986 Boxster choices

Hi friends, 

The hunt for a roadster has taken a turn. I don’t fit in NC Miatas and even if I did I found the car underwhelming on the test drive. So I looked around a bit and found Boxsters are in budget.

I'm looking at Boxsters now and the amount of information about these cars is a little overwhelming. I’m having trouble sorting through what’s important, so I’m coming here. 

I test drove a 2002 but it was too rough.  I’ve found 2 more and I’m trying to decide which to look at. Neither is conveniently close.

1) 1999, 61,000 miles, looks clean but has few options. Just had it’s 60k service done  but I’m not sure what that was.  $7500

2) 2001, 81,000 miles, this is the third owner and he has records from the second as well as his own. Has sport seats and a glass window top (recently replaced), both things I really like. It’s black which I’m not crazy about but I could live with it. $7900

The car I test drove was a 2.7L and it was pretty much exactly what I wanted in terms of power. Will the 2.5 be a little disappointing? I’m leaning towards the later car here but it’s higher mileage and higher priced. 

From what I’ve found in my research, the 2.5 is generally more reliable in terms of IMS failures but it has it's own issues with timing chains and porous blocks. Is 60k enough miles to know if this engine would have those issues? Is 80k enough to know if the IMS is past it’s prime failure window in the 2.7? 

I’m thinking the answer is to buy based on the owner but I’m hoping to get a feel for which car is a better buy as I can only look at one of them in the next two weeks. 

You're buying the owner here, not the car.  By the car that is the most sorted, with the maintenance records to prove it.  Pay to have a proper PPI done by a Porsche Indy shop that knows these cars well.

The IMS/RMS stuff can happen to any of them, at any mileage.

Buy the nicer one, the one you prefer more. Honestly there isn’t that much difference between the 2.7 and the 2.5. Generally the 2.7s are a little nicer because the Boxster evolved a little basically every year. 

Usually a 2001 doesn’t have a glass window top so that’s a benefit. 

The 2.5 has the stronger double row IMS bearing. You’re looking at relatively low mileage cars for IMS issues - the issues there seem to happen way less on the cars that are driven a lot. 

Aside from that, both cars are basically the same from a maintenance point of view. Go with the car you enjoy more. 

What colors are they?  What headlights do they have?  What option codes do these cars have?  So many variables I’d consider too.  

 Spandak, I think that the more nice handling cars you have driven, the more you will appreciate a Boxster. Your body/head are in the right position for sense of balance. The chassis is sublime. The motor/tranny/exhaust has whipped cream with a cherry on top. I've owned my 99 beater for three weeks and am all-consumed and having a blast. Go for a 2.7. Mine's a 2.5 but I knew several hundred pounds were coming off.

They are sweet to drive....  I need to find an excuse to drive mine this week.  

Read some of these stickies. I'm sure you know there are a bunch of "Should You Buy a Boxster?" videos on Youtube.

http://986forum.com/forums/new-member-introductions/

I think I started this thread a little too late. I picked up the 2001 on Saturday. Due to circumstances I did not have a PPI done. It does have full records and the major things apart from the IMS are good to go. I’m planning to swap the IMS when the clutch goes.

So far the car is an absolute riot! I’ve never owned a car that I wish I was driving instead of doing whatever I’m doing. It’s only been a couple hundred miles but so far it’s been sublime. 

If I get around to it I’ll start an ownership log in the builds section. 

Congrats! Hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine so far

BBC

There's a small growing cadre of Boxster owners here, an unexpected pleasure.

Shoot! Saw this car on CL and thought of you: https://pensacola.craigslist.org/cto/d/pensacola-porsche-boxster-986/6985139429.html

Congrats on the sweet ride!!!

Olemiss540 said:

Shoot! Saw this car on CL and thought of you: https://pensacola.craigslist.org/cto/d/pensacola-porsche-boxster-986/6985139429.html

Congrats on the sweet ride!!!

OMG glacier white with a painted console......  if I didn’t have too many cars.

Oh that one is pretty. I dig the white. 

I told myself before I bought a car that I wanted cloth seats and a color that’s not black. 

Whoops. Can’t be choosy with used cars though. I’m still thrilled! 

Also someone should pick up that boxster. 

Olemiss540 said:

Shoot! Saw this car on CL and thought of you: https://pensacola.craigslist.org/cto/d/pensacola-porsche-boxster-986/6985139429.html

Congrats on the sweet ride!!!

Man I love that color combination!

Hasbro said:

There's a small growing cadre of Boxster owners here, an unexpected pleasure.

Yeah, we all found the bottom of the depreciation curve and dived right in. 

I just bought another one... I wasn't looking but I couldn't pass it up.

2002 with 130k miles.

That white one is a deal, good find!

In reply to pimpm3 :

Nice! That reminds me of the S my dad owned back in the day. We roadtripped all over the west coast in it. Good memories

How are these to insure? I mean relative to other cars. Do insurance companies realize they’re basically cheap cars now? Or do they see ‘Porsche’ and upcharge?

I insured my last one through heacock with a stated value policy and it was roughly $300 for the year.

Man. That's cheap!

dyintorace said:

How are these to insure? I mean relative to other cars. Do insurance companies realize they’re basically cheap cars now? Or do they see ‘Porsche’ and upcharge?

I did a 5k mike policy with agreed value through Hagerty and it cost me $205 a year.

It was cheaper to insure than an 09 Miata for me. Not much but a little. 

Yeesh. I could probably sell my 944 and get into one of these for not much of a cash outlay, and it's a lot more car. Still not sure I want to berkeley with IMS bearings, though.....

Tom_Spangler said:

Yeesh. I could probably sell my 944 and get into one of these for not much of a cash outlay, and it's a lot more car. Still not sure I want to berkeley with IMS bearings, though.....

Don't get too fixated on IMS -- there's plenty of other stuff to worry about, too.     Sub-100k cars for $5k are definitely worth the risk.  That white one above is awesome.

Posting a screen clip here for posterity, when this thing is inevitably sold and we reminisce about the days when clean $5k Boxsters were everywhere.  

I don't need another car right now but I really want that Boxster for a HPDE car.