987squirrels

Last week the IMS failed in my '05 Boxster S at 42,000 miles. It was literally 200 feet from my house, so I turned it off while it still had 3/4 of its oil, but I am told it tore up the bearing housing so the motor is toast.

I am not the original owner, so Porsche are refusing to offer any help with a new motor. I am on my own.

My intention is to repair the car and then sell it.

I could get a new engine installed by the dealer, a new one via a specialist, or a used motor. Obviously, the more expensive the option, the better my resale value will be, but I don't know how much.

Any ideas on the comparative resale values of cars with new and used motors? At this point I just want it to go away with as little damage to my wallet as I can.

TIM COSTA

Where are you located?

987squirrels

Dunedin Florida (Tampa -ish)

Car is at Bert Smith. Eibell Performance has been taking care of it up to now.

schwank

If you are going to sell it I don't think you would ever recoup the cost of a new motor. To me that also would preclude doing a swap to a non-stock motor.

To me the best bet would be a used stock engine from an accident victim or similar.

geetee

Sell it as is might be another option if you're planning to sell as soon as you get a new motor...

Macster

If you intend to fix the car then sell it no engine replacement solution is the best. At least this is my opinion. But lets cover your options a bit...

i) Factory engine replaced by dealer. Pros: parts/labor warranty, transferrable to the new buyer (be sure you get this in writing though). Cons: $$$$. The factory replaced engine and transferrable warranty help but I do not believe you'll recoup the cost. All this does is to bring the car up to a condition most used car buyers would consider worth even thinking about buying.

ii) Factory engine replaced by specialist. Pros: Cheaper than (i) above (at least in the short term). Con: But if the replacement engine proves defective getting it replaced under warranty can be a pain. Also, there's the issue of the specialist shop's warranty. Lack of warranty and possible concerns on the specialist's skill make this a risk to a potential buyer. Car is running (for now) but a buyer's going to wonder...

iii) Used engine replaced by a specialist. (I don't think a dealer would touch this job.) Pro: Engine can be had quite 'cheap' relatively speaking compared to a factory sourced new engine; Cons: The replacement engine is almost certainly an unknown. You really need to have someone check out the engine thoroughly to at least determine it runs and runs well but the donor car may not be running or the engine may not be in a running car, available for any checkout other than a compression check, overall inspection and a check of the engine oil filter housing oil and oil filter element for any scary stuff. But there is little if any warranty if after installing the engine if the engine blows up. Even more risk than (ii) above. But still the new owner is faced with the possibility of having to bring a car back to the specialist and is at his mercy regarding to what level he will honor any waranty. And this cuts down on anyone buying the car any distance from you and the specialist.

You can help mitigate the risk of (iii) by a wise choice of specialist, but this raises the cost. And you can pay extra to have the engine gone over addressing say the water pump, plugs/coils to having the RMS replaced and even the IMS bearing upgrade done to having the engine totally rebuilt. But this almost certainly brings the cost over what even a factory engine would cost.

Also, you can help yourself sell the car by getting whatever warranty on engine and labor in writing and this includes that it is transferrable to the new owner and hopefully what is written down will be worthy of being called a warranty.

(iiii) As someone else suggested, sell the car as is, where is. The car will bring in less than it would before the engine failure, but at least you won't spend any money on the car. You sell the car and your connection with it is over, done with, finished.

Sincerely,

Macster.

GTA_G20

I'd be interested in the as-is price you'd be looking to get for the car with the engine blown

ltusler

Get a Flat 6 rebuilt/upgraded unit and keep the car forever!

barney55

This guy did

http://986fix.com/

and here

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=...s#grid/uploads


Take it nice and slow and then keep the car,or sell it on for top dollar.

Good luck.

MikeBat

Hell, I saw a 986 last week with a a 3.8L from a 997S.... The car was sweet!

I feel your pain, and I know I would go in one of two directions:

-Flat 6 Innivations
-source a 3.8L and have an indie do the work

insite

squirrels -

see if you can get some photos of the carnage & post them here

racer

Are you looking to sell because you hate the car? Or simply because it has failed?

Another issue to consider is if you own the car outright ot if there is a lien on it. You would need to run numbers to decide which might be the better financial outlay for your situation.

If you go Flat6, there would seem to be reason to believe the "next" motor would actually last forever. A 3.8 sure is tempting, but to me, it could hurt potential resale as it would require a very particular buyer vs having the regular 3.2 motor in the car.

987squirrels

Thanks for all the advice so far.

I'm going to try to find a used stock motor if I can. Working my contacts and those of my specialist to see whats out there.

I would like to keep the car afterward, but it will have to go to a) pay the bill and b) keep me married. It is all paid for, so I'm hoping not to get too screwed in the process.

mikefocke

You may find this list of wrecking yards helpful in your situation. http://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/listsofsources

There is also on the same site an article on what your options are if your engine is blown.

TPC Racing

We just shoehorned a normal 3.8L engine in one of those... Made it a great drive. Almost as fast as a new spyder