I read where the 2.7 motor blows up for no real reason...

[Grizzly]

First and foremost. Silverstreak, I was not picking on you. You asked a completely legitimate question about engine failures. My rant has everything to do with the same players jumping on their soapboxes and scaring the **************** out of each other to the point that they they stop enjoying their perfectly good Boxsters.

I look at it this way. I'm a drag racer. When you drag race, you break ****************. Should I live in a state of perpetual apprehension because I might break something? Should I quit enjoying the sport of drag racing forever because I might twist an axle or bend a clutch fork? My answer is no. I recognize the risk and then enjoy the crap out of myself at the track. If I break the car, sometimes it gets very expensive, but that's the price of playing the game.

I live on the Chesapeake Bay. In 2003, Hurricane Isabel came through and ate my house and nearly everything else I owned. If you live on the water, this can happen. Should I pack up and move to Idaho? For me, the answer is no. I can think of nothing I love more than watching the sun come up over the water, or the sailboat races on Wednesday evenings. If a storm comes through and wipes out the house again, it'll be a huge pain in the ass, but that's the price of living here and I wouldn't trade it for a safer locale.

You shouldn't drive around in your Boxster in a perpetual state of fear just waiting for that oil spot to appear on the garage floor. You should drop the top as much as possible, throw on your coolest shades, crank your tunes and drive. The Boxster has the ability to melt away the stress of the day, or to give you the reason you need to drive to work in the first place. If you only use it as a weekend car, it reminds you of why you work so friggin' hard. If it breaks, fix it. There's a good chance that it won't. Some guys obsess over that fact that the RMS, engine, or whatever may fail and that Porsche is doing nothing to correct it. So might our hearts, lungs, and kidneys. Should we stop living now in case one of those organs screws up? Should we cower under the covers in our darkened bedrooms, furious at the medical community and waiting to die? You can if you want to. Me? I'm going to live. If my heart (or my Boxster) explodes I will be able to say that I enjoyed every minute of the time I had.

Plan like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die tomorrow.

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by Grizzly

First and foremost. Silverstreak, I was not picking on you. You asked a completely legitimate question about engine failures. My rant has everything to do with the same players jumping on their soapboxes and scaring the **************** out of each other to the point that they they stop enjoying their perfectly good Boxsters.

I look at it this way. I'm a drag racer. When you drag race, you break ****************. Should I live in a state of perpetual apprehension because I might break something? Should I quit enjoying the sport of drag racing forever because I might twist an axle or bend a clutch fork? My answer is no. I recognize the risk and then enjoy the crap out of myself at the track. If I break the car, sometimes it gets very expensive, but that's the price of playing the game.

I live on the Chesapeake Bay. In 2003, Hurricane Isabel came through and ate my house and nearly everything else I owned. If you live on the water, this can happen. Should I pack up and move to Idaho? For me, the answer is no. I can think of nothing I love more than watching the sun come up over the water, or the sailboat races on Wednesday evenings. If a storm comes through and wipes out the house again, it'll be a huge pain in the ass, but that's the price of living here and I wouldn't trade it for a safer locale.

You shouldn't drive around in your Boxster in a perpetual state of fear just waiting for that oil spot to appear on the garage floor. You should drop the top as much as possible, throw on your coolest shades, crank your tunes and drive. The Boxster has the ability to melt away the stress of the day, or to give you the reason you need to drive to work in the first place. If you only use it as a weekend car, it reminds you of why you work so friggin' hard. If it breaks, fix it. There's a good chance that it won't. Some guys obsess over that fact that the RMS, engine, or whatever may fail and that Porsche is doing nothing to correct it. So might our hearts, lungs, and kidneys. Should we stop living now in case one of those organs screws up? Should we cower under the covers in our darkened bedrooms, furious at the medical community and waiting to die? You can if you want to. Me? I'm going to live. If my heart (or my Boxster) explodes I will be able to say that I enjoyed every minute of the time I had.

Plan like you'll live forever. Live like you'll die tomorrow.

Hi,

I like your philosophy, but that's all it is, philosophy.

The lister posed a legitimate question, as you note. All I did was give a legitimate answer. It may not concern you if the Boxster explodes, if mine did I could easily absorb the loss. Others either cannot, or don't want to, and that's OK too. It's kinda tough having a frank discussion without being frank.

I've owned 39 cars in my life. None of them perfect, some less perfect than others. Some with minor annoyances and some with major ones. IMHO, the Boxster belongs to the latter group regardless of how many times it may make the corners of your mouth curl up, that's all...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

I like your philosophy, but that's all it is, philosophy.

The lister posed a legitimate question, as you note. All I did was give a legitimate answer. It may not concern you if the Boxster explodes, if mine did I could easily absorb the loss. Others either cannot, or don't want to, and that's OK too. It's kinda tough having a frank discussion without being frank.

I've owned 39 cars in my life. None of them perfect, some less perfect than others. Some with minor annoyances and some with major ones. IMHO, the Boxster belongs to the latter group regardless of how many times it may make the corners of your mouth curl up, that's all...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

But Jim, how can you say this? You have not had any problems with your Boxster. Where's the annoyance?

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by bmussatti

But Jim, how can you say this? You have not had any problems with your Boxster. Where's the annoyance?

Hi,

OK Guys, we can Wordsmith all night, but the potential issues with the Boxster are real and well-documented. I don't need to have the RMS drain 9 Qts. of Oil, and create a HazMat cleanup of my Garage floor ($3200 for my Buddy w/ the '04 'S' - PCNA had to pay it), before I'll admit to those potential failures. You can cover your ears and scream LA-LA-LA-LA-LA all you want, but it won't eliminate this very real potential.

