ctilly

I've been musing over getting a used Porsche for a long (LONG!) time now. Recently I considered a 2007 987 Boxster with 150k miles. It has own owner, all dealer shop records, and is in great shape. I called on my local Porsche shop for guidance and was told I'd likely be spending 6k / year on bits going bad (fuel pump, AOS, on and on..). This just about broke my heart because for me, if I ever find the right Porsche I'd like to own it forever. I'd like to teach my kids how to drive stick on a real car someday! But at the cost noted I'm not sure I can justify this life dream.

Ok, enough with the sob story. The question this interaction raised is this:

If Porsche is not a forever car, is there a "sweet spot" in the Porsche ownership timeline that is the lowest cost?

For example, if as a general rule the cost of ownership goes from 1.5k / yr to 6k / yr at around 100k miles, does it make sense to own by a Porsche with 30k miles and sell at 60k miles?

Thanks!
Sad Prius Driver

schell

I have bought 2 Porsche Cayman S Cars , both with 12-15 thousand miles 5-6 years old, both of them where about 1/2 price of new retail price, the 987.2 that I bought several years ago is worth maybe a few thousand less than what I paid, I fee like the deprecation is real slow after the first 5 years.

Marine Blue

That $6k quote is not an annual cost, that is a one time cost to get the car mechanically updated. Once done I would expect the ongoing maintenance to cost less than $1k a year on average.

I would say the 987.2/981.1 are the sweet spots in the lineup as far as cost to own and overall reliability. Your selection will depend on the amount of tech you want inside.

GaryLY

I agree with Marine Blue; the sweet spot is largely about technology. I bought a 1999 911 with 87K mikes, drove it about 20K, and sold four years later. Over those four years, running costs averaged somewhere around $500/year. I did change my own oil, air filters and brake pads. I've had a 2010 Boxster S for almost a year. I bought it at 16K miles and have driven it almost 20K. Running costs look to be about the same per mile. For me, tires seem to be the largest single expense.

A432

Imho, your sweet spot which seems to hinge on entry cost/maintenance/driver interaction, is the '09-'12 base 6sp. Cayman/Boxster.

Low entry price, more reliable 9A1 engine than pre-'09, 6sp. is lower cost/better reliability than PDK, the base 987.2 actually has a larger engine than the base 981 and you can feel that torque. (2.9 vs. 2.7)

One went on BAT for $19K with 128K miles, but imho you could find a lower mile one for 20K.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...sche-cayman-5/

I have absolutely beat the brains out of my 6sp. 9A1 Cayman on the track and it is no more expensive to maintain than any other car I've owned. (not incl. track maint.)

ctilly

Thanks, all. By sweet spot I was thinking primarily in terms of mileage but appreciate all the good input. In terms of models I kind of like the 987.1 base w 5sp manual. I think the reliability difference compared to 987.2 is exaggerated, and I really like the 5sp which i never see on the 987.2. At around $10k less it seems like a good value.

Mileage wise I’m still a bit baffled. Do we really put the high mileage Boxsters out to pasture? Such lovely beasts - seems like a shame : /

Marine Blue

The 987.1 is a gamble, there are now two known issues that are seen although I can’t quote actual percentages. Bore scoring seems to occur on the higher mileage cars while IMS issues happen on the lower mileage cars. Frequent oil changes and maintenance will significantly reduce bore scoring but I’m not sure it would benefit the IMS issues.

As far as being put out to pasture, its like many other Porsche’s in history. Yes many will be put out to pasture if the cost to repair exceeds value and this trend will continue until values start going up.

OC_Cayman

From what I've read, bore scoring typically happens to cars that have been run hard (i.e., tracked), pushed hard before the engine has warmed up, and/or not not had its oil levels checked regularly (and, hence, have been run with lower-than-recommended oil levels). Just my $.02...

I think it's more like "If an IMS issue is going to happen, it will usually happen in the first 20K-50K miles." And IMS bearing failures seem to happen on far more S models rather than base models. Also, 2006-2008 S model years have a different IMS bearing design that, reportedly, does not fail except in very, very few cases. So if you purchase, say, a 2007 CS with 50+K miles you're probably going to be fine with respect to an IMS bearing failure. Again, just my $.02...

RWPinNC

Two years ago I bought a 2006 Cayman S with 42k and regular maintenance documented and it's 40k major service completed. I change oil every 5k, open the filter, and get a Blackstone analysis to monitor the engine...clean bill of health thus far. I know that at some point I will need a water pump, AOS, or some other repair, but that's true of any car.

I would have felt comfortable with a car up to around 80k for a longer term keeper but found this one with my desired specs. I agree that the 987.2/manual is preferable, but they are less common.

Good luck with your search.

wail junkie

987.2s on the used market are frustratingly rare. I finally bought mine after watching them for a long time so I'm somewhat familiar with it. Good examples sell pretty fast.

One theory I saw is that this model came out in the depths of the great recession in the US, so, unlike in Germany where the gen 2 is more common the gen 2 is far rarer here.

I was set on a gen2 due to the engine improvements but also a bunch of small tweaks to the design that I think make it look far better.

From an analysis I saw, mileage stops affecting price as strongly (for all 987s) around 60k miles, so mileage wise that's the sweet spot if you find an example that has been ell maintained. I bought mine with 83 but it was single owner with full records and had most of the options I wanted.

Your minimal depreciation scenario though is likely a 06 or 07 with 60k miles.