mfm22

In searching for a decent 986 I realize any car found will need shop time .
Just had a ppi done at a Porsche dealer - I highly recommend this if only for the Shock to the heart ! Holy cow they are off the charts with prices. So I'm asking here for some realistic costs of commonly needed maintenance
Oil /filter (probably will dyi) -$
Alternator
Brakes pads
Plugs /tubes /tune up
Ims/rms
Clutch
Catalytic converter

It's become a challenge to find a well sorted out boxster and figure it's easier to find one with good "bones" & upgrade myself.
Issue is the common budget and lack of funds. I'm trying to figure~10k & 2-4 k on service. That limits me to early 986 up to 02 or 03's

Schnell Gelb

Start here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/10-Things-...8432636/g.html
watch all this guy's videos:

zedcat

And check out Wayne Dempsey's 101 Projects for your Porsche Boxster. Some of the projects are on the Pelican parts web site too. In my experience running these cars on a tight budget would require DIY for most things. Oil/filters, brakes are easy. A good indy shop would likely have a lower hourly shop rate but not that dramatic. Also more range of choice on parts. I think the cats for my 04S were half of genuine Porsche parts. From memory as my file is not handy for IMSB upgrade (LN), RMS and clutch the cost was around 3500 I think. I've also had to replace waterpump, coolant tank, CV boots, a few other things. I have 18in wheels and good tires aren't cheap. Put on Hankook RS-3 recently and it was about a grand all in. Best of luck with your search.

PelicanParts.com

+1 we are here to help! Just added the links below for the OP if he is curious in checking out what resources we offer:

FREE DIY tech articles: http://www.pelicanparts.com/boxster/boxster_tech.htm.

Wayne's Book and the Bentley Manual: http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg1.htm#item0.

Let me know if you have any questions.

mikefocke

I disagree. The buyer of mine got a great car needing nothing with 50 miles on the 4 PS2 tires. The challenge is finding the motivated seller and the well documented car. I've traced my car even 30k miles later and another owner. Don't be in a hurry. Understand the motivation of the seller. It is getting to be the right season to be a buyer. Bought my second with 6" of snow on the ground.

Schnell Gelb

But how many Sellers are like Mr. Focke ?
Now that the price of a well used Boxster has dropped to Camry/Accord levels, the calibre of the Sellers has declined commensurately. Ask any Indie working on these cars ! Speaking of which - your local competent & honest Indie may be a good source of a car like Mike's ?

mfm22

I found an 02 , 2.7 , overall body and interior in excellent shape , original owner
52k Always garaged
Had a PPI done Compression was very good 168 -174 , bottom nice and dry , unadulterated Back brakes just done
The not so good / not so bad - front brakes pads &rotors needed soon , needs a tune up
Tires front are 9 yrs old decent tread left , rears are 5 yrs old lower treads
Door speakers not working ?? , middle fan display not working

Price is very fair and it looks like I'll be driving a Guardsman Red / black Boxster soon

Macster

Porsche considers these tires past their replace by date at 6+ years old. Thus the front tires should be replaced regardless of their remaining tread life. At 5 years the rear tires have well about a year of life left but I'd be tempted to just have 4 new tires fitted. I get 20K miles from the rear tires on my 2002 2.7l Boxster and double that from the fronts and so should you so after you have new tires fitted you have a few years of driving without any tire worries.

Might add it is with nearly worn out tires that flats seem to happen. Worn tires appear more prone to picking up stuff than tires with more tread.

Front brakes aren't hard to do if you are a DIY owner. I have done the brakes on my Boxster a number of times, but the last time I had the dealer do the front brakes and when the time comes I'll have it do the rear brakes, too. Where I live now I have no place to work on the car.

Be sure the brake and clutch fluid -- if equipped with a manual transmission -- is flushed and bled. This is due every 2 years and I found just letting this go ~2.5 years had the clutch and as a result the shifting action compromised. A fluid flush and bleed made a world of difference in clutch action and shifting action. There was no noticeable change in braking behavior or performance so just because the brakes aren't acting up is no sign the fluid's ok.

Can't offer anything regarding the door speakers or the middle fan display.

Be sure the body water drains are clear of any trash build up and the door bottoms are dry. After this last "deluge" my Boxster has a wet passenger door bottom and is going in Wednesday for this. it will probably require a new door membrane.

A "tune up" isn't much. About all I think it consists of is new plugs -- use the right ones -- and a new engine air filter. There is no serviceable fuel filter, it is part of the fuel pump enclosure in the fuel tank. When my car's fuel pump quit at around 200K miles the enclosure -- consisting of a fine plastic mesh -- had plenty of open mesh to filter fuel.

Speaking of air filters replace the cabin air filter. It collects some dust/dirt and trash and can get kind of "funky" smelling if not changed every once in a while.

When the plugs are changed the coils should be inspected and if showing signs of cracking should be replaced. I'd replace all 6 even if one is "bad".

O2 sensors should be ok. You'll know if they aren't as you drive the car.

Probably a good idea to do an E-gas calibration. The steps should be in the owners manual. From memory: With the ignition off and your foot off the gas pedal through this entire procedure turn the key to the 1st (on) position and leave the key on for at least 60 seconds. After at least 60 seconds turn the key off again and leave off for at least 10 seconds. The next time the engine is started the calibration is done.

Do the above every once in a while. Maybe every 2K to 5K miles. I do it at least every 5K miles or whenever I have to replace the battery -- which is very infrequently -- and thus have to remove power from the car's electrical system.

In case you ever have to remove power get the radio code from the radio and write it down somewhere so you can have it. You have to enter the radio code after reconnecting the battery. If you make a mistake the radio has to remain on for 30 minutes before you can try again. Time does not count down if the key is turned off. I thought I remembered the code and entered it and it was the wrong code. I had to drive to work which thankfully takes 30+ minutes and then enter the correct code once I got to office.

mfm22

Thanks Macster , excellent advice . The Indy shop told me about tires - too old
I was going to do asap may wait a few weeks for tires & front brakes

Can't work on car myself (yet). Seller is bringing car to shop tomorrow , doing transaction there. He leaves car there and I'm having them do tune up - plugs ,tubes & both filters
Coil packs looked ok

Doing oil & trans /gear oil change Not sure if I should have brake fluid flushed now or wait till I have front brakes done
Didn't know about clutch fluid -

Too many choices for brake pads. & rotors I'm just street driver no track

Back window needs to be polished out , top looks very good. But was never conditioned

I used some conditioner on my Miata - worked well , polished headlights with some kind of cream polish also looked great after
Can't remember what wax I used some sort of Carnba paste. More effort but worth it
Maybe "million dollar "

Looking forward to getting this 986 up to speed. Lol

Macster

You can wait to have the brake/clutch fluid flushed/bled after doing the brakes, but don't delay on the brakes.

For brakes for my street driven only Boxster I just buy the hardware at the local dealer. I get a PCA member discount and with this the price is close to what it costs to buy the hardware online once shipping is factored in.

And if something is wrong I can take the parts back. The one time I ordered brake hardware from an online site the rear rotors were the wrong part and I had to send them back. The online company ate the return shipping cost but receiving the parts wrong and having to return them and wait for the correct parts just kind of soured me to buying my parts online. (That and another time, when I bought my Cayman S oil filter online and it looked "different" so I bought a factory filter and side by side there were differences and I never used the online filter.)

I never conditioned my Boxster's top. Some like to put something on the top that makes the water bead up but that's just for show. The canvas is just there to protect the rubber sheet underneath it from sun and the elements.

Besides, that top protectant can damage paint and the plastic window which makes using it a pain.

I avoid parking my car under trees and near plants the shed leaves, plant litter, sap and to avoid any bird mess. As soon as I spot any bird mess on the car I wash it away.

Soft wax is best but I have no recommendation.

San Rensho

Anything that you go to the dealer for will be $1000 for the smallest repair (not maintenance which if you want to pay $300+ for an oil change, be my guest.) A good indie who knows what he is doing is much cheaper but it won't be a bargain. Dealer wants $1700-2000 for a water pump, the indie will charge $500 -$700.

If you know how to wrench, the maintenance and repairs are surprisingly reasonable. Water pump at $180 is not bad at all.

mfm22

I had the Indy shop do the work [ easier & faster ] front brakes , braided lines , flush fluid , tune up with tubes & air filters . Oil change & gear oil change
Have tires on order - rebate kicks in for them next week

Drove car around the last few days - pretty impressive but I'll need to watch myself it's easy to go fast
Car seems very well taken care of just a few little things to do - detailing inside & condition leather
rear window is hard to clean on the inside , I want to use plastX on it

The radio ***** were really sticky , my daughter said the previous owner must have been a slob - haha I have them off and already dipped

Boxster's are a steal at under 10k , where can you get such a high performance quality car [ costing close to 50k new] ? I guess the IMSB is the great depreciator

Gonna have to think about that 2k upgrade