Porsche Boxster Buyers Guide

Porsche Boxsters have reached true sports car bargain status, but it’s easy to get in over your hear by making the wrong purchase. Tonight on GRM Live! Presented by CRC Industries, the crew from the Nort Northam Collection will be looking over our recent Boxster acquisition, and teaching us all about what to look for when buying one of Porsche’s entry-level sports cars on the used market.

[@stevehurt1227]

Bought a used 2002 Boxster S last year with 134,000 and a secondary replacement IMS bearing going bad with 52,000 miles; replaced with a direct oil system out of Florida and spent additional $4,000 for air/oil cooler, water tank, etc. Total out the door about $12,000 with everything changed except for water pump. Car has Bilstein's and lowering suspension. Drives like a dream; under oil sampling every 5,000 miles and does not use oil except for normal levels; I am always watching for the cracked cylinders by bores coping and gradually replacing the wear items such as water hoses, etc. All the injectors and fuel system gone through along with the ignition system replaced. If engine ever goes, then replace with a later 2003-2008 including all the adaptions. Great car and great hobby which brings a smile to an old man's heart. Can be expensive but as said "due diligence" is absolutely necessary. Read all the records and listened to the prior owner. One former owner as President of the PCA and did autoX. Thanks for all the inputs and experiences which makes the car reasonable if bought right and all the maintenance and parts changed as needed/required. Really enjoyed the thread and am a former subscriber to Grassroots Mag.

[@Foxtechconsultants]

Wow, skip to 9:40 in for actual Boxster discussion.

[@souprah]

Doing gods work

[@poppunkpresentpast2518]

Did he just say if you bought a Toyota or a Honda it would be in the junkyard... then proceed to say how he got that car from a junkyard...

[@papatorr3669]

20:53 "If you practically get a stone chip on your Lotus Elise, it's totaled." What tripe! Which goes to prove that I'll watch anything Porsche, especially Boxster!

[@gumpster66]

I’m currently looking at a 2005 Porsche Boxster S 6 speed trans. 65k miles, asking price $19700, which I think is high. Great video, TONS of info.

[@barryhayes3168]

Thanks once again GRM! Hasbro

[@miamirice6840]

Excellent. Thank you

[@paulsz6194]

Mercedes also helped save Porsche in the late 80’s / early 90’s....then it was Toyota’s turn to help save Porsche by introducing them to Toyota’s "Just in time" production process, helping them reduce the time it took to build a 911. If I remember correctly, it cut down production time buy around 30%...

[@GadgetyMV]

Great info

[@indygamertag829]

Did this man just say “they say they don’t wanna spend all this money and I tell them you buy a Toyota or a Honda it’d be in the junk yard by now” Two of the most reputable and long lasting brands on the road today?😂 Dude can’t call him a mechanic if that’s his comment.

[@mrrintymonaghan]

This was great!! I’m picking up a 2004 boxster on Tuesday! Thanks for the info!

[@nickcalderone75]

Any updates on your purchase? Like it? Pros? Cons? I'm shopping for a 1999 to 2004 model.

[@mrrintymonaghan]

nick calderone It’s a great car! It’s been driven every day since I bought it and it hasn’t had any issues! The only cost was I had a service done on it for fluids and spark plugs and it cost about €300. Oh and a few of the bulbs but replacing them is so easy! Tires were easy to get too, I went for Pirelli but there were multiple brands available. Definitely go for the 2003-2004 model if you can! The lack of a glovebox on the early models would be a pain. The cons would be the cabin is very windy at motorway speeds even with the wind deflector and windows up. The leg room for the driver isn’t amazing either, I’m 6ft and I don’t feel like I can stretch out as much as I want. Make sure you set the seat right to the floor as low as you can to be able to push us back as far as you can, otherwise the seat gets stopped by the roll bars. The two boot compartment are great, really practical car! I love mine I have to say! I’ll never sell it!

[@michaelcroos4713]

I own a 2000 base model, 83k... so, my chain is rattling a bit for 2 seconds at cold startup(every once in a while when warm), goes away, but then in traffic at idle, I hear subtle rattling. Is the lower chain tensioner the weakest of the bunch, and at my next oil change, can I just simply unbolt, take it out, and update the new version of that single tensioner without having to lock the cams/chain with special tools? I am getting very tiny sand-sized bits of dark orange and black plastic black in my oil filters, not alot at all, but they are there. P.S. I have used 5w-40 Mobil 1, but changing to 0w-40.

[@divertiti]

What about 987.1? Do we need to worry about all the other pieces outside of IMS?

[@JeremyHartson2000]

Thanks for bringing this detailed segment on the 986 and a particular thanks to Shawn Mikkel (sorry about the spelling). Nice job, Shawn marching through the constant gazes of the host into his tablet. Despite his repeated tuning you out, you worked through it. To the folks at Grassroots Moto... You should go back to watching this segment and then watch it again and look at the dead spots throughout. Tighten it up, stay on point, stay "in the now" and pay a little more respect toward your guests.

[@jiffjaff1371]

It’s incorrect to say that the engine needs “pulled” to do the cam chain guides, Yes it’s a tricky job and takes a lot of patience but it’s doable on the 5 chain , I’ve just finished mine and it’s now working absolutely fine.

[@CraigPakkala]

skip to 9 minute mark instead of the advertising spiel and yapping

[@papatorr3669]

"they are 20 year old cars and if you had bought a Honda or a Toyota they would be in the junkyard." Well if I had been producing this video we would have stopped the cameras right there!

