Don’t Tell Anyone The Porsche 986 Boxster S is the Best Cheap Sports Car! 

You either came from money......or had a very poor NCO.

late to post.. currently in the market and im also military.. Seriously thinking about a 996, im really starting to fall for these cars

Boxster great car - not sure about USA in UK older ones are very good value many think they will be expensive for what you get they arent really - but buy a good older one and reliable, fun to drive, solid built and park it somewhere safe ..

Was the IMS bearing problem fixed by then?

@@steventfarwell788 It got fixed in 2009 and later models

I'm 17 and my papa left me his 99' boxster 2.5, what was the insurance like... Was it very expensive for a first car ?

Change the oil 4500 miles. Full synthetic. Have fun, but don’t abuse it. Pleasure drive it.

@@buffkangaroodog I'm really grateful I'm a car guy but I don't see it as a Porsche just more like my papas car, it's getting a full respray right now, new alloys, new badges. Recently had the interior restored, can't wait to see it gonna look after it. Civic sounds like alot of fun though

with only 33k miles on it thats not good ...u better change the IMS bearing dude... theses cars cant just sit in the garage... people kill me thinking that low miles is better or a good thing.. not all the time its not!. that IMS bearing must be driven hard to keep oil in it. cant just sit. now if you want to avoid the whole ims threat..just get a 2009 or 10 model with the pdk an be done with it man. like most of us did...

time travler 3 are we there yet its a ‘99 they are very less likely to have this problem

Yes and the sound of that camshaft bearing shreading into the engine like what happened to my 987S.

@@molotovcocktail6671 Holy hell, you were outright spamming cringe shit everywhere, weren'tcha?

That's been the case for ages. Literally five years. The Boxster was sold in huge numbers but the S2000 was a passion project from Honda. I doubt they made anything from the S2000. it was a showpiece and a very special one. I always wanted an S2000. 240bhp from 4-pot revving to 9k? Where do I sign? Luv and Peace.

Boxsters are cheap for a reason. Money pits.

The S2000 is a very special car. The Boxster is a very good car.

When I bought mine, the Boxster S was about $3,000 more than the S2000. Now they're about the same in price. I would love to zip around in an S2000 but I was swayed by the newer interior and more power in the Boxster and the size. I was 50lbs heavier then and the S2000 was small to me.

@@michaelfromaustin now boxters s are up big time lol 20k at least

When you had the ims issue, what was the symptom? Engine suddenly died?

all cars went up due to chips etc..everything is up yep and boxters also lol

I’ve been driving mine on twisty roads with the top down for the last 5 years. Incredible fun!

The S2000 is better.

@@basshead. DEFINITELY! All it's HP at the very top, it's a lot of fun when you hit peak HP at the apex of a corner! And all that anticipation waiting for the power to kick in; it's like having a two stroke in a modern vehicle! The limited production numbers assure that your car will always be worth more in parts, so you can drive it with abandon knowing that it may be worth even more after the wipe out! It even has a higher market value than the Boxster! It was such a good car that Honda decided to keep the machining and molds to themselves, preferring to give commuter cars like the Civic to the public. And since they didn't want to put Mazda out of business by killing off their main source of income, the MX-5, they ceased production of the better S2000. God bless Honda. Boxster owners gave a sigh of relief, and Miata owners can sleep at night now. RIP S2000

Lol!

Around the track the S would take the S2000 everytime, on the road the s2000 is uneventful in the low rpm range, so the S is more enjoyable as a daily. Prove me wrong 🙂

Glad to hear it's still running great! Love these cars.

A classic mistake, just because your vehicle has low mileage don’t forget that the parts are unlikely to have worn out, they are still as old as the car and standing around for long periods doesn’t do them any good. If your car was 20 years old that’s 2000 ish mile per year, 166 miles per month or more likely it’s only driven very infrequently and then very short distances, possibly the engine doesn’t reach standard operating temperature. Your best off with a higher mileage car with a solid history, plenty of receipts from reputable companies, not much DIY except for the things you might expect.

Mark Ueber I think the moral here is to avoid any older sports car with low, low miles. That’s a dead give-away the car was a garage queen. Porsche’s are meant to be driven often and wound out before each gear shift. You don’t have to go to the red line, but don’t let that flat-six lug. And the worst thing to do to any Porsche is to let it sit in the garage for 2 or 3 months.

