Should I get a Boxster ?

[Jeph]

I notice a lot of the posts are about people looking into purchasing a Boxster. They look for either justification, advice, and/or other various things. Many of those posts could be consolidated into one section about this topic only. There, future Boxster owners would be able to find out about maintenence, costs, tips, warranties, etc., that have been posted from time to time. That way forum members wouldn't have to repeatedly post why they bought there Boxster or whether or not it's worth the money.

Before I got mine, I hovered on this board a lot to see what others are saying. It would have been nice to find all the answers in place. Know what I mean? Thanks for reading.

[IwAnTaBoxster]

I think this is a great idea. I am new here and I don't have too much knowledge about the boxster other than the fact that its a mid-engine, rwd car with a boxer motor. I still need to pay-off my current car but I'm planing (hoping) on having a boxster in a year and would like to know as much as possible before i start actually shopping around.

[wombat7]

I definately agree that this would be a HUGE help for n00bs to the forum. It would've helped me a lot.

[tdog]

Hell yeah, Boxster got to be the funest car that I've ever encounter. I'm in the process of selling my 97 Boxster and looking into newer Boxster or possible Boxster S. My friends are tryin to get me into SLK, S2000, and TT roaster, and I've test drove them all past couple days, I even test drove the new boxster, and boy, for the money, Boxster just can't be beat, and on the sunnday with top down, be ready for some thumbs up.

[RandallNeighbour]

jeph, I have suggested to the owners of this board that they should put an articles area of the site in plain view for all new folks to this board or new/potential Porsche owners.

I think it takes programming money and they just bought this board from the guy who created it... it's gaining financial momentum with banner ads (sponsors), but it's probably slow going.

Here's a list of things anyone should read up on and learn about before buying a used Boxster. The search engine is a good place to find threads relating to each topic:

Buying a used Boxster
- The truth about Carfax - it ain't no LexusNexus (and don't trust it for much of anything, although it does give some basic history on your car).
- Find a paint density meter (go to a body shop that owns one) and use it all over the car to see if it's been wrecked.
- Have a 3rd party inspect the car carefully - this includes CPO cars from dealers
- Find and call each dealership that's worked on the car for a history... they're not linked nationwide like most other car companies. (Use the carfax report to see where it's been titled and call the dealerships in those areas with the VIN number. Time consuming but revealing!)
- Rear speakers are a must and terribly expensive to buy later. Find one with rear speakers.
- The roll bar inserts and windstop are also very expensive after the fact, by the way ... but they make a huge difference and you should get them.
- Last word on buying a boxster: Buy an S (every owner here will tell you it's worth it), buy the newest one you can afford, and buy one with some factory warranty on it and take it in for every single thing you can find ... which means having the car checked out regularly by an independent mechanic.

Owning a Boxster
- The convertible top ("chopping" the window so it doesn't crack, etc.)
- The dreaded Check Engine light (when it stays on-not blinking-you probably have a cap loose somewhere (oil, radiator, gas) or a O2 sensor or MAF is out and that will cost you some $$. When it blinks you are screwed.)
- Tires can't be rotated and wear quickly—15k is about all you'll get out of them.
- Wheel balancing is hard to achieve. Road force balancing with a Hunter 9700 is recommended.
- Cleaning your car is a big debate, but worth reading about (Using clay, pre-wax stuff like klasse, waxes, etc.)
- Roll bar inserts and windscreen "walk off" when you park your Boxster with the top down in busy parking lots... pop them off and stow them in the trunk or you'll see them for sale on Ebay next week.
- Hang around the service area of your local Porsche dealership at closing time and ask the technicians if they know anyone at the shop who moonlights from their own garage. I did this and now I save some big money on repairs and upgrades. (Risk is high though—thought I'd add this)

Modifiying/Tuning a Boxster
- Exhaust systems will make the car louder and increase HP a bit. Big money.
- Intake systems are not worth it, save your big money.
- "Desnorkeling" means removing the snorkel like plastic tube leading to your air filter that makes the Boxster a little louder and doesn't seem to hurt anything unless you go through car washes (shame on you) or shoot the hose at full blast into your intake grill.
- Chip mods are not worthwhile on the Boxster.
- Mods in general are not worth the cash spent if you ask me personally... others will disagree, but the Boxster is not an S2000 and isn't nearly as "tweakable."

There's a bunch of other stuff I could share, but these are the basics. Hopefully, we'll have some lengthly additional posts on this thread with contributors who disagree with me on something written above, and that's great because you will learn more that way! I like it when people don't agree with me because I too learn something.

