97-99 Boxster as DD?

My wife's 2000 Cavalier is getting long in the tooth. I've owned it almost nine years and it has just under 130K miles on the clock. I was thinking about buying a new VW Rabbit or Jetta for her, but I notice I can get a 97-99 Porsche Boxster for the same or less than the new VW.

Sooooo, I was thinking perhaps give the wife my 04 Jaguar X-Type as a DD, Buy myself an old Boxster and toss the Cavi in a ditch somewhere.

How stupid am I? Thanks.

I would love to do the same, but I think parts will end up being expensive.

Make sure you get one with a warranty, and KEEP it in warranty for your entire ownership. They have a tendency to go through engines.

Hmm, I would be surprised if a car that old would still be under warranty. That is discouraging, but I had heard rumors of engine failure before.

So you drive an '04 Jag and she drives an '00 Cavalier? How'd you manage that?

Heh, I control the monies. Honestly though, there is a little resentment and she takes the jag every chance she gets.

I don't know what to do. I want my wife to have a safe and very reliable car, so that leads me to want to buy new. There are an awful lot of sexy used cars though. An E36 M3 is another temptation and probably a lot more practical than the Boxster (not to mention even cheaper).

Winston wrote: Make sure you get one with a warranty, and KEEP it in warranty for your entire ownership. They have a tendency to go through engines.

If its a 97-99 the first engine is long since gone, all the ones on original install that have lasted this long are still good.

go with the M3... more reliable, cheaper, and you can occasional take more than one passenger with you

wearymicrobe wrote:

Winston wrote: Make sure you get one with a warranty, and KEEP it in warranty for your entire ownership. They have a tendency to go through engines.

If its a 97-99 the first engine is long since gone, all the ones on original install that have lasted this long are still good.

Well, I don't feel comfortable blowing my whole wad on one of these if the engine could suddenly become an expensive paper weight. One that is for sale locally is a '99 with 38K miles. Based on my brief forum scanning, that could still be a timebomb waiting to go off. The scary thing is that it sounds like the failures are truly sudden and happen without warning.

It would be dishonest to say I'm not still tempted though.

WilD wrote: Well, I don't feel comfortable blowing my whole wad on one of these if the engine could suddenly become an expensive paper weight. One that is for sale locally is a '99 with 38K miles. Based on my brief forum scanning, that could still be a timebomb waiting to go off. The scary thing is that it sounds like the failures are truly sudden and happen without warning.

Unfortunately, those engines are timebombs at any mileage. Even the replacement engines, because Porsche just puts a brand new timebomb engine back in. They never really did fix the problem.

Aircooled VW guru Jake Raby is working on fixing the problems Porsche screwed up. http://www.flat6innovations.com/engines/stock-parts-a-services/4-stock-engine-rebuilds

If you can stomach the mechanical carnage, take a look at some of the factory's failures: http://www.flat6innovations.com/engine-failures-illustrated

I like the end of the failures page "this is not the same company that built the 911 and 356"

Buy one with a bad motor and put a 911 engine in.

Winston wrote: Aircooled VW guru Jake Raby is working on fixing the problems Porsche screwed up. http://www.flat6innovations.com/engines/stock-parts-a-services/4-stock-engine-rebuilds If you can stomach the mechanical carnage, take a look at some of the factory's failures: http://www.flat6innovations.com/engine-failures-illustrated

Is this the same Jack Raby who sells the rebuild kits for the 4 cylinder 914? I was thinking of buying one of his rebuild kits when my 914 finally dies. They are on the expensive side but his web site gives good information about them.

Snowdoggie wrote: Is this the same Jake Raby who sells the rebuild kits for the 4 cylinder 914? I was thinking of buying one of his rebuild kits when my 914 finally dies. They are on the expensive side but his web site gives good information about them.

I assume so since it's an unusual name. This is his aircooled website (not nearly as flashy):

http://www.aircooledtechnology.com/Home_Page.htm

dculberson wrote: Buy one with a bad motor and put a 911 engine in.

Just make sure to buy a '97-'98 so that you can legally swap in a 993 engine (last of the aircooled engines). The watercooled 996 911 engines are junk just like the ones in the Boxsters (turbo/GT2/GT3 engines excluded, those are different and so far have been of normal reliability).