@@kamakauketwo5282 The difference with high mileage Porsches is that some schmuck has already forked out for the replacement parts. They start imploding after 50k.

Your experience is similar to mine, I had a 986 which was OK, but had a 987 RS60 Spyder 2008 and it needed a new engine as well as constant new parts. Cost £5.2k for replacement engine.

Between the 944, 914, and Boxster, which is your preferred and why? I had a 944 and have driven the 914, and am going to test a 986.2 S this weekend. I miss my 944

Boxster by far, but the 944 is / was the most comfortable and the 914 was great as well when running.

how much specs?

@@lionheart93 2001 986 S. Not too many options, it is an S with 150k on it. $4750 USD. Needs seat upholstery, AOS, oil tubes, coolant flush

@@Rockit181 Good Luck with your vehicle! At $4750, you have a lot of elbow room for future improvements! Cheers!

Rockit181 I have a 2001 S and I’ve owned it for 4 years now ...I decided to change the dreaded IMS bearing ( which this cars had a fault with ) and the clutch ,the AOS ,the fuel filter ,the battery and this thing is gem with 90,000 Miles ...arctic silver .oh and I changed the top with the glass window

Me too! 2002 S with 90k miles for $7500. Upholstery is perfect. Had to replace the LCD screen on the AC. Pelican parts sells a kit for about $70. It was an easy fix. Just replaced wipers, have an air filter ordered (the one in it was filthy). Next, performance exhaust.

Daniel Pendergast wow that’s cheap ! Is it a S model ? How many miles ?

Wow! Can you elaborate more on this - mileage, condition, etc?

Alex Smith I’m sure it had lots of miles and maybe it was the basic model ..not the S ..but they are fun to drive!!!

Vladimir Alvarez It was not a S. But it has S exhaust and a Garret turbo added from Old owner. It was well taken care of. Looked nice but little things here or there went out, but to the eye looked perfect!

Alex Smith 20 year old car, so there’s that but for the most part it was pretty straight. No body damage, (major atleast). 63k miles when I got it. Loved the car until I went to replace the clutch.. lol pushing stuff like that aside it’s fun!

Yes....until the crankshaft bearing self destructs into the engine....

I’ve been eye balling the Cayman GT4. Now they are coming out with an RS version. I am so sold on the GT4 version. I currently own a 2001 Boxster S manual in Silver with black interior, with 85000 on the ticker. I love driving it in the Utah canyons.

Sounds like you have replaced half the car. Throwout bearing, Clutch, water pump, alternator..yes, VERY reliable. All Porsches are money pits.

Just wait until things start going wrong. You smile will soon disappear.

Roger P I love fast things. But as you say, I don't need any more HP. (I have the S).

If i had Porsche ask me that I couldn't sell it either, i'd burn it.

It only turns heads because it is orange and people are thinking that's a tacky car.

Purchase price is the tip of the iceberg.

try 944 s2 or 928 gts ahhhhh love them

Thank you!!

Mike Paquette I got mine (2000 S model with 48K miles) about when you did. 2020 or so, right before Covid. It was at the bottom of the market. It has appreciated about 35%. Not that I plan on selling it. But it still feels good to have proof I made the right decision. Great car.

@@boyracer3477 i bought mine 4 days ago with 44k miles on it. best purchase i’ve made

@@thepimppresident653 Oh, you will be entirely sure of that after a while of getting to drive it more. Dollar for dollar, you can't find a better nor a more fun car to drive. And you will never lose a penny on it if you treat her right. People will start catching on about them and want them. Meanwhile kids will be buying them at this low price and then run them into the ground by ignoring regular maintenance while also putting on cheap new wheels and loud $50 exhausts and hacking up the panel to install cheap aftermarket stereos. The price will go up as numbers go down.

Thank you! :)

I’m 25 and if I could give you any advice (I would never tell you what to do with your stuff). I would really think about spending a summer saving like $3k or wtv u need to buy a daily clunker til you graduate hs. But do NOT drive it into the ground man. Awesome car. Try your best to keep it that way

Nice!!

