Newb question - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

mike_f · 09-24-2009, 02:36 PM

Hi All,

Been lurking my way around this site for the past few weeks soaking up as much as I can about boxsters...great site! I'm looking to purchase a used Boxster and have read more than a few times to buy as much as I can afford. Well, my cap is at 35K including taxes and registration and anything else the car may need like tires, etc. With this in mind I would like to find something 2006 - 2007. Much of what I've read here pertains to the 986 (hence 986.com). My question is what are the things to watch for on the 987's? RMS leaks?, have the IMS bearing issues been resolved?, any tranny problems? (as much as I'd like a manual I think I'm going to be limited to an automatic due to sciatica problems in my left leg), cooling tank overflow cracks?, issues like this that seem to be problems on the 986.

Thanks.

Mike

RandallNeighbour · 09-25-2009, 06:32 AM

In the 987, they fixed a lot of crap that went wrong with the early 986's. However, these cars are relatively new and haven't had tons of miles and years put on them to see what's going to fail.

Fortunately for you, the RMS issue is far less of a concern with a tiptronic tranny bolted onto the motor compared to the manual tranny. Check with LN Engineering to see if they have a IMS fix for the newer cars and budget that into the purchase price.

My recommendation is that you buy a CPO Boxster S from a dealer with a 100,000 warranty on it. This way, if anything goes out, Porsche is forced to pay for it for the first years of ownership.

I will never buy another Porsche that does not come with a CPO warranty on it. When catastrophic motor failure occurs, it's worth the extra couple of grand they charge for it.