Super high mileage 996/986s - do things start breaking in mass?

I'm at a crossroads in my car life - my 986 is nearing 130k miles after owning it for 7.5 years. Many of the expected normal maintenance items have come and gone (struts, bearings, mounts, water pump, sensors, alternator/starter, etc) with the clutch next on the list as it's giving warning signs through the feel of the pedal. I'm considering the Raby upgrade to a 3.8L. But I also look at 997, 987, and 981 (Caymans and Boxsters) daily. The thing I'm afraid of committing 25-30k dollars to my 986 for the next 50k+ miles / 5 years is things just wearing out and breaking in mass. I'm a DIY'er and I don't mind the occasional major repairs 1 or 2 times a year (averaged out that's about what I'm doing after the car hit 80k). For those of you with 150k or 200k mileage cars - did you ever see a snowball effect in repairs or does it stay pretty consistent? Do hidden items start breaking (i.e. deep under the dash)? Do you fix one radiator then 2 weeks later the other radiator starts leaking because everything is old at this point? Then the thing I'm afraid of a 981 is the difficulty of fixing and working on them. I'm not a mechanic but I'm good at reading and following instructions and there is a wealth of knowledge to repair 996/986s which also applies to 987s in many cases. Not so much for the 981. I think about this daily and have no idea what I'm going to do!

The first question you have to ask is, how much do you love your car? With that said, one thing I would suggest, assuming this is an option for you, is to buy a blown Boxster engine and have it properly rebuilt. Keep your current engine as well. If you ever decide to sell your car, etc, you can swap your current engine back in and then sell off the 3.8L, or offer it as an option to a future buyer of your car.

I'm at 146K miles on a 99 C2. Nothing breaks en masse...You just have to keep after the maintenance and the normal stuff that breaks. I could give a long list of those, but you will find out yourself (you've done some already). The car is a daily driver, even for the shortest trips (stores, Lowe's today) and it just is such a blast to drive....why not just keep it up and drive it? It has always been reliable and really is a joy to just keep fixing the little stuff that goes wrong and just keep on trucking.

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Super high mileage? You're not exactly near super high mileage. From what I can tell super high doesn't really start until 250,000 to 300,000 miles putting your car at less than 50%. At that point, assuming you have survived that long, let us know if all 4 wheels fall off at once or anything. The motor might be kinda tired but barring catastrophic failure it'll still be kicking, it just won't be fresh as a daisy anymore. There are posts from folks in the 200k to 300k club, check them out and let us know what you find.

I personally wouldn't dump that much money into a 20 year-old car w/ 130K on it. But the only opinion that matters is yours...

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Out of the three cars listed above, is it truthfully the 981 that you look at the most? Most of the 981's are still under warranty but a lot of them are getting close to the end of their warranty run as well. I think you'll find as the platform ages you'll see a lot more support on the DIY side from guys who can't simply get it fixed for free under warranty anymore. The reason why I'm asking this is because I'm going to give you the same advice that was given to me when I kept telling people that "I keep looking at 911's but I'm afraid I can't practically have one." Buy the car you're obsessed with. If you make any compromises you're eventually going to go back and look at the one "that got away" every single day again. The fact that you go to look at the three cars you listed every day gives me an indication that you've got an idea in your head that you feel is impractical and you're trying to find a solution around it. You want the 981, so you look at 987's and 997's to fill that practicality gap. I say get the 981 and hypotheticals and practicalities be damned. If you want to work on it take a wrench to it! This is of course assuming I'm right about your feelings. My point stands though - get the one that's in your heart and stop with the shoulda, woulda, coulda.

I agree with Dr. Stangelove. These cars are toys. So buy the toy you want to play with.

same, my wife said when I did the Boxster vs 996 thing " get the one you will love" That's why I married her.........

I have almost 200,000 miles on my 2000 C4 with the original IMS bearing as far as I know. Nothing has really ever broke but I have replaced a lot of parts. I have not added a drop of oil since the last oil change over 6 months ago. Although after the summer I'm going to give it a full service.... new clutch, IMS, RMS, injectors, Racing AOS, Schrick cams, upgraded brakes and more.... I have to have my head examined for maintaining this old 996 instead of finding a low milage GT3!

I just rebuilt my 3.4 to a 3.8 and I don't regret it. I love the car, and I could have just gone to a 997 or something for the money spent, but that's not the point. The feel is entirely different. I have a 996.1 C2 and a 996TT and both love them for what they are. My C2 has almost 120k miles on the clock, but I would say if "everything goes at once," it really depends on your, and previous, ownerships. I'd say that if you keep up with maintenance and don't leave things until they break, you shouldn't have the sky falling all at once. -Matt

I'm getting ready to go down the road of a major replacement of parts on my 2004 C4S with 103k on it. It is cosmetically in amazing shape. The strut mounts have been clunky for a couple of years. I've only put 10k on it since I bought it. Now I've got metal in the trans. I've just purchased some low mile 996TT struts/springs from another rennlister and will be re doing those. I have one cat throwing a CEL so will be doing a sport cat setup. I'll pull the trans and have California Motorsports go through it. I have a bad passenger door lock actuator. Hmmm, what else :-) I've done water pump, motor mounts, new stereo, coolant tank, hvac fan and several other things. While the trans is out I'm doing the AOS with the UAOS setup and probably the RMS, plugs, etc.. My car had a clutch at 70k and LN IMS at 90k by the PO. It's parked next to my SC track car which had a new drive train years ago. I think the chassis has 180k on it. I never hesitated to spend $'s to maintain that car. The full leather interior of my car and the quality of the paint are amazing. So, I'm keeping it. I'll throw $6-7k in parts at it and hope the motor goes to 200k at which point I'll be dead. It's my DD now that I'm semi retired and I love the car so there you go. Hopefully this decision doesn't bite me in the butt

I love all the suggestions and input! I'm still considering all options. One of the limiting factors is finding that perfect 981 or 987 as I do not want a white exterior and I do not want a beige interior - that eliminates about 80% of the cars on the market. My 986 is an all leather interior and it just makes a huge difference - I really want that too. Which with the other 2 requirements that eliminates 98% of the cars on the market. But I do love my 986 too. If I throw 25k at it I have no problem keeping it for another 5+ years to get my moneys worth of enjoyment out of it. Still thinking. Still looking!