What year pimp

@@tientrinh943 boxster is 98, 996 engine 2001

Oh dear......get money out of the bank and throw it up into the wind and watch it disappear. What a dickhead.

dont let your wife wear the panths and go buy what you want and enjoy

@@SAMMYJR00777 Yeah….she would likely say “go for it”. But I’m retired, both military and federal LEO. She, on the other hand, still works. While I was out “God knows where doing God knows what”, she did an outstanding job over the past decades keeping the family together and the house maintained. So….yeah. These days, she has a strong say in how I spend. I appreciate your encouragement, though! Take care!

Porsches are complete money pits. I owned two over 11 years. They are also overrated as driving experiences. I currently have an Abarth 124 Spider and it is just a 100 times better sports car, reliable and exciting to drive.

@@molotovcocktail6671 Now you are in the time frame I really enjoyed. Era of cars have different cost structures being from simple and straight forward to the later models which are certainly entirely different. I can remember when I was an "Alfisti" and "Loti" through and through not, not wanting to look at a Fiat 124. Abarth is a name who changes production cars into road course competitors. People seek the enjoyment of sports cars where they can thus leading to potential money pits. I have many Alfas and Lotus' having a ball and enjoyment with each. Some where Abarth preparation designations and they all were potential and actual money pits. The basic costs were controlled by which car needed what repairs, changes, purpose, etc. You can put as much money into each project as you see needed; if you buy a project which costs more than you are willing to pay and what is needed to bring the vehicle to how you want the car for your needs then one needs to plan to determine actual costs before making any expenditures. I bought my cars in various cost levels and enjoyed working on them being from complete rebuilds to complete running cars needing very little work. In sum, the term money pit varies with the project and how one may try of it without having complete success: Always in the eyes of the beholder. In the end after having great fun and loosing problem money, I cannot label any of my projects as 'money pits' since it was only a hobby and I was having a Lott of enjoyment in my endeavors including the Boxster S I currently have. In my opinion and experience, the Boxster S is a great driving experience. I am now at the age where it hard to get up and down thus paying more money out by not be able to do most of the work. Still not a "money pit" since it a continuation of the "Sports Car Adventure" I started over 40 years ago. I will honestly say none of my cars were "money pits" just being part of a very enjoyable long term hobby. I even had respect for the Fiat 124 Spider since it was PinaFarrina design; but it has an old saying attached to it: FIAT means Fix It Again Tony. Became the standing joke against Fiat 124 Spider owners. Just part of the hobby as costs related to projects.

@@stevehurt1227 I don't have an original 124 Spider I have the new one from 2018. It is extremely reliable and the Fix it again Tony acronym is definitely an outdated description of Fiats today.

@@molotovcocktail6671 Congratulations. More modern and newer the car, it always seems to be have gotten better. I did not and am not making the point of t how good or bad certain cars are.. The point is if you enjoy your car to the ultimate, then that is the perfect car for you; others find total enjoyment in whatever they can find total satisfaction in their selected cars no matter what they cost because they have achieved a satisfaction with it including dependence and enjoyment in their selected cars. It is alright to have an opinion about one make of car along with negative experiences and yet find another which fills the 'bill' totally for them. I really enjoy working on them that is my main problem and that leads to higher costs which leads total enjoyment. A car developed by Singer or Abarth are each unique in their own right. I am very happy you have found the Abarth and it will not steer you wrong. That is one great car I am an "old Alfisti" (aka Old Alfa Romeo Nut") who now has to buy parts from Fiat/Alfa dealers since Fiat owns Alfa. Coming from an old back ground of Alfa's it only follows to accept change and find vehicles that give you satisfaction. I completely understand your experiences after owning a Boxster for eleven years and finding the Abarth experience. Now that is enjoying sports cars because you experienced the negatives but found the end of the rainbow in the Abarth. Congrats. I said said enough so "ENJOY YOUR ABARTH FIAT" because it will provide many miles of enjoyment to you.

@@stevehurt1227 Thank you, hopefully, it will... it's the most complete sports car I've owned and the best driving experience. It is mostly built by Mazda in Hiroshima, so, it's probably more reliable than Fiats of old. Had it over a year and faultless so far. Previous to my 986 and 987s I had a modified/customised mark 1 MX5 S-limited for 8 years. That was also a great car. All my cars have had either burgundy/tan or terracotta leather interiors. and been silver or black. I think Alfas probably have a worse reliability reputation than Fiats. Porsches are overrated and super expensive to maintain. My engine imploded on the 987 RS60 and cost me over £5k to replace.

