raspberryroadster

am considering this car............priced high, but has "upgrades" and mileage is only 49,000km (30,000 mi.)

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/va...665959162.html

any input is welcome re this car and any specific response to the following is helpful:
-for p.p.i. on later model boxster is leakdown test standard or do most of you just require compression
-is this model prone to to rms failures.....where are common "leak points"?
-in general are these cars generally trouble free through 1st 50,000 miles?? (example - my 964 has 107,000km....no leaks, clutch engages early/smoothly and car still pulls smoothly/body is tight).

thanks in advance
now: 92 WTL 964 cab
then:04 cobra (whipple blower,60lb injectors, MAFia, BAP, centerforce dfx,
full suspension upgrade including subframe connectors -dyno'd 575RWhp
2002 alfa romeo
2001 alfa GTA (as good as it gets)
2 late model BMW's (1st was a mistake..why would i then get another 1?
various american / japanese muscle

Dave H.

i've only had mine a year so can't answer for the common leaks, but oil can leak from the spark plug tubes, my spark plug tubes have been replaced twice and the AOS is leaking.

someone else can chime in on the RMS and IMS failures...

dallison28

listing has been removed

Macster

Unable to view link to car.

Do not know the year. RMS leak not too rare. However, almost always once fixed with updated RMS and generally the standard procedure is to upgrade the IMS end plate with a newer one with a 3-ribbed seal vs. the single o-ring seal and 3 new micro-encapsulated bolts the rear of the engine stays oil tight.

Some like to do a compression test, even a leak down test. I asked a Porsche tech about the validity of a compression test and he said unnecessary.

The engine controller constantly monitors each cylinder's contribution by measuring the acceleration imparted to the flywheel during each cylinder's power stroke. If the acceleration too low or too high a misfire code is logged and the check engine light is turned on.

All you have to do when you look at the car is verify the check engine light comes on when the key turned to on (to make sure the bulb not burned out or missing...) and then make sure the check engine light goes out when the engine is started. In fact you should do this for all warning lights.

Then arrange to drive the car long enough to give the engine controller a chance to detect a misfire. This in case the misfire codes (or other error codes) have just been cleared.

What I try to do is have the seller give me a 15 mile test ride. I ride passenger and very carefully listen to the engine and the car while the driver is driving. I have the driver accelerate briskly up through the gears and stop briskly once or twice.

Then back at the starting point I take the car on a test drive with the seller as passenger and follow the same route. Route wants to consist of city stop/go driving and some highway driving.

If there is any misfire problems the engine controller should have time to detect them and turn on the check engine light. This holds true for any other problems as well, like a weak converter, etc.

You can of course have the PPI perform a compression test. Up to you. A leak down test is usually reserved for when a compression test turns up cylinder with low compression and the desire is to try to identify or pinpoint the possible cause of the low compression.

If the compression test turns up a suspect cylinder or cylinders there is no need for a leak down test. Just walk away.

However, if the compression test's results are valid (not due to operator error) a test ride/drive should have caused the check engine light to come on. But as I said above and I'll expand, if a compression test gives you the warm fuzzies, have it done.

Common leak points are RMS/IMS flange, bolts, spark plug tubes, AOS bellows hose, and front main seal or cam cover plugs.

My 02 Boxster was trouble free from the time I bought it new in Jan 02 to sometime in early 2004 when at around 80K miles the AOS failed. Save for an RMS/IMS leak -- fixed under warranty at around 20K miles -- from the time I bought it to early in 2004 the car required nothing more than regular service and replacement of wear items. Tires, brakes, some light bulbs, and spark plugs, done at same time new AOS installed.

The car has nearly 240K miles on it and the original engine still runs just fine -- oil consumption up to a bit less than 1 quart per 5K miles (and since I change the oil/filter every 5K miles this no biggie) -- and the original clutch still works
just fine.

Some cars, not many but if you happen to own one that suffers this one is all it takes, suffer from serious engine troubles, mainly related to the IMS (and its bearing) that almost always results in total engine failure and requires the engine be replaced. No one knows the odds. It is not zero though of that you can be sure.

Low mileage cars more likely to experience this mainly cause the problem usually happens sooner rather than later, though a few, a couple of owners have reported failures with the engine's mileage near or even a bit over 100K miles.

Do a search of the archives for IMS failure and read up on the thing.

Added: Hope you read this far and to be complete there was a person looking at used Boxster within the last couple of weeks and he reported back his tech who performed a PPI removed the oil filter housing and closely examined the oil and found some metal flakes in the oil. The oil gave every indication it had be changed recently so the presence of these metal flakes particularly troubling.

The prospective used Boxster buyer based on this decided to walk away from the car. It was the smart and right decision. The car was a used one of course on a dealer's lot.

If your PPI tech doesn't do it, have him give the oil filter housing oil a good look for any signs of metal or hard plastic debris. Anything he finds will be fine cause it has gone through the high pressure oil pump and one may be 2 scavage pumps which all work to pulverize anything that they encounter. But if he finds anything.. walk away.

Sincerely,

Macster.

raspberryroadster

thanks Macster for detailed info...............

not sure what happened to link....as seller/me have been in touch.....here is his "re list"
i really like look of the car but at this price "is high"....i did craigslook and have ck'd other sources and seems for low mileage cars seems i can import stateside car for much less
....his link
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/va...667882831.html
perhaps not as "dramatic", but seems a lot of "S's" available - lo miles 30's/sub 30's
http://tulsa.craigslist.org/cto/1668502526.html