Randall Neighbour
Location: Houston, Texas

1997 Boxster - Triple Black (paid $15,500 in 2004 for it)

Work done to my (previously trashed) Boxster in one year:
- Transmission swapped out for a used one (engine replaced prior to buying the car)
- Driver's side control arm replaced. Passenger side rebuilt/repacked with grease.
- Added upgraded shift knob, rear speakers and 3 spoke wheel and airbag
- O2 sensor replacement
- Instrument cluster replaced (LED's were out on the speedo)
- New tires
- Brake pads all the way around (calipers were still good, fortunately)

I've put about 6k into this car so far—should have waited and bought a $21k Boxster that was a year or two newer or just held out to buy a 2000 S, which was my dream car. Oh well, this one is fast and fun and running well today.

Hope all this helps you!

[IwAnTaBoxster]

Thanks for all the info, it's a great read. I will definetely be checking out the history on the car before I buy one. The car I have now was rebuilt and i didnt find out until my loan had already gone through so I owned the car already , so I wont be making that mistake again.

[Brucelee]

Let me see what we can do with these suggestions above, which are great!

[PSP]

....and make sure your Boxster comes with more than one ignition key. The keys are a dealer-only item and cost well over $100 each.

[RandallNeighbour]

PSP - You ain't lyin' about that key thing! I'd walk away from a bargaining table if the salesman did not guarantee he would provide two fully functioning keys with remote key heads. That'll save you not $100, but nearly $280.00 and an hour at the dealership during a normally busy mid-week work day!

And while we're on the subject of keys, DO NOT buy any keys off Ebay that say they will work for your car and can be reprogrammed. This is sheer crap from an uneducated person! If the remote key head does not have the hanging tag on it with the part number that you are certain goes to your car, and contains the bardcoded set of numbers used to program the transponder to your particular car, it's worthless!

[jast513]

I think this would be a great idea to have everything in one section. All of the n00bs (including me) could get a lot of information from that section. But what if a newbie has a question or a comment that just wasn't covered the way he/she wanted to ask it or it is similiar but just doesn't get answered for the newbie. So he jumps on the forum to ask a question and the first reply is "Look this up in this section this has been asked before." I know this isn't going to be said all the time. But from a newbie's standpoint, we just want to get out here and interact with all of the members that have Boxster's. And what better place to come to a site that everyone on the site is passionate about what that newbie wants. You know thinking about it, putting myself in your position (the position of already having a boxster which I don't) maybe I wouldn't want to say the same thing over and over again for each newbie who joins. But I think if you are passionate about it(and I know you all are) I would really think I would reply to each newbie who joins. Just to interact with people who have the same passion that I do!!! Porsche Boxsters!!!! :dance: (just my 2 cents, correct me if I am wrong )

So just to let you know I am a n00b that joined about 4 days ago and so far I love this forum. Everyone here is very nice, and has a lot of experience with the Boxster. I do appreciate this site and all of the information. I will probably be lurking on this site for a year and a half before I get a Boxster. That is when my wife will be graduated from College. She doen't have a job right now so it is just my income paying the bills. So I hope you guys don't mind me lurking out here.

I have one last thing, is there a place where all of the porsche boxster owners meet once a month or something like that to show of there cars? I live in Gilbert AZ and I love going to see cars especially Porsche's but I don't know of any place that you guys get together just to shoot the breeze.... I go to the Scottsdale Pavillions every other Saturday or so just to check out the passion people have for there cars.

Well Thanks for reading and I hope I am not off base with any of this. I look forward to hopefully meeting you guys and one day seeing your beautiful Boxsters one day.

[Brucelee]

If you have a local chapter of the PCA, they will certainly have tons of get togethers for like minded car owners.






"I have one last thing, is there a place where all of the porsche boxster owners meet once a month or something like that to show of there cars? I live in Gilbert AZ and I love going to see cars especially Porsche's but I don't know of any place that you guys get together just to shoot the breeze.... I go to the Scottsdale Pavillions every other Saturday or so just to check out the passion people have for there cars."

[bgbgbg]

:dance:
Hello everyone,
Wednesday, 9/7/05 I bought a 2001 Lapis Blue Boxster. This is my first Porsche, although I had driven a 944 WAY BACK in 1986. I don't know if this is just a
honeymoom phase that I am in, but I love this car. I had plans to buy a Pontiac GTO but found that the dealerships and the salespeople were, for lack of a better word.....IDIOTS. They treated me like I was born yesterday, and wouldn't budge on the price. I happened across my Boxster last weekend while searching for a car. My expierence was incredible! The dealer could not have been nicer, my salesman was great, everything was fantastic!
Because the car was used, we had some hesitation about wear and things like that so we did some research on it using CARFAX. The car was Porsche Pre-owned Certified, which, I learned, cost the dealer around $1500.00. We researched a lot and when we went to talk to the sales man, he told us what the pre-owned certification involved and what it cost. He didnt lie, it was just what we had read about in forums like this.
I wanted to let everyone know that this forum was extremely helpful in making the decision to get the car. It allowed us to come up with questions that we might not have thought of and also gave us information that allowed me to know if the salesman was truthful or not. All in all, I dont know WHAT took me so long to even think about buying a boxster!!!! I wish everyone could experience what it is like to drive this car!!! Best of luck to anyone deciding to buy a Boxster, and special thanks to all who posted information about making the purchase!

