Alternative 981 Boxster Service Strategy

[550Spyder]

I will resist hijacking Richards thread...

 

There are lots of low km 981 Boxsters out there with impeccable  service histories from dealers. I absolutely “get” that FFSH preserves resale value and gives a great piece of mind and I am not challenging people going down this route as it would normally be my default.

But with tidy 981 Boxsters coming down in price to $50k-55k, I find my self wondering:

       - what does a non Porsche specialist / semi self maintain regime look like?

Could you buy one with the aim of “just driving it guilt free”, clock up the km and put big km on it 250,000km +. And instead of rushing off to the Official dealer every 5 minutes, take it to an Indi every 20,000km, and do an oil + filter yourself every alternate 10,000 (I.e. oil change every 10,000 km but alternating between self and Indi).

it looks like the 981 Boxster is a fundamentally more robust proposition to the 986/987 prior:

* no IMS

* bore scoring and other catastrophic Engine failures appear almost unheard of

* doesn’t seem to suffer the RMS, suspension and air/oil separator issues

* factory recommended service intervals in the rest of the world  are 20,000km or 2 years

* the interior materials appear much more robust / less prone to wear

 

Is there anyone on the forum with a big km 981? How has the reliability been?

is there anyone with a 981 doing their own maintenance?

[Apogee]

The 987.2 or 987 Gen 2 have the same engines as the 981. So no IMS or bore scoring issues.

[TwoHeadsTas]

We have our 2013 serviced by our local (very experienced Porsche) mechanic on an annual basis ~ 12000 kms.  2 1/2 hour drive to get to our local P centre, lots of inconvenience to get there, and I have no faith in them either.  More than happy to continue to use Ringers as I have every faith in him.  Just as I'd be using Dave Brennan if I was in Melb, and Autohaus if I was in Sydney.....

[rego]

The service intervals at 15k/1yr I think is already not too unreasonable and going to an Indy to do the service I think is fine to save money.

If you start doing work yourself under your strategy you'd want to make sure you want to keep the car a long time so you can adequately offset the money you you'll lose in resale when you want to sell it by not having a good service history.

I change my own oil on my MX5 but on a Porsche I would never consider it mainly due to the demographic of buyers.

[550Spyder]

Rego - Ack. On resale, but I figure by the time you have 250,000km up then resale probably not an issue. It will either be worth nothing or it will be a classic and no one will care. When was the last time you saw a big km g series with stamped books?

Apogee - Ack on the MA1 engine in the post 2009 987s, but most of these cars seem to be $50k+ so for a small premium I think the 981 looks like it wears better / and elec steering aside is probably a more developed car.
 

tas2H - what is the verdict on the 981, assume the 2.7 is sufficient for tight twisty Tas roads?

[TwoHeadsTas]

5 minutes ago, 550Spyder said:

tas2H - what is the verdict on the 981, assume the 2.7 is sufficient for tight twisty Tas roads?

Car is my wife's daily, and the base motor is more than adequate for a fun afternoon country road drive.  If I really want to have a serious play, I take the GT3 🙂 

I reckon the 2.7 in the 981, paired with the PDK, is a far superior and better matched combo than the 3.2 and 6 speed on the 987 S she had before.  Not to say there was anything wrong with that, the 987 was great car too, but the 2.7 is more than adequate for our uses, and is a bit more refined.  Again, if we want raw, we have the GT3

[Apogee]

46 minutes ago, 550Spyder said:

Rego - Ack. On resale, but I figure by the time you have 250,000km up then resale probably not an issue. It will either be worth nothing or it will be a classic and no one will care. When was the last time you saw a big km g series with stamped books?

Apogee - Ack on the MA1 engine in the post 2009 987s, but most of these cars seem to be $50k+ so for a small premium I think the 981 looks like it wears better / and elec steering aside is probably a more developed car.
 

tas2H - what is the verdict on the 981, assume the 2.7 is sufficient for tight twisty Tas roads?

I'm biased but I feel that the 987 is more fun to drive on public roads, the 981's have to be pushed into licence losing territory to get the same sensation of speed. 

[rego]

15 hours ago, 550Spyder said:

Rego - Ack. On resale, but I figure by the time you have 250,000km up then resale probably not an issue. It will either be worth nothing or it will be a classic and no one will care. When was the last time you saw a big km g series with stamped books?

Yeh true, I think right now a 987.2 base is the buy though. Here's a manual one on advertised for 42.5k with 75km and a Porsche warranty until Jan next year https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2009-porsche-boxster-987-manual-my10/SSE-AD-6635772/?Cr=2

Reliable engine, 6 speed (987.1 base was 5 speed), mechanical steering rather than the 981's electric steering and a less insulated feeling. Only downside is less room in the cabin and not as nice of an interior.

