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a 986 as a daily

resigner

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19 Dec 2013
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1,303
Evening all.

So, assuming you guys won't know me, but I have a 997.1 C2S cabrio from 2007 as my daily driver. It now has 81k miles, so thinking of getting something "cheap" as a daily, but of course, still interesting.

So, am I mad ot think of a £5k to £6k 986 3.2S Boxster with, say, over 100k miles on it as a daily?

I know about IMS issues because of the 997, and of course Bore Score (my 997 just came back clean as a whistle!), so, is that a crazy idea? I work from hom, but do about 10k miles a year, so Boxster would probably get about 7k of that as a daily for going to the shops and other more interesting places. I have seen a 987 S for about £6k which had almost 200k miles, but a new engine 62k miles ago, so that could be an option. Needs to be as cheap as possible, so would also go 2.7 if it was about £4k.

What I don't want to do is spend £5k on a 986 then have to spend another £3k keeping it going..... the point is to keep the miles off the 997, so there are other cars which I could get as a daily, but do like the idea of a Boxster :)

thoughts? Is mileage a killer? Let's assume I will run it to the death and keep it decently looked after by the very very good Indy I already use.....

cheers
 
I assume you've read my thread (in my sig) about my leggy Boxster, if not have a little look...

THE sports car bargain of the decade, period.

The boxster / 911 pairing is probably the perfect 2 car garage.

986 S is where you want to be. Very rare IMS problems, no bore scoring, mileage isn't a killer (see my thread), mine's on 160k miles and going strong.

There are one or two boxster converts on here now after witnessing one running wild in Europe last year :D

Do it, you won't regret it!

:thumb:
 
Well i know you :D

To be fair though i drop into any forum and answer questions were i can .

Ok .. Boxster .. i think its fairly common knowledge that its my fav car .. 981 being the best there is .

Why though .. i drive GT3 , Turbo 991 , 997 , 996 . i drive them all .. and i still would prefer a Boxster ..well possibly a Cayenne but thats second place .

Its an all round car .. potter to the shops in the stupid 20 mph zones we have .. you can fit a full week of shopping for an average family in the car .. front and rear luggage space ..

You can drop the top down , you can have fun on the country roads .. it does it all ... fair enough if you have 1 or more kids then its not usefull !

You can pick these cars up for as little as £3k .. they dont tend to destroy themselves .. ims .. they dont really bore score .. if you dont care about rattles / knocks then you are fine on a £3K model ..

For me i would fix the noises though .. usual is diagonal arms and the roof .. they are a bit old now and creak a bit ..

Water leaks .. make sure the rear drains are clear and kept that way .

easy enough to fix though but everything costs .

i would have an S though ... a bit extra power .. and red calipers .. for me .. you have to have red calipers .. sad i know .

i struggle to see what is not to like on such a cheap car .. let alone its a Porsche .
 
Have to agree with a 986 S, seems you can get them for £5k, just so much car for the money!

Great thread on the leggy boxster, needs an update, last one was 10 months ago!

Evening Demort :) Just waiting for Phil to pop up. Might go and see a 2.7 red one tomorrow which isn't far from me just to see what they drive like.
 
ragpicker said:
There are one or two boxster converts on here now after witnessing one running wild in Europe last year :D

Well one of those would be me. I bought a 986 S in that price range shortly after that trip and I can concur that it's the "THE sports car bargain of the decade, period."

I've spent a few quid on mine since then - some on parts with my own labour some with my favourite indy. But only because I love the car so much it's a definite keeper.

I'm lucky enough to have a 911 (997 GTS) + Boxster pairing. I put all the daily miles on the Boxster, keeping the 911 for high-days and holidays which makes it all the more special.

Find a good one (there are loads to choose from) and enjoy one of the best sportscars ever made, at any price
 
If I had the space to have one on the drive i'd have one in a heart beat.


Osh
 
So took a 2.7 manual for a tesst drive (very brief!) earlier and did feel good. Gearbox was decent, but when car was off it was pretty stiff to move left to right. Is that normal? Think it was a 2003 car.

So, after checking a 2.7, now sure I want a 3.2 S :)

Did bump my head on the roof as I got in, but the seat was all the way and almost all the way forward!

Isn't as nice to drive as my 997, well you would hope not, so might have to check out a cheap 987 as well. is a 2.7 987 a better car than a 3.2 986? There is a 'leggy' 987 2.7 on ebay for £6.5k, so not much different to a decent 986.....
 
Great cars, I was never the biggest fan of Boxsters but after picking up my wifes 2.7 986, I think it's great, she's soon going to be using a Cayenne so I may use the Boxster daily soon and look forward to it, I was lucky and got one which had the IMS done, so now, it's a bomb proof car.. I would base my search on a car which has had the IMS done, just for peace of mind.

986 and 987 were at risk of IMS failure, I think the 2.7's were considered "low risk" but take that with a pinch of salt, the IMS was changed on my Boxster because it had failed at 65k.

987 is definitely a nicer cabin to be in but I wouldn't get a leggy one for the sake of that.

The stiff to move left and right doesn't sound right, should feel like the 997, I never notice a stiffness when jumping in between cars, perhaps low tyre pressures?
 
Great cars, we're on our 3rd 986/987 and I always jump into the Boxster over the new 5 series when I can.

Suspension seems to last to about 60k miles and is about £1k to refresh DIY (ask me how I know...) ours is having new shocks and top mounts all round and front TREs and inner tie rods as I'm there.

Half a day to do as long as you can pull the shock out to full extent (caught me out first time).

If you're going to use it in a ULEZ you need to be sure its Euro 4 (not sure when Porsche adopted Euro 4, the deadline was Jan 05).

Happy hunting
 
6 months ago I was looking for a fun car to do daily stuff in, like the OP I work from home & didn't want to spend a lot.

I drove a couple of 2.7's which were great but liked the extra bit of shove from the S, so went for a 2000 S with 111k miles for £4.6k, lovely condition with complete history and well looked after.

I've owned a 996, a 993 and a 968 and wasn't a fan of the Boxster back in the day but this little car has blown me away. Perfectly comfortable for everyday use, easy to drive, sounds great, handles great and goes well.

I decided it's going to be around for a bit so started doing a few jobs - Rads & condensers (1 rad was leaking so changed the lot whilst the bumper was off) new clutch (which was heavy) flywheel & IMS bearing whilst the flywheel was off, plus as the drive shafts were disconnected swapped all the drive shaft boots which were tired.
I've done the usual oil changes, plugs and coils myself, plus some silly stuff like facelift lenses courtesy of eBay, Zunsport grilles, speaker upgrade etc. It's not really a cheap 986 anymore but it's a bloody good one now and I love it!

Not the cheapest car to maintain but get a good one at today's money and they're a drivers bargain.
 
I had a 1999 S for a year and used it for my work commute, Leeds to Manchester 3 times a week for 6 months, it was faultless.
 

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