Tell me about the boxster 3.2s
- Thread starter Vince
- Start date
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Never mind no plates spend that money on a decent inspection and a new hood with glass rear screen 
Sound advice, the inspection is all booked up and I have agreed that if it fails the deposit will be refunded back and I walk away... Sitting here hoping that it flies through. With 40k miles it should really be up to scratch but you never know.
The guy that was with me looked it over for all the normal porsche problems but there could well be some things that the AA will pick up that he has missed. As for the hood and rear screen well they were in good nick and the rear (plastic) screen looks new without any marks or fading. I guess in time as it starts to go I will put a glass one in.
The personal plate was a cheap plate but pretty much spells my surname so thought why the hell not. Am also trying to locate a center cap as there is one missing, only problem here is that there seems to be an abundance of fake ones about so will go into a porche garage next week once the car has passed its inspection to pick one up.
The guy that was with me looked it over for all the normal porsche problems but there could well be some things that the AA will pick up that he has missed. As for the hood and rear screen well they were in good nick and the rear (plastic) screen looks new without any marks or fading. I guess in time as it starts to go I will put a glass one in.
The personal plate was a cheap plate but pretty much spells my surname so thought why the hell not. Am also trying to locate a center cap as there is one missing, only problem here is that there seems to be an abundance of fake ones about so will go into a porche garage next week once the car has passed its inspection to pick one up.
No mate that was just the first company that came to mind that do inspections when writing the post. What with it being mothers day weekend we have to do something with both mine and the mrs family so I haven’t really had time to think about who can do the inspection. All I have done so far is a HPI check. When I said I had booked an inspection, what I meant was that I have booked a day in with the owner that I can get somebody to go and see it.
That was the reason for placing down the deposit and waiting until Wednesday. It also gives me Monday and Tuesday to sort out the inspection. I have somebody in mind but cannot get hold of them at the weekend so will have to wait until Monday to see what can be done.
That was the reason for placing down the deposit and waiting until Wednesday. It also gives me Monday and Tuesday to sort out the inspection. I have somebody in mind but cannot get hold of them at the weekend so will have to wait until Monday to see what can be done.
Mine only had 40k miles but still needed suspension arms and aircon rads (both are consumables really) but felt fantastic after having the work done and a full geo alignment
If the inspection is thorough they WILL find stuff that needs doing, but you just need to weigh that up as the total purchase price. Mine cost £9k + £2k to get straight, so (using my best man-maths!) I reasoned that as £11k for a fully sorted Boxster that was a decent price I was happy with
Edit - this is why in some ways I disagree with Mark on buying the most expensive one you can afford to start with. That holds up if you're spending £25k on one with warranty, but you could easily buy a £16k one and still get a £2k bill!
If the inspection is thorough they WILL find stuff that needs doing, but you just need to weigh that up as the total purchase price. Mine cost £9k + £2k to get straight, so (using my best man-maths!) I reasoned that as £11k for a fully sorted Boxster that was a decent price I was happy with
Edit - this is why in some ways I disagree with Mark on buying the most expensive one you can afford to start with. That holds up if you're spending £25k on one with warranty, but you could easily buy a £16k one and still get a £2k bill!
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Edit: wow sorry for the essay, might have got a bit carried away /edit.
The air con rads are in such a ridiculous place that it is hardly surprising almost all the cars I have been to see have at least one rotten rad at the front, or have the rads blocked by plenty of leaves. Why some kind of mesh wasn't standard kit I don't know, I can only guess this is because Porsche would rather have a build up at the rad than the vents being completely blocked by leaves. To be honest though the rads are the least of my worries, they are relatively inexpensive compared to the likes of an engine rebuild and even I have the spanners to change them.
The suspension arms I hear are also very common on the cars and the give-away seems to be some squeaks from the front end (normally once warmed up after 20 or so mins driving). It was for this reason that I took the car for a nice long drive, during which I didn't hear any noticeable squeaks, we also bounced the car on all four corners once back from the drive to listen out for them and again I didn't hear anything here. This sounds like good news but I have even heard of people using syringes to pierce the rubber and inject oil which prevents the squeaks and hopefully stops this being detected while trying to sell the car. So again I am happy to deal with this as and when the issue arises.
It's funny though, I have talked to quite a few boxster owners as of late and they all seem to mention the same two issues. For me providing the car is straight and the engine/gearbox is sound then all the other small issues are all part of owning any 10 year old car. I have to be honest for the last 4 years I have owned two brand new Vauxhalls and these cars have been good to me in that I have had very little in the way of bills or running costs for the last 100k miles. This sounds great but when I look at the total cost of ownership of the two cars over the past four years I have lost more than I care to mention in depreciation.
It’s not only that, the cars also didn’t have anything that could make you love driving them and as a result the love that I had for my last two cars was nothing like the love I had for my one prior. For example I don’t think I have personally washed either of my last two cars whereas the car before I would be out cleaning it every weekend and when I wasn’t cleaning it I was out fitting new toys to it or changing either the lower arms or wheel bearings which seemed to go on the damn thing three times a year.
Anyway the point is, what with me getting a train to the office for the last 18 months and no longer driving I want something that I can love again, something I can waste an entire weekend polishing and doing generally manly car stuff with. This is a chance to dust off the electric buffer and make use of the auto glym kit again, a chance to spend the entire day just waxing a bonnet and admiring the thing.