I'm almost certainly going to be a buyer of a base 987.2 as a road/track car when they come down into the low 30's. I already have an 2009 NC2 MX5 which I track but I think a 987.2 would be a really fun car with a set of coilovers, sways, brakes & semi's.

[550Spyder]

Rego. Interesting pickup, I thought I was across most Boxsters for sale on Carsales. I had not seen that one before. You have eagle eyes.

yes smart buying for low $40k / high $30k and P Warranty a nice feature. The 987.2 does have some nice features like the very advanced PCM, 6 speed, LED tail lights and rear defuser.

i must confess I am not really across the 2.9 litre. No IMS which is good but no direct injection of the 3.4 or subsequent 2.7. I have got my head around a 2.7 DFI but pretty keen on a PSE to bring the soundtrack to life.

[rego]

On 24/05/2020 at 21:23, 550Spyder said:

Rego. Interesting pickup, I thought I was across most Boxsters for sale on Carsales. I had not seen that one before. You have eagle eyes.

yes smart buying for low $40k / high $30k and P Warranty a nice feature. The 987.2 does have some nice features like the very advanced PCM, 6 speed, LED tail lights and rear defuser.

i must confess I am not really across the 2.9 litre. No IMS which is good but no direct injection of the 3.4 or subsequent 2.7. I have got my head around a 2.7 DFI but pretty keen on a PSE to bring the soundtrack to life.

Shouldn't have gone to look at that car because I purchased it..

The thing is super mint, only serviced at PCW, under warranty and the owner was so fastidious he put a generic floor mat over the Porsche floor mat because he didn't want to wear it out 🤯

Felt a little bad because the owner was a really nice guy and it was his baby but the current economic climate forced the sale. Picked it up for well under the asking on Carsales however there was a bit of work getting him to agree to the sale, first he didn't want to close the deal on the first day despite me offering to get a cheque and come to his house that night, then it took me a day to get him to sign a bill of sale and give me details to make a deposit and finally when making the payment I had to go into the branch with him to  pay his loan and he also originally wanted a bank transfer from a bank teller rather than the Bank cheque I'd already made for the difference which I thought was a little unusual.

Loving the manual gearbox and the hydraulic steering. So much more involving than my PDK 981 BS.

Here it is at collection time next to my MX5 NC2:

 

[firstone]

Awesome 👍

[550Spyder]

ROCKSTAR! 
 

you certainly were committed to help a Pforum brother out...

 

looks better already in your photos. I would love a bit of a review on the Boxster 2.7 dfi vs the 2.9.

 

looking at Boxsters at the moment, would appreciate a PM on the final purchase price so I can calibrate.

 

as much as I love the 987.2, big respek for the NC.2, perfect colour combo.

 

you have quite the garage now, happy motoring

 

Mx5 and Boxster, the two greatest convertible sports cars of our time. Very interesting side by side photo. Not saying one is better than the other, but you can visually see the mx5 is markedly more lithe.

[rego]

25 minutes ago, 550Spyder said:

ROCKSTAR! 
 

you certainly were committed to help a Pforum brother out...

 

looks better already in your photos. I would love a bit of a review on the Boxster 2.7 dfi vs the 2.9.

 

looking at Boxsters at the moment, would appreciate a PM on the final purchase price so I can calibrate.

 

as much as I love the 987.2, big respek for the NC.2, perfect colour combo.

 

you have quite the garage now, happy motoring

 

Mx5 and Boxster, the two greatest convertible sports cars of our time. Very interesting side by side photo. Not saying one is better than the other, but you can visually see the mx5 is markedly more lithe.

Thanks mate, unfortunately I had S model 981 so I never owned a 2.7.

Went on a long drive just now and honestly I already love this car, the 981 is definitely an amazing car with a more capable chassis but the road feeling you get out of the 987 transmitted through the chassis and the steering wheel is just more enjoyable to me as a driver.

I said it to a mate the other day, I think I'm a mid-2000's guy for basically every car. Pretty much peak reliability without the newer more muted chassis'.

Thanks for the love on the MX5, it is an incredible car. I beat the shit out of my NC1 doing 40+ track days with the only casualties being a diff mount + a clutch and this NC2 seems just as willing 

[550Spyder]

I am going through the 981 vs 987 debate right now. I think the 981 is better on every metric but totally get cars can get to the point where the involvement just isn’t there.

i brought the E92 V8 M3, sounded like a V8 supercar but just never had the involvement of my prev. E46 M3. So sold it for a 964 that was like stepping back on the arc but cooler than Elvis.

Ps. You know you life is going ok when you start a sentence with “unfortunately I had the S model”

 

[rego]

2 minutes ago, 550Spyder said:

I am going through the 981 vs 987 debate right now. I think the 981 is better on every metric but totally get cars can get to the point where the involvement just isn’t there.

i brought the E92 V8 M3, sounded like a V8 supercar but just never had the involvement of my prev. E46 M3. So sold it for a 964 that was like stepping back on the arc but cooler than Elvis.

