To own or to not own a 2001 Porsche Boxster S

[bren]

Looking into buying a 2001 Porsche Boxster S, 49,500 miles, at US$20000. It would be my first porsche. I have read some of the postings and it seems that car maintenance/repair is quite $$ No accident was reported and the car looks great, no dents.

Approximately, how much would one expect to spend on an annual basis between auto insurance and regular car maintenance?

I can afford to purchase the car but I just became aware that buying is one thing, owning one is something else.

[sd_boxster]

Depends on how handy you are with a wrench and what you plan to do with the car.

If you're going to track the car, you may be buying a set or more of tires a year. My "cheap" Yokohamas were $700. An oil change for a Boxster, with 10-ish quarts of Mobil 1, will set you back close to $100 for materials.

You'll be due for your 60K service in less than a year (assuming 1K miles/month), which can cost between $800 and $1K (or more).

It's very, very possible that you'll have no trouble at all - I don't want to sound all doom-and-gloom. On the other hand, if things DO go wrong, they can get spendy in a hurry. Personally, I waited to buy a Porsche until I knew I could afford either to put $10K into a new motor or just walk away if something really awful happens to it that Porsche won't fix (or happens after my two-year CPO warranty expires).

[Frodo]

I've got a 2001 S with about that many miles on her. Love it.

Got it 3 years ago. Only maintenance (other than oil changes, filters, visual inspections, etc.) so far: alternator rebuild, which me and the shop manual (plus some good info on this site) managed to stumble through without resorting to spending the big bucks at the shop/dealership.

[Dave928]

just under 40k on my 01 S. i'll do the 45k oil change myself and i don't expect any large repair costs until the 60k service. insurance isn't too bad...

just do it...

[sd_boxster]

As far as insurance goes - mine went down significantly when I sold my '05 Hyundai Tiburon and bought my '03 Boxster.

[E Kaplan]

First, in this economy, I think you can probably do better than $20,000 for a 2001. Look on ebaymotors and autotrader at the numbers. You should probably not pay more than $18,000 for the car.

There you go! $2000 plus put away for repairs.

While you will read about what can go wrong on these forums, most of us have not have alot of problems with our Boxsters. I have a 2000 and over the past 1.5 years have put about 15,000 miles on her. No problems at all. Insurance was not more expensive than any other car.

Enjoy. These are great cars.

[E Kaplan]

Bren:
Check out the classifieds on this forum. There is a 2000S from Kevintari. Beautiful car, many options, including radio and lithtronics and appears to have been well maintained. He was asking $16,900 and has dropped the price. Also, 60,000 service completed.

[vath2001]

DON'T DO IT!

Its Satan's ride, forged from the very bowels of Hades! It will eat up you weekends, washing and waxing. You'll have to deal with people commenting "Nice ride/car". The looks, the stares, the cornering at 50 mph. The tight suspension, the low rumble of the throttle, the top down suntan.... the Hottie sitting next to you. : )

But if your into that type of stuff, its only money.

[chitowndad]

Go for it! Yesterday I was going to wax the Boxster and the wife said, "you just waxed it like 4 weeks ago" and I said "yeah, I should have waxed it last weekend" LOL ) that's the problem with black cars! I wish mine was red!

-Steve

[surge425]

Seems a little spendy.. I know its not an S but I picked up my 2.7L Boxster day before yesterday. 2001 with 33k miles for $13k.

[d18mike]

Same here. 2001 non-S. 42,000K $13,000. One owner. NM/MT Condition. Tires less than 500 miles. Perfect service records. Found the same cars at the dealerships for $3-4K more, typically.

[mikefocke]

I own a '01 S, second Boxster, 56K miles. Over 4 years of ownership, it has never left me stranded and has cost $15 a month in unscheduled maintenance. You can do a lot of the maintenance yourself...and I'm no mechanic. There are lots of do it yourself guides to the typical things you do. No way does a oil change cost $100...not of you shop the parts right.

Can it be more expensive than a normal car...you bet. Blow an engine and you can see some serious costs. But 3 weeks ago I had to change an Oxygen sensor in my Honda CRV and my Porsche on the same day. The Porsche part (bought OEM and mail order) was well less than half the Honda part bought the same way. And the labor was the same at my local tire shop...no need to go to a Porsche specialist for something as simple as this.

And I value my well cared for car with good but not the best options set at $16.5k in today's market so you can do lots better than that $20k and have some cash left over for any needed repairs. Do do a PPI.

For much more on this...follow the link

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/mikesporscheboxsterwebpages

[Darkhamr]

Just keep a little repair fund aside. Most don't have any problems, but some such as myself have quite a few. I bought my '02S two years ago with 45k miles and I've put somewhere between $7k-$9k in repairs during those two years. It sucks, but I'd still never get rid of it except to buy another one...maybe.

[myfirstporsche33]

Just bought my first porsche - a 2000 S with 80K miles. Was lured in by the $14k price, and think it is amazing to drive, but am having some issues with the 1st to 2nd gear shift...which now that I am reading the forums - are relatively prevalent. Make sure you drive it cold for a test drive.

[jemspitter]

Thanks for the translation.If your applications were running from a temp folder then they would be removed. Otherwise, there must be something else responsible.

[Johnny Danger]

I have an '02 s, and apart from all of the performance mods that I have done, maintenance costs have been minimal. Granted my vehicle only has 17k original miles, however, for the most part all that needs to be done on these vehicles is the necessary scheduled maintenance and upkeep.

[Run]

I picked up a 03 boxster base for 15 k with a trip tranny and 48,000 miles with full service records. Shop around there are some great deals out there.

[blackbox986]

Hey man I just bought mine last month. I spent 15800 on a 2001 Triple Black Boxster S with the manual tranny. It only had 54000 miles on it. I had to fly to DC then drive it back 16 hours through the curvy, beautiful roads through the mountains.... that was a very nice trip.

[dennis]

My first Porsche- 2001 with 33k original- $13,900. Love the car. Would only trade it for a newer one.

[eddison]

i also have 01 boxster S tip,65000 miles, do most of the maintenance myself, and i'm also in los angeles area...encino actually, if you need help let me know.....contact email: eddison318@hotmail.com