986 jackpoint/sill rust

[Blakey986]

Hi all, im new to Porsche ownership and this forum. Looking for important advice from boxter experts!

Long story short: Recently picked up a 2003 986s 3 weeks ago. 60k miles, runs like a dream and exterior is in pristine condition. 1 week after buying the water pump gave way (my luck). The specialist porsche dealer were fantastic and replaced it no problem. 

Underneath needed bit of tlc including jack points/sills, so I prepped for lanoguarding and cleaning, and got it up on ramps with a torch. And I've noticed its rotted and rusted inside of the jackpoints which look structural? This is on both sides. The fronts look ok, but inside rears don't in my opinion.

I've enquired back to the garage in question, however whats everyone else's opinion? Is this expected for a 20yo car? Especially a galvanised one? much appreciated for any help!

Cheers all

 

[Nobbie]

That looks pretty serious to me, someone has clearly slapped some black gunk over it in the past. My 1999 car has some rust issues, but the jacking points are fine. Have you taken the covers off and checked the main structural members? When was the last MOT done? Did it mention rust? If it was within a month then I’d be looking to complain to VOSA about a fraudulent MOT or use that threat to get a refund from the dealer.

[½cwt]

I agree that looks worse than most and looks as if it might have weakened the structure of the jacking point.  Has the car lived near the coast at some time maybe?

@TROOPER88, you've seen lots, what do you reckon?

[TROOPER88]

As above that looks bad and possibly looks to me like that has been welded before. 

That exact location is not an area I usually see as the rubber ramp blocks cover it. 

[bally4563]

I again jacked plenty of these up , and I can say I’ve not seen that before,not to say they do but have probably worked one way or another on at least 20 plus and that’s a first, think I would be giving it back and a refund 

[iborguk]

That's the stuff you can see...

996 but you get the idea , scroll down to post 10 https://911uk.com/threads/rusty-sills.95995/

 

[Blakey986]

Thanks guys. To answer your questions @Nobbie 

- I Was told the Car was inspected and MOTd prior to purchase. No rust advisories to structural parts in the cars history (I used care vertical to check) only shocks and bushings etc)

Yes its all within this month. Only when I got the car up on ramps I saw the full extent, so I put that direct to rust spray on as a first resort. 

@CWT Yeah the car was originally kept around Scotland.

Once again thanks all for helping.

 

[Nobbie]

You can report a potentially fraudulent MOT here

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-an-mot-tester

or use the threat of that to get a refund. Maybe take it for an MOT and see what they come up with to use as evidence the first MOT was dodgy.

[Blakey986]

Cheers nobbie, noted!

Though I'd prefer if the dealer had the rust sorted and welded up through a bodyshop. As this car had both the ims and rms done as part of the sale.. 

If that doesn't sound plausible then I'll go the route of returning. Still waiting to hear back of them.

 

 

[½cwt]

To help them out, jacking point repair sections are available from Porsche (Front at about £55 each, rears about £165 each):

996 501 785 00 front left

996 501 786 00 front right

996 501 481 01 rear left

996 501 482 01 rear right

or given the look of the sills, complete side sections with the front and rear jacking points are about £250 each are:

986 501 957 00 left

986 501 958 01 right

[Bradders59]

Are you certain the IMS and RMS were done, or did the dealer just provide a piece of paper to say they had ?

I think I would get an engineers report on the car and depending what it throws up, decide to go for a full refund.

Something really wrong there in my opinion.

[Blakey986]

6 hours ago, ½cwt said:

To help them out, jacking point repair sections are available from Porsche (Front at about £55 each, rears about £165 each):

996 501 785 00 front left

996 501 786 00 front right

996 501 481 01 rear left

996 501 482 01 rear right

or given the look of the sills, complete side sections with the front and rear jacking points are about £250 each are:

986 501 957 00 left

986 501 958 01 right

That'll help a shed load, i can't thank you enough for providing that info mate. Will ask them for complete new sills then I recon.

@Bradders59 To be fair they gave me an official full invoice of parts used and labour. Aswell as a checklist of all items which were checked and replaced.. I just don't see how that rust was accepted. But I can see where your coning from!

 

 

[JohnnyGraham]

I travelled quite a long way to buy a 2.5 that had ‘ no visible rust’ which looked like that underneath. The inner rear arches were shocking also. I didn’t have as much time to inspect it as I hoped, so I only noticed the rust when I got home.

It seems to me that some cars are okay and others can go really badly for some reason. I took the car back for a refund and lost some travelling money. Those pictures look pretty horrible and I would advise you to do the same.

Edited March 29 by JohnnyGraham

[JohnnyGraham]

..Just to add that the car I bought in the end - a '99 - was completely different, totally solid. You'd be much better getting a different car, rather than persuading the vendor to 'fix', which they will not do properly. Rust is not to be underestimated, as you probably know. The IMS thing..does seem overblown by our US cousins. Sooooo many Boxsters out there that are completely fine. My solution was to get a 2.5..

[Bbooxxsstteerr]

I looked at a few when I got mine and I’ve owned one before and I’ve never seen that.

Being an Alfa and MX5 owner I know rust like few others and I would say don’t entertain having it fixed. I spent an embarrassing amount of money having the mx5 welded and it’s never going to be right. The welds are permanently susceptible to more rust because you can’t get welded in sill and cavity sections clean and protected enough in a car that’s not completly stripped. 

In due course all cars rust and long after the day I die hard core enthusiasts will be having Boxster shells dipped and repaired and painted like they are coming out of the factory again. But no one’s going to do that with a Boxster now. I’d want to return it. 

Edited April 1 by Bbooxxsstteerr

[Blakey986]

Wanted to share an update on the situation, and thanks again for the recent commentors for helping also.

So yes I decided to return the vehicle and look for a new one, been a lerning experience for sure. Currently eyeing up an 02 boxter, 50k miles, virtually rustless apart from the odd few sports..  with an ims upgrade too.

Also The garage were great and props to them for understanding.  

Once again thanks everyone for helping with my first porsche dilemma.

[ATM]

I was going to suggest this one but its already gone.

 

 

[Menoporsche]

On 4/4/2024 at 2:46 PM, Blakey986 said:

So yes I decided to return the vehicle and look for a new one, been a lerning experience for sure. 

Also The garage were great and props to them for understanding.  

This is very good news that it went back and the garage were great.  Name them? Everyone makes mistakes, it's how you react to them that counts.  If they took it back without quibble, they deserve a mention.