100% with you. I had an LCI 135i which was the same sort of gen to the E92 but non-M, I didn't love it.

E46 or a 964 are on another level!

I'd definitely go the 987.2 based on what you have said you like which sounds similar to me.

[Grimmy]

Possibly a little too early to open the champagne on the 9a1  however so far its proving to be a more reliable unit than the M96 M97 powerplants. 

Sadly for the M96/97 they were born of an era of cost savings and the whole IMS bearing thing could of been avoided if they hadn't compromised the design. No one ever talks about the front IMS bearing because its not an issue its nicely immersed in oil and doesn't fail. Its just the rear one which is a sealed design. Metzger engine - Both bearings in oil = No Failures! 9a1 no intermediate shaft = problem gone!!

Regarding DFI  you don't have to do too much googling to see what is happening with other maques older DFI powerplants. Plenty of Carbon build up around the intake manifolds and valve seats, requiring manual cleaning with either solvents or wire brush etc.

My experience with the 2.9 is that it is a smooth sweet revving powerplant and thats a good thing because its not super torquey down low and allows a driving style of giving it plenty!

 

[550Spyder]

On 14/06/2020 at 12:17, Grimmy said:

Possibly a little too early to open the champagne on the 9a1  however so far its proving to be a more reliable unit than the M96 M97 powerplants. 

Sadly for the M96/97 they were born of an era of cost savings and the whole IMS bearing thing could of been avoided if they hadn't compromised the design. No one ever talks about the front IMS bearing because its not an issue its nicely immersed in oil and doesn't fail. Its just the rear one which is a sealed design. Metzger engine - Both bearings in oil = No Failures! 9a1 no intermediate shaft = problem gone!!

Regarding DFI  you don't have to do too much googling to see what is happening with other maques older DFI powerplants. Plenty of Carbon build up around the intake manifolds and valve seats, requiring manual cleaning with either solvents or wire brush etc.

My experience with the 2.9 is that it is a smooth sweet revving powerplant and thats a good thing because its not super torquey down low and allows a driving style of giving it plenty!

 

Grimmy, steady on brother. I have recently popped the cork on the 9A1 on the basis of an eternity of trouble free motoring.

is there a consensus on how to avoid the DFI coking / gumming? Assume 98 octane with all the fuel majors claimed additives is a start, do you also add a decarbonisation fuel additive occasionally?

[TwoHeadsTas]

5 minutes ago, 550Spyder said:

Grimmy, steady on brother. I have recently popped the cork on the 9A1 on the basis of an eternity of trouble free motoring.

is there a consensus on how to avoid the DFI coking / gumming? Assume 98 octane with all the fuel majors claimed additives is a start, do you also add a decarbonisation fuel additive occasionally?

AH recommendation is BP Ultimate 98 or Caltex 98, avoid all the others.  We've followed that with initially 987, then 996, then 981 and now GT3.  They specifically warned against Shell due to additives.

[rego]

26 minutes ago, 550Spyder said:

Grimmy, steady on brother. I have recently popped the cork on the 9A1 on the basis of an eternity of trouble free motoring.

is there a consensus on how to avoid the DFI coking / gumming? Assume 98 octane with all the fuel majors claimed additives is a start, do you also add a decarbonisation fuel additive occasionally?

Before I purchased my 981 I looked around and couldn't find anything which says DFI coking is a going concern on these engines.

These engines have now been around for over a decade, if there was an issue it would be out there. Issues showed up on other marques relatively quickly.

Go buy one and enjoy it I reckon!

[Grimmy]

30 minutes ago, 550Spyder said:

Grimmy, steady on brother. I have recently popped the cork on the 9A1 on the basis of an eternity of trouble free motoring.

is there a consensus on how to avoid the DFI coking / gumming? Assume 98 octane with all the fuel majors claimed additives is a start, do you also add a decarbonisation fuel additive occasionally?

Not sure how you avoid the build up as the fuel is not going through the inlet valve.

If an additive survives enough in the crankcase gases that are going through and being recirculated then I guess it should help but I have not studied this. 

[rego]

14 minutes ago, Grimmy said:

Not sure how you avoid the build up as the fuel is not going through the inlet valve.

If an additive survives enough in the crankcase gases that are going through and being recirculated then I guess it should help but I have not studied this. 

I get where you are coming from and why it could be an issue. I've even owned a BMW which was impacted by these sort of issues (walnut blast required).

I just can't find any evidence that it's a going concern on Porsche DFI engines and even if it does end up being proven to be an issue, I would think that if it's taken over 10 years for it to be recognised it wouldn't be a common maintenance task.