Anyone had/got a 987 Boxster? (2005-onwards).

I've been looking at getting a 1 or 3 series for a while, but you can get a pretty decent Boxster 2.7 for the price of an E90 320d m-sport now, so its tempting.

Quoted average mpg is 30 which I could live with. Is this is a realistic average, and what sort of mpg is possible on a long motorway run?

What are servicing costs like? Heard these can be a bit scary but can't be much worse than Audi (£800 for service inc cambelt on previous A4...).

Anything to look out for with these?

Thanks

 

Oops, wrong section! Please move to 'other marques' please mods!

 

Ive got an '02 986 S and they do cost a bit to run.....servicing is the least of your worries, find a decent indy and you'll save a fortune.

Imagine every little job you've done on any car you've had doubled or trebled and thats what they cost to maintain......just had discs and pads done all round at the indy I use yet it still cost £800, parts alone were £600.

 

Seeing as though this landed in the new muppets section I feel its only right to ask if you are a hairdresser?

When you do finally land in the tent section can you say hello the MatteeBoy for me, thanks.

PS. You now your going to look like a **** in a Boxster, and to make things worse your not allowed tint on your front drop glass.

 

Its a bad idea to try and run a porsche on the cheap, IMHO. Some of the bills can be large. Even at good indi's its going to cost you a lot lot more than a 3 series to run.

For starters you will need some kind of warranty, unless you are willing to put 6 or 7 grand into an account for the duration of ownership incase the engine lets go. IMS failure can happen, and when it does it can require a new motor.

The rest of the car is fairly reliable. There are issues with RMS, but its nothing major in most cases - just a slight oil drip. In very bad situations it can contaminate the clutch but its rare. If your RMS is leaking try and wait to change it at a clutch change.

Coil packs, MAF, leaking rads, hoses, minor electrical probs, failed batteries etc etc... all possible but nothing too major to sort in terms of cost TBH, but this is where your warranty will come in.

The new warranty is £1350 per year. Its expensive but I think its worth it.

Service wise, they are on 2 years or 20k I think now. A basic service will be IRO £500, a major service more like £1000.

Full set of tyres £1000 - £1500 depending on wheel size etc.

Brakes, similar.

If you do <10k a year they are not too bad to run, but bear in mind that brakes, tyres and clutches rarely last more than 20 - 30k...

MPG - high 20s.

But the plus side is they are BRILLIANT cars.

 

I would suggest the prices are on the high side based on my experience of two 911s. Last set of Porsche N4 tyres cost my £420 all around. Servicing was on a par with both my BMWs (330Ci and 530d).

Comment about the warranty is a personal choice - there is a risk and it would seem to be slightly higher with Boxster.

 

Never driven one but those who I have known to own one have flogged it not long after buying it. Said it was not what they expected for some reason.

Les

 

had a 986 53 plate boxster s for year and a half as some of you may remeber was a heap of **** battery went front litronic lighting was flickering when trying to switch it on sometimes i drove for 15 mins until the lights stopped flickering then pinged on.
water pump went cost 450 noted to fix its 200 notes from gsf for waterpump.
ignition coils failed car felt way underpowered and shook like **** when this happened cost another 450 for new coils 6 of them.
also crunched alot in 2nd gear which is a new gearbox time only does this on the 6speed boxsters porsche quality sucks imho better off with an audi their nice cars or a beemer.
and also very little dealerships want to touch a porsche unless it has fpsh otherwise they knock a good few grand off the price if your trying to sell it..... i had a cooont of a time trying to get rid off it and ended up with a clio 182!!! i think engine failure was just around the corner and i didint fancy paying 9k for a new engine!!!
il never own a porsche again overated piece of bleeeeeeeep!!!
even a civic type R was keeping up with me from 60 till 120 and i thought right ive had enough lol unsure if civic was standard or not!
then theres the cost of the tyres do you get the picture?
owning and running a porsche aint what its cracked up to be and i never got my hole in it either so it was a total waste of money i always seem to pull when i have crap cars!
i actually rated my 18 year old £500 mx5 1.6i better than the boxster!!! and more fun to drive!!!

once comnpanys or brands make their name in the marketplace they cut quality the paintwork was so thin on the porsche which was dark blue that the shallowest scratch you could imagine whch you couldnt even feel with your finger showed a white undercoat and made it stand out!!!!!!!!!!!!
wheel nuts rust like **** 2
as i used to be an employee for rolls royce aero engines and i seen the cost cutting in there which had dire effects cost the company multi millions of punds for defective aero foils which were shearing in service and causing engine falirue in service "emirates were extremely concerned"!!!! your better of with good valure for money not for the name!

 

Thanks for the input guys, sounds like these have the potential to be a bit of money pit then... on the other hand any car I buy seems to be a money pit

I guess on the plus side slow depreciation on the Porka should make up for that a little.

Will have to see what turns up, and maybe bite the bullet..

 

I had a boxster for 2 years. Very enjoyable car. But you do need to be ready so spend if you need too. If you would have a problem dropping a couple of grand every now and then on it I would consider something else. S2000 for example. But if you dont mind the cost the are great.

I have upgraded to a 911 now and the same rings true, just a bit more expensive all round.

 

Porsches do cost a fair bit to maintain, but having said that they are pretty reliable. As mentioned above, find a reputable independent specialist & you'll save a fortune vs. dealer prices. Normal servicing items are relatively cheap, it's just things like brakes & clutches and any major jobs that tend to be expensive, so research your potential cars thoroughly & make sure a major job isn't around the corner ! The driving experience is sublime, I have a 928 and a 911, and both a quite different to any other car I've driven.

 

Guessing these will run on super and not 95ron?.... Can't find it mentioned anywhere.

 

You can run them on 95 no problem.

 

Forget the boxster - 944 S2 is where its at. Find one in good condition with a complete service history, dont worry too much about the mileage. Less outlay than the boxster, just as good to drive, lower cost of ownership and can be insured as a classic.

 

Unless your a complete mechanical f**kwit like me i'm sure there is a lot of stuff you can do yourself. My mate has had one from new, He was telling me he took it into Stratstone for a service, they told him it would need discs and pads all round and the bill would be £1200. He went down and had a look at the discs, he said they looked fine and shouldn't be buggered after 24 thousand miles especially has he doesn't drive that hard.

He told them to just do the oil change and filter etc.

He went and got some pads off the internet for £95 and put aside a couple of hours one afternoon and fitted them himself. He's not some mechanic by any stretch, he's a 50yo company director.

Apparently some dealers try this trick on knowing that the majority of customers are fairly well heeled and just wont question it.

W**kers!

Going back to running costs, another mate had the old 2.5 version. he had it for nearly three years. before he sold it it needed new front brakes and tyres which he put on prior to selling it. I think his bill was something like £1400 or thereabouts but apart from an issue with the radiator that cost 200 quid or so it cost him bugger all.

If you take fuel consumption into it and Boxsters are very good on fuel my old Classic Scooby cost a lot lot more in the long term.

At the end of the day its not a Vectra or Mondeo, if you budget some pennies every month say 100-150 a month they are to a degree affordable.