Seen a car, got some questions

jez_anderson · Jun 27, 2007

I had a look at a 2.5 boxster today and have a few questions:

1. The windscreen was showing some signs of what looked like delamination in the bottom corners, triangular in shape a couple of cm's big, milky in appearance. Is this delam? Is it a problem? Does the screen need replacing?

2. I wasn't able to drive it (another day maybe) but turned on the ignition. All the warning lights went off ok. When I turned it off the light showing the spoiler was lit. Whats does this mean? I did check that the spoiler went up & down by pressing the button near the fuse panel. Worked fine. The spoiler wa down when the warning light was on.

3. The front "boot" was soaking wet. We took out the carpet but could see no obvious damage. The carpet appeared wettest on the bit that goes under the spare wheel. I know that car has not been driven in the last few days. What might cause this if its been stood?

4. It has FSH by OPC's and had got 85,000 on the clock. It was last serviced in Nov 05 but has only done 3/4000 since then. Is that a problem?

5. The old service reports comment on the tyres not being "N" rated but ok. Is this a problem? Would they need to be changed?

6. There was bubbling around the drivers side door catch. I know this is a problem with some older cars. Is it serious? does it need attention or isit cosmetic?

Thats it for now, though I am sure I think of more. Any advice welcome.

GreenThing · Jun 28, 2007

Having owned a few mercs, I am used to corrosion problems. In my experience, any sign of rust is a problem as once it shows through the paint it has already set in and will spread quickly.

Rodney Naghar · Jun 28, 2007

1. Delamination is not uncommon. It is caused by the radio aerial running from that corner leaving a tiny gap for moisture to penetrate the glass laminate. The delamination however tends to spread very slowly. If it bothers you, you can probably claim under your insurance for a replacement windscreen and will probably only have to pay the small excess (around £50)

2. The spoiler light dissapears once the car has exceeded ~5mph IIRC. Not to worry

3. A drainage channel is probably blocked in the boot area, not difficult to fix.

4. The car should be serviced every year or 12k, whichever is soonest. Therefore it has a missing service stamp. Considering the mileage it's not a big deal as it probably only required an annual inspection anyway (no oil change, just a visual look around). Speak to the OPC and ask them what service it requires, and get this off the price of the car.

5. Porsche do not recommened you use non-'N' rated tyres. The 'N'-rating means the tyre has been approved by Porsche for use on their cars.
This may not be a problem in itself (if all the tyres are the same) but may be a problem with your insurance company.

6. The drivers side door catch problem is also not uncommon. Get it repaired before the rust progresses and place a gasket underneath the latch to avoid it happeneing again in the future.

jez_anderson · Jun 28, 2007

Thanks for your help.

GreigM · Jun 28, 2007

ORIGINAL: jez_anderson

2. I wasn't able to drive it (another day maybe) but turned on the ignition. All the warning lights went off ok. When I turned it off the light showing the spoiler was lit. Whats does this mean? I did check that the spoiler went up & down by pressing the button near the fuse panel. Worked fine. The spoiler wa down when the warning light was on.

5. The old service reports comment on the tyres not being "N" rated but ok. Is this a problem? Would they need to be changed?

2. This sounds strange to me - on both of my boxsters (admittedly later models) the spolier light only comes on when the ignition is turned and goes off with the rest of the lights - if its on by itself at any point that wouldn't appear to be correct and I would make sure this isn't warning you of a problem -admittedly the behaviour may have been different on the earlier models, so maybe someone with a 2.5 could confirm. It might indicate that the car has lost the ability to determine what position the spoiler is at - this may prevent it lifting at the correct speed (even if the motors work) which would be bad.

5. N rated means porsche approved, which were generally a better handling tyre, but if the tyres are legal, the correct size and not a mix of brands/models its not a huge deal - the car is still legal and not dangerous - just that the N rated tyres are deemed to give the optimal performance. There are people under the impression that your insurance will be invalid if not N-rated but this is nonsense, if the tyres are road legal then there's no reason you can't fit them.

CLIFFWILKINS · Jun 28, 2007

Hi
My spoiler light does the same but goes off as soon as you pull away.It has done this for 3 years with never a problem.
Cheers
Tracy x

rajagger · Jun 28, 2007

I questioned the spoiler light when I got my boxster. After reading through the drivers manual it is some sort of system check and the light goes off after a few seconds when the car travels forwards.

JCB.. · Jun 29, 2007

ORIGINAL: GreigM

2. This sounds strange to me - on both of my boxsters (admittedly later models) the spolier light only comes on when the ignition is turned and goes off with the rest of the lights - if its on by itself at any point that wouldn't appear to be correct and I would make sure this isn't warning you of a problem -admittedly the behaviour may have been different on the earlier models, so maybe someone with a 2.5 could confirm. It might indicate that the car has lost the ability to determine what position the spoiler is at - this may prevent it lifting at the correct speed (even if the motors work) which would be bad.

5. N rated means porsche approved, which were generally a better handling tyre, but if the tyres are legal, the correct size and not a mix of brands/models its not a huge deal - the car is still legal and not dangerous - just that the N rated tyres are deemed to give the optimal performance. There are people under the impression that your insurance will be invalid if not N-rated but this is nonsense, if the tyres are road legal then there's no reason you can't fit them.

The spolier light goes when you reach 5MPH. If you have the locks programmed to auto-lock this also occurs at this point.

Sage advice on the tyres.