Buying a boxster, what year?
03-24-2014, 02:40 PM
#1
Buying a boxster, what year?
IM going to keep this extremely short. I'm looking to buy a 986. Which year had the lowest IMS failure rate and overall which is the best year for the 986s.
03-24-2014, 08:29 PM
#3
I wish I could afford one! At this point I'm seriously considering just buying a 944 turbo, easier to get power out of and much cheaper, and 0% IMS failure. I currently own a standard 944 so yeah maintenance who cares aha I do all of it myself In my garage. I just wish I'm hoping to get 4-5k for my 944 then comes the issue of finding a boxster or turbo for that price...
03-24-2014, 11:19 PM
#4
Rennlist Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NY
Posts: 159
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Buy any year 986 you can afford and budget a few more dollars to replace the IMS bearing. For an early 986 Boxster in good shape you are probably looking at 8-10K. Tiptronics are a little cheaper. Good Luck searching!
03-24-2014, 11:40 PM
#5
Wax On, Wax Off
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: 5280 ft above the sea
Posts: 17,727
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes
on
4 Posts
Having owned both a boxster and a 951, the 951 is NOT a cheap car to own. Either one, buy the best example you can afford, have a thorough PPI and set aside a grand or so just in case. All in all, both are awesome cars, but as far as reliability goes, I'm all for the boxster. Not to mention a prevalence of IMS failure at 8%, that's pretty minor.
I owned my 951 from 2006 to 2012. In that span, 2 turbos, clutch, head gasket, water pumps (x2), and standard maintenance. I did not keep receipts because I know if I did, and tallied them, I would have wanted to end it. So far with my box in 2 years, headlight switch, clutch switch, ignition switch, and sway links. IMS bearing will be done in the near future.
I owned my 951 from 2006 to 2012. In that span, 2 turbos, clutch, head gasket, water pumps (x2), and standard maintenance. I did not keep receipts because I know if I did, and tallied them, I would have wanted to end it. So far with my box in 2 years, headlight switch, clutch switch, ignition switch, and sway links. IMS bearing will be done in the near future.
I wish I could afford one! At this point I'm seriously considering just buying a 944 turbo, easier to get power out of and much cheaper, and 0% IMS failure. I currently own a standard 944 so yeah maintenance who cares aha I do all of it myself In my garage. I just wish I'm hoping to get 4-5k for my 944 then comes the issue of finding a boxster or turbo for that price...
03-24-2014, 11:45 PM
#6
Having owned both a boxster and a 951, the 951 is NOT a cheap car to own. Either one, buy the best example you can afford, have a thorough PPI and set aside a grand or so just in case. All in all, both are awesome cars, but as far as reliability goes, I'm all for the boxster. Not to mention a prevalence of IMS failure at 8%, that's pretty minor. I owned my 951 from 2006 to 2012. In that span, 2 turbos, clutch, head gasket, water pumps (x2), and standard maintenance. I did not keep receipts because I know if I did, and tallied them, I would have wanted to end it. So far with my box in 2 years, headlight switch, clutch switch, ignition switch, and sway links. IMS bearing will be done in the near future.
03-25-2014, 02:26 AM
#7
Rennlist Member
The '97 to '99 have the double row bearing and they have the lowest failure rate, at around 1% versus the 2000 to 2005 that are at about 8% for the single row bearing. The 2006 to 2008 are low again (but now 986), and then as stated above in 2009 there is not IMS so there is no issue.
Trending Topics
03-25-2014, 11:24 AM
#9
Advanced
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Boise, ID
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Unfortunately the changes of interest didn't take place right at the model year changeovers.
The change from dual row IMSB to single row IMSB didn't take place cleanly at the change from 2000 to 2001. Instead some random assortment of 2000 cars got a single row IMSB and a random assortment of 2001 cars got a dual row IMSB. For a long time it was thought that there was some "magic engine serial number" that reflected the change-over - Wayne Dempsey even put it in his book. Having said this IIUC "most" of the 2000 cars got a dual row IMSB. I personally bought mine thinking it was "safe" but have been disabused of this idea.
The change from dual row IMSB to single row IMSB didn't take place cleanly at the change from 2000 to 2001. Instead some random assortment of 2000 cars got a single row IMSB and a random assortment of 2001 cars got a dual row IMSB. For a long time it was thought that there was some "magic engine serial number" that reflected the change-over - Wayne Dempsey even put it in his book. Having said this IIUC "most" of the 2000 cars got a dual row IMSB. I personally bought mine thinking it was "safe" but have been disabused of this idea.
03-25-2014, 10:07 PM
#10
Instructor
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Sunny Florida
Posts: 172
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Glad you cross posted here. I can say my 97 Boxster ran 5 years with no real issues. But approaching 90K, it was going to start to get expensive. I traded over to a BMW 540 for a few years before being bit by the Porsche bug and always loving the lines of the 944/951. Good luck with your choice.
03-30-2014, 02:27 PM
#11
The '97 to '99 have the double row bearing and they have the lowest failure rate, at around 1% versus the 2000 to 2005 that are at about 8% for the single row bearing. The 2006 to 2008 are low again (but now 986), and then as stated above in 2009 there is not IMS so there is no issue.
03-30-2014, 03:29 PM
#12
All this blabbering and only one person actually addressed the question? Yikes..
Yeah, '97 - '99 have a double row. I lose exactly zero sleep knowing that mine has a much lower chance of failure
Yeah, '97 - '99 have a double row. I lose exactly zero sleep knowing that mine has a much lower chance of failure
03-30-2014, 03:39 PM
#13