Tell me about the boxster 3.2s

Vince

Vince

Vince

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So I have booked to view several of these this weekend. I am looking at 02-05 plate cars, manual and in certain colour combinations, black with tan being my favourite.

Having had a few boxsters in the family I am aware of a few things. The header tanks that sit in the wheel arches are apparantly a problem and cost around 250 per corner to replace. Other than that though I don't know a whole lot so here I am calling on the infinite wisdom of motors to tell me all about owning a 3.2s.

So what can you tell me? Replies like poor mans Porsche, hairdresser car etc etc are fully expected.
 
Just been doing some research, thanks for the heads up on this. I will take a performance car mechanic to look the thing over and have a drive before commiting to buying anything. :) Anybody else with some pearls of wisdom?
 
Trouble is with IMS is there really is no warning. Apart from the infamous "death rattle" but by that time it's too late as it's the sound of the bearing breaking up. So an inspection won't really be able to give any indication it's going to happen

It's not a massively common problem, but not rare enough to ever consider running without a warranty. It tends to happen earlier on in the cars life though, usually 20-30k mileage, so if it's the age your looking at and 50k+ I'd say it's ok, or had the IMS work/retrofit already done

Make sure when you drive one that over 70 it doesn't suddenly lose acceleration as it's a problem with the air flow sensor, and is quite common at this age. Make sure you go on a proper test drive also, as suspension issues that again are quite common this age car will not show until the car is warm, so about 15 minutes or so. And then listen out for squeaks, especially at the rear of the car

Try and go for 03 onwards as these have the glass rear window, anything before, especially 51-52 required a bit of karate chop action as the roof closed if you wanted to prevent eventually cracking or holes appearing.

Another common issue, again around 02-03 is the drivers side door, check for damp around the bottom corner. It's a £250 fix, but it's one you don't want to buy a car with as you don't know how long it's been like that and the damage done

Options to try and go for are the BOSE sound ugprade, wind deflector (as if it doesn't have one you'll have to get a whole new kit if you do decide you want one at around £150 for a Porsche one), climate control

Also, as I learnt from other people, don't go for red as reselling it will be a pain. And don't go for extended Tan leather, same reasons
 
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Forget taking a "performance car mechanic" you want to get anything you consider buying inspected properly either at an OPC or by a Porsche specialist.

Try to find the money for a facelift with the glass rear screen, and lastly know that a tan interior is the most unpopular colour when you come to sell it :)
 
Spamalot said:
Honestly... I'd buy a Z4. Lots of threads over past couple of months documenting all the pit falls and the large bills you can expect with any Boxster S.
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The z4 just doesn't do it for me, don't get me wrong they are a great car but just not what I am after right now.

As for the bills, well i'm not overly fussed providing I have a good idea of what can go wrong. I will be doing roughly 6k a year in it and during a normal day it will sit in the garage and will come out at weekends and for days at the track.

I do find it strange that the tan is the most unpopular colour for the interior but its what I want so am not overly fussed that it could possibly make it more difficult to sell. My current car has depreciated by the best part of 10k in 2 years so loosing money on cars is exactly what I am used to and I doubt this can be any worse.
 
VinceB1 said:
As for the bills, well i'm not overly fussed
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You should be - the money you'll sink into bills on an old Boxster would probably buy you something much newer, once you've added it all up.

I think somebody on here was spending something barking mad like £9k in a year on running his Boxster. Thats madness, if you'd have spent that £9k on depreciaiton you could probably have had a new Boxster instead!

Remember its not always about whether you can afford the massive bills, its about looking at what else you could get for the same level of yearly spend.
 
VinceB1 said:
As for the bills, well i'm not overly fussed providing I have a good idea of what can go wrong.
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Really? Mine threw a £4.5K engine rebuild when the timing chain let go. My 3rd party warranty was naff all use as well. My suggestion is get it properly inspected before buying and get a Porsche warranty on it.
 
[TW]Fox;18740431 said:
You should be - the money you'll sink into bills on an old Boxster would probably buy you something much newer, once you've added it all up.

I think somebody on here was spending something barking mad like £9k in a year on running his Boxster. Thats madness, if you'd have spent that £9k on depreciaiton you could probably have had a new Boxster instead!