Got mine! Love it

Great choice - 2.7 with the right spec is great.

@@wildwest5436 Me too..... 2.7

Michael Landon Bear i did muffler delete to min and it sounds amazing, i do caution there is drone but only in certain rpm ranges mine is about 2600-3000 range

Get the boxer s it's definitely worth 1 to $2,000 more it's a 911 in a boxer body

They are money pits. Purchase price is the tip of the iceberg.

If you are handy at doing the mechanical work yourself then yeah get one if not be prepared to spend a few bucks

Trust me, they cost a fortune to maintain. I KNOW.

My IMS was never an issue. The cylinder linings however...... Lol

@Blackporsche roadster you must be really bored

I'm on a business trip so I upgraded my rental from Hertz to a C7 Z06 to try, since the company is paying a huge chunk of the cost. The car they gave me has 25k miles on it and but it feels like I'm driving a car with 125k miles. Overall build quality is worse than my former gen6 Camaro (manual transmission), which modded to 700rwhp and sold last year. Honestly, the Corvette is a complete POS. Everything creaks and is loose. It sounds good, handles good, but the automatic transmission is beyond bad, it's atrocious. When I shift from park to drive or to manual mode, it feels like someone dumped a bucket of sand into the gear selector. In track + manual mode, there's more than a full 1 second delay from when I hit a paddle to downshift to the car changing gears. It feels huge too...I can't tell you how much I miss my RS3.

@@troymuni6120 a rental car with 25k miles is probably comparable to a regular car with much higher miles. Makes sense, seeing how everyone treats them like trash. I cant speak for the crappy auto gearbox (probably thrashed), but a vette with a stick is a sweet car to drive.

I own the Best Value in Sportcars C5 Z06

@@Rgh71fish very true but this was so bad you would've had to shift into drive from park yourself to feel how bad it was. I loved the tremec M6 manual transmission that I had in my Camaro. Even Corvette owners will tell you it's much better than the 7 speed manual they use in the C7, but that 7 speed isn't bad either - it's actually pretty good once you get used to the 7th gear being there. It's all of the ZF torque converter automatics in both Camaro's and C7's that have all of the issues, which continue on into the rear differential. So many complaints across generations of both cars that I learned to drive stick before buying my car, and I recommend everyone to do the same. There are quality issues with all American cars though, rental or not. They all degrade quickly (rattles, fitment, paint, wheel finishes, etc.). GM engineers cars great on paper. Great design, terrible execution on the little things you notice over time during ownership.

@@chrisberg2083 Probably true overall. It all comes down to whatever deal you're able to work out for yourself...right place, right time sort of thing. I planned out my Camaro purchase all the way into modding it before I even bought it. 12% off MSRP when i ordered it, but still raped on depreciation. I made out on the back end though. I had the top Camaro tuner/performance shop in the country showcase it as their first gen6 build. Sold it without even listing it anywhere.

Marco Penicholi Not sure what year you have but the published specs on a 2000 S model are 0-60 in 5.7 (a couple of places say 5.6) and a top speed of 161.

If the engine goes, wouldn't it be more economical to just buy another car altogether? A new engine would likely be over 10k US, from what I have seen from other owners.

@@RickyG225 Where did I say I would put a new engine in it? I would get a used engine.

@@theplayernkc My bad. I should have restated my comment as "another" and not new.

Daytona Grey TTRS the IMS bearing is the prob

Vladimir Alvarez yes but the 2.5 and early 2.7 don‘t have any problems with the IMS bearing

Dual row bearing ftw. I would still change it out every 60-80k when you do the clutch though.

What issues have you had with the 991?

@@panchosspeedshop8576 You should ask him how long his arm is, as the problem list will be about the same length.

@@molotovcocktail6671 Really!?? 991s are that bad?

@@molotovcocktail6671 Or ask him how long his nose is , as he has probably never owned one , just another troll

My boxster has been perfect after 5+ years of ownership.