My 'Cheap' 986 Boxster S - my 6 month experiences thus far A16 XTR / J18 GSA / W764 GUG

[ALBXTR]

Hello All,


Quick note here to introduce my car and experience to date since purchase November 2020.
The car has 100,000 on the clock - had been stood unused for last 5 years before a few items attended to for MOT - car came with no history and 1 non working remote key

It has previously been a members car from this club as has Porsche Club GB number plate surrounds - does anyone know it ?

On delivery to me, my pal who had located the car opened the roof in a temp of 2' and you can guess what happened - 'crack' perspex screen got a split

So since purchase I've spent / needed the following - I have a rough budget of £100 a month for repairs / maintenance so I'm ahead / over that by some margin but hopefully get back on track and the roof / new key are hefty one off expenses:


Purchase Price: Sub £4,000
Ignition Switch £27.83
Tyre reseal £19.00
Remote Fob £171.96
Roof (Glass window) £375.00
Undertray (Centre) £45.00
Centre console hinge Kit £25.00 (not yet fitted)
Kenwood Double DIN HiFI £129.00
Replacement Door Speakers £50.00
New coolant clips plus labour £200.00
Kenwood Subwoofer £70.00 (yet to be fitted, ebay opportunity) as RRP £120
Total - £1,112.79

So would I have been better to spend around £5,000 on a more in use car ? hard to say, and if I had spent £5,000 on a different car I wonder if I'd have still needed to spend some of the above ?
I managed to fit the new hifi and move the A/C controls myself
A pal and I swapped the roof over
The subwoofer hasn't been fitted yet - I've a BOSE hi-fi in my Audi and feel the Boxster was lacking in the audio department

Future items / planned spend:
Replacement rear box - the drone from the cheap one fitted for the MOT is getting tiresome
Alarm has recently started double beeping via the remote fob - need it plugged in to locate cause but not mission critical, via key is OK it appears.
Gearbox oil change
Brake fluid change
replace selector linkage with genuine OPC one from a 987 as read it makes a vast difference to shift quality


It's been inspected by Unique Porsche nr Bolton who gave it a clean bill of health after replacing a number of coolant clips and resolving some weeps from a few connections - their advice was to get it back into use and enjoy it.

 

[Chappelle]

Well done. Sure you'd have had the same problems with a £5000 car. Or a £15000 car......

 

[pse_SC]

Mmm interesting.

I’m sure everyone has their own priorities when going through a snag list on a Porsche, but I must admit personally I would have covered the mechanical and safety areas on a car of that price before considering nearly £250 worth of sound equipment - but each to their own []... good luck with it and enjoy!

 

[ALBXTR]

Mmm interesting.

I’m sure everyone has their own priorities when going through a snag list on a Porsche, but I must admit personally I would have covered the mechanical and safety areas on a car of that price before considering nearly £250 worth of sound equipment - but each to their own []... good luck with it and enjoy!

Yep - I know what you mean, the ICE upgrade started small and grew legs (and had some Amazon vouchers / refund which covered most of that) It had a full MOT and brakes / changes gear fine so they are more 'good to get done' - with no history the fluid may have been done 5 years ago - at some point in it's life it's been very well looked after , with what would have been expensive early Alpine DVD satnav and CD changer fitted, then the updated lights front and back. It's been a great project through a very tough lockdown for me and now able to get out and use it - I would say it's going better now than it was when I first got it

 

[ALBXTR]

Should add the car had the following before I got it: 4 x new tyres

Oil and Filter change

New plugs

Wiper Blades

Air filter

Coolant bottle

Battery When it had the tyre re-sealed first week I got it the disks and pads were checked and reported in good condition It's so frustrating that there would have been a folder full of history / bills but the executors hadn't located it when car collected and if they have now it will be have most likely been thrown and I have no contact details as no longer printed on V5 document

 

[richardm]

Think you have a good bargain there considering the items replaced before your purchase Great looking car too.

 

[ALBXTR]

So a few images: New double din unit - I've a load of images of what was involved , it was more of a job because I had so much old car hifi to remove - I prefer this unit to a full touch screen - when driving having buttons to answer calls, alter volume, select presets etc. just feels easier. It's got DAB, Spotify control via my phone, USB, CD player links to 2 phones and lights up orange to match the car [] For sat nav I put my phone in a holder on the RH air vent and stream the directions via Bluetooth to the unit playing music on the phone which works well.

New roof part way through Renovo Dark Blue treatment

The dreaded 'drone box' - and some tired looking catalytic converters...

New roof fitted - have many photos of it 'part way' through swap if anyone interested.

