Looking to do buy a 2001 Boxster S - Some questions for the experts

[boxfix]

Words of wisdom I have heard forever:

"There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Boxster.

Buy the best Porsche you can afford."

this thread has my head spinning. Buying a car with lots known issues and then planning to put money into the car is not a good idea.

What happens when other things happen to a 120,000 mile Boxster. things like a window operators failing [very common] $300 plus $250 labor. Or a fuel leak in the fuel gauge cover.....another $300 [also common]. Or a set of O2 sensors ..... $400 and $300 for installation. Tires easy $1000.

New top $1600 easy.

Vacuum leaks are very common and will stop you from passing smog. Vacuum canisters fail, rubber vacuum lines fail .....all expensive to find and fix.

At 120,000 miles you have lots of rubber cooling hoses ready to fail. A/C leaks are likely at this mileage.

Then there is paint to fix the failed clearcoat. I have done lots of painting and there are HOURS of labor in doing a good job. Cleaning up that failed clearcoat is $5000+ in prep and painting.

So a $7500 Boxster becomes $13,000 Boxster for the things that are bad, or fail soon and making the paint decent.

I know I have been there on several cars.

[Wangta]

Originally Posted by boxfix

Words of wisdom I have heard forever:

"There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Boxster.

Buy the best Porsche you can afford."

this thread has my head spinning. Buying a car with lots known issues and then planning to put money into the car is not a good idea.

What happens when other things happen to a 120,000 mile Boxster. things like a window operators failing [very common] $300 plus $250 labor. Or a fuel leak in the fuel gauge cover.....another $300 [also common]. Or a set of O2 sensors ..... $400 and $300 for installation. Tires easy $1000.

New top $1600 easy.

Vacuum leaks are very common and will stop you from passing smog. Vacuum canisters fail, rubber vacuum lines fail .....all expensive to find and fix.

At 120,000 miles you have lots of rubber cooling hoses ready to fail. A/C leaks are likely at this mileage.

Then there is paint to fix the failed clearcoat. I have done lots of painting and there are HOURS of labor in doing a good job. Cleaning up that failed clearcoat is $5000+ in prep and painting.

So a $7500 Boxster becomes $13,000 Boxster for the things that are bad, or fail soon and making the paint decent.

I know I have been there on several cars.

Thanks for your perspective boxfix. I completely agree with you - but I’m a little puzzled - why you think this car has “lots of known issues”? The major ones I’ve been worried about - RMS and IMS are currently not a problem. I paid $600 to one of the better shops in the area to get inspected and it came back with minor stuff back (like needs new rear tires).

The paint is not bubbling anywhere - I just said it looked a bit faded. The shop said that it would bounce back with a good polish.

The top got vandalized in front of the owners house - it happens.

The shop that did the PPI even said it was “a whole lot of car for the price”.

Not sure where you’re getting “a lot of know issues”? I agree with your statement - but I think I’m really getting this at a good deal not due to “problems” with the car - rather, no one looking for a Porsche wants it in automatic! The seller even asked me when I first met him “why are you looking at this - it’s auto” (I told him it’s for my parents). When he put it up for sale he didn’t include “tiptronic” or “auto” in the title and everyone was calling then passing once they found out it’s not a 5 or 6 Speed.



Maybe you are right. I just don’t see as much wrong with this as you? And I haven’t yet seen one of these selling that has had the IMS solution installed - the only permanent fix available to us and as a result, the only one I’m interested in doing!


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[Geof3]

Originally Posted by Wangta

Thanks for your perspective boxfix. I completely agree with you - but I’m a little puzzled - why you think this car has “lots of known issues”? The major ones I’ve been worried about - RMS and IMS are currently not a problem. I paid $600 to one of the better shops in the area to get inspected and it came back with minor stuff back (like needs new rear tires).

The paint is not bubbling anywhere - I just said it looked a bit faded. The shop said that it would bounce back with a good polish.

The top got vandalized in front of the owners house - it happens.

The shop that did the PPI even said it was “a whole lot of car for the price”.

Not sure where you’re getting “a lot of know issues”? I agree with your statement - but I think I’m really getting this at a good deal not due to “problems” with the car - rather, no one looking for a Porsche wants it in automatic! The seller even asked me when I first met him “why are you looking at this - it’s auto” (I told him it’s for my parents). When he put it up for sale he didn’t include “tiptronic” or “auto” in the title and everyone was calling then passing once they found out it’s not a 5 or 6 Speed.



Maybe you are right. I just don’t see as much wrong with this as you? And I haven’t yet seen one of these selling that has had the IMS solution installed - the only permanent fix available to us and as a result, the only one I’m interested in doing!


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It sounds like it would be fine for a fun car to drive. The "issues" are ALL maintenance issues that arise on any car of the age/mileage and the costs would be comparable. It's a 17 year old car. Yes, it is true, buy the best one you can. But, for the $ this one sounds pretty decent, with a few relatively minor issues. You could probably have the top repaired reasonably, and decide later if you want to do the whole top. If rain is not an issue, then the repair probably wouldn't be. Porsche's can be expensive to fix, but if you shop around there are plenty of alternatives, one just needs to know what they are looking for.

