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Old 07-24-2016, 01:02 PM   #1
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High Mileage Boxster After 1 Year

After one year of ownership, I thought I would share my experience of owning a high mileage Boxster. In July of 2015, I purchased a 1999 Boxster with 112,618 miles on the odometer for $5900.00. I did look at a 2009 Boxster with a lot less miles for a little over $20K, but I preferred the look of the older model and thought it would be a better project for the garage.

The PPI uncovered a few items that needed attention, but nothing that was a show stopper. The only things that would have caused immediate concern were the front tires and a tail light bulb, so I went ahead and replaced them with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 and ordered a few other items that were recommended.

While waiting for the dealer to receive parts, I was able to enjoy the car for a little bit. The dealer had it for 1/2 a day at 114,729 miles for some of the additional items that were found during the PPI:

— Cabin Air Filter
— Cooling Fan Resistor - Passenger Side (The fan was always on at full speed so I was able to continue driving while I waited for the parts to arrive)
— Steering Lock/Ignition Lock (Preventative Recommendation)
— Center Console Arm Rest Hinge
— Shifter Adjustment
— Fuel Door Spring
— Radio Alarm Issue with after market radio installation - tape underneath the contact for the alarm.
— Clean all drainage ducts

The dealer noted that they replaced the water pump for the previous owner at 109,000 miles so I should be good for a while. The PPI also noted that the battery was a little old but still in ok shape; the rear break pads and rotors were fine but will need to be replaced in the future; the engine had a few oil leaks (cam covers and spark plug tubes, and oil pan but since it was not dripping oil when parked, I decided to enjoy the car for a little longer before scheduling the maintenance),

At 116,000 miles it was time for an oil change and I had a local shop take care of it for me.

My original goal was to purchase the car so that I had a project for the garage. Since it has been about 20 years since I did any maintenance on a car, and that was only a starter replacement in a old pickup truck, I knew I was going to need a little help to get started. So I spent a lot of time on the forums, learning as much as I could about my new project. During my research I learned about the M96/97 Engine Rebuild Class that Jake Raby and Tony Callas host. I highly recommend this class to anyone that wants to really understand the M96/97 engine.

With my new knowledge, it was time to start my winter maintenance at 119,000 miles. This is where the fun really began, and I learned a lot in the process.

First thing on the task list was to drop the engine and transmission out of the car. Once the engine was on the stand and scrubbed, I spent the next few months reviewing and replacing anything that had seen better days.

The list included the following:

Coolant Expansion Tank
Coolant Level Sensor
Temperature Sensor (Engine Coolant)
Low Temp Thermostat
4th and 5th timing chain
Timing Chain Rails
Timing Chain Pads for Chain Adjusters
Timing Chain Tensioners
Hydraulic Valve Lifters
DT40 Oil
Oil Filler Pipe
Oil Filler Cap
Oil Filter
LN Magnetic Oil Drain Plug with Washer
Air Filter
Air/Oil Separator
Spark Plugs
Spark Plug Tubes
Rear Main Seal (RMS)
LN Engineering IMS
Clutch
Dual Mass Flywheel
Front Engine Mounts

The above maintenance took me between December and April to complete and, besides being a lot of fun, I learned a lot about how the car works. With all the winter maintenance complete, and everything buttoned back up. I learned that the battery had lost its charge. Since it was just OK during the PPI, I decided to replace it. After a short drive I had a CEL, so I pulled out the Durametric (and with a little help) figured out that I needed a new O2 sensor in the passenger side front. Once replaced, the CEL stayed off and the real time values the Durametric collected during a longer drive looked good.

Since I did a lot of maintenance, I thought it would be a good idea to change the oil at 120,000 miles. All looked good.

At around 121,000 miles, I had to put on new rear Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires, due to running over a nail.

Around 123,000 miles, the brake wear light popped on so it was time to replace the rear brake pads and rotors.

The odometer is approaching 125,000 miles, so I will be spending a little time in the garage for the oil change soon.

