Clarkyboy

Cheers, 

I am also middle aged and with a full NCB so I guess its back to the comparison sites. Not sure where Insurers sit when you have full NCB on another vehicle or whether it is worth investigating multi-car policies especially as current renewal dates are spread throughout the year. 

Picked up my base 2.5 986 last year as a second (maybe third) car and weekend toy.

I have only done a few thousand miles as its mainly kept under a cover on the driveway and used when the sun shines. I got a great price last year with Esure (circa £150) when I insured it, but I just got an email offering to auto renew the policy at well over £500. I know insurance costs are going up but with no accidents or changes in my circumstances I think I will be declining their kind offer.

Any advice on the best place to go for a competitive quote for a 986 as a second car?

Cheers

Jonathan 

I have a similar issue with the passenger door card carpet below the speaker getting wet. In very heavy rain this can result in the cubby hole at the base of the door filling with water. I had the door card off and patched up some small splits in the membrane but the problem has come back. Poor thing has been under a cover the last couple of weeks due to the miserable weather we have been having recently. So I'm also interested in any thoughts/fixes.

On 11/14/2022 at 7:16 PM, the baron said:

Keeps it original I suppose, the 996 has a cd changer from new  so I presume that links to the CR22 so cd play would be possible nut please check on that

My travails with getting a CDR22, which was jammed unwired into the dash when I bought my car (I also got an old Alpine that had been fitted)  are listed in another thread. That unit is now up and running but only works intermittently for radio and has no CD function so I have also been keeping an eye out for an original head unit. I quite fancy the idea of a cassette player in a 90's era vehicle and could also be interested if Freddie doesn't take it off your hands.

Ummm. No rocking out to 90's era CDs for me.

Unit begins to take in CD then stops part way. I also keep losing the display illumination (pushing front of unit brings this back) although I retain sound. It occasionally makes a three tone 80's computer type sound and dies. I think the previous owner may have been sold a pup with this head unit. I will keep fiddling but may be in the market for a replacement.

11 hours ago, Daboy3000 said:

Glad you got it (mostly) working.

I recently bought an untested CDR22 from a house clearance after removing a butchered aftermarket system last year, the joy in my eyes when i fired up a 1996 mix CD was priceless.  Being an ex DJ/music producer I do love my music, the sound quality from my non amped cdr22 is pretty poor, but it just looks right and I have a flat six for my soundtrack anyway.

So true. I've got touchscreen, CarPlay, all the bells and whistles in my daily but I can't wait to rock a few old CD's. I have huge envy of a friend though who tells me his early 2.5 came with the tape deck in the head unit along with the 6 CD changer. I would love to fire up some old mix tapes! 

The Continental is an option if I can't get the Becker to consistently work with a bit more fiddling.

Had some time today and removed all the bodged connections to the yellow plug and then reconnected the head unit and...it worked! Sounds good and quite powerful actually. Thanks Richard and Daboy - spot on with your advice.

The challenge now is the CDR 22 head unit itself, which was in pretty poor condition. While the front opens for security and to accept a CD, it looks as though someone has had the whole front of the unit off previously. I had to replug two ribbon connectors and reattach the front, but it appears that it is still loose and this occasionally affects illumination of the display and even power to the unit. Applying pressure to the front of the head unit restores things and I haven't even tried the CD yet!

Not sure why I have got so excited about getting a 20 year old stereo working again...       

Thanks Again to Richard, I now have some wiring diagrams and it looks as if the issue is probably the 12v wake up feed for the amp. I can see that his black/red wire has been disconnected as suspected. 

My car has the frunk amp, but no CD changer. Looking at the wiring again it seems that a brown connector has simply been attached and rewired to the original yellow connector to support the aftermarket head unit. Would I be correct in thinking that if I remove these connections to the brown plug and simply plug in the yellow connector directly to the middle port on the Becker unit that I would reinstate the original connections (the wiring diagram for the amp shows a yellow connector)?

