My First Boxster!!!

I am about to buy my first Boxster (not the Boxster S). I am presently living in a country where cars are about twice the price as they would be in the US due to importation taxes. A new 2006 Boxster here is equal to $85,000 USD. The model I am looking at is a 2006 that is 6-months old with 4000km. The price we agreed on is about equal to $75,000 USD.

What should I be looking at on this car for problems? I took it for a brief test drive and it seemed ok. Where I live there are also no Porsche dealers unless I tow it for about 16 hours. Is doing basic maintenance difficult? I have no problem getting my hands dirty as I use to work on cars a lot in my teen years. The car still has 18 months on the warranty as well.

Given the taxes this is a lot of dough to be blowing on this car but when I saw it I just could not say no. I am just very worried about needing to fix it and maintenance. I should have it delivered early next week. The only reason I do not have it now is my damn bank screwed up the wire transfer. There is a road very close by that has very little traffic and runs along the side of the ocean for about 100 kilometers. I just can't wait to take it out for the full test drive.

One other thing I was wondering, is what do people use for a spare tire? I would need something in the event of a blowout since calling a tow truck is something that would be very impractical.

[blinkwatt]

All routine work,oil change,air filter change,brake work,serpentine belt,spark plugs,fuel filter can be done at home with a racing jack and patience. The only thing I would worry about is finding a shop that knows how to PROPERLY align the car. If there is no Porsche dealership or independent shop around that knows how to work on Porsche s I would recommend that you buy OBD II reader(help you find problems related to the CEL light).

[Ronzi]

Wow. You must want a Boxster pretty bad.
Most of the routine maintenance things (oil changes, brake fluid, brake pads and the like) are things that are well within the capability of most mechanically adept people.
If you have a Maintenance Manual (it should have come with the car) it will tell you what needs to be done and when. If you don't have one, they are all over eBay, so get one, and the Owner's Manual, too. Also, in your situation probably a shop manual would be a good investment. The best one (except for the mega-buck factory ones) is from Bentley, I think.
I believe Porsche has the space saver type spare tire available through the parts dept at the dealer.
What goes wrong with them? Probably the same stuff as any other car. The whole thing is electronic, so that is probably your biggest worry as a good hosing in the electrics can put you out of business in a hurry, with a fix a 16-hour tow away.
Why not a nice Toyota Land Cruiser or something?

[Wintermute]

Congrats on your first Boxster! I'm sure you'll love it!

As for maintenance, from what I hear Boxsters tend to be pretty reliable cars. Most of the work can be done yourself (especially oil changes) as has been said. Just hit the web and get yourself some good tech manuals and you should be in good shape.

Now we need some pics.

On a side note, what country are you living in?

[Brucelee]

Where do you intend to have your warranty work performed. If it is 16 hours away, you have a very big issue to confront!

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Where do you intend to have your warranty work performed. If it is 16 hours away, you have a very big issue to confront!

If it breaks they will fly out a technician while it is on warranty (or so they tell me!).

The other work is at 15K, 30K, 45K etc? Correct? If so, I imagine I will tow it to the dealer. It will cost a few hundred bucks but I guess I have no choice. I will of course have the only Boxster where I live, or even anywhere within 500+ miles so I will be on my own I guess. If the work only involves changing oil, filters and little things like that I imagine it would not be too hard to do myself. Anything more technical will require tow-time.

Originally Posted by Ronzi

Why not a nice Toyota Land Cruiser or something?

Toyota?

Surely this is a joke?

Someone I know who drives a Toyota said the exact same thing to me yesterday but was serious. He claims "you are gonna have nuttin but problems with one of those fancy sports cars! Why don't ya get a Toyota like mine!".

My only answer to this is to say I am not a very practical person. :dance:

Originally Posted by Wintermute

On a side note, what country are you living in?

I live on the Caribbean coast of Colombia in a city about 60 miles from Barranquilla (ie. Shakira) called Cartagena. But I don't want my posts to make people think Colombia is that backwards. There are Porsches and dealerships in the larger cities such as Bogota and Medellin. However, in the coastal cities people drive more affordable cars usually. I have only seen one other Porsche in Cartagena. Personally I think the coast is the place to drive a convertible with the weather being tropical every day of the year unlike Bogota where it rains every day.