Joshnrnjac Posted 18January, 2018 Report Share Posted 18January, 2018 Hi there everyone, Excuse any ignorance or noobish-ness in this message but I am wanting to buy a Porsche Boxter (either 1999/2001-2003) in November this year and want to set aside a monthly budget if I needed cash for upkeep / something going wrong with the car. My question is to everyone mostly anyone who has owned this: Is the upkeep of the car expensive and what would you look out for when buying a used version of these models? Did you encounter many problems and is it even worth it? I am so new to this but so in love with this car, really hoping anyone can help me. So appreciate your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel Posted 18January, 2018 Report Share Posted 18January, 2018 Have you done a search on this forum anf others for info ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear924 Posted 18January, 2018 Report Share Posted 18January, 2018 Hello Josh, welcome to the forum. This is a difficult question as there are a few variables at play: - How well maintained the car you purchase is - How well maintained you want your car to be (if you need your car to be perfect, it will cost more to get/ keep it there) - How much you use it. The thing with cheap Porches, is that there is no such thing. You just decide whether you want to pay for the work at the time of purchase, or pay for it over the first few years of ownership. The tricky thing is to not buy a car that needs lots of work for top $$. To avoid this, get a pre purchase inspection from a specialist Porsche mechanic. Might cost you a few $$ (which is actually a largish % of purchase price on a Boxster) however it will be so worth it. Once the car is sorted (rubber stuff replaced, shocks replaced, engine belts/ bearings replaced), you'll probably be surprised at how reliable and relatively low cost these car are to own. Throwing wild numbers about (I'm far from a boxster expert). Let's say you buy a car for $20k... spend $5k getting it tight).. and you drive 20k km per year, I would budget $1.5k per year maintenance (exc tyres, rego). There's heaps of info on rennlist etc about known engine issues, buy one with those addressed and you might be able to reduce your $5k sorting budget. I've also heard that its worth getting a boxster S over a standard boxster due to the extra poke. Sure there won't be a shortage of topics on this on the net. Enjoy your saving and searching, it is a large part of the fun! When you find the right car you will know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFX Posted 18January, 2018 Report Share Posted 18January, 2018 If you are new to P cars, and you are stretching your budget to get into one. One big thing to remember is that even though it is a 'cheap' sports car, it is still a Porsche and parts often cost around 10 times that of Japanese cars for example. Not trying to scare you off, as they are fantastic cars, but it is better to be prepared for the costs involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TINGY Posted 19January, 2018 Report Share Posted 19January, 2018 I say go for it, but, do plenty of research which from the sounds of it you will have plenty of time for before your purchase. Don't be too put off, some parts will be more expensive than "normal" cars but what i have found with the cars i have had that most parts are no more expensive than any other car. Seems to me that one of the biggest expenses with owning these cars is the labour cost of getting a mechanic to work on these cars. Finding one that knows these cars and works on them at a decent rate will help when it comes to getting major work done. I'm surprised that you haven't had more feedback thus far from the Boxster drivers, they seem to be popular around here and seem to be a great car. Good luck with the search. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANF Posted 19January, 2018 Report Share Posted 19January, 2018 3 hours ago, MFX said: If you are new to P cars, and you are stretching your budget to get into one. One big thing to remember is that even though it is a 'cheap' sports car, it is still a Porsche and parts often cost around 10 times that of Japanese cars for example. Not trying to scare you off, as they are fantastic cars, but it is better to be prepared for the costs involved. You must be buying your parts from the wrong places @MFX.... Agree with @TINGY944 from what I have seen most prices very comparable to common other brands. As always buy the best one you can afford! Drive a few and pick the one you like the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-Kay Posted 19January, 2018 Report Share Posted 19January, 2018 upkeep is no different to owning any other 'luxury' brand (BM, MERC, AUDI etc) You have them service annually and budget approx $1K as a minimum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy73 Posted 19January, 2018 Report Share Posted 19January, 2018 Welcome aboard Josh! Two thoughts from me. Get to know the person you're buying the car from (as much as it's possible to do so in the space of a few conversations). When I purchased mine, one thing that really appealed to me was that the previous owner was meticulous and very fussy and a no nonsense sort of guy (@Fraz I'm sure you won't mind me saying so ). This came through in my conversations with him, even at an early stage. The car matched this - you could tell he had looked after it and not been willing to let issues remain issues. The other thing I'd say is just make sure you've got some money that you can set aside for anything unforeseen. It'll