Chalt

Even though I am not in the market for a Boxster (and I have a 944), I look at Facebook Marketplace and other for sale sites just to see what's out there.

I notice a well sorted 944 is often as much or more expensive than an older Boxster. I did get to drive a Boxster this year, it was fun, but I don't like convertibles and it has none of the vintage feel vs a 944. Boxsters are cool if you like convertibles, just not for me.

So why are Boxsters so plentiful and cheap? And older Cayennes for that matter too?

V2Rocket

because they made a crap ton of them and they're "old cars" at this point too (over 10 years old).
and 1st gen Cayenne's had nasty cheap interiors and lots of teething issues for the new platform/layout/engines/everything. fixable now, but expensive back in the day.

consider that from 1982-1991 Porsche built around 160,000 944 chassis of all variants (NA, turbo, S, S2).
in 2018 alone they did 80,000 Cayennes.

jimbo1111

That plus the manufacturers came up with a schism to screw the public and force owners to use the dealer. Through complex electronics and the need for programming on major if not all parts.
Pretty much makes these newer cars worthless after ten years.

Swenny

The 986 has the IMS bearing issues that the 996 does. I've had a timing belt failure on my 924S and it wasn't near the headache that I had worried about. IMS failure? Pretty bad from what I've seen. Our cars have a good parts support system in p!ace and there is plenty of info on how to do repairs to be found online. And a.sorted 944? Ha! Look harder. Something is about to break.......

Seattle 993

Yeah, both the number of Boxsters produced and the IMS issue. I know I wouldn't touch one unless you are willing to set aside another Boxster in cash to replace the engine if the IMS went.

My brother purchased a brand new 1999 996 (yes, I told him not to - but he's older than me ) and it did fail at around 90,000 miles - even with all dealer servicing (ouch). So he sold a roller because the engine itself was $14K...

If you go to the 996 board you'll see the horror stories - don't know what the IMS rate is but I'd venture a guess as 1 in 10 if were to buy one without an IMS upgrade.

On the other hand, I've owned my turbo S for 32 years, the only thing I've experienced was a clutch failure due to one of those little springs that failed and dropped into the bell housing...that was not fun.

Chalt

I don't imagine working on 996 engines is easy. I have seen the videos on IMS bearing failure, it is bad!

Chalt

So the motor is not repairable/rebuildable? or is $14K the cost of a rebuild?

Semitone

Pretty sure it's the fear of an IMS issue that keeps the 996 and early 997 Boxster prices somewhat depressed. I've had my Boxster for 14 years and the original IMS is still humming away..great car...lousy resale...maybe I should buy a second one!

Chalt

Did you go to a witch doctor and get the IMS Spell cast on yours to prevent failure? Or maybe you just rolled a Nat. 20 when you picked yours.

MM951

You'll probably have a better experience in a $6K 986 than you will with a $6K 944. Rust is starting to get to even the well taken care of cares in the snowy/salty areas. The 944 is more difficult to do big jobs on, parts are more expensive, etc.

That said, I love my 951 most out of my p-car fleet (86 N/A, 87 951, 01 Boxster S, 04 Cayenne Turbo)

Seattle 993

Well, as my brother relayed to me, the IMS went and they believe that a part of a valve spring was ingested into a cylinder. So the $14K was the cost of a rebuilt engine from Porsche. These engines aren't cheap, but that's really all the detail I have.

If it were me, I'd look at a Cayman, 2nd generation and skip everything in between. I think Porsche really had issues moving from aircooled to water-cooled in that generation. Also, from what I've read, the material used in the blocks had to change because of environmental issues, and it wasn't for the better engine wise. The 944, 928 blocks were very good...

Swenny

Here's Ant doing the IMS bearing on a 996 and through the magic of TV it only took a few minutes!

Chalt

That surprises me. I thought the 911s/Boxsters would be harder and more expensive to work on because so much of the engine is covered up.

MM951

You'd think so, but it seems Porsche recognized that it'd be a pain and accordingly made great access to everything. A clutch job on my 951 will take the better part of 20 hours, a Boxster....6? Waterpump on a 944 is 2-3 hours....half that on a boxster. AOS on a 951...pull the intake, pull the exhaust, x-over, turbo, to finally get to 3 10mm bolts.. on a boxster if it takes an hour, you've had too many beer breaks.

Chalt

The video makes it look easy, but I don't have a lift so I bet it would be hard!