Cheap Boxsters
- Thread starter Matt82
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They are the same age and both are 'sporty' sounding. The boxster (non S) is heavier and has 40hp less. It still needs to be wringed to get the best from the 2.7
Details differ but the for someone looking for a 2 seater convertible they are very similar.
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Taking a look at that link your looking at 150k miles boxster s. Or a 2.5 of some description. My old Boxster S cost me 10k was a 51 plate and in a year I spent the best part of 5 k putting on new rubber, fixing a few bits of paint / leather and getting the thing serviced.
There are so many things that can go wrong with these early water cooled boxster engines that 3k+ bills are all too common.
Engine wise they suffer from cylinder heads cracking which results in leaking oil into the water jacket. They suffer bore scoring, IMS failure (which results in engine failure) as well as RMS failure, AOS failure.
Then you start to think that at the age and milage you are looking at a £1500 suspension refresh. The list of problems goes on and on, but on the plus side if you absolutly have to have one and you dont mind throwing money away then you will pretty much stomach all this for one reason, and thats because of how they drive.
There are so many things that can go wrong with these early water cooled boxster engines that 3k+ bills are all too common.
Engine wise they suffer from cylinder heads cracking which results in leaking oil into the water jacket. They suffer bore scoring, IMS failure (which results in engine failure) as well as RMS failure, AOS failure.
Then you start to think that at the age and milage you are looking at a £1500 suspension refresh. The list of problems goes on and on, but on the plus side if you absolutly have to have one and you dont mind throwing money away then you will pretty much stomach all this for one reason, and thats because of how they drive.
Dint Vince get a £4k bill for fixing a coolant leak?
Wouldn't have one given to me to be honest, unless i could sell it straight on
Aye cost me best part of 4 k for the engine to be removed and just a few parts replaced on my 911. I had the oil cooler, a few coolant pipes replaced and the left head (1-3) inspected.
Its the small things with these cars for example the 3.2s will take 9litres of 0/40 w mobil 1 oil which is about £100 worth of oil, if you ever need to take the manifolds off your looking at a 1k bill as the oem bolts are made of cheese and snap in the heads.
..as an owner of a leggy Boxster S (late 2003 with nearly 140k on the clock) I feel I can add something to this.
Mine had loads of Porsche dealer history with it, recent clutch etc.. and I paid around £4k last April.
So far I've done:
- Engine mount
- Service
- Couple of tyres
- Track rod ends / wishbones
- Few exhaust clamps / new heat shield
- Couple of o2 sensors
..thankfully I'm near a VERY reasonable specialist (Addspeed in Horsham) and none of this has been too scary. Parts aren't that bad if you shop around and abuse the Eurocarparts discount codes either.
I too weighed up the S2000 / Z4 before getting mine (I had a non-S Boxster years ago so was familiar with the cars already) but there's something about the porker that just makes you smile.
All of these cars can cost you dearly, Z4 is far from bullet proof I'm afraid (they eat clutches and almost always need a new flywheel while you're at it if they have the dreaded clunking) and for me at least the S2000 was a bit tiresome once the excitement of the digital dash has subsided
Would I get another? Hell yes. Just don't expect to pay nothing in maintenance apart from tyres and a service each year .. set aside £1000 for non-routine stuff per year and you're about right barring a total disaster.
Mine had loads of Porsche dealer history with it, recent clutch etc.. and I paid around £4k last April.
So far I've done:
- Engine mount
- Service
- Couple of tyres
- Track rod ends / wishbones
- Few exhaust clamps / new heat shield
- Couple of o2 sensors
..thankfully I'm near a VERY reasonable specialist (Addspeed in Horsham) and none of this has been too scary. Parts aren't that bad if you shop around and abuse the Eurocarparts discount codes either.
I too weighed up the S2000 / Z4 before getting mine (I had a non-S Boxster years ago so was familiar with the cars already) but there's something about the porker that just makes you smile.
All of these cars can cost you dearly, Z4 is far from bullet proof I'm afraid (they eat clutches and almost always need a new flywheel while you're at it if they have the dreaded clunking) and for me at least the S2000 was a bit tiresome once the excitement of the digital dash has subsided
Would I get another? Hell yes. Just don't expect to pay nothing in maintenance apart from tyres and a service each year .. set aside £1000 for non-routine stuff per year and you're about right barring a total disaster.
