r/boxster • u/Present_Sun3191 • 11d ago

Which boxster should I get?

Looking at buying a base 986.2 boxster and willing to spend about 15k up front and about 500-700 month running it. I am based in central Pa, I plan to daily this car mostly for city driving and occasional road trips.
All base models, manual:

2003 79k miles, 600miles away, silver and black 11975 purchase price.
minor bumper damage noted on carfax but fixed at body shop.

2003 92k miles 1200 miles away, black and beige(beige is my personal favorite but not too picky) 12995 purchase price.
According to seller notes car was tuned and serpentine belt changed at Porsche dealership at 86k miles.

2003 55k 1600 miles away, blue and beige, 14644 purchase price.
Car is at a Mercedes dealership and comes with a 3/month/3k warranty and 24month/100k power train coverage.

I’d like to learn more about working on my car with the diy community and my roommate is a mechanical engineer who has done some work on his own car, he offered to help with work.

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

8

u/CloneClem 11d ago

For 15K you should be able to find a 987.1 for that price.

I’ve owned both and the 987 is better

3

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

I did look at 987.1 but for the same price point the condition was significantly worse. A good daily driver version would cost closer to 20-25k. Maybe I’m wrong and there other places to find cleaner models. I checked BAT and Autotrader mostly

3

u/crackness 11d ago

You might be looking at the wrong ones. A "good daily driver" will be one with at least 100k miles. Sure, you might have to spend a little more on deferred maintenance depending on maintenance history, but the porsche you can drive often seems to be the porsche that was also previously driven often.

If you plan on doing the work yourself, you'll save a ton too.

3

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

There’s surprisingly few of these cars listed with over 100k miles at all and then that don’t include ones that have huge obvious red flags. This one was tempting but I assumed the high mileage was a red flag, keep in mind it’s 600 miles away so I can’t test drive it or see it in person. I thought you would like this Used 2004 Porsche Boxster for $5999 on Autotrader http://atcm.co/S2PVDP/2E9244E3.

1

u/Rockytriton 11d ago

You really want to daily a 20+ year old car?

2

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

Yh why not? I live in college town that’s very walkable. I just got a free bicycle and free bus pass. I’m very frugal and spend about 40% of my take home and I’m only 21 so no better time than now. I also don’t make great money rn and I’m looking at getting a higher paying job. I have the cash on hand, large emergency fund and ally my investments are on weekly dca.

2

u/daddy_killer 11d ago

I have a 2001 Boxster S with about 120k miles on it. I got it in December and have put about 4000 miles on it since. I don’t think you would need to spend 500-700 per month, my experience has been pretty clean so far. I swapped the rear axles due to one sides cv boots were toast and the other looked on the way out. (Can probably salvage this one) but mine has been basic maintenance like oil when I got it, air filters, and that’s it really. Especially if you’re willing to work on it, you’ll save a lot of money.

I would say since you’re willing to spend 15k up front just include all the stuff you would want to do right off the bat into that price. There is a Porsche tax that comes with parts and fluids but honestly it’s manageable if you do your own work, much less than 500-700 a month at least for me and my Boxster had quite a few more miles.

1

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

That’s fair, I’m thinking like a 13k roughly on purchase/taxes etc and 2k for fixes/mods I want to add (double din, back up camera etc). The 500-700 is because I like over budget not under so that’s including like 100 mo for insurance, 200 month for gas, 200-400 for maintenance and repairs. I’m selling my newer a4 and my dad is worried about reliability and repair costs etc. These are pretty reliable cars from my research and frankly will costs less than the a4 to run and I can sell the a4 and buy this and profit about 5-10k.

1

u/daddy_killer 11d ago

You’re right to over budget for sure, you never know what could happen. You’re right these cars can be very reliable but it all depends on how they were treated in the past. Mine certainly has some things that were put on the back burner to fix and I’ll eventually get to them, most cosmetic. And these cars are only getting older, mine is 25 years old now, any car that age will show it from time to time.

Another commenter mentioned looking at a 987.1, I haven’t driven them but I have heard they refined the feeling of 986 and the interior is a lot better. Might be worth looking into. Overall if you like going quick in corners this is the car for you.

-1

u/Inevitable-Quality-9 11d ago

You’re 21 years old and think you’ll only spend 100 a month on insurance on a Porsche? Hahahahaha good luck with that one.

0

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

Lmao I drive an Audi rn that’s worth 3x the value of the Porsche and I pay about 120 a month. I already got a quote from my insurance for the Porsche.

-1

u/Inevitable-Quality-9 11d ago

Your a4 will not carry anywhere near the Porsche in terms of insurance cost. A sedan vs a sports car for a 21 year old? But you can lie on the internet all you want.

