Cannock

I am looking at a 98 Boxster for a friend tomorrow. I have heard they are prone to rear main seal leaks. Other than standard wear items are there other issues we should be looking for?

I am told the car has 77,000 miles, a small rip in the top and slightly worn seats. Seller is asking $15,000

Thanks for your help.

Macster

everything it needed listed and get an estimate of what it would cost to repair/replace/renew.

For instance, say PPI found pads worn nearly to point of replacement, and clutch wear ditto.

Get est. for new pads -- maybe rotors too and don't forget wear sensors and brake/clutch fluid flush -- and new clutch and use that to adjust your valuation of car.

Oh, to repair a rear window in my '02 one dealer quoted me over $4000 for a new top/liner so that small tear if it grows can be an expensive fix.

You want to ensure the area usually stained with RMS/intermediate shaft o-ring/bolt oil leaks is clean and not recently cleaned.

In fact you want to make sure there's no signs of any oil/coolant leaks from anywhere. Front of engine, rear of engine, rubber bellows around air/oil separator.

You want to make sure all coolant hoses are in good condition and no signs of any water leaks around coolant pump.

Make sure no signs of coolant/water in oil and no signs of oil droplets in coolant reservior tank.

Make sure car has no serious/major paint/body work and alignment is good. All gaps between body panels should be even and straight. At various places pick up the rubber weather strip seal and check underneath for any signs of paint ridges.

Pull carpets in front/rear trunk for any signs of body work. Check for build tag in front trunk -- location I'm not sure about.

While you're there check for right spare, in good shape, with full set of tools, jack, etc.

While you're there pull covers and check battery and area around battery, drains, etc.

You want to see tires with reasonable tread life left, the right tires and matched tires. You do not want to see uneven wear.

Test all car/engine subsystems: Heater, A/C, lights, top operation, stereo/radio/cd operation, wipers, blinkers, flashers, etc.

Odometer mileage should agree with condition of car and its interior. (This takes some skill/knowledge of vehicles.)

Essentially, you want to apply a full check list of checks against the Boxster like you would any used car that you were thinking of buying.

If vehicle passes all of the above, then have PPI done and anything found then can be used to adjust your valuation of the vehicle.

Whether the seller will see it your way is of course up to the seller.

Sincerely,

Macster.

judd944

great writeup Macster!
also make sure to get all the Key's to the car. mine only came with one. a replacement is almost 500 bucks at my local dealer!

Cannock

Thanks for the advice Macster, he is going to have a PPI done so we will go form there.

cdodkin

Common '98 failures are:

coolant tank cap - new version has part# ending in 01

coolant tank - leaks slowly (at first) - due to thermal expansion cracking - needs replacement

Secondary air system valves - stick, giving CEL for emissions

Suspension bushings - lead to creaking (like a bad horror movie door!)

Engine mounts - go hard over time, then 'fail'

Seat belt buckle/harness - early wiring issue in belt lock/harness leads to Airbag warning light

Air/Oil separator - failure due to perforation of the bellows area - can be noisy (screaming cavitation sound) or quiet - leads to excessive oil burn-off - needs replacement immediately

RMS - cosmetic issue only - completely over-blown issue - watch for drips and check oil level weekly - replace if/when you get a new clutch fitted - happens to all Boxster years.

Good RMS write-up on RennTech (you need to sign up for FREE to see this)

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index...e=post&id=3223

Catastrophic engine failures on early cars include porous block (Intermix of oil and coolant), cracked head and slipped cylinder linings. Intermediate Shaft can also sheer causing timing chains to 'come off' and terminate the engine.

Some good articles on these issues here:

http://glenn986s.zoomshare.com/0.html

http://www.autofarm.co.uk/pdf/Total911_July06.pdf

http://www.autofarm.co.uk/pdf/911PW_Apr06.pdf

I've seen '98 cars with over 120,000 on them - and ones that needed new engines before 20,000 miles.

Later cars have redesigned engines to address some of these issues as Porsche 'refined' the technology of the M96 block.

Hope that helps.

Chris.

Vampyre

Wow, great write up.. That covers everything I have ever heard of.

I must have a lucky Boxster...
Mine is German Built 1997(Not Finland), 84K miles and no engine issues ever. The only engine problem I had was a worn out oil seperator at 80K, replaced it myself and been fine ever since.


Good luck with the inspection, I hope you buddy finds a nice Boxster!

Joee

Prior info is on target.
If it has the original radio get the radio code...
Top is about $ 1200 to replace, parts and labor. The top drive motors may need to be updated to the B, about $ 1000.

HBacura

Was this just the plastic window or the entire top? I had my plastic window replaced after it cracked for only $650.