Hi everyone - just found this forum and I'm really hoping for your help!!
I currently have a Vauxhall VX220 and love it BUT due my current work location chaging (from 2 mins down the road to 1.5 hours away) I've put it upo for sale and am looking for a comfy, reliable sports car. I've found my dream car although having one or two doubts after reading about engine problems.
Here are the details:
2000 Boxster S
2 owners - first was an older couple who had it from new and the current owner had it bought for her by an ex-boyfriend (who is a Porsche owner himself) from a Porsche dealership. As a suprise he also had it resprayed metallic silver/pink (via Porsche - they dealt with it all) and she's given the Porsche dealership her permission to let me have access to all her details if need be.
Mileage - 53,000 - she has done only 9,000 miles since she's had it (2 years) as she uses it as a weekend car.
It has full Porsche service history and in April last year it had a main service along with having brake pads etc changed.
MOT/service/tax are all due April 10.
The car itself is absolutely immaculate - bodywork is perfect and the interior is literally as new.
I've had a hpi check done and it's clear.
I'm just waiting for my car to be sold - she's agreed to hold it for me for a few weeks .... I will be having an AA inspection done before buying it.
What do you all think??????
Thank you in advance.
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A work colleague's wife has one as a weekend driver and summer commuter. Loves it, but he reckons it needs about £2k a year allocated to it for maintenance and repairs.
Very complementary about the driving experience and the useability of the car, but quite scathing about its problems, its eye watering maintenance costs, and the fact the interior is falling to bits with less than 40k on the clock.
Edited by DP on 29/10/2009 at 13:51
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Well from the 'untrained problem eye' if someone had taken the reg plate off and told me the car was brand new - I wouldnt have doubted it.
Leather inside is in perfect condition ... glass wind relfector fitted. x4 brand new tyres fitted last week.
It's a tiny bit slower compared to the VX and about £15 a year differenc ein insurance so that's not a problem.
My main issue was:
a) is an AA inspection good enough?
b) is the 3.2 engine known for blowing?
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If you want a reliable, long distance commuter, don't buy a Porsche - their lack of quality, poor reliability and expensive servicing and repairs will shock you.
How about a Honda S2000?
MVP
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The only others I have consdiered are the TT Concertible and the Z4 ... I've looked at every car imaginable and nothing else has come close.
Not keen on the Honda's .... more for a man rather than a girly :0)
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The Boxster was in the list of the five most often vandalised cars in the UK in today's Telegraph. The list included another Porsche - the Cayenne - and also the BMW Z4. On seeing a Chrysler there too I nearly had a heart attack, but the model was the Crossfire, not the innocent PT Cruiser. Can't remember what the fifth one was. Probably another BMW.
I don't know how valuable this information is. These cars may be the most vandalised, but they may only lead all the others by a short head.
I must say a pink stretch Hummer would look pretty tempting if I happened to be holding a can of silver or black spray paint. I could put my tag on it and get right up the noses of the Harrow and Wembley Massive, knowImean?
:o}
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Not keen on the Honda's .... more for a man rather than a girly :0)
Vicky Butler-Henderson has a Honda S2000 and she's quite fit !........
;-)
Seriously though, the Porsche sounds like a good one. Maybe you can find out more about it from the dealership it was bought from. I guess you know that any car in this category can become suddenly expensive.
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Victoria, from your posts it seems you'll buy this whatever you hear.
If you can afford thousands in running costs per year it's probably a great idea. But they are not that reliable or durable according to many reports. Do they still only dare give them a 2 year warranty from new?
It's an expensive car to risk buying privately as well, for reasons outlined elsewhere on this thread.
Personally, the only sports car I might consider using for a long commute would be an MX5. Anything else seems like a recipe for huge bills.
Saying that, if you can afford it then go for it!
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By the way, have you considered keeping the VX220 and getting something like a Golf GT TDi second hand for the commute? Any decent sports car is going to be pretty wearing for 3 hours a day, day in day out.
The running costs savings would probably pay for the second car pretty quickly, and you get to keep the proper sports car for the weekends.
Edited by Gordon M on 29/10/2009 at 16:12
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By the way have you considered keeping the VX220 and getting something like a Golf GT TDi second hand for the commute? Any decent sports car is going to be pretty wearing for 3 hours a day day in day out. The running costs savings would probably pay for the second car pretty quickly and you get to keep the proper sports car for the weekends.
I probably could but I just want the one car to be honest ... not enough room at home.
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Do they still only dare give them a 2 year warranty from new?
I mis-read this, and looked on HJ's car-by-car breakdown. He seems to've given it 4/5, which surprises me quite considerably bearing in mind the write-up.
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From your post it seems like you're buying from a private seller.
Have a read of this thread:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=79217
Could it happen to you?
The buyer in this case thought he was protected by the HPI check but he wasn't.
Most likely this isn't the case with the car you're looking at, but it doesn't hurt to be careful!
Good luck!
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Wow, its all so confusing ...
Im sure she does drive one but its just not something Im interested in - neither is the MX5.
So is the AA inspection worthwhile?
Porsche have also confirmed they do a 111 check for about £200? That worthwhile?
I'm looking to be doing around 15,000 miles per year.