Overall the last year has been a blast and I would highly recommend purchasing a high mileage Boxster, to anyone that is looking for a project. My wife has been amazing through all of this and is beginning to enjoy the car more than I ever thought.



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Old 07-24-2016, 01:52 PM   #2
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Great post. Mine is @118k. 68k are mine. Love it.
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Old 07-24-2016, 02:24 PM   #3
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Mine has 108k and it's running strong (with a lot of the updates you listed). They're great little cars and with some love should last a long, long time.
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Old 07-24-2016, 03:14 PM   #4
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I have a (relatively) low milage 2001 S - she's just about to break 80K miles. I bought it because I was looking for an after work / weekend project car. I work in an office all day, and NEED to get my hands dirty. SO, I bought it as a therapy car. The car had been driven hard and put away wet by the previous owner (only 1 previous owner) and the car needed lots of TLC. It was exactly what I needed.

I started with the easy stuff (brakes, suspension, trim, etc) while I got things ready to do an IMS bearing, only to discover that the camshaft timing deviations were right on the limit of bad. I didn't have the space to drop the engine, so I sent it up to Jake Raby and Flat-6 Innovations to take care of the engine work. I am SO glad I did! Their pre-qualification uncovered metal and plastic bits in the lower sump and oil filter. They dug into the engine looking for the cause, and it turned out to be the main timing chain (that big mama chain that connects the crankshaft to the IMS). Even with the tensioner paddle at full throw, the chain was so stretched that you could still remove a link, it was that loose! How it didn't grenade is beyond me. To fix it they had to tear the engine down completely and rebuild it from the bottom up. The spreadsheet of parts that were replaced was staggering. It cost a bunch of money, but you know what, these cars are actually worth it. Not so much in $ - they made a million of them and you can pick up older ones for practically nothing right now - but in the absolute fun they give you driving them.

Speaking of which, time to do some driving...
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Old 07-24-2016, 07:00 PM   #5
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Great way to learn and be one with your car. I'm curious. Have you added up the bill for total cost of ownership, muscatty?
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Old 07-25-2016, 11:11 AM   #6
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All in with purchasing the Boxster, parts, tools, Jake's class I am approaching $20K.
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Old 07-25-2016, 01:25 PM   #7
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wow, i would love to do what you did. I'm currently troubleshooting a CEL, replacing this and that when I can, but probably wouldn't hurt to drop the engine and do a overhaul. Inspirational! Thanks for the post!
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Old 07-25-2016, 02:33 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muscatty View Post
All in with purchasing the Boxster, parts, tools, Jake's class I am approaching $20K.
...and that's mostly parts, right? You did most of the labor?

Fun but expensive. Not for everyone, you have $20k in a car worth maybe a third of that... but you enjoyed the experience... You'll need to keep it for a good while.

Good looking car.

Last edited by Tcar; 07-26-2016 at 03:53 PM.
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Old 07-26-2016, 03:17 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muscatty View Post
All in with purchasing the Boxster, parts, tools, Jake's class I am approaching $20K.
The dollar figure can be a little overwhelming but it looks like you really went through it and should be good to go for many years to come other than standard maintenance. Also, like you said, you enjoyed the process and learned a lot.

I tell people, who are considering a very old car to be prepared for expenses that could equal or better the value of the car, and doing work yourself and finding a competent, fair independent mechanic are critical to keeping expenses in check. This path isn't for everyone and certainly not for people who like to treat their cars like maintenance free appliances.

If one does a good pre-purchase inspection and stays on top of maintenance, repairs are likely to be considerably less than the cost of depreciation that comes with a newer car.

P.S. I've got about $15k into a car that is optimistically worth $10-11k in my area ('98 with 70k miles.) I've put about 4k miles on the car so I'm close to the price per mile you are but I expect the mile to expense ratio to get better over the next few years.) Like you, I've also enjoyed learning and getting to know the car.


Last edited by Disaster; 07-26-2016 at 03:23 AM.
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