Thread: Looking to buy a Boxter 986; need some insight

My fiancee wants a 986 real bad for a DD (getting rid of the G6 ).

I have read up on the cars and it seems that the main dislikes are:
- kills rear tires fast
- maintenance costs
- rear main seal
- front engine mount
- water pump
- coolant leak in trunk
- intermediate shaft failure

I am looking for sub $10k cars, so 80-110k miles. The porous engines should have died by this time. I am looking to get a '00, but not afraid of the older models. This will never be tracked and rarely hit WOT. She wants a tip car, but isn't going to turn down a good manual car.

My questions:
1. how quickly are the rear tires going to wear out with normal driving? Is it from performance tires, or an aggressive alignment?

2. maintenance; I will be doing most of the maintenance, so installation costs are gone. I also own a parts company, so the price on those will not be too bad (and cross referencing parts). I am assuming that the general maintenance is going to be fluids, belts, etc.
Would the Boxster's maintenance be similar to an STi; if not, can someone give me another car to compare it to.

3. rear main seal; from what I can tell, the best bet is to find a car that has never had a rms fail and check to see if there is any oil on the under side of the car. Is this the best method, or should I go another route?

4. How common are the coolant leak in trunk, water pump failure, and engine mount failure?

5. IMS failure; this is the one thing in the back of my head that has me thinking to push her for another car. How common is this failure? Are there any signs that it's going to give? What exactly happens when it fails (besides boom)?

Is there anything else that I should know about these cars?

Thanks,
Nick

I just typed a really long reply and my computer messed up.
In short, my ex had a 1999 986. Her Rear Main Seal went three times, each time appearing as a rather small leak between the block and tranny housing.
She had a coolant leak appear behind the right rear tire. I replaced the water pump. it was a 100 bucks at a salvage yard and a pia to get to, but overall not a big deal.
IMS bearing was not an issue, but have heard about it many times.

I will mention that there are/were a bunch of other little issues, door opening, trunk malfunction, (both created by leaking water off windshield into door jams) and various other little things

dont let her or my experience effect your buying of the car. I would suggest something else, but if that is what the old lady wants, she wont be happy with something else. Maintaining it is what you expect. the engine compartment is the size of a cardboard box. In order to replace the water pump, you had to take half the car apart, convertible top, seats forward, carpet up, engine access cover off etc etc etc.

buddy has a 986 S

nothing really wrong with the car, it does eat rear tires fast and the maintenance cost is relative

didnt really run into the other issues mentioned above

he has a 2002 m.y.

Originally Posted by white out

My fiancee wants a 986 real bad for a DD (getting rid of the G6 ).

I have read up on the cars and it seems that the main dislikes are:
- kills rear tires fast
- maintenance costs
- rear main seal
- front engine mount
- water pump
- coolant leak in trunk
- intermediate shaft failure

I am looking for sub $10k cars, so 80-110k miles. The porous engines should have died by this time. I am looking to get a '00, but not afraid of the older models. This will never be tracked and rarely hit WOT. She wants a tip car, but isn't going to turn down a good manual car.

My questions:
1. how quickly are the rear tires going to wear out with normal driving? Is it from performance tires, or an aggressive alignment?

2. maintenance; I will be doing most of the maintenance, so installation costs are gone. I also own a parts company, so the price on those will not be too bad (and cross referencing parts). I am assuming that the general maintenance is going to be fluids, belts, etc.
Would the Boxster's maintenance be similar to an STi; if not, can someone give me another car to compare it to.

3. rear main seal; from what I can tell, the best bet is to find a car that has never had a rms fail and check to see if there is any oil on the under side of the car. Is this the best method, or should I go another route?

4. How common are the coolant leak in trunk, water pump failure, and engine mount failure?

5. IMS failure; this is the one thing in the back of my head that has me thinking to push her for another car. How common is this failure? Are there any signs that it's going to give? What exactly happens when it fails (besides boom)?

Is there anything else that I should know about these cars?

Thanks,
Nick

Personally I would not buy a boxster with that kind of mileage or sub $10K. My experience is with a 2002 996 so a little different but the M96 motor in different displacements is shared across the platforms.

1. Tires: Yes they will wear fast, it comes from having so much weight over the back tires and the alignment/suspension geometry. Expect them to need replacing ~12,000miles regardless of driving style. Sumitomo HTR ZIII are a good option for cheap tires in Boxster sizes that do not give up too much.

2. Maintenance is a little pricey, definitely stay away from the dealer. Parts can be had cheaper through online dealers.
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3. RMS, this is a real problem. I had 5 in 50,000 miles. Updated to the "new" part each time. Still leaked and no promise that it would ever be fixed. $20 part, 10 hours of labor = $$$ and might as well do the clutch when you are in there $$ and the dual mass flywheel is often toast too = ~$1000 (see #2 above)

4. I don't know too much about these problems accept the coolant expansion tanks on all the Porsche's are prone to cracking (cheap plastic) causing a leak at sometime in almost every vehicles life. Be proactive and replace it if you are in there already. (Had to do mine) Oh, and do the cap too.

5. If the IMS fails you are screwed. Essentially the M96 motor was never really designed to be rebuilt. You will find the dealer warehouses filled with replacement motors waiting to be installed. They are replaced as one piece for ~$12,000 so if you have a sub $10K car, you are done. Disposable cars. Almost no one rebuilds these motors, I only know of 2 shops IN THE WORLD that sell rebuilt motors. You could have an independent try to do it, but getting parts is a trick.

What else to know, they are pretty, fun to drive, etc. They do not seem to have much longevity. Of course someone will point out that they have a Boxster with 210K miles but I would say that is the exception, not the rule (like hondas).

Check forums.rennlist.org for the most complete Porsche information I have found. There are also Boxster specific forums. (Porsche Pete's, Babblers, etc.)

Honestly my advice, buy a Honda S2000.

Originally Posted by UCrazyKid

5. If the IMS fails you are screwed. Essentially the M96 motor was never really designed to be rebuilt. You will find the dealer warehouses filled with replacement motors waiting to be installed. They are replaced as one piece for ~$12,000 so if you have a sub $10K car, you are done. Disposable cars. Almost no one rebuilds these motors, I only know of 2 shops IN THE WORLD that sell rebuilt motors. You could have an independent try to do it, but getting parts is a trick.

.

that being said, there is a guy here(austin TX) that has built himself in to that "need"....he rebuilds these things all day long....