bobryancool6543

I am a college student and I work as a server, so my budget is relatively strict. I recently found a 2000 Boxter S with ~130k miles and is a clean title for $5,000. I've been looking at Boxters for a while now, and I think this price is somewhat cheaper than the market.

The car does have a few issues though: a non-working stereo which I'm assuming to be a blown-out fuse (other possible causes?), leak in rear driving side coilover (blown coilover?), and not the prettiest leather interior.

What I'm asking is basically how much will it cost to fix the problems he's highlighted, what major things should I be checking for, and would you even recommend I buy the car at this price-point? Also, how much will maintenance run me per year?

I apologize if those are super basic questions, I just got into cars this year, and I'm still learning.

Hasdrubal

There are several videos on Youtube about common Boxster problems, but you'd be better off finding a local mechanic and getting an inspection done. Had I gotten an inspection I would have found a bunch of problems, but I don't know how much it would have helped me talk the price down. Just test driving the car didn't tell me that I had torn CV boots, leaking doors, or a fairly bad oil leak. For my case, it's fine because I like working on cars and have quickjacks at the house, but your situation is probably not so good for maintenance.

I'm close to Seattle, so the door leaks would be annoying if it wasn't for a major computer unit being down under the driver's seat- not fixing the leaks would result in at least $1k in electronics repair by spring. So far I've spent maybe $600 on parts for repairs, the same on replacing the stereo, and still looking at several hundred more for new spark plug tubes, plugs, and an air oil separator... which would go along with maybe four hours of labor at shop rates if I couldn't do it myself. Probably $150/hr at a good shop.

I'm new to Boxsters, enough that I don't know the specific repair costs for suspension replacement. I do know there's an amp in the front trunk for the factory stereo, so your problem there might be a fuse, or a dead head unit, or a dead amp. Not sure it could be diagnosed without more information.

Bush Pilot

If it doesn't have the dual row IMS Bearing, you probably should factor into your purchase price the cost of an IMS Bearing replacement. I believe that for the year 2000 it could have either a dual row or single row and I don't know how to determine which it has.

Hasdrubal

Yeah, from what I've read the only way to figure out which bearing it has is to pull the old one and look. Nothing visible from outside the engine.

https://lnengineering.com/products/t...-bearings.html

OP, if you read a lot about IMS bearing failure, you will find two general schools of thought- first, "this is an inevitable failure, you should either replace it immediately or have enough money set aside that when your engine fails, you can put in a new engine." or "the ones that were going to fail probably did already since all the cars are old and have high mileage, so just drive it and enjoy it because not many people have an old Boxster as their only car." The failure rate is not terribly high, but the consequences are definitely serious, and going back to my habit of doing my own maintenance, I'll probably swap it myself after I get all the other work done. Of course, that's not a bad deal since most of the cost is labor, and I plan to drive the car like normal until I get around to fixing it.

Bush Pilot

I don't buy into the "If it hasn't failed yet, it probably won't." philosophy. I buy into the idea that it's a wear item that if fails, destroys your engine and should be replaced periodically. I believe the car he's looking at has 130k mi. If it hasn't been replaced yet, I would do it now.

Hasdrubal

That's the question, though, isn't it? Is it a wear item like a spark plug, with a known service interval, or is it a lifetime part with a flaw? Nobody suggests replacing the rods as maintenance on a street driven car, but if a batch of bad rods made it into an engine supplier's inventory, they could have an equally catastrophic failure mode. I've seen videos talking about how the seal on the bearing fails and the grease gets washed out, but I haven't seen a good explanation for how some of them fail when the oil penetrates the bearing and some of them don't.

Since I don't have an answer either, I plan to put a new bearing in too.

elgy

The only way you can afford a cheap Boxster is if you are able to do the majority of the necessary work on it yourself. At that price there will surely be deferred maintenance and lots of little things to fix. I count on from $500 to $1500 for that... and I do all my own labour. I'm on my third inexpensive Boxster so I do have a bit of experience.

On the IMSB... here is my replacement thread... there is some interesting information in posts #7 and #8.
http://986forum.com/forums/performan...nt-thread.html

Bush Pilot

It's not clear to me what the fix is for the IMSB? Do I simply replace it with the factory bearing every time I do a clutch? If so, that plan won't work for me because my clutches typically last the lifetime of the car, about 200k mi. Yeah, I'm easy on the clutch. I see that the LN kit warranty is 75k mi. but I wonder what they do if it fails and destroys your engine.

TexSquirrel

Go with The IMS Solution.
That’s a permanent replacement.

Hasdrubal

I've been looking at the options too, and I also like the idea of a direct oil feed to the bearing. My question has been, what makes the LN kit better than the TuneRS(?) kit? The differences from looking at them seem like LN has a longer term good reputation, and the LN feeds off an oil filter adaptor where the other one feeds using a line off a cylinder head. Unless the cylinder head feed runs oil pressure down low enough to affect the cams or something, either one should work. I guess another difference is that the LN runs a journal (solid) bearing where the other one runs ball bearing, but how much difference does that make if there's sufficient oil flow?

I'm not trying to knock the LN product, from my reading it seems like the only reason to avoid their 'solution' kit is the price, but the price is definitely a consideration. Does it deserve the asking price based on engineering and production quality? I haven't seen anything to make me think no, but at the same time it's near a quarter of my car's value. If I get most of the benefit at half the cost, it seems like a very attractive option.

https://tunersmall.com/product/ims-b...96-trsdof9705/

TexSquirrel

The IMS Solution takes the oil from right after the oil filter.
This ensures there is no debris in the oil, which is better for the bearing surface.
Taking it from the head could introduce debris since that is near the last point of the oil flow.
Also the plain bearing is not as likely to be subject to failure due to thrust like a rolling bearing.
Yes, it costs more, but it is superior.
They are currently on sale now too.
I'm contemplating picking up a 986 Boxster and the first job would be to install The IMS Solution and the UAOS. https://ultimateaos.com/

zoomster1776

I agree
F6I 3.6L

elgy

How I love another IMSB discussion! But I must say this one is a bit one-sided, the most objective one I have read is this one.
http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-g...s-bearing.html
In my opinion a lot of "it's the IMS" diagnostics, made without opening the engine up, are just wrong and now I have partial proof. The 2000 S that I bought recently was diagnosed, by a reputable indie that does a lot of Porsches, as an IMSB failure... based on metal in the oil filter. I just took the flange off the IMSB this morning and the bearing is fine. I added photos and some detail to the thread linked in post #7 above.
You have to make your own decision... but it is a fact that there is an element of hysteria in the discussions of the IMSB, take that into account.

Shawn Stanford

I don't worry about the IMS if the car is over 100k miles. I won't even look at a first gen 986 with under 100k on it. Both because these cars need to run, and that low of mileage in a 20+ year-old car means the owner probably has an over-inflated sense of the car's worth (which is PROBABLY why it was never driven).

Yes, you'll need to do the work yourself, but happily the Boxster is the Toyota Tercel of Porsches. They're tough as hell, the parts are plentiful and can usually be found for reasonable money, and most of the things you're likely to run into you can do in your driveway with hand tools.

$5k for on '00 Boxster S with 130k? Where? Because if you don't want that car, I'll take it.

Hasdrubal

Thanks elgy, I think I read both those in the weeks just before and after getting my car, they certainly calmed me down from frenzied ordering parts to 'next time it's convenient to do it myself' territory. There's no way I'd have been able to handle the repair work I've done so far without collected forum knowledge.