I want to daily a boxster
 

Well hello every one obviously I'm new to the forum and Im really wanting to buy a boxster I'm really considering one from 1999 and in manual. I was wondering what everyone has to say about that year and how is the manual transmission, what should I look out for and how much I should pay. Also really wondering on what would be the first things I should check and replace when I go for buying one today. I’ve heard of the ims bearing failure and honestly feel like I can tackle the job and just replace it myself and what aftermarket bearing y’all would recommend. Also a yearly cost and what to expect if I were to daily drive it. I’m in the US and won’t mind goin some distance for a nice example so please do share if you have one for sale

It’s all about budget.

Due to outsourcing of block casting, 99’s have seen a higher percentage of cylinder liner cracks, d-chunk failures and cracked cylinder heads.

All things being equal, I’d skip a 99.

I’d seriously consider an S if it fits your budget.

I daily drove a boxster S for 4 years. Tracked another S for several years.

Maintenance doesn’t have to be that high.
IMS as you mentioned, although depending on the cost of car, might not be worth addressing as failure rate vs cost doesn’t warrant the investment.

Typical faults... (I’m sure there are others)
(All diy depending on skills)
Head light switches
Faulty inhibition switches
Window regulator failures
Plastic switch failures in door/window circuits
Plastic Rear windows cracking
Clogged rain water drains
Burn barks on headlights
Idle pulley failures (I think this is from some serpentine belts are ever so much smaller than stock, that they fit, but torque the pulley)
Sticky starter motors
AOS failures
Waterpumps are weak and can fail
Expansion tank resovoir cracks/leaks.
Variocam solenoid failure
Variocam chain tensionure guides wearing

Slipping IMS gear on press got tube
IMS Chain tensioner wear
These last two are really not fixable without engine tear down.

It depends on your primary purpose for the car and like previously stated, your budget. If you are looking for a daily driver go with the best condition car you can find, Base or S. Not a tremendous difference between the two in either price or performance and as a true daily the base will get slightly better gas mileage and the gearing is taller making it a little easier to drive in town traffic if you are a city dweller. If you are going to track or do a lot of performance driving then the nod may go slightly towards an S. Your call.

At the end of the day, for me, it would be condition, condition, condition regardless of model.

Does anyone here have experience with using a ceramic bearing for the IMS?

I have owned 7 different M96 cars that I have installed various styles of the
LN engineering IMS replacement. While I do not own any of them any longer,
I am unaware of any of them having issues. The longest owned one had a 3 bearing replacement, which was the first of its kind. I put ~50,000 miles on that car and sold it 4-5 years ago.

Mike

Welcome to the forum. I'm just a little to the west of you in Ok and I have bought five 1999 Boxsters two of which I still have. Good cars to daily. My daughter daily drives one that is over 140k miles and the one that I sort-of daily drive is getting close to 90k miles. I have an '04 S and a 2001 Base that are regular drivers too.

Seningen made a good list of common flaws, but I disagree with his advice to skip the '99s. All years of 986 have some weak points with the engine and ANY 20 year old car is going to carry some risk as a daily driver.
I tend to shy away from 2000 S models because of cracked heads that I've read about on the forum. My 2001 had an engine failure from a broken rod bolt when I bought it. The 2003 and 2004 cars have the highest incidence of IMS failure and it is very hard to find replacement engines for them.

Scared yet? IMHO these problems are nothing more to worry about than the common flaws with any car brand. Personally, I'd rather work on a Porsche 986 than a more recent Chevy or Chrysler. With some care, the cost to maintain is probably the same or better with the 986.

For pricing and market within range of Springdale, take a look at the Dallas Craigslist: https://dallas.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=boxster&sort=rel
I don't see many in your immediate area and when I do, they seem a little overpriced. TUL and OKC usually have a few for sale on Craigslist.

Great advice here: https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/mikesporscheboxsterwebpages and Mike still frequents the forum.

My advice: The model year and base or S does not matter too much for a daily driver. At about 20 years old, what matters is how the car was cared for and maintained over the years.

Go for it! I love driving mine daily. The only other suggestion is to find a hardtop if you plan on highway travel above 80mph, the hardtop really changes in the interior comfort level.
Good luck
Shawn