Where's the annoyance? The fact that there is a very real (more real than any other car I've owned) possibility that the next turn of the ignition key could trigger disaster. Only a defective ignition switch can assure this doesn't happen (who'd have thought?)...

I would stand more easy were I bmusatti, because I would have the protective warranty blanket to keep me warm, but as a 2nd owner, I don't expect Porsche to raise a finger.

I've owned several Brit cars, and for the record, they don't leak, they just like to mark their territory... There were times in my MGB, or TR3 or Healey, and the like, where I might not have been surprised if the car didn't react at all when I turned the key, but I was reasonably assured that it wouldn't self-destruct either, at least more so than the Boxster.

The car does have it's good points to be sure, and for many these outweigh any of the not so good things. But, others feel differently. I wonder if this may be one reason these cars hold their value so poorly...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[Brucelee]

I do have two questions for all of you though.... :

Does my Porsche warranty cover these failures?

Yes, a Porshce factory warranty should have you covered.

Are these flaws found in the Cayman as well?

As far as we know, yes they do!

BTW-for the record, I love driving and looking at the Box.

Just wish it were more reliable and less costly to repair.

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

I've owned several Brit cars, and for the record, they don't leak, they just like to mark their territory...

C'mon now, Jim. If your British car isn't leaking, it's empty.


I wonder if this may be one reason these cars hold their value so poorly...

Now I didn't kill myself researching this but:

The 1998 Lotus Esprit's base price appears to have been $82,625. I just found a couple of examples for sale for $37,000 or thereabout. Its resale value appears to be roughly 45% of MSRP.

The 1998 Boxster appears to have had an MSRP of $40,745. Though KBB says its value is now $20,225, lets assume $18,500, a more realistic selling price for a nice '98. Let's see... that's...about... yup, 45% of MSRP.

I wonder how a more comparable 993 would have held up?

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by Grizzly

Now I didn't kill myself researching this but:

The 1998 Lotus Esprit's base price appears to have been $82,625. I just found a couple of examples for sale for $37,000 or thereabout. Its resale value appears to be roughly 45% of MSRP.

The 1998 Boxster appears to have had an MSRP of $40,745. Though KBB says its value is now $20,225, lets assume $18,500, a more realistic selling price for a nice '98. Let's see... that's...about... yup, 45% of MSRP.

I wonder how a more comparable 993 would have held up?

You know what? While this is an interesting analysis, it really doesn't matter, cause you're not gonna change Minnesota Man's viewpoint of the car, and he's not going to change ours. He's going to continue to post the issue about his friend's 04 engine failure as an example to prove his point, and we're gonna continue to point at Boxsters that have had no issues at all. Different philosophies at the end of the day. I am with you 100% on your viewpoint of this whoe discussion, and personally, I expected to pay a little more to play when I bought the Porsche. Again, if I wanted 100% reliability, I would've bought a Honda or Toyota. I'm not expecting "value" in any sense of the word. I use my car only on weekends for pleasure, as I live in NYC, and I pay over $500 per month just to park my car in a massive underground parking garage. At that rate, I could change a new engine every 2 years from the parking rent costs alone. The point is, if all this stuff scares you to the point of it not making you enjoy the car anymore, then sell it. MN has every reason to move on to something different. Me personally, what I also love about a Porsche as compared to a Lotus or Ferrari is that if you do break down, you can actually find a Porsche dealer within a reasonable distance of wherever you are because there is a very good dealer service network built up here. Not so with a Lotus or Ferrari. To each his own.

YMMV and all that good stuff.

[z12358]

Grizzly, your writing reflects enlightnment and depth. I agree 100% with your last few posts here.

Boxtaboy, agree 100% with you, too.

Without getting philosophical, it is fair to say that no design is literally perfect. All cars have their "faults", and the more exotic (expensive) they get, the "faultier" they seem to become. Except in rare occasions, sport cars are not bought as investments. They are a cost item, a toy. It all boils down to whether the joy from the toy is worth the costs of acquiring it and keeping it. The buying public seems to like the equation, hence the prices are where they are. It's not Porsche's fault that it can charge so much for its cars and their maintenance. It can, so it does. Wouldn't anyone?

What Rich and Jim seem to be proposing here is that there is some kind of a conspiracy by Porsche and the media to keep the masses ignorant about some ugly truth about their design. I find that hard to believe. Every person I talk to on the track is aware of the RMS and every possible thing that can go wrong with their cars, and some of these people have had and raced Porsches for the last 20 years AND have a brand spanking new 997 or 987 on order! Somebody must be buying these new and used Porsches and it'd be pretty arrogant to call them all ignorant, uninformed, or just poseurs, I think.

Now once in a while, a guy WILL stretch to buy their dream sports car like a used Porsche, and underestimate the total cost of ownership by a little or a lot. Happens all the time with everything else in life. It's not Porsche's responsibility to lay down the calculations for them, nor to teach them that to truly enjoy a toy they have to leave a very comfortable cushion in their $ cost estimates.

Z.

[Grizzly]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

I like your philosophy, but that's all it is, philosophy.

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Oh, I don't know Jim. You seem to be the guy with the inferior, faulty, underpowered, mediocre automobile that you don't like and really never did. Maybe you just enjoy being miserable. I've owned a lot of cars too...still do. And I've owned some real dissapointments (mostly British). Unlike you however, I didn't relentlessly research their inherent design problems, only to spend countless hours crowing about them to anyone who would listen. Instead, I sold the unreliable, leaking little sputtering bastards to someone else and moved on. If cars are my passion, and I only have so much time here, why waste it?