1997 Porsche Boxster
Summary:
Death trap
Faults:
After overheating when idling on the driveway the radiator expansion bottle exploded. This sent a 15 feet cloud of boiling water into the air, bent the car boot lid, destroyed the hinges and almost maimed or killed me.
Porsche claim that it is normal operation for this to occur should the radiator be unable to cool the car, leaving me with a £2000 repair bill.
Both the dealer and Porsche had no interest and offered no assistance other than relieving me of my cash despite the fact I could have been very severely injured.
General Comments:
Car handles and goes great. Appalling service and no customer service from Porsche or any of it's dealers.
Depreciation has been from £38000 to £20000 (offered by Porsche Dealer) in 18 months.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 1st December, 2000
14th Apr 2001, 15:07
Buy a few more? Once is enough. A ain't never been dead yet, but I don't want to try it out to see if I like it.
Seriously; Granted Porsche has a mystique about it that probably isn't actually warranted. I have owned four of them, repaired dozens. Once one gets past the engine and transmission (which are quite difficult to service on the later models), the subsystems are terrible and lack the quality one would expect. There are those who will say "If you can't afford to maintain it, you shouldn't own it". This is factory twaddle. Dealers, for the most part, overcharge for parts and service, leaving the owner to fend for him or her self. The Porsche family laughs all the way to the bank. Why then, do you ask, do Porsches last so long? If a car spends most of its life either at a service provider or in the garage for the winter, it will last longer than a daily driver. A Porsche is less reliable for daily use than a Chevy or a Ford.
If the quality of upholstery materials and electrical components were upgraded then we might be tempted to think of Porsche as a truly reliable automobile. As for me, I go nowhere without a cellular phone, a set of cables and a paid up membership in the Automobile Association.
15th Dec 2000, 22:15
Must be a fluke! I know a Boxster owner, and to my knowledge, nothing has ever gone wrong with it. If I were you I'd buy a few of them and see if they aren't any better.