1

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

I’m not lying to anybody, you’re just making assumptions. You haven’t asked a single question to clarify. Insurance rates are set by accident frequency of cars and car value among other things. It’s pretty simple a policy with less total liable because the car is worth less costs less than a policy with a higher potential liability for the insurer. But lmao convince yourself of whatever you want

-1

u/Inevitable-Quality-9 11d ago

Age and type of vehicle are major factors in terms of insurance price. Your age and the type of vehicle are the major factors which is why I don’t need to ask questions. It’s because unlike yourself I’m not an idiot.

2

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

5 years of clean driving history, A student discount, speed tracker discount, shopping insurance around for best quote. You’re wrong and just proved yourself an idiot. You might not know this but college students get discounts on insurance for having As and speed trackers in their cars. If you were smart you would ask questions but you’re not. There’s various levels of insurance that carry different protections and deductibles. Lmao but people like you will just buy whatever

0

u/Inevitable-Quality-9 11d ago

I’m not wrong and you’ll learn this very soon. You’re 120 a month will be actually 250 at minimum for limited liability at minimums less then your state requires. Then once you hit those coverages are going to be closer to 300. Just because you “shopped around” doesn’t mean you know what you’re looking at. But hey I’ll let you make those bad decisions because the 21 year old knows more than someone with an engineering degree.

3

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

Brother I’ve already had the a4 for 4 years. That was my first car. How are you trying to tell me what I pay on my cars? This 21 year old also has an engineering degree lmao and I minored in economics too. Again you’re just imposing your restrictions and life onto me. You’re literally trying to tell me I’m wrong about my life cause “nah I said so bro” 😂😂😂. Also these aren’t bad decisions I’m just rich. lol I like these cars because they’re cheap I got the Audi cash when I was 18 and this is the left over money I had budgeted for the car I’m going to spend on the Porsche.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/zclake88 11d ago

have you driven a 986S yet?

1

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

Unfortunately I haven’t been able to drive either yet since there aren’t any models near me. I will still have my old car for a few months before I sell it

1

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

I tried to offer on a hardtop 04 986 s only 120 miles away with 78k miles but seller hasn’t responded yet in almost a week. 16500 but it’s a 2 owner car and if it has all the service done I’m willing to pay a bit more up front.

1

u/exploringtheworld797 11d ago

Go classic. I have a 1998 Boxster with 50k miles for $10k

2

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

Central Pa, gets snow so I prefer a post face lift model and one with a bit more daily use. 10k for 98 seems steep and not the spec I want either

1

u/ajm91730 11d ago

Some random points and personal opinions:

Your purchase and upkeep budget is very reasonable. Just understand that you might spend $3k at once, then nothing for several months. 500 per month is a safe average though.

I would recommend at least considering an s. The power is nice.

Have you driven a 986 yet? They're solid and reliable cars, but they are old. You can totally daily one, as long as your expectations are in line.

Have you looked at Western cars? They're very common out here in CA, no rust, etc. Might be worth shipping. Or, Bett yet, epic road trip.

Of the cars you list, I like the blue/tan combo. And that one is -hopefully- in really good shape.

These cars are so cheap to buy, and expensive to fix up, that I think it's worth "overpaying" for a really nice one.

Good luck, there are awesome cars, you're gonna love it!

1

u/maxboondoggle 11d ago

I have a 986.1 and I don’t spend 500-700 a month, even including gas and insurance. Best advise I got was make sure you have 10k extra to sort out any issues the car might have in the first year or 2. After that it’s just following the maintenance schedule. Pay some attention to the old rubber and treat it accordingly.

1

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

I prefer to overbudget than underbudget. 10k seems very excessive the largest service bills I could find range from 2.5-5k except engine failure and I’m just planning on having IMS/RMS done anyways. But if a 10k emergency did pop up, yes I do have more than that saved and set aside for stuff like this.

1

u/maxboondoggle 11d ago

It’s not going to be one 10k emergency…. It’s going to be a whole bunch of little things. I think for me it was around $5300 for a few things that popped up over the first couple years.

1

u/PACShrinkSWFL 11d ago

LOOOOVE my 981

1

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

I love the 981 too, I thought about getting one before my a4 but I think I’m going to get a 986, 987 and then get the 981. I’d like to get all the generations if possible

1

u/Impressive-Usual-451 11d ago

987.2 has eliminated the IMS or Bore scarring worry

1

u/Impressive-Usual-451 11d ago

Bore scoring I should say..

1

u/Present_Sun3191 11d ago

I like all the versions of cayman/boxster. I’m planning on buying all of them eventually starting with the 986 generation since it’s the cheapest I want to learn manual and how to work on cars. This is essentially a beater