KB964Cabrio

Hi All,

My brother is looking for a Boxster for around £16500-£17000 to drive instead of his boring old company car...

Can you advise of what we should look for on early boxsters (more probably 2.5 models).

Any advise greatly received!

Many thanks!!!

KB964Cabrio

bump?

85percent

my advice? dont buy one unless you'd enjoy having engine failure... spend the extra money on a 00 or 01.. seriously...

Steve Wilwerding

The early cars get a bum rap - very few of them have major engine problems. I have a 98, and it has not yet had a single mechanical issue.

My advice - find a car with a full service history, try to get one with around 20K - 25K miles (it's been used enough to weed out any problems), and make sure the car has been taken care of.

85percent

no its more than a few... enough early boxsters had engine failures to notice a pattern... just because nothing has happened to yours yet, doesnt mean this problem was with very few... do a search in porsche forums and see how many people have had or are aware of the early boxster's engine failures... its more than you think... either way, why risk it? spend a few thousand more and buy a 2000... its better then spending $12k for a replacement engine like i have...

KB964Cabrio

Ouch! I thought my early 964 had enough of a bad stigma attached to it!!!
Is an early Boxster really that much of a risk???
Were repairs not carried out under warranty if there is a known problem???

Steve Wilwerding

The first thing I can tell you is that buying a 2000 is no guarantee against not having problems. All of the years have had known RMS (oil leak) issues, but if you find an older car with some miles on it, chances are that if the leak hasn't showed up by now, it probably won't. I have heard of post-2000 cars, including some 2003s and 2004s, that have had engine failures. When most people think of early cars, they focus on the 30 to 40 cars that had engine sleeve failures, produced in 1998. Porsche knew which cars had the issue, and fixed all of them for free.

I don't notice that 85percent lists any Boxsters that he himself owns, so I'm not sure where he gets his definitive knowledge of early engine failures. Over on Porsche Pete's Boxster Board, they did a survey of what year of car people had and what problems they had. I think that out of hundreds of respondents, two people with older Boxsters had bad engines. A few others had oil leaks, but the vast majority had no mechanical problems whatsoever.

Of course, according to 85percent, I'm sitting on a ticking time bomb, just waiting for my engine to blow. I think I'll take my chances, though. 30,000 trouble free miles gives me some confidence that my Boxster is going to last.

Doug&Julie

My Boxster just went through 'early motor failure'. To be specific, it has to do with slipping cylinder liners. This known problem will show up in the first 30-35k miles (mine hit at 29,200). If you're looking at 2.5 cars, be sure to either a) get one from a certified dealer/OPC so it'll come with a warranty or b) buy one with higher (yes, higher) mileage to ensure that it's past the failure point.

Also, the problem is believed to be associated with cars within a specific build date. ..of course, this has escaped me right now, but I know it ends with 3/99 build dates because mine is a 3/99 build date and I just missed it by a month!

Also, for the record, I "only" paid about $8600 for my motor replacement. Still sucks. Definitely worth investigating because you don't want to go through that headache.

Other than "motor failures", check the top operation and clutch. Oh yeah, and the RMS...although that's a hugely overblown problem, too. It's just an oil leak. It CAN get bad, but rarely.

Good luck, they're great cars!

Doug&Julie

Not all of them. Only if they failed. And, unless you know a good lawyer, you'll be paying for the replacement if you buy one that hasn't failed yet. Trust me.

J-RAD

I think the main point here is the 85percent continues to throw out blanket statements with absolutely no statistical backing to his statements. He's the town crier with a vendetta that is far from being substantiated.

All manufacturers have issues. How many Boxsters have been sold world wide (ex. year to date 2005 only, N.A. Boxster total sales are in excess of 2,700 or Porsche : Production & Sales Figures, etc...)? Of those sales, what percentage experienced failures similar to those 85percent likes to tout? Now break those numbers down by model year. I guarantee he has not done that research.

However here are a couple reliability/quailty reports - each is not without it's own flaws but given the actual research behind them they paint a much more realistic picture than the one 85percent is attempting:
http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/re...x?modelid=2514
http://www.edmunds.com/used/1997/por...s_jdpower.html

BTW, none of this is to suggest that a person shouldn't still do their due diligence along with having a PPI completed.

KB964Cabrio

Many thanks for the feedback guys...
Feedback wont put us off, but as a member of Rennlist, the '964' forum has proved so invaluable to me! I'm really pleased (and thankful!) to note great feedback coming from this forum too!!!

It's looks like 85percent got stung badly... I know how this feels, but i also realise you need to keep an open mind... as they say "one swallow doesn't make it summer!!!" (Olde English Proverb!!!)

Doug&Julie

Hey, I got stung too, yet I still recommend the cars highly! (..and not just because I'm selling mine )

85percent

sure other years had a few issues, but the proven engine failures DID happen with the early boxsters. yes, porsche did replace most of these engines for free, all except the labor costs. I went to two different porsche dealerships before spending $12k, and they both explained to me that nothing could be done with mine- its a case-by-case determination, and i was the second owner, etc, etc......

but you're saying that early boxsters aren't known for engine failuers huh? there's a thread from an article that deliriousga posted from a magazine describing how porsche tried to "resleeve" faulty engines between the years of 98 and 99, and doing so caused a "known engine failure" with the sleeves slipping in the cylinders... so before you start getting all defensive, try doing some research on your own, buddy- i have.. and the picture i'm painting IS factual, how bout yours?

Doug&Julie

Yep. I was told that I had to be the original owner and the car had to be within a year of it's original warranty for Porsche to fix it. I was neither. This did not make me happy because I spent the extra money to get it certified from an authorized dealership just in case something like this happened. (I WAS outside my certified extended warranty, too.) They were still no help.

So don't buy anything from Joseph Northland Porsche in Cincinnati. Ever.

smshirk

I have read so many negatives on early Boxsters. I have a 97 with 104k miles and I am driving 70 miles a day to and from work. Never had a single issue. I suppose it could blow tomorrow, but the car has been as reliable as any used car could be expected to be. Because of all the negatives and high mileage when I bought it, 90k miles about a year ago, I paid 12,500, spent another 1500 mostly cosmetics, and I'm gett 26 to 27 MPG on my commute. during that same time frame, I've spent 5k on my wifes 968 Cab and driven it less than 3k miles. The 968 has all records from new, the Boxster came with nothing but the original owners manual.

Based on my experience, I would recommend buying a used older Boxster. I was admittedly nervous when I bought it, but for the price, I figured it if the engine fell out on the ground, I could do the 3.4 conversion and still not be in too bad of shape.