Opposer

Hi guys, name's Roma, i'm from Moscow, Russia. I drive frs for now.
always wanted a porsche (sporty one of course, not the cayman). Now I can spend 20grand on a car, and looking for info about 986s(they cost approx 15k in russia), so i can save a couple of grand for engine rebuild.
here s the question. I have very small annual mileage- about 2k miles, so i'm not afraid of ims failure- gonna change it once a year. But what about possibility of bore scoring? Heard that 3.2 doesn't suffer from it, but 3.4 does. How true is that? If it does- how rare is this outcome?

extanker

i do not think you need to change the imsb every year if anything drop the sump every year and bore scope the cylinders if you are that worried. you will need to save a tad more than a couple grand for a rebuild......change the oil often with the proper type of oil and find a good po mechanic/shop

Macster

It is hard to get any real handle on the bore scoring issue.

We didn't really get any real handle on the IMSB issue until the class action lawsuit and the release of some numbers from Porsche.

There are some who appear to mention bore scoring and then turn around and offer "fixes" or solution or extended service contracts.

My advice would be to seek out the best example Boxster you can find and afford.

Give it a thorough used car check out.

Briefly, this involves visiting the car cold and with the A/C off (you test this later) starting the engine and letting it idle while you get out and inspect the car. But you keep an ear tuned to the engine as it idles and warms up for any abnormal noises which can signal a bore scoring problem or some other problem.

After some idle time have the seller take you on a 15 mile test ride. The route should allow the driver to demo the car as you intend to use it. iOWs, you want a mix of driving from city and stop and go to boulevard to highway/high speed driving. Toss in some hard acceleration runs (in the lower gears) and some hard braking (no need to trigger the ABS) to make sure the engine pulls smoothly and strong from idle to redline and afterwards settles into a smooth idle. Under hard braking you want to be sure the car brakes with no drama.

Back at the starting point change seats and you drive the car over the same route and drive the car the same way.

Then give the car a used car check out. Check top operation, lights, A/C, heater, wipers, everything.

If you have made it this far with the car and have not found any reason to reject it arrange for a PPI. (Pre-purchase inspection)

You want this done by a qualifed shop with Porsche Boxster experienced techs. Among other things the car will be lifted in the air and a careful check made for any leak sign.

Every gasket, seal, o-ring, hose, hose fitting, hydraulic line, line fitting, CV dust boot get checked for any leak sign.

When you end up with a car be sure to keep the body water drains free of debris/plant trash. Keep the radiator ducts free of plant trash build up too.

2K miles per year is pretty light usage. Still budget for an annual oil and filter service.

If you drive in cold weather run 0w-40 oil. Porsche calls for 0w-40 when the car is used in -25C and colder temperatures.

Be sure when you start the engine cold you give the engine a bit of idling. No need to idle for very long. I like to let the engine idle just long enough the secondary air injection pump shuts off and and the high cold idle speed drops to near normal hot idle speed. This is a sign the DME has switched to closed loop mode and the engine's fueling will be more precise.

Keep RPMs below 4K until the engine is fully up to temperature. If there is no digital coolant (or oil) temperature display the engine is "warm" when the temperature gage needle gets to the 180 hash mark. This might be a different number for cars sold in Europe/Russia. The engine is fully up to temperature after the engine has been run with the temperature gage at this hash mark for some minutes longer.

Have the brakes and if a manual the clutch fluid flushed and bled every 2 years.

Have other services done on miles or time (plugs might need to be changed on time). Be aware Porsche considers the tires to be past their change by date after 6 years of age so with just 2K miles per year the tires might reach "old age" before they wear out.

And last but not least.... just 2K miles per year? Man I can drive my Boxster 2K miles per month, and in fact I've driven it more that once around 5K miles in a week's time.

Opposer

Googled through all the rennlist, found no info about bore scoring on 3.2

Macster

Well, there you go.

Make sure whatever car you seek to buy you first treat it with skepticism. Try to find a reason to reject the car as you give it a thorough used car check out.

The next best thing to driving a Porsche is shopping for your first Porsche or your next Porsche.

Enjoy the process.