Highest Mileage Boxster??? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

I'm curious what kind of "high mileage" boxsters are out there running around and still run great... there are tons of boxsters out there with 50k or less. When you scan the for sale pages, you don't see a lot of them for sale with over 100k. Is that because they all die before they get there????? i'm considering buying a boxster and most of the ones in my price range are 60-75k mile cars.... i'm wondering if i realistically will have much life left in it? I have an old Volvo with 135k miles. there are cars like mine running around with 250k miles on the orig motor..... i'm not expecting THAT out of a boxster..but is it realistic to expect to get a good 150k out of the engine/tranny or is that fantasy land and it will go boom before then? of course i'm only talking about well maintained, NOT abused, etc cars. i know any car can get an RMS or IMS failure w/out warning... given the cars I"m shopping for - this is only addressed to 986 cars... 987 cars are way out of my price range. i want to spend 20k or LESS.

I've been mentioning this a lot lately, so I hope I am no jinxing myself... knock on wood, a little over two years ago I bought my 99 Boxster with 78k miles - car now has over 102,300 miles on the odometer. The Boxster is my daily driver & I drive it in a (sensible but) spirited fashion most of the time. I autocross it an average of once a month, which means it sees the rev limiter occasionally. I have only had to take care of normal ware items thus far like a water pump, replace the plastic window, and having the oil changed every 8-10k. And as far as I can determine, it has the original engine. In the next few months I plan on replacing the shocks (pretty sure the original shocks are still on there), brake pads & rotors, and the clutch.

I think you'll find most new Porsches don't get driven enough to quickly accrue miles. The oldest Boxster is just over 10 years old. That being said.... my 944 is 20 years old and has 230K. My 987 is only 3 and it has 56,000. I don't think I can accurately answer your questions. I think if the car has 70-100K and has been well cared for then you're probably safe. But the more miles the more important it is to have receipts for work done. Good Luck!

The low miles are because most of the people selling them bought them new as weekend/summer cars. Now they're selling them, and we're buying them with low miles without paying for the $40k depreciation. I know a few members have 150k+ miles and have had very few problems. One thing you'll notice if you hand around the forum long enough, is that the Boxsters that are driven often have fewer problems than the one's that sit.

If you're willing to spend up to $20,000, you can get a boxster with lower milage than you think. I purchased a 2000 with only 30,000 miles in great shape for about $18,250 about 6 months ago. With the economy, you can get a lower price if you look. I found mine on autotrader. I have a base boxster and I am pleased with the performance, but if you want faster acceleration, get an S model. Eric

that's a good deal.only 18,250! I'm wondering though, as others have said - are you better off with a car that has "some" mileage vs one that has been a garage queen???

Not from personal experience, my box has 21k on it, but from being here and reading tons before I bought (987), to answer your question: yes, more miles seems to be better for buying a box with a few years on it. The IMS failure seems to happen before 50k, or not happen. There are exceptions, addictionracing had one at 66k. RMS seems to be cured, or the engine already replaced by end of warranty. From owing quite a few quality cars over the years, 100k miles doesn't scare me on anything. If a car has been well maintained and the body and interior are in good shape, the mechanical stuff is all replaceable at affordable prices. More miles=less purchase price= more money for mods and replacement of worn parts. If I were looking to build a "hot-rod" I would look for a good body and interior, without worrying about the condition of the seats, as I would be replacing them. Wheels and tires? Who cares, they're gone at first light. If, on the other hand, you are looking to keep it stock and nice and use it as a normal sports car, I would do the opposite (as I did). Save up, find the right Porsche Certified newest box you can afford. Spend your cash on a healthy down-payment and finance the rest for as short a period as affordable. The payments for four years may well be less than what you may spend on repairs on an older box (let alone a catastrophic engine failure), you'll have a nicer car it's entire life and a greater asset to sell/trade in the future. My payments are just under $6,000 per year and the car is factory warranteed out to 5/2012 and/or 100k miles. It had 11k miles when I bought it. I put $27k down. I read alot of stories on here from people who spent in the $27k range for a non-Certified box and have spent $5k and 6K at a time on repairs.

133k on mine. original engine. i drive it on the track as well as on the street.

Congrats. It looks great and is the right color too!

When I bought my Boxster last month, I was torn between 2: -1998 with 37k - (Green/Gray) -2000 with 68k - (Burg/Tan) same exact price by the way (around 13,8k) I went with the 2000 w/68k....1-Burgundy is the color I really, really wanted, and 2 the lower mileage ones just scared me...... I am very glad I got the one I did.... If it would have been any other car, I would have jumped at the one with 37k.....but with the boxster, I feel the engine has "made it"...and should be fine.......not that anything won't go wrong, I just think...if it made it this far!.....plus the 60k service had been done, with a new water pump, I found out after I got home.....BONUS!!!!