I have attached some photos of the wiring I have available, and included one of the aftermarket Alpine head unit, which utilised the current wiring (presumably excluding the green/blue plugs as there are only two connectors) and which again I can get powered up but with no audio output. The usb lead is interesting as this obviously connected to the Alpine at one point, however i have no idea where it goes to. 

Apologies again for requesting an idiots guide to what is no doubt a fairly simply solution. Either way I would like to have a working radio! 

Jonathan  

40 minutes ago, Richard Hamilton said:

It is.most likely the the wake up line for the amp isn't connected. Drop me a PM with your email address, and I'll sent you the wiring diagram in the morning when I get to my PC. 

Thanks Richard, you have been a big help today. PM sent.

Jonathan

The CDR22 unit I have does not give the colour codes for the wiring (the Alpine did). I also have a factory amp in the frunk, so I'm not sure if that makes any difference or whether it was disconnected when the Alpine was fitted. Perhaps I need to pull it out again and take some pictures of the connectors and wiring.

Thanks Richard. 

That code worked perfectly, the radio fired up and was searching and finding radio stations. My only issue is that there is no sound output!

To be fair I have been rather winging it on connections and yesterday I also managed to get power to the Alpine IDA Unit that was previously fitted, but yet again there was no sound output. That unit did have an adaptor harness and  a usb connection, so I have ignored the a usb connector which is also present, which I obviously cannot fit to the original Becker Unit.

I may of course have plugged the connectors incorrectly... I plugged the black connector in the lowest slot, brown into the middle and yellow/green into the top. One of the connectors did have a trailing yellow wire, which was obviously diverted to the Alpine head unit in some way. It looked like there had been some serious bodging in the past with some wires just twisted together and electrical taped together

Obviously having failed completely in my guesswork approach to fixing the problem, I have now returned to the forum in the hope someone knows how these things should be connected and why I now have a seemingly working head unit but no sound!

Thanks again

Jonathan 

Hi

This has probably been asked a thousand times but a quick search here revealed no matches.

I bought a Boxster with the old head unit disconnected and and a CDR22 jammed into the dash but not wired in. I have managed to get power to the CDR but obviously it is now asking me for a radio code. Does anybody know where I can access this for free or do I need to pay one of the many sites that seem to sell this information?

Model No: 4467

Serial No: X5011854

Cheers

Jonathan

Had the same issue with a neighbours cat actually where it has clawed the roof, so another reason for a cover.

Anyone had experience of this cover: https://www.ukcustomcovers.com/porsche-boxster-986-987-tailored-car-cover 

Thanks for the comments on this, some interesting reading and good to have actual recommendations.

My Boxster was an impulse purchase, won't fit in my garage and was relatively cheap (ie lots of remedial work required). I was told it was waterproof by the previous owner but have noticed some carpet dampness after heavy rain (base of passenger door and bulkhead behind passenger seat). I'm anticipating it won't be used as much in winter and want to provide some protection.

I'm really after a cost effective option that provides at least some protection from the elements and had been considering a generic Halfords All Season Cover or a full cover from UK Custom Covers. Interesting that there is a lot of love for the half covers here, I hadn't considered that option.

Any thoughts/recommendations on a good option for a winter car cover?

Thanks.

On 8/4/2022 at 7:56 AM, 999mch said:

I bought mine last year from a guy who had only had it a month (wife was ill and insurance was massive) and mine has turned out ok after 15 months. Best thing you can do is drive it, you then end up with a silly grin on your face !

As regards stereo I fitted a continental so it fits in period wise but gives bluetooth, phone USB etc. 

Mine had a lack of service history, so I put it in for a full service with an indie and asked them to check it over. The general rule seems to be a full set of stamps showing a service every 2 years since the year dot is not as good as a load of receipts for work carried out over the last 5 years.

I had some receipts for garages that had carried out MOT etc, and i rang them up to see if they had carried out any work in the last couple of years.

All the best and just enjoy it

 

 

Loving the look of that Continental, it looks like a period match. What model is it and as it still available to buy? Did you need an additional wiring kit? Any issues with the anti-theft wiring when you took out the original?