mean you can solve any issues as they come up, rather than waiting until you've got a long list of things to solve and it'll help you enjoy the car more. I owned my first Porsche when I was 24 and I was so worried about the hugely expensive repair that i might one day be hit with that I never really enjoyed the car. That expensive repair never came but it felt like a cloud hanging over my head. As some have already pointed out, they're not hugely expensive to own but, if you're stretching to be able to buy one, just make sure it doesn't leave you financially vulnerable going forward. It'll ruin the experience for you. Other than that, if you get a Boxster, enjoy the hell out of it. Drive it on some great twisty roads (preferably with some other Porsches) and you'll have a ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavn Posted 19January, 2018 Report Share Posted 19January, 2018 We ran a Boxster for three years when we set up. It was a base (2.7) 987 with no extras and a one owner car with (from memory) about 70k on it with full official Porsche centre history. We sold it after almost three years of running having done about 35000kms over the three years. Total expenditure was in the region of 6k, which included a MAF or O2 sensor (from memory) failure (which was the only time we had a mechanical issue). Other than that, just routine maintenance required. This figure does not include tyres, which will depend a bit on how you drive the car. I loved it & will get another one day. Contrary to popular opinion I found the 2.7 litre base model more enjoyable than the 'S' version. I'm happy to admit that puts me in the minority but it felt like a sweeter package on the types of roads we were driving on. The stock exhaust note sounded just fine to me as well (better than the 997S to my ears). Edit - and what Andy73 above said...you buy the owner as much as you buy the car so it has to feel right in that respect (our owner that we purchased from was an incredibly fussy pedantic pita person to deal with.....painful at the time but makes it more likely you get a good car). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WOKA Posted 19January, 2018 Report Share Posted 19January, 2018 Just file it under 'living expenses' and enjoy it.! If your in a situation whereby you want a Porsche, chances are you can 'budget' for the cost of ownership Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew F Posted 24January, 2018 Report Share Posted 24January, 2018 On 19/01/2018 at 8:53 PM, WOKA said: Just file it under 'living expenses' and enjoy it.! And get 2 sets of invoices. The real one for the repairs, and the one that is 40% less. That's the one you show your wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pokiou Posted 24January, 2018 Report Share Posted 24January, 2018 Buy it. Drive it. Own it. Keep it maintained. That's all. My biggest regret was not getting one or two a lot sooner in my life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coastr Posted 24January, 2018 Report Share Posted 24January, 2018 I know the purchase hunp you have to get over with the first one as i was a textbook case. Fretting about lots of stuff. The thing is, unless you are flat broke (in which case you should just work on a plan to not be) then you’re probably spending the money on something already. A lot of people have spent a lot of time demonising sports car ownership in general and Porsche/Ferrari specifically - the motivation for those people is to divert your money and attention and energy to their thing, whatever it is. what I found was crossing that mental barrier and getting all that noise out of your head was enjoyable. Yes you now face time and money costs because part X is broken and insurance costs y. But if you enjoy the process and the ownership it’s not a major drag. How many people spend hundreds watching movies or buying the latest shade of jacket? That is far less interesting to me than finding and fixing things or spending the money on a drive day. In the end it’s all about what you want and forget what other say or think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstone Posted 24January, 2018 Report Share Posted 24January, 2018 To me it's just as restorative as a swim in the ocean. You don't think of the effort to get in, just the smile deep inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Tinker Posted 26January, 2018 Report Share Posted 26January, 2018 Looks like "Josh" has lost interest in your recommendations....... Its amazing how people ask for guidance, can't be bothered to reply & disappear like smoke ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB_981 Posted 27January, 2018 Report Share Posted 27January, 2018 Couldnt agree with Coastr more. The number of people who want to cast their life / reality / beliefs on me because i "waste" my money on cars while they are wearing new fashion almost every day, the misses has a handbag collection that would make you cry, have carbon fibre socks so they can ride their race bike 3km to the local coffee shop or spend 30k a year sending kids to fancy schools is always entertaining. I never engage, they can do what they want with their money, I'll do what I want with mine. If it is you passion, apply self disipline and be realistic in your goals then i would suggest a Boxster is well within reach. Nothing like a screensaver photo of your dream car as motivation... do I needs that first or second $4 coffee every day.. there is your 1k servicing a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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