[/url]IMG20210327124430 by Al Dupre[/img]

[/img]

 

[ALBXTR]

few more 'condition' images:

The centre section of undertray has now been fitted

The OSF wheel arch liner has some damage so also on the 'replace when able' list

At some point this insulation has been 'nibbled'

 

[kitchens]

Brave man ...I traded a very nice 65 plate S for £6.500k and only 63k miles with a service history file that would choke a horse ,it was Tiptronic but still a great buy .

 

[richardm]

That’s the only thing with a Boxster, only being able to see the engine from the underside! Only seen mine once, and think it too must have an undertray missing

 

[pse_SC]

You can see it from the top - just needs a bit more effort to get to it!

 

[ALBXTR]

Brave man ...I traded a very nice 65 plate S for £6.500k and only 63k miles with a service history file that would choke a horse ,it was Tiptronic but still a great buy .

Ironically I drive a DSG Audi A3 so a Tiptronic Porsche does appeal - although once gearbox warmed up this is lovely to drive, with Covid restrictions in place and winter I've not really been on any long trips, done less than 800 miles since early December

 

[ALBXTR]

Hey All,

Quick update / further works completed:

[ul][*]Repaired the centre cubby hole with the Porsche upgrade part - £25 well spent on the hinge kit[*]Alarm fault beeps have stopped - I think the car was confused after the battery was disconnected and re-connected of whether a door should be open / closed etc - is there a backup battery I need to replace I wonder as it went then came back when I fitted the item below (and disconnected the battery)[*]Kenwood powered Subwoofer has fitted behind the passenger seat with control in the centre cubby hole - it's powered from the 'handy' fuse circuit on the ignition but switched / controlled by the head unit power cable, it's added some decent depth to the setup. Fitted some 'missing' bolts from the centre console unit when running the cables in and it's now much more solidly attached to the car.[/ul]New items needed:

[ul][*]Front / frunk hydraulic struts need replacement - it's fallen and 'almost' got me a few times[*]Contemplating fitting new catalytic converters when the 'new to me' end box is fitted - prices are £100 and £110 each side and given work involved to get to them wonder if it's a worthwhile investment[/ul]Good news from the free Halfords brake check which declared the disks and pads in good condition and 'just needed to be used to clean them up'

 

[ALBXTR]

Updates on the car

Alarm Double beep - well the weather warmed up and the fault returned , it only did it on warm sunny days! Conclusion was the passenger door lock mechanism - you could hear it double clunk when unlocking, 9Apart provided replacement and after an hour or so taking door internals off it's fully resolved which is great news. Aircon doesn't work - after a free test at Halfords and it doesn't hold pressure - so maybe replace condensers as 1st item - just over £100 for the pair and the work A/C engineers are keen to help fill / test for a few beers! It went to the 'Prestigious Workshop' in Westhoughton (aka Unique) to have the drive shaft gaiters replaced - although only 1 was badly split it made sense to do all 4 and the original exhaust back box was also fitted with new clamps / mounting brackets / gaskets (all genuine). Serpentine belt checked and all good. Decision made not to swap brake fluid as bleed nipples have seen better days and knowing car has been stood will look into refurbished calipers and fluid change as next upgrade works - be it later this year or next. Anti roll bar bushes were in poor condition and also replaced - and in time the bar itself needs replacement too. It's just done an 1,100 mile trip to Scotland seeing family and friends where it drove brilliantly and the brake grinding noise has totally gone - pads and disks were checked at Halfords and Unique and good condition - just lots of surface rust from being sat for 6 years which has now gone. Will do a trip report in time of the Scotland visit

 

[ALBXTR]

Update here on costs this year:

Ignition Switch £27.83

Tyre reseal £19.00

Remote Fob £171.96

Roof (Glass window) £375.00

Undertray (Centre) £45.00

Centre console hinge Kit £25.00

Kenwood Double DIN HiFI £129.00

Replacement Door Speakers £50.00

Coolant clips etc. Labour £200.00

Kenwood Subwoofer £70.00

Drive shaft boots and clamps £200

Labour to fit exhaust and drive seals £470

Exhaust (genuine back box in VGC) £100

Passenger door lock £50

Spare Drive belt (to carry on trip) £28

Total £1,960.79

Car has just covered 1,200 on a car-cation round Scotland where it didn't miss a beat - was great vehicle to use - trip pictures to follow

 

[Bigcol]

I ask my self why on earth did I buy a new one ? Let’s hope it runs for ever and give miles of smiles.

 

[cb78912]

loving this thread - thanks for the info! I am a 718 owner, but am toying with getting a 986 boxster for my girlfriend (as her first car). I am looking at around a 02/03 model, looking to spend between 5-8k.

from what you read all online, the IMS bearing comes up often. Any thoughts on that with yours?

 

[ALBXTR]

Thanks

All going well with the car , MOT next week

Short film here from Scotland, more to follow

I believe my car has the dual row bearing as an early 3.2 so not touching / investigated it

[link]https://vimeo.com/565489421[/url]