I will NOT be putting 27k down! I'll be buying at 15-20k and finance most of it and cross my fingers nothing bad happens Sometimes I read the horror stories on here and I think that I must be crazy to even think of buying a used boxstsr and assume all this risk, then I drive one and I am in heaven...

DO NOT buy this car if you can't afford it. If you have to finance $20k and cross your fingers, look somewhere else, seriously. Please be responsible with your $$$. This isn't just a Boxster thing, 944s and 928s can easily cost more to repair than the original purchase price and you have to be ready, financially, to buy a Porsche or you will have an expensive garage ornament waiting for funds to make the next repair.

i bought my 02 base model with about 30K miles 15 months ago. the deciding factor for me was a full coverage (Warrantec (sp?) Ultimate Care) warranty that the seller paid to transfer for me. Originally, from the dealer, it was almost $3900. I have 68K on her now, daily driver about 75 miles/day. very few problems for me, drive it conservatively most of the time. my recco? shop for a car that has a warranty (i got a 7 year 100K). I still have about a year left on the warranty and when it expires i may seriously think about another box with another warranty. for me, it's worth it, much less stress worrying about expensive repairs. paid a little more for the car (about 23K), but so far my out of pocket was $68 for a top readjustment at the dealer- and if had not freaked out, i could have done a quick search on this forum and fixed it myself. porsche covered a recent rms leak, MAF sensor, ignition switch, headlight switch and oil separator, and a $100 credit for a new tire when I got a flat. Sweet warranty that allows me to enjoy an amazing daily driver. I change the oil, did the 60K service and just put new tires on it. I enjoy seat time at speed in this car...period. like others have inferred, you buy porsche and you make a commitment- it must be maintained to enjoy the benefits. be patient and the right ride will be found. I looked for 3 months before i committed. happy shopping.

I was initially 'appalled' or something like it, having taken the car in four times while still under the original 4 year warranty, and since had a few more things not up to snuff. I tripped over an old thread on this forum that talked about German cars as a whole - Porsche, Mercedes, even VW having these characteristics - little nickle dime things constantly breaking down. At first I thought I had made an unsensible decision, but after reading that one particular thread I feel better somehow. I could have gone with the Honda S3000 for a performance convertible, but I have no interest in even the way it looks. I love the Boxster and I spend money when I need to with a better understanding that if I am going to own this car, I am going to spend money on it. By comparison, my Honda Accord has 127,000 miles on it and has only needed stuff that happens after 100,000 miles on any car. The Porsche is not going to be like the Honda. I also would like to +1 on the advice regarding affordability. Its not how much you make, but what you do with what you make, which hopefully means some percentage of your take home is making money, so please do consider positioning yourself for turning $1 into $10 as much as possible. That is a sidebar and probably sounds like parenting, but a car is a money pit and not an investment so consider it into your shopping. Vroooom! Vroooom!

Buy the cheapest boxster you can find now and then save up to drop this into it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=120294358796&rd=1

From what I've seen, the hit against low mileage Boxsters because they may be more prone to IMS/RMS failure is nothing but pure conjecture. There is absolutely no hard evidence to this claim. It is nothing more than a hit or miss situation. Whether you drive it daily or not is absolutely irrelevant. A car is not like the human body where it has the potential to get better with use. If I could add another twist to the discussion, I've read many threads recommending setting aside around $3000 per year for maintenance of higher mileage Boxsters. I've owned my 2002 S with 13k for 2 years now. I drive it a couple of times a week. My only expenses have been 2 oil changes. Assuming I make it another year with the same costs, I've saved $9000 over buying a higher mileage Boxster. If I'm not mistaken, this saves me just about enough to buy a new engine should I have an IMS failure in the future. It is all even. And then, I may never have those problems so that puts me way ahead! I'll take the lower mileage Box any day.

If you have been "driving it" for 13k miles, check your rear tires......

My Box has 109,000. I have put 3,000 miles on her since November when I got her. I simply changed the sparkplugs, filters and all the fluids to start. She has great bones and I drive mostly highway speeds in excess of 85 and that car is made for those speeds. One thing, I always warm her up, and never rev past 3,000 until she has hit her normal 180 operating temp. I check levels all the time and shake my head at how well the box holds fluids...what a beautiful german car for $10,000. Hard to beat really. Good luck, my advice is to find a box with a really good top and window unlike my girl. I plan on changing the window myself, and I will keep everyone updated. Less of a headache with a good top.

I only have 80K on my base 2000 boxster so far, but I just put 4,500 miles on it in the last week and a half. I am quite impressed what a good highway car it is. Ed

Almost 106k now. 2nd engine (done by PO, thank goodness) 2nd transmission (all mine, thank you very much) + more repairs than I care to recount. Any car can run forever if you dump enough cash into it. I am proving this theory as your read this reply. But I'm a happy village idiot, that's for sure :dance: