Automobilist

My wife's been mad at me since I sold her gorgeous MGB. I want to get her another sports car, but a bit more up to date than another MG. We've had Miatas, and she considers them too slow for her. (She's also a competition licensed vintage racer) A Boxster comes to mind, so I wanted to ask opinions on the oldest Boxster that would hopefully be free of any common major faults. I do have a 2002 Carrera, so I'm well aware of the IMS, bearing etc issues. Considering this will be driven maybe a couple times a week, I want to keep the price as low as reasonable. Lots of 2005, 2006 era cars available for $16k and less.

What's the best Boxster for her?

Ed

PorscheAddict

2009+ if you want the most reliable, but you probably already knew that. If I had a 987.1 again I would do IMS retrofit.

Drew_K

Mike Mullins

Find the best car for the money you want to spend. That includes, maintenance items fixed, or not fixed. (If IMS/RMS need repairs, price accordingly)
I loved my Boxster S, it's best features; Handling, Motor, Brakes, Usable Space, and Top Down driving.
I had a pristine 944S2 Cab for years, and while it was great, it didn't take long to move on emotionally.

Good Luck and let us know outcome.

Benjamin Cherry

+1, good luck, and congrats on having such an awesome wife!

Dave in Chicago

987 Boxster S was the sweet spot for me. Plenty of power, reasonably modern interior, very nice styling update. I was fortunate enough to find an '05 S, in my preferred options and colors, with an engine that allowed for a relatively simple IMS bearing upgrade. Great year 'round daily driver. Top goes up and down easy and fast, holds lots of stuff, darn comfortable for long trips with lumbar in the seats. My wife drives the car often and loves it. Daughter loves driving it too. Pretty easy to live with, this car.

Dave

'05 987S
'92 968 SP3
'88 944 NA (gone)

andy7777

I think the IMS issue is grossly overblown and results in a great price for the pre-'09 cars. I picked up a mint '07 Boxster S last year for $22.5K. It's a surprisingly quick car with fabulous steering and great brakes. I did find one in a good convertible color, red, and it's just cheery and good looking, and got immediate approval from my wife.

Of course there are drawbacks. I owned a 2015 Cayman GTS, but driving the 987 Boxster made me realize how much better the steering was on the older cars, and how much I preferred the older, simpler interior. So I found a mint Cayman R and sold the GTS!

PorscheAddict

Really? It is a 1%-10% chance of failure depending on whether it is single row, dual row, and application, but that fairly small chance is not of something trivial -- it is for complete engine failure! I would not run a 2% risk of the $20k engine grenading in a $20k car, junking it, but that's just me. Plenty of folks have taken the risk and been fine, but that's a mighty big pill to swallow if you turn out to be the 1-10% that fails.

Automobilist

OK, good stuff. Looks like 2009 is the tipping point. My Carrera has a 2007 factory replacement engine, so I know these cars have a wide variety of potential mechanical disasters...

i guess I'll try to find a nice & (relatively) inexpensive '09, or maybe just build her another MGB. Probably do both.

SpyderSenseOC

Get her a Messerschmitt Tiger like I saw on Chasing Classic Cars last week. Pretty sweet.

Drew_K

Semitone

+1 on the 2009 Boxster if you want to avoid the IMS issue. I have a 2005 Boxster S and have decided to just live with the IMS drama. It is a great car for top down fun. More modern than vintage certainly. Works for me, may not work for you or your wife. We've had it for close to 12 years so not sure what I would do if starting over.

However, at the price of a 2009, you might also want to revisit another MG. Maybe a smaller Austin Healy might be good. Triumph Tr3 or Spitfire? The older cars aren't faster but they sure feel it. They are high on the scale for fun.

Automobilist

I'm thinking of finding a 2006-2008 and just doing the IMS myself. Got to look into that idea. For the same money, I can get a nice 2007 or so, and another MGB.
Just about done restoring a '73 450SL (first year, one year only model) Need to do a fair amount of refresh on our MG TD, and my Spitfire race car. Lot's to do!!!

SpyderSenseOC

What I wouldn't give for that amount of available garage.

andy7777

Sure, you're right, but from pure percentages, paying $2K to insure against a 2% chance of a $20K motor replacement (more like $12K really if getting used) is at least 5X too much.

I tried to do my homework too, BTW, and consulted with two very well known shops, both off which would have been happy to sell me an IMS fix, and both told me not to bother, by '07 they had become uncommon, and neither had seen one in years.