14 minutes ago, Darren Sapsford said:

If it's any help we do a free Saturday surgery which involves checking the car over on a ramp and showing you any issues. Have a look at our website.

AMS PORSCHE, Hertfordshire 👍👍

 

 

Cheers for that. You are only about an hour away from me. Please be aware that I don't want to hear any more bad news though!

Hi All

Thanks again for the interest. I'm not feeling too disheartened today, after all I do have a Porsche that starts, stops and drives and to all intents and purposes still looks pretty special.

As you can imagine, Paul is an expert and had quite a list. In particular he highlighted that the suspension really needed some attention. I knew about a "cam cover leak" but the engine needs a good clean to identify the source but it looks like the spark plug tubes are leaking and will need attention. The exhaust is pretty crusty (although not blowing as far as I can tell) and the brakes are evidencing a lack of use in recent years. Beyond that there are also the ac condensers, the need for a radio and I've probably forgotten some bits. But that's a long enough list for now!  

I have to say I did an MOT history check and whilst patchy there were clean passes for MOTs in 2021 (DT Sanderson, Spalding) and April of this year. I took that as evidence that the car couldn't be hiding anything too horrendous pre-purchase. Tellingly the April MOT is missing from the small file of papers I have. I did see from a pre-purchase check that immediately after this MOT the car was up for sale for more than I paid immediately after and then subsequently reduced over several months.

I bought the car as a bit of a running project, however my driveway skills are limited and Paul pointed out the need for special tools and knowledge for some the bigger jobs. I'm still in two minds over how to proceed to be honest. The losses shouldn't be too heavy given the car still has a value should I decide to sell, but alternatively maybe there is still some fun to be had should I take it on as a project.

Questions, questions... On a positive note Paul did offer to take another look if I can get down to Surrey from where I am based in Cambridge and talk me through some of these challenges. As I said before, a very helpful and friendly forum here.  

Well...

Firstly I want thank everyone for making me feel so welcome and for all the kind comments. I thought this was a friendly bunch of enthusiasts and it seems I certainly got that right.

I gave Paul (Trooper88) a call earlier and he certainly burst my Boxster bubble! It seems that I will have my work cut out if I decide to keep the car with a list of things that will need attention. The seller was fairly economical with the reality of the vehicle and I am going to give myself a few days to consider whether I am up to the task and just get out and drive the thing. I'm feeling a bit of an idiot for being so trusting but I'm sure I'll be feeling more positive again tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the interest and hopefully there will be a happy ending to this relationship.

Cheers

Jonathan 

Hi

Long time lurker on these pages but thought I had missed the Boxster boat as prices have been creeping up in the last couple of years. Last week I went and broke all my own rules and on the spur of the moment picked up a cheap 986 with a mere 120,000 miles from an Ebay seller.

It looks from the service book that it was fairly well kept up until 2015, but it has since done less than 3k and there are three years when it was not MOT'd so presumably off the road somewhere. This and the fact that the guy I bought it off had only had it for a month and was moving it on should have had me running in the opposite direction. However, he came across as genuine and was in the process of buying another Boxster, a 3.2S from Eporsch,  so and I made him an offer.

Good points are that it's clean and presentable, seems to drive ok (although it has a wandering idle) and the roof (plastic rear window) and screen look relatively new. It passed its MOT in 21 & 22 with no major issues having had brake pipes replaced before the MOT in 2021. It does have a couple of minor bodywork dings, the aircon doesn't blow cold and the radio (CDR22) is not working. The car is on a private plate (L90 XTR) but was originally supplied new in October 1998 on an 'S' registration by Stratton of Wilmslow. It looks from MOT and service history that it spent most of the last 10 years in Lincolnshire.

Does anyone on here know this particular vehicle or any more of its history? Am I on the brink of financial ruin buying into this? Any advice on what I should be doing/checking? Also any thoughts on a bluetooth radio replacement, checking the aircon issue and buying a decent car cover would be most welcomed.

Thanks