How to make a 2001 Boxster S a Daily Driver? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

thom4782 · 09-12-2019, 08:06 AM

There are two types folks here...1) wrench turners who can tackle even the most complicated repairs and 2) those who pay indies and dealers to fix their cars. They see the world differently.

I was in group 2 and drove my 01S for many years as a daily driver. When things broke, I paid someone else to fix the problem. The car and I parted ways at about 165K miles when the labor costs to replace the internal chain rails were greater than $6K, more than 5 times the cost of parts. Made no sense on a car with those miles given cumulative wear and tear on all systems.

My point is this. The labor costs will kill group 2 wallets faster than the costs of parts. This makes it more important for group 2 people to be more proactive in maintaining their cars. For example, if one can swap out an engine on their own, there's little need to address the IMS problem until the clutch needs replacing. On the other hand, if one needs to pay a shop to replace the engine, then addressing the IMS issue early makes sense if one intends to keep the car for many years to come.

It all comes down to several things: 1) your skills, 2) your willingness to take risks and 3) the size of your wallet. For me, I replaced my 986 with a 9 out of 10 condition 32 year old 951. Different feel, different look, but just as enjoyable for me.

986s aren't so unique or so rare that they aren't easily replaceable these days. Porsche has made them a commodity that is really fun to drive.

kk2002s · 09-12-2019, 10:49 AM

The biggest item you need if a 18 year old German sports car is your daily driver is a back up car.
It's an 18 year old car. If they go down, even if you wrench yourself, the car is going to sit until parts get ordered, shipped and installed. While I used mine as a daily for a couple years, including winter driving with no issues I at least had my wife's car I could share.

I think that the more routinely you drive these cars the better they run but time is not on your side on some of the parts.

Many threads on preventive maintenance items

Depending on the seasons you need to go through will determine how All Season type tires you will need. I drove year round on Summer tires. Probably not such a great idea but it worked out for me

rick3000 · 09-12-2019, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kk2002s

The biggest item you need if a 18 year old German sports car is your daily driver is a back up car.

Completely agree.

My 986 has been my DD for 10 of the last 12 years, and it has been a very reliable car (knock on wood), but things are going to break, and it probably won't be anything on the maintenance schedule that you could anticipate ahead of time (seat belt buckles, radiator fans, carbon in the throttle body, cracked coolant tank, etc). Preventative maintenance is a good idea for some things considering the age of OP's 986, but at only 45k don't waste money on things that don't need to be replaced yet. Drive it, enjoy it and have access to another car.