Guess I wasn't meant to drive a Porsche
 

I have been trying for over a year now to get a chance to "fall in love" with Porsche...I am saddened to say the all I keep doing is trying and trying. Maybe I picked the wrong car or maybe my patience has just run out but I don't think that I can do it anymore. I have invested a ton of money into this car and have only truly driven it a few times! I go between anger to sadness to being encouraged back to anger...just a roller coaster of emotions. My boxster appeared to be fantastic at first but between the water pump, air pump, battery, immobiliser, ignition, emissions readiness and a bunch of other stuff - I don't really know what it's like to drive it! This community of Porsche fans has been more than hopeful and I really wanted to be a part of this group and share stories of truly enjoying it.....I find myself simply logging on for answers to try to avoid sending my boxster in for repair week over week over week.....smh. It's a lost cause as far as I'm concerned. I'm going to have it towed AGAIN to the most reliable tech I've found so far - get WHATEVER is wrong with this immobiliser fixed and then sell it as quickly as possible. I was considering keeping this car for a LONG time but I just don't think that I can take it anymore. As much money as I have put into just trying to get it "drivable" ...I could have bought a much newer one. smh.....sorry guys, I'm truly depressed over this.

Yeah, I feel for you. Pcars are really tempting, especially when the initial price is fairly low for a high-end sports car. But it can be a crap shoot. You do your due dilligence, PPI, research, and all, but sometimes things just go wrong. I think that many here, if they were to do it again, would lay out the extra few grand in the beginning to get a more recent and (maybe) more reliable car! :rolleyes:

15 year old car.....no matter the brand, they take some tlc and all you described are common challenges on most 15 year old cars.
If you can't wrench it yourself, you are better off with something newer. That's what I did and love it!

This is not unusual for some cars. Weather it is a Porsche or a Toyota, some cars are money pits and it never stops. I would sell it and look for a more "stable" car, be it another Porsche or something else. Sorry you have to go through this.

Pay more for a low mileage car, it usually is a better bet. Remember the old Fram TV ad? "You can pay me now or pay me later". I think that is especially true for a Porsche and Mercedes. I remember someone telling me in the past regarding buying a MB: The most expensive MB you will ever own is a cheap one. Food for thought.

Sorry to hear about all your troubles. My first Porsche was an 01 Boxster S that was 4 yrs old w/ 15K mi when I bought it. There were always problems with it, so I can relate to your experience. 6 mo after the CPO ran out, I traded it in on my 08 S Limited Edition. My LE, my 08 CSS, and the 07 CS I owned before the CSS have all been extremely reliable cars. My LE just turned 50K mi today, my CSS has 45K mi (had 7400 mi when I bought it) and it's my bad weather & DE car. I put 17K mi on my 07 CS. So I've put a few miles on my numerous 987Ss and they've all been great. I'm prepping the CSS to run at Indy in 2 wks.

I would suggest finding a low mileage 987S and chances are you'll enjoy the Porsche experience.

Sorry to hear it, Imari. You gotta do what you think is best. But perhaps you try again and buy from a PCA member, someone who is likely to have loved and cared for the car. Someone with documentation, and someone whose car will pass a vigorous PPI. For me, I went in eyes open and tried to reduce my worries by paying a bit more for a car that had everything sorted. It was and is still a risk, but I hope I have mitigated it - because the sheer joy it gives me is nearly priceless. Good luck and happy trails.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks for all of the words of encouragement...it's good to know that this is just a part of buying a 15 year old car. If I had the time I would probably tackle many of the problems myself BUT unfortunately I don't. I'll stay on course to get it repaired, sell it and move forward. I'm taking a loss but that's okay - life goes on. Thanks again all

Not all cars are created equal.
 

Sorry to read about your problems.

There is more variance, car to car in a Porsche, than there is in a Toyota and repairs will generally be more frequent and much more expensive. Also, if you can't do any work yourself it is a much more expensive proposition.

The problem is deciding if you've already dumped enough into the car to make it relatively reliable or whether there are more repairs on the horizon.

Good luck.

I feel the same as you imari as I purchased mine last October drove it home and put it away for winter I had done 700KM with it' I took it out this spring in April had the oil changed put 300KM on it and now it sits in my driveway with the carpet lifted to let it dry and sent the immobilizer at a shop to get it repaired. I'm close to trading it also for something that will be less hassle. Good luck to you and whatever you do will be the right decision.

Did you check to make sure your rear drains were clear, or consider getting the clip on drain screens (available on Suncoast)? The CLU does sit in the worst place, the lowest spot in the car, so you've gotta keep checking the drains if the car sits outside or near trees.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Sorry to hear about your experiences with the Porsche, Imari. As an aside, I'm curious how your experience has been with the 2006 Maserati QP listed in your signature. Did you buy it used and how has that been?

I'm happy to see Porsche is top in appeal by JD Power for 12 years, but IMHO, JD Power is a for-profit entity and if a company wants to hire JD Power to come up with a survey that they can win, JD Power will do it. Every big company, not just car companies, can point to a JD Power survey showing them as No. 1 in something.

Back to the issue of older car maintenance, I bought my 2003 S new 13 years ago, and now have almost 62,000 miles. I have done the IMS, RMS, AOS, water pump, serpentine belt, oil fill tube, spark plugs and coil packs twice, front brakes once, and have had bent wheels trued and replaced 2 rear tires damaged with sidewall blisters. I'm getting to the point where repairs may start to be needed more regularly, but I know the history of my car and am going to keep it for a while (but I do lust after a Cayman S, GTS or GT4!).

If you decide to buy another, as others have said, look to buy a well-maintained car with records and known ownership history!

I decided to at least give it a shot. I am almost 100% sure that it's the immobiliser. I have a good amount of water soaking the carpet so I pulled the seat out and took the unit out to find that it is wet and parts of the board look corroded. I'm drying it and wiping everything down but I'm not sure about next steps. I'll post after a few test.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1470434555.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1470434570.jpg
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1470434584.jpg

I love the QP...I've had it for about a year or so now and LOVE driving it. No offense to Porsche owner but the Maserati is sooooo addictive. I got it used (a 2006 with only 22,000 miles on it). So far so good - no serious repairs. A few things needed to be fixed but nothing that killed me financially. I am actually considering upgrading to the Gran Tourismo soon....I've considered a GTS too BUT I'm really gun shy with Porsche now.

Check this out:

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/16722-boxster-immobilizer-module-under-seat.html

The CLU issue can be addressed, but - if you do, you must identify the source of water intrusion. Clogged rear drains or compromised door card membranes would be my guesses.

Whoa that last image is frightening. You might want to search cause I'm going by my old memory but I think JFPINPA has suggested drying the board, lightly remove corrosion and soak in Rubbing alcohol overnight, he says they have resurrected many this way. But search before you use that bottle of Don Julio, you may need that for later.

There is also an outfit in FL that makes the waterproof immobilizer box that can repair your original board for like $250-300.00 IIRC?

Here is the link to the company in Florida; Specialized ECU Repair, Replacement, & Testing - Restore or Exchange your Electronic Control Unit (ECU)

Their water proofing box is $150.00. I am seriously considering it for mine.

Wow, that is one of the worst looking circuit boards that I've seen come out of a car!

Be sure to find the source of the water.

The first 70K miles of my car were easily the mos reliable of any car I ever owned.

What came after 70K miles is a cautionary tale:

The cost of repairs do not scale down with age or depreciation.


This is true of all German luxury brands.

p.s.
The Miata NA was more fun and less costly than the Porsche... but certainly not as safe.