£1k to remove the manifold? Seriously? I had one of the manifolds in my old Boxster replaced with a used one (mine had cracked, sounded like a hot rod). Including the manifold and a specialist to remove the old bolts (you're right about those) it was £400ish.
I've never seen a manifold come off a car cleanly to be honest, the environment is just too hostile for you to expect them to cooperate on removal
This, 2.5, do not even bother!
2.7 is acceptable but like Simon says the S2000 is better.
2.9DFI is very good, far more reliable and performance is good, but doubt there are any sub 15k.
3.2/3.4S are much quicker, but bore scoring is an issue as is IMS failures. Bore scoring, get an inspection, IMS less likely to fail if car is over 50,000 miles but can still fail, IMS upgrade kits are available but budget 1k fitted.
Suspension, brakes are very reasonable in price to be honest, not really any more expensive than any other sports car if you shop around.
i was just thinking these have been around this price for quite some time now - then i noticed the age of the thread
A boxster would be a decent shout for a track car surely? An early S with a suspension refresh would be a joy. A total budget of £10k should sort you out nicely by the sound of it. You'd definitely get a newer S2000 or Z4, but the opportunity to properly sort the suspension and have that sweet 3.2 would be amazing.
Edit: if the 03/04 face lifts are starting to be that cheap I'd certainly look into buying one as a bit of a project as I really like the shape.
Edit: if the 03/04 face lifts are starting to be that cheap I'd certainly look into buying one as a bit of a project as I really like the shape.
Soldato
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Everytime I think that a porsche one day in the future will be a good idea, I read threads like this and erase all thoughts of such a thing.
Don't!!! Any remotely exciting car will cost a bit to maintain unless you buy brand spanking new. Chuck a few quid in a 'car' account each month to cover maintenance to make bills easier to swallow and if you don't spend it then it's a bonus.
..can you explain to me the S2000 thing please? Maybe I'm missing something. I drove a few and I found them:
- Twitchy on the limit
- Tiring and noisy to drive if you wanted to have fun
- Boring to look at (this is subjective of course)
Of course on a practical note they're well engineered and reasonable to run. Maybe I'm getting old
Suspended
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..can you explain to me the S2000 thing please? Maybe I'm missing something. I drove a few and I found them:
- Twitchy on the limit
- Tiring and noisy to drive if you wanted to have fun
- Boring to look at (this is subjective of course)
Of course on a practical note they're well engineered and reasonable to run. Maybe I'm getting old
Being able to explore the limit on the road is not a bad thing...
Looks are subjective but your opinion is wrong.
..fair enough on the looks, guess I'm in the minority and I've never been a fan of the MX5 either
As for exploring the limit, I'm all for that, but I want it to be about exploring when I wish and with plenty of warning not 'Oh flip, I'm in a hedge' .. later ones are a lot more planted though I've read with 'spirited driving'.
As for exploring the limit, I'm all for that, but I want it to be about exploring when I wish and with plenty of warning not 'Oh flip, I'm in a hedge' .. later ones are a lot more planted though I've read with 'spirited driving'.
..fair enough on the looks, guess I'm in the minority and I've never been a fan of the MX5 either
As for exploring the limit, I'm all for that, but I want it to be about exploring when I wish and with plenty of warning not 'Oh flip, I'm in a hedge' .. later ones are a lot more planted though I've read with 'spirited driving'.
If you crash one your not as good a driver as you thought. Unfortunately people like to blame the car for their errors.
My Boxster (2001 2.7) was very reliable. Whilst I had it I spent £2k in 2 years, but that was pretty much all within the first 3 months to get it how I wanted it (suspension and brakes mostly).
Never had a single issue with it - was just stuff I elected to have done and servicing.
You read a lot of nightmares on car forums, but forget that most people that own them don't bother posting to say they haven't had any problems. IMS is a good example. The Porsche Specialist I used said they hadn't seen a single IMS failure in the 3 years they had been in business. RMS on the other hand is really common, but not an expensive or difficult fix.
Never had a single issue with it - was just stuff I elected to have done and servicing.
You read a lot of nightmares on car forums, but forget that most people that own them don't bother posting to say they haven't had any problems. IMS is a good example. The Porsche Specialist I used said they hadn't seen a single IMS failure in the 3 years they had been in business. RMS on the other hand is really common, but not an expensive or difficult fix.