Jay Gratton

Good Evening,
I have a very good line on a 2000 2.7 986 Tip with 22K on it. My job reqiures me to drive a fair amount and if I got the Boxster I would be putting a few 300-400 miles on it a week. I would only be driving it from April to October (or whenever the snow flies) and then I would just drive my truck.
My questions are would this make a good commuter? What sort of problems might I come across and what Boxsters should I avoid and what should I look for? Also, any other info you could provide would be great as well. Best wishes - Jay

schwank

Our Boxster S is driven every day by either me or my fiancee. It's great in general. For a daily, cupholders would be nice

I'm sure you've heard before to watch out for the early models with low mileage.. Anecdotal evidence says those have higher occurrence of motor issues. Who knows... ours is 58K+ and bone dry.

Certainly beats most other daily drivers!

Jay Gratton

I am leaning more towards the 2.7 liter Boxter as I hear they are better and the main seal problems are taken care of.

racer

1) RMS issues are still a concern on watercooled boxer motors (nee 987/997) but they are much improved. IIRC, RMS failures in TIPS are less frequent, but also more expensive. Some other minor maintenance is more involved due to the TIP. Can't recall which ones anymore, but I recall the Bentley manual mentioning this.

2) Due to the early engine failres, and smaller motors, I only wanted a 2000 or newer. Model Year 2000 brought a host of improvements (many minor) but worth having. Also considered by Consumer reports as the most reliable of the "early" 986 cars.

3) I had a 2000 2.7 5spd and enjoyed it. Used it as a semi DD. For me, one annoyance was the roadnoise when the top was up. I first didn't mind it, but after using my regular DD (a sedan, no sunroof) I found the Boxster a bit more tiring.

4) Watch the plastic rear window in cool weather. They are known to crack (mine did)
5) Known to throw MAF and 02 codes
6) Switches like to fail. Ignition switch. Convertible top switch are two that come to mind. Both easy to repair, just annoying.

In NH be sure to clean out the radiator ducts when the leaves start falling. I pulled a bunch of crud out of mine. Helps the car run a bit cooler too

Check out 986forum.com and 986faq for more info.

Ray S

I have a 2000 2.7 Boxster. I see absolutely no reason that the car would not perform well in the use that you described.

I have owned my car since new. The only repairs that I have had to make in 8 years of ownership (outside of regular maint) are an engine mount (the rubber portion failed) and a wheel bearing (probably from track use).

THXBABE

I use my 02S as a semi DD (using my pickup the rest of the time). No issues other than lousy cup holders for the morning cup of coffee on the way to work.

If you don't drive it like you stole it, the car will also get pretty good gas mileage. Mine does better than my V6 Tacoma when I cuise in 6th on the highway.

stumpjumper

I've driven my 02S daily for 3 years now, for the first 2 1/2 it was 75 miles/day, now it's only 30 miles

cup holders, I removed the stock ones, put in a GT3 Console Delete kit, and bought these: http://www.ultimatecupholders.com/

my RMS was replaced under warranty last spring and hasn't leaked a drop since, newer seals apparently do work if installed properly

in the winter, I've got 17's with Dunlop Wintersport M3's and it's good until there is more than 4 inches on the ground, after that it turns into a snow plow, I don't drive it much in snow as I've got an audi, but winter tires are a must because below 50 the summers get hard and slick

downsides to commuting with it are only how quickly the front gets chipped, it's somehow more depressing on it

the only repairs I've had to do was a worn out wheel bearing, failed primary cats covered under warranty, and the RMS, otherwise the car has been quite good, much better than my audis

Jay Gratton

This is all great information guys. Thanks! My plan would be to get the clear 3M bra on the front as the paint is in great shape. The car would never see the snow and it probably wouldn't see terrible weather either as I will just drive my S10 if it even rains.
Of course I would be getting a PPI on the car before I buy anything.

stuttgart46

I bought mine a few weeks ago with the idea of turning it into a Spec Boxster at the end of the summer. I have been driving it everyday and I love it. I parked my Ram 1500 HEMI (gas hog) and the Boxster has been very good on gas. This is our 6th Boxster but it's been a few years since we had one and I had forgotten how much fun these cars are. I am probably going to keep this one as a daily driver and look for another inexpensive one to convert for a Spec Boxster.
I say go for it. You'll look forward to your commute everyday and you may start taking the long way home.

anders44

hehe I feel you stuggar46, I used to own a 2500 4x4 with a hemi, considering our gas prices are around 4X of yours, we actually won the worlds most expensive gas award on cnn...

boxster fuel useage is very good, it uses less than my cooper S used to, and like 1/3 of my 944

diesel bmw wagon still wins though, hence it gets the "beater" award

my car will get a new RMS soon, it already has a new ignition switch, and yes.. the rear window needs replacement :|

the RMS stuff isn't as serious as I thought it was before i looked into it, in reality it's a pretty small/fast thing to change. my cousin has a 996 with less than 10.000 miles.. just got a new RMS on warrenty

Jay Gratton

So in everyone's opinion is safe to buy a pre-2000? I feel I can be picky and look for a 2000+ since there isn't that much of a difference in cost. Thoughts?
I found another one in my parent's town it is a '98 tip with a hard top with 10K on it. Someone else said avoid the early low mileage cars. Should I?

stumpjumper

the early cars can suffer from slipping sleeves or porous blocks which result in you having to buy a new engine, I think most people would say to avoid a 98 with 10k miles because it's well within the mileage symptoms could surface

stuttgart46

I agree about the '98. We were very lucky with ours considering some of the stories that I've heard. We bought our '98 new and ran it up to 77K miles with no problems at all. I am still in contact with the guy that bought it and he said everything is great. But a '98 with only 10K miles hasn't reached the "problem" mileage IMO. If I knew I was going to keep this car as daily driver, I would probably have opted for '00 or newer.

Ray S

I'd avoid low mileage '98's and early '99's. If they have higher mileage (40k plus), I'd bet they are "ok".

anders44

mine just flipped 93.000miles while going sideways, with smoke, on redline

anyway, a 2.5 engine is very cheap as nobody wants them, and if you blow it, you can do a 3.4 swap!