Remember its not always about whether you can afford the massive bills, its about looking at what else you could get for the same level of yearly spend.
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A point well made mate. I have been thinking about this for a very long time now and think I am set on the boxster but you are right, the one thing I don't want to do is buy a lemon that I end up sinking lots of money into.

9k running costs on anything for a year seems steep, jesus for that money I could (I think) run my dream car over the course of a year (f355 gt) and believe me I have been very very tempted to go and look at a few. However any car that needs an engine lift for a cam belt change is pushing it a little far.

One thing to remember here is that it will be a second car so although I would like it to be as reliable as possible I am also prepared to leave it garaged for short periods while I get it fixed. If this means a month in the garage so that I can comfortably pay a heft bill then that is an option.

On another note my brother in law had a boxster for 2 years on an M plate I believe and never had an unexpected bill by that I mean a bill that wasn't servicing or tyres. Just to be clear I will be looking at a car with full Porsche service history as well.
 
JackRegan said:
..he's dead right and make sure you get it done before you finish negotiating not when you have agreed to buy the car.

Jack
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I will make sure to get a full inspection. I guess that advice here to get it done by a porsche specialist is exactly what I will do.

Out of interest what would you say I am looking at £ wise for an inspection?
 
[TW]Fox;18740431 said:
I think somebody on here was spending something barking mad like £9k in a year on running his Boxster.
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To be fair I think that included petrol, tyres, insurance and depreciation for 10k miles a year.

Boxsters are expensive to run, as I've said in other threads, but buy a good one in the first place and they aren't utterly crazy, especially as a 2nd car. Mines cost me about £2k ish in the past year since I bought it, but at least half of that was optional rather than 'must do'. In general you should budget £1k to £2k per year to keep it tip-top. If you're tracking it then go for the standard 'S' 17" wheels - better handling and much cheaper tyres.

IMS is exagerated, but can obviously cause a massive problem if you're unlucky. There was a survey on Boxa.net

Total cars covered: 147
Total IMS failures: 10
%age IMS failure: 6.8%

Incidents of failure:
986 3.2: 5
986 2.7: 3
986 2.5: 1
987 3.2: 1
987 2.7: 0
987 3.4: 0

Youngest car with a reported failure, 2005
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Now I'm not sure how representative an enthusiasts site is going to be in terms of reported numbers, but its interesting none the less.
 
VinceB1 said:
I will make sure to get a full inspection. I guess that advice here to get it done by a porsche specialist is exactly what I will do.

Out of interest what would you say I am looking at £ wise for an inspection?
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If you take it to an OPC for the 111 point pre warranty inspection it will cost you 200 odd quid, then if i were you 90 days later take it back, if you have bought the car, pay to have it done again and then get an OPC warranty, thats the only warranty worth the paper its written on.
 
DM said:
If you take it to an OPC for the 111 point pre warranty inspection it will cost you 200 odd quid, then if i were you 90 days later take it back, if you have bought the car, pay to have it done again and then get an OPC warranty, thats the only warranty worth the paper its written on.
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Thanks for this, it sounds like sound advice, although paying for two inspections plus the monthly on warranty seems quite pricey when the worst may never happen. For example, 2x inspections at 200 (400) + £40 a month (480) so 840 a year to have a warranty for 6k miles seems excessive.

Assuming of course that this is how it works.

edit : for my **** poor spelling.
 
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VinceB1 said:
Thanks for this, it sounds like sound advice, although paying for two inspections plus the monthly on warranty seems quite pricey when the worst may never happen. For example, 2x inspections at 200 (400) + £40 a month (480) so 840 a year to have a warranty for 6k miles seems excessive.

Assuming of course that this is how it works.

edit : for my **** poor spelling.
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A years OPC warranty on a Boxster will cost you about 900 quid plus the inspection, which seems a lot but its the only warranty worth having, i suppose it depends how much you value peace of mind.
 
One last thing, your point about only doing 6k miles per year, do remember 25 yards is enough to destroy an engine if you are unlucky.

Yea as James said 2k is easy to blow on these cars.
 
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