gerrygug

There are tons of these cars for sale at present. If you have cash it is King. I just purchased a 2000 S with an engine that was replaced at 47K due to failure. The car has 90K at present and I paid $14K.

If you are concerned about the IMS look for one with a replacement motor and the factory fix. It will probably be cheaper due to the stigma of a replacement engine, but in fact is a better deal.

LUCKe27

Most '00 Boxster S's are listed in the $19k range here. I've heard the Porsche factory fix is worse than the orginal engine and often fails again (just internet chatter). Who knows.

dennisafrompa

...there is no "factory fix". It was redesigned in late '05...BUT some of those redesigns have failed.

The only fix, MAY be an aftermarket rebuilder who uses what appears to be 2 bearings...the engine MUST be torn down to do this . Of course the IMS-less new water cooleds on the '09 Carreras are a fix too.

Mark Hubley

I have a '99 Boxster (2.5 L). I purchased the car in early 2004 for $29K. The car had 17,xxx miles on it, and it was pristine. I spiffed it up, entered it in the concours of the '05 Parade in Hershey, and I won my class. So, as far as I'm concerned I got a new Boxster for $29K. The car now has 34,034 miles, so I haven't been driving it that much. However, I've been autocrossing it (I got 2nd in my class for the year in PCA Potomac Region--1st went to Cindy Pagonis, who does a great job driving a Boxster S), and I've now had it on the track twice. What a blast, what a great car to drive, especially on a nice day with the top down.

Worst case scenario, the motor fails while I still own the car. Will that **** me off? Yes. Do I think Porsche should be doing something to help owners with IMS failures? Yes. However, suppose that a motor failure costs me another $12K. Well, then I paid $41K for my "new" Boxster, but spread the cost over a number of years. Life could be worse. A good friend of mine at work put over 120K miles on his '99 Boxster without anything worse than a leaking spark plug tube. I'll hope my car does the same for me, and I'll enjoy every minute I drive it!

Flying Dutchman

*disclaimer: I did not read the whole thread *... :-)

But... I received the latest stronger bolts for my IMS, and also the latest RMS when I got my clutch and flywheel done recently on my '01 S. Gives me piece of mind, and boy is this car now even nicer to drive!

Ironically it seems to be happening more to low mileage cars then high mileage examples.

Greetings from the Netherlands.

dennisafrompa

...once again see my post on the previous thread...those new bolts were NOT the bolt that fails,it cannot be replaced w/o tearing the motor down.

Also my car had 63,000 miles...

Doug&Julie

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=439308

http://www.flat6innovations.com/

LUCKe27

Thanks, Doug. I've traded some messages with Jake, and he seems like a top notch guy. I'm still torn on whether to buy the '00 Boxster S and see what happens vs. buying a Boxster with a blown engine and having Jake rebuild it or put an already rebuilt engine in it. The latter is more cost effective if you knew your engine was going to blow, but it isn't cost effective if your engine holds on for the long-term. Honestly, I'm considering other Porsche models (964) and other non-Porsche possibilities for a daily driver because the Boxster seems like it could be a real potential hassle.

Doug&Julie

I think if you take the effort to find a Boxster with a blown motor (or just a cheap Boxster with high miles) and invest in a motor from someone like Flat6 you would virtually eliminate the "hassle" part of it. I think I'm going to start shopping for one of these options myself. Boxsters are really great cars and if you can put a bulletproof motor in them (which I'm getting the feeling the folks at Flat6 are building) than I can see them being a worthwhile investment.

But I understand your trepidations. I've had them too.

smshirk

Thanks for the link. Great stuff. I feel better knowing I have another option. I have a 996 and 986S and know my time is coming eventually. I just figured I would do the factory replacement, but this would be so much better if it actually fixes the problem and gives you another 100 HP

Doug&Julie

Agreed. They can even give the "lowly" 2.5 Boxsters a good hp boost. Looking now for that elusive "under $10k" Boxster.

smshirk

I just read the Excellence article and flat6 website. This is the best news I've heard in years. These guys have actually documented all the problems and why they happen. Porsche should have fixed this stuff, after all they are making more money than just about anyone in the world right now, even if it is coming from hedge funds. At least though, we can get the cars fixed now. 15k is a lot of money, but I would rather pay Raby than pay the dealer 10 to 12k for another motor with all these inherent flaws. And get more HP than a NA 997!