As an example, I own a Jeep and have replaced pretty much the entire front end, shocks, springs, upper and lower control arms, ball joints, etc, etc... I did the work myself with the exception of the alignment. I'm in for 3200.00 in parts alone. Point is, the $$$ required to maintain these older cars well isn't TOO out of whack compared to most. My wife's 2010 Infiniti FRONT struts (I did the work) $700.00. Struts and mounts, no springs. It's part of the game. Nothing of value is cheap anymore. The REAL question is how much $$$ for maintenance is one willing to absorb for a car that is currently valued at X amount. Maintenance is maintenance. Has to be done. The ratio is individual.

Having said ALL of that, frankly a Boxster isn't the best option IMO for noodling around the neighborhood. That will kill that engine faster than fast. These engines (really most engines) need to be driven, get hot and do it some more. Porsche engines of all iterations don't generally respond well to fluffing around for short little trips.

[boxfix]

Originally Posted by Wangta

Thanks for your perspective boxfix. I completely agree with you - but I’m a little puzzled - why you think this car has “lots of known issues”? The major ones I’ve been worried about - RMS and IMS are currently not a problem. I paid $600 to one of the better shops in the area to get inspected and it came back with minor stuff back (like needs new rear tires).

The paint is not bubbling anywhere - I just said it looked a bit faded. The shop said that it would bounce back with a good polish.

The top got vandalized in front of the owners house - it happens.

The shop that did the PPI even said it was “a whole lot of car for the price”.

Not sure where you’re getting “a lot of know issues”? I agree with your statement - but I think I’m really getting this at a good deal not due to “problems” with the car - rather, no one looking for a Porsche wants it in automatic! The seller even asked me when I first met him “why are you looking at this - it’s auto” (I told him it’s for my parents). When he put it up for sale he didn’t include “tiptronic” or “auto” in the title and everyone was calling then passing once they found out it’s not a 5 or 6 Speed.



Maybe you are right. I just don’t see as much wrong with this as you? And I haven’t yet seen one of these selling that has had the IMS solution installed - the only permanent fix available to us and as a result, the only one I’m interested in doing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I should have said the Boxsters of that age have plenty of known issues. My point is from my personal history with Boxsters.......and the experiences of people on this forum.

If you have records that the vacuum hoses and reservoir have been checked and refreshed, and the O2 sensors are OK etc... and the cats are OK. And the window operators are good etc,,,,,,,

I did not realize that the paint is sort of OK. I got the impression it needed a repaint

I am happy I don't have to worry about IMS in that i have a new high end one.

My Tiptronic is actually quite good. It shifts pro actively and you can down shift it at any time while in D. It shifts fast when you are using the switches. Very impressive. And I am a stick guy. My 911 if of course a stick and my wagon is a stick.

The Tip is and excellent transmission.

I have a friend who is and ex-racer and he took a boxster stick on a 3 day road rally and came back a believer.

I was going to comment on the 5 miles a day, but geof3 said it more eloquently than I could "Having said ALL of that, frankly a Boxster isn't the best option IMO for noodling around the neighborhood. That will kill that engine faster than fast. These engines (really most engines) need to be driven, get hot and do it some more. Porsche engines of all iterations don't generally respond well to fluffing around for short little trips."

I worked on a friend's boxster that was driven 7 miles a day.....lots of problems from not ever being warmed up and "put away wet"!!!

[Wangta]

Originally Posted by boxfix

I should have said the Boxsters of that age have plenty of known issues. My point is from my personal history with Boxsters.......and the experiences of people on this forum.

If you have records that the vacuum hoses and reservoir have been checked and refreshed, and the O2 sensors are OK etc... and the cats are OK. And the window operators are good etc,,,,,,,

I did not realize that the paint is sort of OK. I got the impression it needed a repaint

I am happy I don't have to worry about IMS in that i have a new high end one.

My Tiptronic is actually quite good. It shifts pro actively and you can down shift it at any time while in D. It shifts fast when you are using the switches. Very impressive. And I am a stick guy. My 911 if of course a stick and my wagon is a stick.

The Tip is and excellent transmission.

I have a friend who is and ex-racer and he took a boxster stick on a 3 day road rally and came back a believer.

I was going to comment on the 5 miles a day, but geof3 said it more eloquently than I could "Having said ALL of that, frankly a Boxster isn't the best option IMO for noodling around the neighborhood. That will kill that engine faster than fast. These engines (really most engines) need to be driven, get hot and do it some more. Porsche engines of all iterations don't generally respond well to fluffing around for short little trips."

I worked on a friend's boxster that was driven 7 miles a day.....lots of problems from not ever being warmed up and "put away wet"!!!

All valid points and yeah - something I should think about. Ok so maybe I'll tell them to drive it MOAR than 7 miles a day. hah.

Thanks for all your thoughts - they are all good points and things to take into account.

One thing I forgot to mention - I like working on cars. We have a number of cars in the family so nothing is ever a rush when we work on something - it can be up on lift jacks for weeks if needed. I like learning how things work and ever thinking ahead about preventative maintenance.