Oshin11

Hey guys, I may be looking to trade in the old 911 for a Boxster with much less mileage on it. I need a reliable daily driver, Boxsters always seemed like fun zippy cars to me. Problem is, I want to do all the work on it myself. I think brakes, oil change, all the simple stuff I will still be able to do but what about things like valve adjustments, engine work, tranny work? How hard are these cars to work on? If I had to rate myself 1-10 on Porsche experience and wrenching experience I would say I am a 5. I have done basics, oil, brakes, window regulators, valve adjust, oil cooler rebuild, etc.. I am not a pro. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks I appreciate all your help.

JohnVitamvas

Pretty easy to work on. Valves have hydraulic lash adjusters, so no feeler gauges for you. Oil, brakes, filters, all easy to access. Plugs are accessed through the rear wheel wells. The usual stuff that goes wrong (MAF, O2 sensors, driveaxle boots, motor mount) are well within the scope of the shadetree mechanic. The only major thing that would be difficult for a DIY mechanic to do would be the clutch / RMS. Everything else is pretty standard.

In general, just buy the newest and best-maintained car you can and you'll have years of happy driving.

aron in toronto

I agree w/ John on the ease of Boxster maintenance. Like most Porsche mechanical issues, the Boxster's are well covered on the web. If you do encounter a problem, you will find a large DIY community available online to walk you through almost any issue. There are folks who have even tackled the bigger jobs like clutch and RMS replacements.
The Boxster maybe the current sweet spot for Porsche performance, reliability and price.

Oshin11

Yea I was hoping to save enough money to be able to get an 05+ because I loved the style change from 04-05. Maybe I'll save up for another 12 months. 05 cars and beyond seem to be 30K+ USD.

kgorman

I did a full tune up on mine by myself, plugs, serp belt, fuel filter, oil+filter, etc and it was a breeze. Easy DIY car compared to the 964 for sure.

Tierce

I just changed the water pump on mine yesterday, and it wasn't too bad. Pretty easy cars to work once you get all the covers off.

amondc

Tierce, How many miles on your car when you did the pump? Just trying to get an idea of when I need to plan on doing it.

thanks
Chris

Tierce

I'm at about 115,500 right now. No guarantee when the pump will fail. I have a friend in the parts department at the Porsche dealership, and he keeps at least 5 on the shelf at all times. Apparently, it's pretty common.

Doug&Julie

Wayne Dempsey (Pelican Parts) is putting out a book (either this year or next, not quite sure) on servicing the Boxster to go along with his 101 Projects for your Porsche 911 and 101 Projects for you BMW somethingorother. Keep an eye out for that!

http://www.101projects.com/

Oshin11

Yea I have the 101 Book for my 87 Carrera, I would definitely get the boxster version if it was out.

Lorenfb

"I did a full tune up on mine by myself, plugs, serp belt, fuel filter, oil+filter, etc and it was a breeze."

Right! Those are the easy things. What until there's an ECU problem,
e.g. immobilizer (transponder/keys), cab top, instrument cluster, ignition
switch, ABS, & etc, and most significantly problems related to the DME ECM
and CEL faults. Most (DIY/shops) even with an OBDII scanner can't properly
diagnose and fix problems, i.e. much less diagnose a CAN bus problem.

"Easy DIY car compared to the 964 for sure."

Maybe on some mechanical problems, but hardly the case for the majority of issues.

"Wayne Dempsey (Pelican Parts) is putting out a book (either this year or next, not quite sure) on servicing the Boxster"

Not quite the same market as that for the old 911 air cooled engines!!!!!!

Bottom line: In the long run, it's hardly a true DIY car.

bjzorn

I find that once you remove all the covers, the boxster is a very good DIY car. most stuff can be acessed from under neither the car or by removing the rear wheel well covers

smshirk

I tried replacing the back piece on the ignition switch. You have to be a contortionist, or a helluva lot younger than me.

bjzorn

you did remove the left side air vent right?

Devildog2067

That took me less than 20 minutes from start to finish... did you have the right screwdriver? Did you remove the air vents?