911 996 C2 or 987 2.7 Boxster

Hi chaps, I have recently sold my R32 GTR running around 350BHP and have had Skyline's of all types for the last 5 years but have now decided I want a change, so I had pretty much decided on a 05 Boxster 987 2.7, I hadn't even considered the 911 until about a week ago when I realised how cheap they had become, I couldn't believe it! My budget is 18k so will looking at cars around the 18.5k mark. I will be mainly using the car for a couple of trips in the week and then every weekend, also planning Santa Pod, Nurburgring and European driving holiday so expect to be putting about 10,000 on the clock within the year that I keep it, will probably have to sell after a year due to MRS wanting to move to a bigger house and wanting kids... I know this will be a biased view but what are your opinions of what I'm planning for the car, will I be a lot better in the 911 than the Boxster? In general is the 911 reliable enough to carry me and the MRS round Europe without problems? Another thing that slightly worries me is engine failure so would need a warranty that would cover IMS and RMS, what is the going rate for a decent warranty covering those potential problems? I'm a fairly competent home mechanic and did a top end replacement on my old R33 so would tackle most servicing my self, the only thing I guess I would have to do is go to a decent indy to keep the service stamps up to date. How difficult is it working on 911? Lots of questions I know but let me know what you think chaps

Hey, don't take our (biased [ ]) word for it - check out 5th Gear's test video a couple of threads below... VBH reckons the 996 is quicker round a track than a brand spanky new special edition Boxster S + [8|]. Non biased people may say that the test was thrown in the name of television although they are all obviously wrong. Or prefer Boxsters. The IMS / RMS thing gets blown out of all proportion; statistically the chances of engine failure are slim. Speaking from bitter personal experience however, if they go, they are not cheap to replace. The 996 is a great car and will do everything you want to do in it. Thing is, so will a Boxster and so would your Skyline. Best thing is to drive them both and see what floats your boat.

Tesco will give you an all encompassing warranty on a Boxster for £420, Porsche ask £1250. Tesco will not cover the 911, Porsche approx £1400 pa. A 2005 Boxster is going to cost you a 4year service and brake fluid change (£850), or £550 at an idependent and maybe a set of brakes (£400 diy, £650 at an independent), and a set of tyres (£950 for 19s, £800 for 18s). You may also need a battery (£100) and an air con regas (£50) A 2000/2001 996 is going to cost you ?? - all depends on what has already been done, but at 8-9 years old some items will be coming round again, so you may well still have to do brakes and tyres. You'll also be possibly looking at air con condensors/rads. Not sure on exhaust life, possibly something to factor in too. Servicing is every year, so you will have simialr service bills to the Boxster. To get a warranty on the 911 will cost you £1400, plus whatever needs doing to bring the car up to scratch (Porsche warranty). Engine failures are more likely to happen on a older design 911, the intermediate shaft bearing for example was improved over the years and if you can stretch to a 2006MY Boxster then it will have the latest and last revision (no know failures to date). Some may argue that a 50k miles 996 is past the point where it will fail, there's some eveidence to suggest thats the case; Boxsters seem to fail around the 30k mile mark, although in truth the number of failures is pretty small (well under 0.5%)

Thanks for your replies and the info on IMS, is there is any other cheaper option apart from the Porsche warranty that will cover IMS/RMS? Having thought about it more and more I think I would prefer a cabriolet/convertible as I'll be going abroad and heading quite far south in to Europe so would like to make the most of the sun considering we don't get any here in the summer any more. This makes my choices even smaller on the 911 front as I guess I'm at the bottom end of the market with a budget of 18k, but then saying that if a nice 911 came along that wasn't a cab then I know what I'm like when it comes to cars [ ] I think the only way I'm going to decide is to meet some of you guys so I can have a good look at both cars and maybe a ride in both? Do you chaps have a meeting any time soon where this might be possible? Stewart

You should come to the 911 & Porsche World Picnic this Sunday - there'll be herds of us there!

If you are travelling long distances then you might be better off with a 911 with a sunroof - open cars can get pretty noisey and therefore tiring at speed for long periods. Cabriolets roof up or down are much noisier than a 996 coupe. Thats not to say you can't do it, i did 1200 miles in 2 days to Champagne and back last summer, and it was only the duration of the drive and not the car (987 Boxster S, driven with roof down half the time) that made me feel tired for the last 60-90 minutes. Tesco warranty will cover ims on a Boxster.

Now is that good timing or what! Only 15mins down the road too, I'm from Reading! I am on call Saturday and Sunday so I'll just have hope I don't get called out, all being well I'll be there

Can you tell me what time this starts I can't find it anywhere on this link? cheers

The article in the magazine says it opens at 10am - don't know why they haven't put it on the web page. I'm going to aim for about 11 - and I'll be bringing my video camera again, so I might try to corner some of you for interviews!