Lozzaroo Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Hi, I'm new here but have been reading lots of posts over the past few weeks as I decide whether to dive into Boxster ownership. Initially I thought I'd just get a cheap 986 or 986s, but I now have reservations about reliability/things falling off given the various threads on here. Most people seem to say to budget £200 per month for maintenance or repairs. But if that's the case, using basic man maths, I may as well get finance and use that money to to pay it off, and get a 5 year old 981. Does anyone have a 981 of that vintage? I'm assuming they're going to be significantly more reliable/need less attention. Plus the interior is streets ahead IMO. Thanks! Loz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMacdonald Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 It varies a lot between cars. Some have bought an old 986 and immediately had to spend £4K+ on essential repairs. On the other hand, I've had mine for over three years/ 25K and the only urgent job has been £100 for a window regulator. An older car will almost certainly be higher mileage and things like suspension will be closer to end of life. I pop £100/month into a savings account for upkeep and all its' really doing is accumulating at the moment. Perhaps I'll have to splurge it all on an emergency one day but a 981 isn't going to be bulletproof, will still need routine maintenance and you'll be spending your maintenance money on the loan. Many would say the 981 will be a better experience. It'll certainly be faster. Buy on that basis rather than because it may be cheaper overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menoporsche Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Your man maths, being man maths, avoids depreciation, which will be the biggest cost of owning the 981. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobbie Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 If you buy a well looked after 986 and get the work done at a specialist then costs should be well below £2k a year. Buy a 5 year old 981 and on top of the finance, you will need to pay for a Porsche Warranty if you are risk averse and are then stuck with OEM parts for tyres, clutch, battery and brakes, all of which could need doing on a 5 year old car and are not covered by the warranty. The finance payment is just paying the depreciation and interest on the loan, you still have the running costs on top of that which on a complex car like the 981 can be substantial and will not all be covered under warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTSMarky Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 It's also very car dependent as some cars go wrong and some don't - not necessarily any logic to it although for sure your right foot can influence the rate at which things wear out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozzaroo Posted March 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Thanks guys. As for depreciation on a 981, you can pick them up for £24-25k now, and personally don't see them dropping much below 20k in the next year or two. I was also tempted by @Guvs 987, but then I started looking at 987.2s and once you're there the 981 is within reach. I started cheap but then ended up expensive, that's man maths for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattman42 Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 man maths is brilliant - i was in a similar position as you this time last year - started out with a budget of around £6k, then went to around £10k to get a 987.1 - read lots of forums and all the horror stories so convinced myself that the only way to avoid it was to double the budget and get a 987.2 PDK i then just had to convince SWMBO that maths made sense - but constant showing her various cars and dragging her around dealers, meant that when i found the one, i think she had given in and told me to buy it What you really need is a 981 GTS...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scubaregs Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 12 minutes ago, Mattman42 said: i then just had to convince SWMBO that maths made sense - but constant showing her various cars and dragging her around dealers, meant that when i found the one, i think she had given in and told me to buy it Brilliant, use shopping against them. Sir I salute you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scubaregs Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 A 5 year old 981 is still erm, 5 years old. Thinking you can buy one and have little or no maintenance/wear and tear/problems is burying your head in the sand a bit. Man maths allow us to convince ourselves something is within reach, but you will need some money in reserve. Is the car going to be a daily driver? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat haggis Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Guvs 987 is a stunning car needing nothing done to it mate a stunner. I have had them all and just worked my way up the ladder I now have a 2013 981 77000mls with full history and I love it. Infact I have just realised I have had the 981 for a year already. And loving everything about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozzaroo Posted March 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 5 minutes ago, Scubaregs said: A 5 year old 981 is still erm, 5 years old. Thinking you can buy one and have little or no maintenance/wear and tear/problems is burying your head in the sand a bit. Man maths allow us to convince ourselves something is within reach, but you will need some money in reserve. Is the car going to be a daily driver? Yeah I don't want to bury my head in the sand, and I don't mind things going wrong from time to time, I just don't want to spend half my life down the garage. No would not be a daily driver at all. I don't really need a car, to be fair. But I do want one! 2 minutes ago, fat haggis said: Guvs 987 is a stunning car needing nothing done to it mate a stunner. I have had them all and just worked my way up the ladder I now have a 2013 981 77000mls with full history and I love it. Infact I have just realised I have had the 981 for a year already. And loving everything about it. Well this is part of the problem - I just don't know whether I should skip the climbing the ladder bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scubaregs Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 As it's not going to be a DD, then if something does go boobies up, you can fix at your leisure