[@Braglemaster123]

Great I have a 2002 S’

[@andyrcampbell]

Got bored waiting for you to start the review !!!

[@lrmcatspaw1]

Any info on reliability of aftermarket parts for IMS replacements? Ive seen around 4 to 6 different replacements and I was especially interested in the plain bearing by LN Enginering as it seems to be the most reliable from my understanding, but also the most expensive. I am asking because I would like to purchase a boxster but I am running numbers on potential costs if the car does require replacements.

[@Grassrootsmotorsports]

We've heard nothing but good things about the LN Engineering pieces. Pricey, but what's your engine worth? Can't speak specifically to any other the other brands at the moment, but the LN bits get the thumbs up from us so far.

[@lrmcatspaw1]

@@Grassrootsmotorsports I am only interested in a used Porsche Boxster or Boxster S 986. (Its a teenage dream car, not a car to flip, to race or to use daily, so I dont even consider other models, and If I do buy it, I want to have the security that I wont blow up the engine 8 years from now and not have a way to fix it). My understanding is that if you buy a PPI passed Boxster where they checked that the IMS is fine, after the change to the plain bearing the car should not have a "catastrophic" Achilles heel. Something can still go wrong but it wont take out the engine. On the subject: how often would you consider it to be "required" or "smart" to take out the entire engine for inspection? I Live in Poland where prices and labor hours have different pricing.

[@papatorr3669]

"Vote for Pedro" I like Pedro's Garage oil fix, I like his thinking on the matter.

[@MrOmgfreak]

i bought a 2000 boxster 2.7 car ran great still does. but im replacing everything i can before the florida trip from michigan!! new tires new breaks front an rear plugs an coil packs oil tubes water pump thermastat altenator serp belt AOS oil seperater clutch IMS rear main seal oil change 15w 40 full synth. on a 2k mile trip im not taking any chances.

[@papatorr3669]

Yeah makes you wonder why Porsches get a bad rap for high maintenance costs!

[@papatorr3669]

Why would you take a car that handles like a slot car on twisty roads on a 2,000 mile trip? I'm assuming on mostly straight and or Interstate highways!

[@Alfa_Addict]

43:32 math failure is worse than ims bearing failure

[@dougedwardsyachts]

So basically don’t buy a Boxster 😱

[@wungabunga]

The sills rust on 944’s so not sure about this galvanised Porsche business.

[@colbypeone1504]

10:04 "they are still on the road", 17:38 "well the junk yards are full of them. . . " Damn salesman doesn't know how to sell.

[@mikegags9115]

I just picked up a 2003 Boxster S, 6 speed, black on black with 5800 miles. Yes less than 6000 miles. The car was garage kept and the owner was a rich woman who is a family friend. The car is mint, but I’ll put new tires on it and I’ll replace the IMS bearing. As soon as I picked it up, fluids were changed and the dust was cleaned off. What do you think that it is worth with the low mileage.

[@papatorr3669]

I think you should sell it to me for $6,000. When a car sits for 18 years all the seals and bushings go dry, and many other plastic pieces are just waiting to crack. This car may nickel and dollar you and drain your account until it hurts. Better to sell it to me since I rescue cars like this and will replace every plastic or rubber bits and parts from bumper to bumper!

[@mikegags9115]

@@papatorr3669 Thanks for the offer, but I sold it for $30,000.

[@Dellyflizmoz]

@@mikegags9115 Damn he tried to low ball the shit out of you!! hahaha $30k!? nice job man.

[@DuckSticks]

Dude says this is basically a Miata. Un fucking real.

[@whygodrums10]

the video cuts out when he mentions the price of an IMS bearing fix. How much?

[@wolfgirl8187]

I just bought a 2002 boxster s- picking up this week. They are replacing the IMS bearing a main real seal but price was $1500

[@papatorr3669]

@@wolfgirl8187 That sounds like a 50% discount, go for it!

[@DaAnimalControl]

Thanks for all the info! This has convinced me not to buy a boxster! I'll stick with my Miata 😂

[@papatorr3669]

IMS Bearing repair done by a previous owner: "could have been done by a brother-in-law freshly out of prison!"

[@robertrickel9205]

I installed the EPS IMS solution in my 1997 986 Boxster 5 years and 25K miles ago . It has been great. It is a permanent fix that addresses upgrading the bearing to a much stronger roller bearing and also feeding it the bearing with oil without external lines. Check out the video here:kzbin.info/www/bejne/epe7m6tmqduUg6M My German, factory trained Gold Certified Porsche mechanic swears by it.

[@badbeatking80]

Too bad discussion of "intermix" wasn't covered.

[@fredgaana9488]

half an hour to get car on lift, cmon man

[@alexanderrose7211]

Grüße aus Stuttgart

[@marcquintin7855]

Man!! The host drives me nuts!! pay attention!!

[@cayman9873]

2 minutes of graphic... cut that out.

[@freddymclain]

i'm looking at a silver '99 with 130K showing. he wants $4800. i'm tempted

[@papatorr3669]

Did you give in to temptation?

[@freddymclain]

@@papatorr3669 no thanks. they're too low to the ground.

[@papatorr3669]

@@freddymclain Haha! My NA Miata was even lower to the ground!

[@freddymclain]

@@papatorr3669 I sold my '93 Miata a few months back for the same reason. When my ass is lower than my knees it's a problem. I'm comfy in my '02 Silverado short bed. It's what i deserve.

[@chrisbarlow9741]

too much waffle to begin with

[@brightenupcc]

Worst presenter. Needs an ipad to remember his questions 😂😂😂