[Brucelee]

Good news. Best of luck with the ride and be sure to post some pix!

[Rail26]

Sweet! Congrats on your new baby. Did you name it yet?

[MightyMouse]

Well, I just hit the "buy it now" on ebay for an 00 Boxster S with about 53k on it. The car is loaded with options and has the 6spd. I don't like automatic, so that was important to me.
I am flying up to Chicago next weekend to test drive the car and make sure it all checks out ok. The guy at the dealer said he guarantee's the engine, and trans is top notch, only time will tell. Anyway, I was wondering if someone could lend some more insight as to what I should look for. According to Carfax the car was a one owner corporate lease auto and it was sold to the dealer that has it now in an auction. I am getting the car for $23,800 and after looking at prices this appears to be a great deal to me, bust my bubble if you must
the car is Midnight Blue, blue top, and Tan full leather interior. It has a disk Changer, Nav System, cruise, power/heated seats, auto dimming mirrors, Bose stereo system, comes with the wind screen thing and roll bar covers, and has some other options, I just can't remember right now.
Basically the car has everything but Xenons and automatic.
Again, let me know if I'm being had or something, or if this seems to be a bad deal. I can work on the car myself I'm more than sure. I've rebuilt my 3000gt bottom up and i"m pretty sure the boxster won't be much of a challange after working on the worse car Mitsu has ever produced.
Well, that about sums it up. I look forward to be a fellow owner and I'll keep you all posted.

MightyMouse, what dealer in Chicago are you working with?

[MightyMouse]

Originally Posted by bmussatti

MightyMouse, what dealer in Chicago are you working with?

Hmmm.. why do you ask, not planning to buy it from underneath me, right?? hehe.. :P
it's premierautoauctions.com
they're in another town, just 30 miles west I guess..
I fly in at like 11:50pm on the 14th, and my return flight is the next day at 2pm, hopefully I won't be using that return flight and will be driving the car back...
Would you like to go with me to look at the car by any chance..??

[KShep]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

jeph, I have suggested to the owners of this board that they should put an articles area of the site in plain view for all new folks to this board or new/potential Porsche owners.

I think it takes programming money and they just bought this board from the guy who created it... it's gaining financial momentum with banner ads (sponsors), but it's probably slow going.

Here's a list of things anyone should read up on and learn about before buying a used Boxster. The search engine is a good place to find threads relating to each topic:

Owning a Boxster
- The convertible top ("chopping" the window so it doesn't crack, etc.)
- The dreaded Check Engine light (when it stays on-not blinking-you probably have a cap loose somewhere (oil, radiator, gas) or a O2 sensor or MAF is out and that will cost you some $$. When it blinks you are screwed.)
Hope all this helps you!

Not to hijack this thread, but could someone please explain the term "chopping" the window? I have searched to no avail.

Any more detail on a flashing CEL?

Thanks...K~

edit...nevermind about the chopping...applies to plastic. I assume this is uncalled for with a glass rear window.

[RandallNeighbour]

Flashing CEL:

My mechanic told me the following:

"A flashing CEL means something is quite wrong with your boxster's engine. You need to get it to a mechanic with a PST2 tool immediately to diagnose the problem and correct it. Driving it with a flashing CEL could do serious damage to your car."

Since I have not heard otherwise from my dealer or others on this list, I'd say to take a flashing CEL light seriously. If I get one I will pull my car over to the side of the road and have it towed to my mechanic's shop. One can never be too careful with a 12k engine!

[gRed04]

Originally Posted by MightyMouse

Hmmm.. why do you ask, not planning to buy it from underneath me, right?? hehe.. :P
it's premierautoauctions.com
they're in another town, just 30 miles west I guess..
I fly in at like 11:50pm on the 14th, and my return flight is the next day at 2pm, hopefully I won't be using that return flight and will be driving the car back...
Would you like to go with me to look at the car by any chance..??

Who is going to check the car out? This looks to be a pretty small pre-owned dealer and I doubt they have expertise in Porsche. There is Napelton Porsche in Westmont, that is pretty close ( maybe 15 minutes or so from the car ).

No affiliation just the closest Porsche dealer.

http://www.westmontporsche.com/home.aspx?bhcp=1

Since you have a little time before you are coming out have you looked at autotrader.com? In Chicagoland we have at least 5-6 Porsche dealers and several luxury only pre-owned dealers within about a 30-60 min. drive in any direction.