Edited by Webmaster on 30/10/2009 at 00:48
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Had one from new in 2002 until earlier this year, did about 40k in it. Was a second car but used regularly all year round for day to day stuff when the whim took me.
Apart from a coupe of sets of tyres and some brakes it only ever needed the oil changing. Brilliant car in all possible respects.
Only fault I ever had was the Litronic headlamps jammed in "up" position. A thump on the lights un-jammed them and it never occured again.
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If you're going to get it checked get Porsche to do it.
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If you're going to get it checked get Porsche to do it.
Yup. For trouble free Porsche motoring the factory, a main concessionnaire like AFN and a proper indy are all a good idea. Won't be cheap, but may well be value if you make proper use of the car. The Boxster has a complicated engine and is hard to work on. It needs to be fettled by people who think nothing of starting by dropping the whole driveline out of the car and ending by checking the tracking. A really carp back street garage can mess one up very big time, and I imagine that many do.
I'm not saying you can't run a Porsche cheaply. But that will be blind luck, or rather special ownership. And very careful choice of a (probably air-cooled) example.
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I must say that when I get too old and stiff for the Exige a Boxter or Cayman S would be two on the very short shortlist.
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I would go for the car. I considered a Boxster a few years back, along with a 996 and then went for a BMW M3 as I wanted something a bit more practical. The Boxster is a very usable everyday car though, with accessible boot space (unlike the 996) and a reasonably comfortable ride by Porsche standards if you avoid the ones with massively lowered suspension.
I would ignore the doomsayers here, running costs will not be the same as a Fiesta Diesel, but there is nothing to match the driving experience of a Porsche and the S version also has the oomph missing in the standard Boxster. One word of advice though. Don't drive it unless you really want to buy it, because once you've test driven it you won't want to drive anything else!
By the way, my sister is presently deciding between a Z4 and a Boxster. I also recommended the Boxster.
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... had it resprayed metallic silver/pink ... >>
I shan't be surprised if your Insurer asks for oodles of extra premium for that.
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I've recently sold my Boxster.
Not the cheapest car to run but sensible enough with a little nous.
There's a tiny chance of the IMS failing, cost to repair is about £5k, almost double that for an official Porsche centre to sort.
Other than that, expect the occaisional bill for coilpacks, which are almost a service item, a set of tyres is around £600 and the oil for the oil change is around £100.
They are enormous fun to drive, especially on the twisty stuff, and comfy enough everywhere else. Practical too.
I'd want a warrantee on it unless you can afford to fix it if something big does go wrong. I think that its possible that Tesco's still cover the Boxster, otherwise I'd try Hartech if you're oop norf.
There's not many pink ones about but I do have some pics of my old car parked next to a pink one last year.
Now go and buy it, have fun and let us know how you get on. Ingore the doomsayers, most of whom scare themselves witless reading the doom and gloom that gets posted all over the interweb rather than enjoyingn life to the full.
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There's a list of warrantees for older Porsches here
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=48&t=6...t
=Porsche%20Warranties
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Thank you for all your comments/advice.
I've been quoted £220 by Porsche to do a 111 check on the car which is probably the best thing for me to do. My current car isnt really the cheapest to run either so as long as Porche give me the go ahead then I may just go for it!
I've already taken her out - hence why Ive fallen in love :0)
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Thanks for the comments spikeyhead :0)
It's just had a full set of tyres put on so not got those to worry about... Like I said in the above post Porsche (where she bought it from) will do this check - they said it's what they do to all vehicles before putting them on their forecourt. I do really have my heart set on this car so I know some people will say its a waste of £200 but if it means its saves me buying a car thant needs £££££££ in the future, its a risk Im willing to take ... hope mine goes soon!!
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Reliability & build quality is amazing on these cars but a 2000 model is 10 years old now & parts will fail. Once it's this old the engine is prob going to be OK, things like suspension & brakes do cost a bit though.
I ran a 1998 2.5 for 18 months, spent about £4000 in that time. Changed it for a 2006 model & not needed to do a single thing so far. The newer 987 model is far nicer looking inside & out.
I wouldn't take it to a Porsche centre for an inspection, they get very mixed reviews. I'd take it to an independent specialist, like Northway in Reading, JZM in King's Langley, Parr in Crawley, GT One in Chertsey, PorscheTech in Hampstead, Wrightune in Oxford etc etc for an inspection you'll get a good service there & build rapport.
Join up boxa.net & ask for advice there, a very friendly forum.
You can get a warranty from WarrantyWise (Tesco have stopped now) for about £500 a year & almost everything is covered.
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I loved my Boxster S, but I'm not sure I would recommend a 10-year old one for a 1.5 hour (3 hour return?) trip to work. Things like suspension will be needing (expensive) attention at this age, and nothing is cheap on a Porsche, or any car with comparable performance.
Check the small print exclusions on any inspection report - you may find they are not worth the paper they are written on. Certainly that was my conclusion when I was thinking of buying a used 996.
I think if I were you I would keep the VX for weekends and get a cheaper rwd commuter car (older 3-series?)
But if you do go ahead, don't forget to factor the cost of a decent respay into your calculations ...
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