£5k Boxster, madness?

Mr_Sukebe

Mr_Sukebe

Mr_Sukebe

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At some point in time, might need to buy a second car. It'll be mostly for fun and runs to client sites, but only on a sporadic location. So mileage is not likely to be high. Will definitely be keeping our E91 as the family wagon.

My starting point was to think about another MX5, or a CTR. Both are reliable and can probably bring a smile to the face and can be had sensibly from £3k upwards.
Couldn't help but notice that Boxsters are now available from £5k. Sure, might only be a 2.5, but a lack of outright grunt really doesn't worry me that much.

Are older Boxsters horrible unreliable money pits?
 
I think the real gotcha with old boxters is that getting them fixed is still stupidly expensive. I seem to remember the quote from a mate for getting his front bumper repainted in the £800 range. The older boxters are also far less forgiving cars but I'm guessing that less power may reduce it propensity to step out under enthusiastic driving. When they let go, they give you little warning.
 
Great value for money, in terms of what you get, but huge financial gamble.

Spend 5k on a boxter and be ready to spend another 1 - 4k at the drop of a hat or chuck the car away and buy another.
 
I would only consider purchasing a 'cheap' Boxster if you are totally comfortable will writing off it's entire value instantly. Simply because there is nothing stopping it costing you £5k over the next 12 month in bills.

Just as an example my climate wasn't blowing cold and I had the compressor replaced (under warranty) - the bill would have been £1162 though. That was at an OPC so no doubt you could cut down on the labour costs.

I know Vince ran a <£10k Boxster 986 without any massive outlay (before he crashed and got his 911) but he was pretty handy with fitting things himself and probably knew anything major on the engine could have cost £thousands.

WillGill's 911 (Not a Boxster but a similar, newer engine) ended up with a £12k (iirc) bill out of the blue.

Equally the car itself is very reliable, it just tends to be if something does go wrong it's usually a big bill and not a small fix.
 
Don't get a 2.5.

I had a Cayman as a loan car once and the downright INCREDIBLE handling was let down by the absolute lack of power to do anything with it.

A drive in in the S, boxter version was like night and day.

It's always going to be a Porsche with Porsche repair bills no matter how cheap it is to buy, although at that price point i'd be more inclined to get a bit more canny with how you source replacement parts (ebay instead of letting stealers and indies have your eyes out).
 
Great cars, fantastic value for money at the moment - only problem is they are porsche money to repair and maintain, this is exactly why they have dropped in value.
 
Crap DIYer.
Going to try to look at one over the weekend. S2000 would probably be a LOT more sensible then.
 
I've never done it myself but to get anywhere near the engine you either need it totally jacked up or to take the roof folding mechanism off. Things I can access in my car are oil and water filler cap in the rear boot, fuse box in the drivers foot-well and battery in the front boot. For anything else you need to take the entire roof out of the car or get it high enough to get at it from under.

I would imagine if you bought a £5k Boxster and wanted to keep it in decent condition (keep everything working) and averaged 5k a year you would average spending £4k-£5k over 3 years doing so.
 
It might be worth considering something like a 350Z - it's a little more money but the servicing will be considerably less. About the same power to weight ratio as the boxter 3ltr as well. Just try to get a 2006+...
 
I have a mate who changed an old Boxter for an E60 M5, that he finds the M5 cheap to run by comparison over the last 18 months IMO says an awful lot about Porker running costs!!!

It's a vicious circle many such cars fall into, prices plummet due to absurd running costs, I'd imagine the M5 will be just such a car very soon itself.
 
ScoobyDoo69 said:
Didn't they get a power bump?
Click to expand...

2006 - 2008 has what they call a "rev up" remap which increased power by 20BHP. The also had bixenons + LED rear lights.

2008+ redesigned the engine and designated it to the HR code, 1000rpm higher redline, dual airbox with 309BHP, uprated interior, infamous bonnet hump.

However with every interation the 350z got heavier and managed to produce less torque.

So the original pre facelift 2002 - 2006 car has the most savage power delivery + low kerb weight. Also the strongest engine, so for track/tuning it is the best option. Also they made hardly any sunset orange and azure blue cars from 06 onwards and none by 08. So you just get stuck with gun metal, black or silver.
 
nucastle said:
Don't get a 2.5.

I had a Cayman as a loan car once and the downright INCREDIBLE handling was let down by the absolute lack of power to do anything with it.

A drive in in the S, boxter version was like night and day.

It's always going to be a Porsche with Porsche repair bills no matter how cheap it is to buy, although at that price point i'd be more inclined to get a bit more canny with how you source replacement parts (ebay instead of letting stealers and indies have your eyes out).
Click to expand...

The new DFI 2.9l is a gem of an engine, but those are still like 20k+ cars.

The 2.7 is not bad, can imagine the 2.5l being rather, well boring and slow!
 
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