Cayman Forums > Boxster General Discussions

Post Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-01-2015, 04:37 PM   #1
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 183
Buying a Used Porsche Classified as Risky

I addressed this in my response to Jeepdad's posting today about buyer's remorse, but I think my mild rants were too much and the powers that be deleted my posting:-)
So I will not complain anymore about AOSs, water pumps or IMS failures. Focus ...Focus

In the March 2015 Car & Driver is a piece on buying used cars. The author categorizes used car purchases as either safe - ambitious - risky and provides examples of each in the $5,000, $15,000 and $25,000 ranges.

The 1999-2000 996 is listed as risky for $15,000.

Unfortunately there wasn't a $10,000 category, if so I expected the 986 to listed as ambitious at best and risky at worst.

After my 232,000 plus mile 99 Boxster reaches 300,000 miles I'm getting a 996.

What are your thoughts?

MNC-I

mnc-i is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2015, 06:21 PM   #2
Registered User
 
RedTele58's Avatar
Getting out of bed is risky. I do it every day though...

Our 986/996 cars are 11-18 years old. Things wear out. Things break.

Big deal.

My thoughts?

I've never understood why some people buy a 15 year old sports car, then get their panties in a wad when a seal starts to leak, a pump goes bad, a bearing fails, or something electrical quits working. Uh... excuse me. You bought a 15 year old sports car... :ah:

The other chuckle I get is when the moaning starts when they then replace said part and realize how expensive it costs to replace. What part of your $90,000 sticker-priced 996 or your $60,000 stickered 986 do you expect to be cheap?

Too many folks buy a 15 year-old, $10,000 Boxster and expect it to be a perfect car that will run forever.

My 996 and my Boxsters are the most fun cars I've ever owned. But I also know they can be kinda finicky and aren't cheap to repair. They're Porsches, not Chevys. But even my 11 year old Chevy truck isn't cheap to run down the road.

So. There's my rant.

Rick
__________________
I think I have a Porsche problem...
RedTele58 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2015, 07:15 PM   #3
Registered User
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: DFW
Posts: 253
Well said.
CraigM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2015, 07:29 PM   #4
Registered User
 
husker boxster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Omaha
Posts: 2,865
It's kind of past my bedtime, so I want to be sure I read your post correctly...

You're complaining about the reliability of a 16 yr old Boxster.

Your Boxster currently has 232K mi.

You plan to drive it another 68K mi.

Then you're going to get a 996 that was listed as RISKY in C&D.

I think that sums it up in 4 sentences, but none of this makes sense. Did you need to hash tag it SARCASM?

Please clarify.
__________________
GPRPCA Chief Driving Instructor
2008 Boxster S Limited Edition #005
2008 Cayman S Sport - Signal Green
1989 928 S4 5 spd - black
1987 928 S4 - Granite Green Metallic (Felsengrun)
husker boxster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2015, 03:47 PM   #5
Registered User
 
woodsman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Land of naught
Posts: 1,302
Quote:
Originally Posted by mnc-i View Post

After my 232,000 plus mile 99 Boxster reaches 300,000 miles I'm getting a 996.
What are your thoughts?

MNC-I
You seem confused. I am too. Personally, owning a Porsche is one of the highlights of my life but I remain a little bitter about the frequency of repairs. I think a newer Porsche is the answer.
Porsche is supposed to be the very pinnacle of engineering yet there are numerous parts that have multiple revisions and it's questionable whether or not the latest part is good enough. And no not all auto mfg'ers are like this- I've seen charts of engineer's activities and the Japanese are done fixing after 1 or 2 years. So okay it's the accountants fault- but isn't the right design going to be cheaper than multiple revisions? And then there's Porsche's LOVE of plastic....ya I know it's light weight!
__________________
Death is certain, life is not.
woodsman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2015, 03:51 PM   #6
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Houston
Posts: 370
Quote:
I've never understood why some people buy a 15 year old sports car, then get their panties in a wad when a seal starts to leak, a pump goes bad,
My water pump blew TWO days after I purchased my 986. My solution? Got it fixed and have been daily driving it ever since (2 years ago).

Old cars break. If one can't budget $1000-$2000 for maintenance/repairs one should not buy a Porsche. New cars break too but that's what warranties are for. Your annual maintenance bill is still cheaper than a brand new car.
__________________
DD summer/winter: 2000 Boxster S
DD spring/fall: 914-6 w/ 3.0L SC Dual Webers

http://imgur.com/a/k0Wtl - My 914-6 Build/Project Story
patssle is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-02-2015, 04:42 PM   #7
Need For Speed
 
KRAM36's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Funville
Posts: 2,112
Garage
I've had my 2003 Boxster S for almost 2 years now. Last summer I had to replace the water pump, little over 100k miles at that time. Just threw a CEL couple weeks ago. Shows knock sensor is bad. Had a couple other codes, but I'm thinking the knock sensor might be causing those.

I'm right at 116k miles now, do my own maintenance on the car. Put a magnetic drain plug in it on the previous oil change. Just changed my oil last Friday, no metal stuck to the magnet and the oil filter free of any debris.

Heck I'm getting ready to install a 987 air box plumbed to a 996 76mm Throttle Body and a larger 997 Distribution T to the plenums along with some new 19" wheels and a Boxster Euro Suspension Kit (ROW M030). My starter is making noise so while I'm in there I'm putting a new starter in it because it's embarrassing when you fire up your Porsche and it screeches.

I love this car!
KRAM36 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2015, 03:57 PM   #8
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 183
Gee Wiz! You would have thought I started a new thread on which motor oil to use.

I am truly sorry if I offended anyone. I was only trying to point out that a non-Porsche specific car magazine wrote a small piece on the 996 series 911. I don't know about you but I like reading about the 986 series Boxsters and 996 series 911s. It seems that the only time I get to read about 986s or 996s is in Excellence magazine and the topic is about changing water pumps every 50,000 to 60,000 miles as preventive maintenance.

I am not one bit confused. I love my 99 Boxster with 233,000 miles and the original IMS.

And no, I was not trying to perfect the art of sarcasm. Nor was I complaining about the reliability of 15 year old cars. I do however complain about poor design and manufacturing (i.e. water pumps that don't seem to last more than 70,000 miles and pieces of water pump that can clog engine coolant passages).

To paraphrase President Reagan, Thou shalt not speak ill of any Porsches.

If I have to complain about something, well it is the high price of gasoline. I had to pay $2.05 per gallon for 93 Octane the other day...what is the world coming to?
mnc-i is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2015, 04:36 PM   #9
Registered User
 
Perfectlap's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 8,709
WP is one of those things where if it's not installed EXACTLY right, it will shorten the life of the part.
And it's part of asystem, there can be other weak links in the chain, due to age and wear, that contribute to the WP's premature demise.

__________________
GT3 Recaro Seats - Boxster Red
GT3 Aero / Carrera 18" 5 spoke / Potenza RE-11
Fabspeed Headers & Noise Maker
BORN: March 2000 - FINLAND
IMS#1 REPLACED: April 2010 - NEW JERSEY -- LNE DUAL ROW
Perfectlap is offline   Reply With Quote
Post Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -8. The time now is 01:11 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2024 Pelican Parts, LLC - Posts may be archived for display on the Pelican Parts Website -    DMCA Registered Agent Contact Page