Anyone switched to a Boxster, liking it?

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rossyl

Active Member
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Aug 11, 2009
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693
Location
N.London
Car
CLK 230K W208 Coupe (1999)(Auto)
Thinking about a 1996-2000 Boxster 2.5 or 2.7, but don't really know much about them.

Anyone care to enlighten me? Service costs, driving and general specs? One thing i would like is a hard top (removable), so i wouldn't have the worry of the rag top in non-summer months.

This is against getting a Jag XK8 coupe.

Budget of about £8k.

Cheers
 
All I know is the handling is stunning. I passengered in my mate's early 2.5 on bumpy Cheshire back road and the speed it could carry over undulations and through corners was breathtaking.
 
I went from a CLK55 (208) to a 987 Boxster 3.4S.

I got the Boxster from new, and it's now nearly 26 months old, and has covered 17k miles. Nothing has gone wrong in that time, not even a bulb. Last Sunday, I had to reset the radio by pulling out the fuse -- that's it.

The handling of the Boxster on the twisties is truly wonderful .. no Mercedes comes close to it for agility, balance and steering feel.

Plus the flat 6 sounds amazing .. not a V8, but really quite a decent substitute
 
I've had two Boxster S, one from the generation you are looking at. I would avoid the 2.5, it is underpowered, the 2.7 being a very balanced car, with more than enough power.

I don't know enough about market values, but these are specialist cars which requires a full service history. There are known problems with the engines - Honest John has a good section on them.

Get a good one and it is a truly stunning car. When I traded in my first (for a C32 estate) the salesman who drove it thought it fantastic, to the point of comparing it very positively with the SLK 320. He was right. Get a bad one, and it will be very very expensive.

nb - the only negative is boot space. Two boots front and rear totalling 260 litres. Still, twice as much as the 911...
 
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I've had two Boxsters - a 2.5 and a 3.2S.

Handling and steering sublime, 2.5 very underpowered and 3.2 is just about right - not much difference in fuel consumption between 2.7 and 3.2 so go for the 'S'. The flat 6 makes a great noise when you wring it's neck. Stuff that goes wrong - watch out for rear main seal oil leaks, clutch, coil packs, Maf and lambda sensor failure - all relatively pricey to fix.

Don't worry about the soft top in winter - they have solid engineering integrity and will not suffer if left outside all year round - both of mine lived outside and the soft tops were still in very good nick.

And it's a totally different animal to the Jag XK8 - V8 auto GT car vs a mid engined sports car - difficult to compare aside from the price. Depends on your driving style but a Boxster will make you feel a lot more 'connected' with the driving experience. Image is the only downside for me.
 
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I haven't got a boxter but my mate got one a week ago. He got the larger one (3+ litre?) as he said the lesser ones didn't do it for him. He loves it.
 
Have a look at boxa.net and the Porsche Club GB forums - Boxster section on there is very good.
 
Was thinking about one myself but decided to wait awhile as we need more than 2 seats at times. I have 2 books which chart history, all known changes and details of problems year on year. PM me if interested.
 
Ross:I can see that you`re trying for a change but your car is not in bad nick so just surt out the little things,and maybe spend some extra to tune it.Trust me,the love for the car will come back
 
Are they not a bit girly? lol
 
Yep - can't help but say that nice as they might be to drive, the image would be a bit of an issue for many. Bit like the early SLK - great cars for 'the wife' etc, but sometimes difficult for a bloke to carry it off :eek:
 
I had a 2.5 one years ago. It was the worst car i ever owned for reliability, it broke every friday night for a month with MAF, oil seals amongst other things and all were expensive to fix. I would say however that i was unlucky i think as everyone else i know that has owned one has never had any problems so mine was just an unfortunate lemon!! I do agree it was not that fast though and i would def buy the S over the others or the 2.7 at the bare minimum. Make sure you get one with a leather dash as the plastic dash ones are difficult to sell on. Im tempted to buy an S myself for weekend thrashing around. The feel, handling, balance and howl out the back when you get the revs up past 6k are fantastic and oh so addictive.....
 
Another small point - have a sit in the drivers seat of both and see if you feel claustrophobic. I'm only 5ft5, but in the XK8 I felt the roof was very close to the side of my head, whereas the Boxster was roomy. I was most disappointed - when the XK8 came out I thought it was the car for me - I would have gone for the soft top - but did not feel comfortable with the roof up. I've twice had a Boxster 2.7 as my courtesy car (while the 968 was being serviced, how good is that!!) and both days we had a fantastic time. Have been tempted many times to swop the 968 for a Box, but decided against.
As everyone says, ignore the 2.5, the 2.7 goes well, check wheel size / comfort - 18's are OK, don't know if 19's make the ride too hard. Also rear screen (at that price it's almost certainly plastic, prone to damage when putting the roof down). I'd question the need for a hardtop - I know quite a few Boxster owners, none have the hard top and all use them year round.
There are PCGB London region monthly meets at The Ace cafe, Stonebridge NW10 7UD, next one is 31 May, go along as a guest and talk to owners there, or email the PCGB Boxster register secretary (Mark Bennet) on [email protected].
 
Thanks all, what a font of information!

- 2.7 or 3.2 it is
- no hardtop needed
- Full History.
- leather dash

I was also wondering about are good Indie's? Is it a similar field to Merc, where those with all the kit (latest Star machines) are not that common?

"Girly image", and the "couldn't you afford a 911" are definitely issues. I wouldn't buy an MX-5 (old shape) for that reason, and am a bit less inclined on the old shape SLK as well. But I think I'll have to sit in one to see for myself.

Shall try and check out the other forums, but boxa.net doesn't seem to load up at work.

I still love the CLK, and it is getting some serious TLC. But I'd like something abit racier in the near future, so am trying to find out, well in advance, what that car might be. I'm only looking to change towards the end of the year.
 
You'd get a nice CLK55 for eight grand ;)
 
Look at the Porsche website - they give an indication of servicing costs if kept in the dealer network.
 
Personally I take the view that if anybody is worried about being thought girly driving a Boxster, they should do a course of bodybuilding.
 
I've seen on the PCGB forum this morning that some people are having problems accessing boxa.net, while others are not. Something about a DNS problem (whatever that is) but there is a specific active thread about it. You do not have to be a PCGB member to register with the forum.

The indie scene is quite like MB - they are out there, some are good and some are not quite so good. You will also find that main dealers offer discounts servicing "older" cars (like my 968) and also to PCGB members. Parts are often as cheap or cheaper from a main dealer than from elsewhere.

Some months ago a member on t'other side (Littlebrooklyn) was contemplating changing their Healey 3000 for a Boxster, she got a lot of help from the PCGB Boxster forum and now has a 3.2S tiptronic - which her husband occasionally allows her to drive!
 

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