Hi All,

First time poster and new to the site - spent the past hour looking over this forum and am overwhelmed at the amazing amount of info!

Long story short, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to be gifted a 2001 Boxster S from a family member who just doesn't use it. It has less than 18K miles and brand new tires

Mechanically I believe it's 100%, but had some water damage a few years back (water got in through top) and had fuse panel I believe replaced, but all electronics seem to be 100% now. Seats are a little hard to adjust forward and back from what I'm guessing is some corrosion from water that got in, but garage gave it clean bill of health. One of the lcds for the temp is going, but still readable. Squirrels made a nest inside somewhere, but that has been removed and wires checked for damage (I think). It does have an "earthy" smell from the air ducts when blowing. Other than sitting outside in the elements for the past 18 years, it's driven somewhat regularly for a few miles at a time. Other than that, and a few scratches here and there, it's in great shape and just needs a very good clean/detail. It's that steel gray color (very dark), red calipers, and also has the hard top. It's gorgeous.

My question is, what am I getting myself into if I agree to take it on?

Anything specific to note about this particular model year?

Are they expensive to maintain? Is there an annual $$ I can expect with normal wear and tear?

Is the model an easy one to tinker with?

I'm not a car guy per se, but have always wanted to get into it and am more than average mechanically inclined (I've done a lot of our plumbing and electrical). I'd love to upgrade to spoked rims, upgrade the interior lamps to LED (was told LED headlights would be an issue due to housing design) and maybe give the stereo a face-lift. I'd like to do my oil changes as well.

It won't be driven much. I work from home and have 3 small kids (probably 4 years away from the oldest being able to be in front seat) and can't imagine driving it more than 100 miles a month.

My other question, is there anything I need to look for regarding wear and tear? Or should a dealer just give it a full inspection? I know I need to have the IMS bearing looked at, correct? That is something a dealer has to do?

I will have to drive the car down the east coast if I want it (already dreaming about that road trip ) . Probably more miles in 2 days then it's done in a year. That shouldn't be an issue running it that long?

I've driven this car when visiting over the years and have always loved it, but I really don't know what owning one would be getting myself into.

I will absolutely put in the time reading through these forums as I'm sure a lot of my questions are answered, but any specific advice for my situation would be very helpful. Thanks!

 

My advice is: it is a free car, drive it and enjoy it. What breaks (and things will break, its an older car) fix it and know that it was free. Be thankful you didn't have to purchase an S outright. However if you are not familiar or comfortable with the Porsche brand, sell it, you may get a good dollar as it is low mileage. Hopefully someone will enjoy the vehicle.

 

Hours of fun and miles of smiles? What have you got to lose? The price is certainly right.

No, they aren't compared to other cars that are considered 'exotics'. They'll need more maintenance than a Toyota Corolla, but not a whole ton more. The parts are more expensive, but not orders of magnitude more. More like 25% more than similar parts for other cars.

Yes, they're pretty easy to wrench on. I do most of my own maintenance in my garage with hand tools. There are a ton of YouTube videos, forums, and books to guide you. Go for it.

This is the first thing you've said that gives me pause.

If it has less than 18k miles, the car is already under-driven. 1,200 miles a year is not nearly enough to keep the car (and you) happy. Believe it or not, a car that is driven more will require less maintenance. Lost of stuff in a car (oil seals, for instance) wears out faster when it doesn't see use. I hate to be a downer, but if you're only going to put 100 miles a month on the car, then you're probably going to end up hating it because it's going to cost you more time and money to maintain than you're getting out of it.

It's a free car, the proverbial 'gift horse'. Take it and than take it to an independent Porsche mechanic (not the dealer) for a good functional evaluation. Let him tell you where the mechanicals might need some attention, and fix those things.

So, a couple years ago, I bought an '01 Boxster with 110k on it while I was in Oklahoma, and a month later I drove it back to Pennsylvania with zero problems. I also took drives to OKC and Dallas in that time. It all worked fine. However, your car has had far too little exercise for you to have a good feeling for what might go wrong with it. Again: cars don't like to sit.

That being said, it's a free car. Have a mechanic look it over thoroughly, fly in a few days ahead of your departure date and drive it around. Get it warmed up, get it up to highway speed, let it sit in traffic, let it sit while you run into the store, etc. If it seems okay, then give it a shot. At the worst, you might end up having to rent a trailer and truck from U-Haul somewhere in the Carolinas and drag it home. Or, you can have a car transported for under $1,000.

As I said: My two biggest red flags are the low miles that it currently has and the low miles you're thinking it will get. But, ultimately, its a free car - and a Boxster to boot! Take it, drive it, and if it gets to be more trouble than it's worth, sell it on.

Happy to help. Keep us posted. Good luck!

P.S.: I obviously don't know where the car is or your proposed route down the coast, but I'm along the I-81 corridor in PA. I'm happy to help if I can.

 

So you have a chance of driving an 18 year old car that got used less than a hundred miles a month and that you describe as being driven very short miles when it was used. This means the engine is really a lot older than the 18k miles because the oil was seldom fully warmed up and every start the oil had drained away and bare metal was scraping on bare metal. The car is showing signs of neglect and, shows the signs from sitting for a while (rodents and water). And you propose to drive it less than normally recommended. Not to mention the bearings have been sitting in oil that I haven't heard has been regularly changed (minimum once a year). Not warming up prevents water vapor from burning off and that isn't good for those moving parts.

Do you have ready access to a good Porsche mechanic? If not, pass. Because the car will need more than the traditional "budget $1k a year" kinds of work, I predict.

Can you afford to budget more for maintenance? Price those tires? Or the brake job?

Owned two wonderful Boxsters. Totaled one. Sold the other when I wasn't using it enough to be healthy for it. Both bought with much more miles per year than this one. But on the second, it cost me $3k in total to bring it to a state of maintenance where I felt it would be reliable. $1k brakes, $1k tires and $1k 90 service plus alignment because that is the most comprehensive. After that it was cheap and a dream. And that was in 10 year ago prices.

I'm not saying don't, I would. But go in with your eyes wide open.

 

^This.

Everything Mike said is valid, but that last sentence is key. I, too, would absolutely go for it. And considering that you're a family man and that a toy car isn't going to come along for quite a while, you should go for it if there's any chance you can make it work.

But the car is probably going to need more love and attention than if it had five times the mileage it has now. I would love to have you in the family, and we're more than happy to help with maintenance questions (If you're in my neck of the woods, I'll come and swing wrenches with you.), but I personally don't want you to become a Porsche hater because you picked up a neglected Boxster and it ended up rotting in the driveway under a tarp because it ate into your life and didn't meet your expectations of what a Porsche should be.

 

OP: <Crickets>

Shawn, if you want to take a winter vacation, you could come to Tucson and swing wrenches with me. I even have a sleep sofa and a beer in the Fridge. No Cigars in the house. And my vape has wacky tabacky in it. Lots of work to do on my project car (01 base.)

 

Thanks for the invite! However, I'll be deploying next year, which eliminates both the opportunity to travel and the option for enjoying things of a 'whacky' nature.

Maybe in a couple years after I retire from the Army!