Like yourself Sagalout I have a reserve that I am prepared to spend on the car to bring it up to scratch, so following a similar reasoning and me wanting to keep the car for 3 to four years - By my calculations so far, the cost of the car plus any repairs is still unlikely to get close to just the amount I have lost in depreciation of my two Vauxhalls over the 4 years of ownership. So a Porsche for less than Vauxhall depreciation was my logic. Now I know the Porsche will depreciate but jesus the figures from the Vauxhalls just make me want to cry.
One depreciated by 12k in three years and the other has lost practically 8k in four years. One was purchased new in march 2007 and the other in march 2008.
The air con rads are in such a ridiculous place that it is hardly surprising almost all the cars I have been to see have at least one rotten rad at the front, or have the rads blocked by plenty of leaves. Why some kind of mesh wasn't standard kit I don't know, I can only guess this is because Porsche would rather have a build up at the rad than the vents being completely blocked by leaves. To be honest though the rads are the least of my worries, they are relatively inexpensive compared to the likes of an engine rebuild and even I have the spanners to change them.
The suspension arms I hear are also very common on the cars and the give-away seems to be some squeaks from the front end (normally once warmed up after 20 or so mins driving). It was for this reason that I took the car for a nice long drive, during which I didn't hear any noticeable squeaks, we also bounced the car on all four corners once back from the drive to listen out for them and again I didn't hear anything here. This sounds like good news but I have even heard of people using syringes to pierce the rubber and inject oil which prevents the squeaks and hopefully stops this being detected while trying to sell the car. So again I am happy to deal with this as and when the issue arises.
It's funny though, I have talked to quite a few boxster owners as of late and they all seem to mention the same two issues. For me providing the car is straight and the engine/gearbox is sound then all the other small issues are all part of owning any 10 year old car. I have to be honest for the last 4 years I have owned two brand new Vauxhalls and these cars have been good to me in that I have had very little in the way of bills or running costs for the last 100k miles. This sounds great but when I look at the total cost of ownership of the two cars over the past four years I have lost more than I care to mention in depreciation.
It’s not only that, the cars also didn’t have anything that could make you love driving them and as a result the love that I had for my last two cars was nothing like the love I had for my one prior. For example I don’t think I have personally washed either of my last two cars whereas the car before I would be out cleaning it every weekend and when I wasn’t cleaning it I was out fitting new toys to it or changing either the lower arms or wheel bearings which seemed to go on the damn thing three times a year.
Anyway the point is, what with me getting a train to the office for the last 18 months and no longer driving I want something that I can love again, something I can waste an entire weekend polishing and doing generally manly car stuff with. This is a chance to dust off the electric buffer and make use of the auto glym kit again, a chance to spend the entire day just waxing a bonnet and admiring the thing.
Like yourself Sagalout I have a reserve that I am prepared to spend on the car to bring it up to scratch, so following a similar reasoning and me wanting to keep the car for 3 to four years - By my calculations so far, the cost of the car plus any repairs is still unlikely to get close to just the amount I have lost in depreciation of my two Vauxhalls over the 4 years of ownership. So a Porsche for less than Vauxhall depreciation was my logic. Now I know the Porsche will depreciate but jesus the figures from the Vauxhalls just make me want to cry.
One depreciated by 12k in three years and the other has lost practically 8k in four years. One was purchased new in march 2007 and the other in march 2008.
Well guys I got it yesterday after my mechanic replaced a few parts on the car, firstly the CV gaiters on the rear needed some attention so they have now been changed other than that the other thing that needed attention was the offside front air con rad which looked like it was on its last legs.
Anyway the car now has a clean bill of health - Even though there are a few cosmetic issues that I need to pick up on it. So after picking it up yesterday I managed to clock up over 100 miles of smiles. Even a quick trip to the shop ended up in a 20 mile b road drive, clearly though as this was my first day with it so I wasn't hooning it around or pushing the thing too hard.
What can I say about it so far?... The noise, my god I love that noise - anything approaching 4k rpm and she sings alright. Not only does she sing mind, she also pulls like a train.
The handling, well, the handling is out of this world. You point it in a direction, press the go button and off she goes. The thing quite honestly inspires so much confidence that you feel you could plant it into any corner at pretty much any speed without browning your pants.
Anyway I have gone a bit off topic and this thread has now served its purpose so thanks for your input on guys. I will give the car a clean at the weekend and get a new thread up with some pics
Anyway the car now has a clean bill of health - Even though there are a few cosmetic issues that I need to pick up on it. So after picking it up yesterday I managed to clock up over 100 miles of smiles. Even a quick trip to the shop ended up in a 20 mile b road drive, clearly though as this was my first day with it so I wasn't hooning it around or pushing the thing too hard.
What can I say about it so far?... The noise, my god I love that noise - anything approaching 4k rpm and she sings alright. Not only does she sing mind, she also pulls like a train.
The handling, well, the handling is out of this world. You point it in a direction, press the go button and off she goes. The thing quite honestly inspires so much confidence that you feel you could plant it into any corner at pretty much any speed without browning your pants.
Anyway I have gone a bit off topic and this thread has now served its purpose so thanks for your input on guys. I will give the car a clean at the weekend and get a new thread up with some pics
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Good job, you enjoy that
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Cheers Mark
Another week and i'l be home at least we talking again