so to speak. Guv's car looks a cracking buy, we can't understand why it's not been sold yet. Try and get test drives in the different gens if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenman Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 I agree with scuba, don’t assume 981 will be less maintenance, you are probably less likely to need to refresh’s suspension, water pump, bearing issues, bore score issues etc, but... a 5-6 year old car will likely need brake parts if not already done, clutch if Manual? Plus in general the 981 has a bit more technology so should active mounts, active suspension etc fail then its likely to be a larger fix cost. whatever way you want the numbers to work you car argue🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozzaroo Posted March 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Thanks, I think basically you can make it work any way you want to. I can convince myself to go one way or the other so it's great to get some feedback on owners on here. Specifically with regards to Guvs car, as a potential buyer I can tell you that the mileage is slightly off-putting. And personally I'm not bothered about that myself. If a car's been well looked after then that's no worries. But come selling-on time it would be knocking on 100k potentially, and I think that then becomes a hard sell in a market with a lot of Boxsters. Otherwise looks fantastic, yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattman42 Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 i've had my 987.2 for a year now - it was serviced and MOT'd when i bought it, so to date its cost to me to date has been fuel, tax, insurance. My only failure has been the power supply of the head unit which cost £1,000 to fix - although that seems to be a very rare failure so can't really blame the car for that. Other than that i have replaced a rear front mudflap that cost me £35 from Design911 and was a DIY replacement. I de-snorkeled mine too which was free. My car was well prepped by the dealer (Maundrells) before i bought it and they did a lot of the maintenance tasks that i may have experienced if i had bought privately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scubaregs Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 22 minutes ago, Lozzaroo said: Specifically with regards to Guvs car, as a potential buyer I can tell you that the mileage is slightly off-putting. And personally I'm not bothered about that myself. If a car's been well looked after then that's no worries. But come selling-on time it would be knocking on 100k potentially, and I think that then becomes a hard sell in a market with a lot of Boxsters. Otherwise looks fantastic, yes. Mmm, you can';t fall into the trap of thinking of resale value before you buy. You are always going to lose money on resale, car has depreciated due to being older, another owner, more miles etc. I think you have already talked yourself into a 981. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozzaroo Posted March 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Feels that way, doesn't it. Still undecided TBH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobbie Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 16 minutes ago, Lozzaroo said: Feels that way, doesn't it. Still undecided TBH The resale point about high miles is a valid one as their is a definite issue with selling cars above the psychological 100k barrier. If you only intend to keep it for a year or two, probably better to go with a lower miles car as it will be quicker to shift. Having said that, as long as you looked after Guv's car, you should be able to re-sell it on here, although it may take some time as we are a relatively small pool of potential buyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menoporsche Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 986 = 1k per year parts 981 = 1k per year depreciation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scubaregs Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 986 will depreciate also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMacdonald Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Although a 986 is much closer to the bottom of the bell curve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbikerdood Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 My man maths was this - I joined in Nov 2014 after buying a CAT C 986 2.7 2002 in black for £3250 82500 miles, spent £300 having the wheels done ,D - ambered tall the lights £550 then a minor service at Silverston OPC £300 then few months later the IMS went bang and sold as a non runner for £2k Total spent £4400 less £2k out of pocket £2400 After a month with help from a tax rebate , I bought a 2001 guards red 3.2s £5500 IMS had been done along with the clutch I then spent a futher £4500 on making it mechanically perfect with news discs/pads all round,new brakes pipes,major service,exhaust sports mod,upgraded the roof to the glass back panel etc etc - I then sold this as I had bough a newish car for work and didn't want the finance headache so sold that one for £5k with 125000 on the clock and also made a loss …... I then later that year in Oct decided instead of putting a deposit on a flat to rent out I though fek it - 981 3.4s - good spec for £31k I then put in BMC race filters,had mesh fitted to the inside of the front bumper and decided to add race stripes I have no regrets over the money ive lost,i so enjoy this brand of car as its given me great new friends,trips abroad and my Mrs loves the car - she even said last year we could upgrade to a 911 2016/7 plate but after a few test drives in various sports cars etc the Boxster is the only one we can get all our luggage in! So my point in all this waffle is buy one,enjoy it,drive it,go for wknds away in it and most of all - we on here are a great bunch of Boxster owners who'll you'll soon meet no doubt! Si Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scubaregs Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Liking the MARTINI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason986S Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 @mrbikerdood all very cool looking cars! The black to red cars look like you inverted the colours haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnSyn Posted March 7, 2019 Report Share Posted March 7, 2019 Have you driven a 986 and a 981 yet? I suspect that will help a lot in deciding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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