BrianJ

It’s a good question and something that has kept me mainly with OPCs or an experienced indie (of which there are none within convenient range). Whilst the mechanicals themselves have their Porsche quirks they are mainly pretty straightforward. The tricky bit on a 981 Boxster IMHO is knowing exactly how to access the oily bits without damaging interior trim, the hood, etc because there are some quite small clearances and it isn’t the same as a 987 or 986. I suspect before committing I would want to visit and satisfy myself that the guys doing the work had experience of doing 981 Boxster before, and could maybe put you in touch with a satisfied customer. No harm in asking.

I had the battery replaced years ago on my then 5 year old car, possibly 2008. The guy put the battery in wrong way round, I saw the flash. Blew alternator and when that was repaired (new diode pack) most of the instruments including the speedo didn’t work. In the end it went to OPC who had to replace complete instrument binnacle. OPC told me the parts alone were £1000+, plus fitting, recoding the odometer etc. Battery guys paid the OPC direct after initially accusing me of going there to get a new battery just so I had someone to blame for the instruments not working. After that I was very careful changing the battery on my 981. Good luck.

Remember that music first time in an ad for the MG Metro GTa in 1990! 

One of the few Porsche bits clearly labelled “Made in the United Kingdom”. I wonder where?

I hate the way the car doesn’t slow down when I take my foot off the gas. Makes small decelerations to match traffic speeds a pain, particularly downhill. Brake lights on motorways instead of just easing off the accelerator can cause panic behind. Otherwise PDK does everything so well. Turning off coasting makes behaviour like a manual but better. Our BMW X1 is even worse because I haven’t found a way of turning off coasting, sometimes gentle braking for miles on long hills round here.

2 hours ago, mr.tourette23 said:

Hate stop/start too but I don't know if I'm in a minority in quite liking the coasting feature

Hate both, especially coasting. Only use stop/start in rare urban circumstances.

Platinum Satin for me.

I've had Zunsports for about 15 years with no problems. But a couple of years ago I was caught in a heavy snowstorm and the front grilles got almost completely covered over. I made regular stops to clear them. It hadn't occurred to me before that this could happen but shows why most car manufacturers have a very wide honeycomb design which statistically stops some stones but leaves a wide enough gap to prevent snow clogging.  Presumably Porsche fits mesh as standard to GT cars in the expectation that they won't be driven far on Cup tyres in snowstorms!    

Only works on hills, doesn’t work in N or if you move the PDK shifter.

I just thought I would put it on here in case someone was interested. 

One for sale now on PCGB forum - see https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1139064#1139064

Varies by insurer. LV give same as in UK for up to 180 days, so if you pay for comprehensive in UK, you get comprehensive in Europe (specific countries are listed in policy). Lots of people don't bother checking and are blissfully unaware.

Voltage option wasn’t in the handbook for the 2013 car either. It is in the 2016 car handbook.

Defo was not there. OPC and Indie both confirmed.

53 minutes ago, Davey P said:

Mine is 2014, and you can see it has the voltage display option, so that might be the year it changed over.  I only discovered it by accident when I noticed there was an option for a 4th line on the display (I think the default is 3 lines) 👍

My 2013 car had the possibility of a 4th line but no possibility of voltage in it. I used it for altitude - much more interesting!

However hard I looked my 2013 981 didn’t have voltage as an option but my 2016 981 does. So the functionality clearly changed at some point, but I don’t know when.

My 2013 981 did not have (then optional) TPMS and hence no visibility of it on screen. My 2016 car does.

3 minutes ago, zagamuffin said:

Ill go against the grain and suggest they passef the car onto you with a warranty with non std bolts so they are liable , i guarantee if you brought the car in for 111 check with non std. bolts they would refuse warranty , ask to speak to service manager.

Exactly my thoughts too.

As above. Most common issue for newbie 981 buyers seems to be discovering car has no Bluetooth or heated seats. Expensive and inconvenient to recover from that. Also, many non-specialist indies don’t seem to have a clue about the spec of the car they are selling, which are sometimes inaccurately described. If you are buying a daily driver, I would always go for PDLS lights which are brilliant (excuse pun) vs Bi-Xenon, especially if you do lots of winding roads in shyatety winter conditions - the “see round corners” and headlamp washers transform the driving experience. I wouldn’t even contemplate a car with the standard (on a non S) halogen candles. You can always check original build spec by spending a fiver on a VIN analyser report from this forum.

Yes, 3.1. My output from VIN decoder says exactly the same, even on my 2016 car. Odd.

Many will favour Michelin. You don't say what wheel size you have (the N numbers are not the same for each wheel size), but in my experience on 20" wheels the P Zero N1 is a far better tyre than the N0 - much nicer ride and significantly more grip in the wet. No cracking either. 

4 hours ago, GTSMarky said:

Worth looking at the official  Porsche Owners club & going on their excellent track days - that's what I did.

I'm straying from the OP topic but for anyone interested they're listed at https://www.porscheclubgb.com/shop/tickets/all-track-days. Some are sold out

Specified my 2003 986 with aircon and heated seats. Friend couldn’t understand need for aircon on a convertible. First summer we went touring in Spain and France, outside temp regularly over 40C. Some days by 10am in full sun we were completely overheated. Hood up and aircon on was only way of not ending up with heatstroke. Aircon also useful for typical damp winter days for demisting. Heated seats brilliant in winter. Wouldn’t change either decision.

Good videos on the web site showing functionality and installation too. And it clearly states that it will work with OEM or non-OEM reversing camera, and that phone calls are handled with the OEM microphone but Siri etc with the supplied one.  Unlike some of the other solutions they seem to have answered many of the questions before they are asked. Thanks for posting the link. 

Apologies if this is completely irrelevant. Nearly 20 years ago I bought a brand new 986 then had a 3rd party GPS tracker fitted. When the guy had finished I found 2 pieces of a hollow plastic pipe that had been pulled apart inside the car, underneath the dashboard, to the right of where the passenger’s right foot would go, behind the carpet, running from somewhere above to somewhere below. I just put the tubing together again, assuming it was a drain. I never had any dampness inside the car in the 6 years/80k miles I had it, and I was glad I noticed it when it happened. Might be related to your issue, might not!