PCA SDR

With my new work endeavors, I have increased my commute from 4 miles a day to 80 and it is racking up the miles on the Cayenne. So I need a commuter car, and of course it must be a Porsche. Thinking about getting an early Boxster base model (97-99).

Thoughts anyone?

I feel the reliability is much better in the 00+ cars, as well as virtually everything else. Spend a little more and get the second generation with all the improvements OR a 944 S2/968 make a great commuter car and seem to handle long term life a little better with fewer major electrical issues and complexities yet still maintain most of the safety equipment like airbags and ABS.

Jad makes good points, but the earlier cars are cheaper, plus after you drive it into the ground,
it can be your next Spec car...

the 97-99's are dirt cheap right now, <$9k for a pretty clean one with service records. Mine gets between 27-31mpg highway and has been quite reliable when not abusing it on a track. I lean towards higher miles because the engine problems of the early cars seem to be fleshed out by the time 100k rolls around. if there is a flaw in the cylinder wall or IMS/RMS issues they should've been noticed way before then.... oh yeah, if you take the intake snorkel out the sound of the engine at >4500rpm over your left shoulder is divine.

As a 1st gen Boxster owner (98) I am very happy with performance and reliability so far. I have owned my car for 5 years and logged about 30k miles/20 track days so far. At 87K miles it still feels pretty tight, doesn't burn or leak oil, and repairs have been very minor. Mine is a weekend joyride/track toy but a lot of Boxster drivers use them every day and love em. Most of the early model engine flaws have been fleshed out by now as these cars have been around for 10+ years.

A few trouble spots: Lousy ignition switch- same as 996 and Audi, lousy plastic rear window, worn chain tensioner guides from long oil change intervals, possible IMS bearing failure that will turn the engine into a boat anchor without warning. The IMS failure is most often found on 2000-2004 S models but it has occurred on all 986 model years. This failure is fairly rare and there is a retrofit upgrade available.

Advice: Find one with 1-2 owner history and all service records, 50k miles or more should get you beyond early mfg issues. An IMS retrofit door sticker would be desirable. If you find one where the owner ignored the Porsche recommended 15k oil change interval and changed it every 5k... buy it! As always a carfax and PPI is a very good idea.
Happy hunting!

All good points listed above.
PPI is critical by someone who really knows these cars and can do a PST-2 or PEWIS (early and late factory scanners) test on the car.
These machines look at every control unit and electrical circuit in the car.
They also tell you how many hours the engine has. High mileage and low hours equals freeway commuter.
They also tell how many times the car has been bounced off the rev limiter and how long ago it happened; 200 hours ago or at the last "test drive".

Other things too look at during the PPI:
Front engine mount (push the motor up to look for cracks)
Pressurize the cooling system for several hours (Or overnight) to find small coolant leaks. Water pumps and coolant tanks are the biggest issue.
Look at the windows as you pull the handle. Each side should drop the same amount, about 12mm and completely clear the window seal. If not you will have to replace the window regulator soon.
Ignition switch should feel tight and return from the start position crisply.
Squealing belt sound on start up is not a belt but an oil separator. Smoke on start-up may or may not accompany this.
There should be no oil leaks other than spark plug tube seals. (Easy fix and common)

Look at service history, long oil change intervals are the death of these cars. We are seeing lots of valve tappet issues on neglected cars. Every 5k and you should never have an oil related issue.

It is hard to argue this price for a modern Porsche convertible...You would have to pay twice that for the oldest 911 cab.

Not to throw you a curve ball but I would not rule out a really clean 968.. These are really great cars and will swallow up a cart full of Home Depot runs. Not to mention back seats as well as a choice of coupe or cab. Not as easy to find but worth keeping your eye out to see if one comes available.

Thanks for the inputs all. The one I have my eye on is at Pioneer right now in their used car lot. 99 with a well sorted suspension and VERY clean, though low miles. Have been going back and forth on the 944/968 thing as well, and haven't ruled it out yet...

Snooze you loose, some former Miata guy bought the one I was looking at the day before I was going to... On to the next candidates.

I hope this volates no rules, but have you looked at the PCASDR classifieds (I assume so)? I have a selfish reason for asking--99 Boxster for sale there. Thanks.

My brother is looking to buy an early Boxster. I hooked him up with a link to this topic as a good source of thoughts and comments on the subject. He came across a blog posting on Truth About Cars by Stephen Wilkinson entitled Porsche Boxster Engine Failures Mount from November of 2008. I wanted to get some knowledgeable feedback for him on this from "people in the know". To that end, I've posted the blog below. Seems to me, it is overstated. But, thought I would have you Boxster-philes tell me...

"Are you aware of the appalling rate of Boxster engine failures, which I’m only now becoming aware of through participation in some Boxster forums? Some estimates (Bruce Anderson, for one) are that 20 percent of Boxster engines don’t make it past 100,000 miles witout a catastrophic failure. The standard failure is what the cognoscenti universally refer to as the IMS–the intermediate shaft. It’s apparently bolted together, and the bolts fail, then everything internal claps hands and you’re looking at a replacement crate engine. I’m hoping the fact that Susan never revs past maybe 4,000 will spare us, but I’d be careful if I were you. There was a recent Porsche Club event that 11 Boxsters participated in. One had an IMS failure during the event and two of the other Boxsters participating had previously had their engines replaced due to IMS failures. Three out of 11 equals 27 percent. It’s a quiet secret within the Porsche community, and there are reasonably knowledgeable people who claim these engines were built as cheapies to get through the warranty period unscathed–which the apparently often don’t–and that PAG hasn’t the faintest interest in second, third and fourth owners. And they used to say the entry-level Porsche was a used Porsche."

Hi Don,
IMS failure is a reality with all M96 motors (986 Boxster and 996 Carrera). PCNA is silent on the actual failure rates but internet polling has estimated IMS failure at around 2% for all affected cars. This is much lower than the quoted 20% but still far too high IMHO. 2000-2004 models have a higher than average failure rate due to a single row bearing used in those years but it can occur on any M96 motor at any mileage.

The good news:
A very beefy retrofit bearing has been developed recently that can be installed by qualified independent shops. A complete refresh/update of the motor including IMS bearing, chain tensioner guides, lifters, water pump, and low temp t-stat is fairly expensive at $3-5k but will add a lot of peace of mind. Probably similar to a refresh/update for a 964 motor I would imagine.

The Boxster is a great car that is a hoot to drive. It is good to know it can be made pretty bulletproof as well.

I ended up getting a 01 Boxster S with 202K miles. That is surprisingly clean inside and out.

Got a great deal, but had to replace transmission (part of the great deal reason). Did the "while you are at it's" such as new clutch and flywheel, motor mount, air/oil separator, MAF, and the new super LN engineering IMS. FWIW, the IMS removed from the car was in great shape-but far easier and cheaper to replace before failure rather than after.

Don -

What model year range is your brother thinking of? And what does he plan to do with it? (Track it?)

rshon wrote:What model year range is your brother thinking of? And what does he plan to do with it? (Track it?)

Something like '00 model with just local driving, weekend jaunts, etc. No plans to track it.

Don Middleton wrote:Something like '00 model with just local driving, weekend jaunts, etc. No plans to track it.

You know, those '00 models make pretty darn good AX cars.