1997 Porsche Boxster from UK and Ireland - Comments

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hmmm,

I've owned my 99 Boxster from new. Travelled 35000 miles, not one single problem.

It's my second Porsche (previously 944S) and I've always found the dealers to offer very good service. Although this is often dependent on building up a good relationship with your dealer. I guess your experience with the overheating issue did nothing to improve your feelings toward your dealer.

As a car to drive I think it's superb and has probably cost me less to own than a top of the range mondeo.

I want to assist the previous comment. I'm happy owner of a (new bought) Boxster since 99 and have not faced a single problem till today (>60.000 km). The regular services are quite affordable (as opposed to Ferrari), and the car is absolutely fit for every day use - I can tell it because it actually is my every day car.

I regret that the starter of this thread made no good experiences with Porsche, nor do I understand why Porsche reacted in the reported manner. It is definitely the opposite to my experiences with Porsche so far.

In general I've found the quality of Porsches to be rather low. While the engine and running gear has a sturdy, Germanic feel to it, the quality of the interior and the durability of catches, latches, hinges and smaller plastic components is laughably below par. Porsche models are all overpriced, with a hefty surcharge levied simply for having that famous badge on the front.

Additionally, my experience with Porsche dealers has been extremely negative. They are very focused on sales and really aren't that interested in dealing with problems (mine had paint quality issues on the passenger door).

Take my word for it, Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealers are in the league Porsche dealers WISH they were in. You ain't seen proper service until you've bought an Arnage...

I apologise in advance for my knee jerk reaction, but what a load of absolute rubbish!

Porsches are badly built are they? Badly engineered? Poor subsystems?

From my experiences (and those of plenty of people I know) quite the opposite is true.

Porsches are generally massively over engineered. You will never get close with a Ford for overall competency and reliability for similar money.

Arnage? Okay, by a huge margin more expensive than a brand new 911 Turbo. Like for like comparisons please!

Compare a boxster with a TT for example. well, if there's any argument over the BETTER DRIVERS CAR then you obviously haven't driven both. Price, spec, reliability, etc are all comparable, but the Audi is NO FUN to drive.

Don't believe me? Drive both before you argue.

I own a 993, and whilst I don't particularly like the newer 911's I do still feel that they are better value for money than most of their competitors.

I have owned a 99 boxter for 4 years and it just started to overheat. I repair all my other motors myself from bmw to volvo diesal, but I cannot find a repair manual for the boxter,I am afraid of the dealer because the last time I went to one in NYC it cost $3200 for 4 tires and a oil change any help thanks rich jbrescher@optonline.net.

I have just purchased a 97' Boxster, and let me tell you I am absolutely thrilled with it, even though I haven't had it, but for a short while I could not be Happier with the handling and overall performance of it.

Now, to address the issue of these people that aren't satisfied with it's performance, well some folks just can't be happy no matter what and always have to complain about something, they'd probably even complain if you hung'em with a new rope. So, to those negative out lookers out there, remember what mom told you as a kid, "If you can't say anything nice, then don't say nothing at all."

YO MAMA!

I have owned a 89 Toyota Celica and an 89 Porsche 944. AT 150+ K miles, the celica had lost a gread deal of engine compression, the body was rattling all over, the car was sagging, the knobs and switches were broken. The Porsche remains tight all over, switches dials, etc intack and most importanly the engine is still very crisp and has full power. The Porsche that I own (944) is a very well made car. I vigorously disagree with the above posters comments, which can only be described as rubbish.

I bought a 1997 boxster two years ago--it has been a superb daily driver and a thrill to drive.

Well I have neither negative or positive on the Boxster. I have been looking into buying one to replace my ageing 928. The only thing I fear is the performance end of the car. I have driven only 928's 3rd one I'm on and I'm like the style on the Boxster, but I'm afraid of the car not providing enough of a (kick) like you get with the 928. I am open to advice.

Cheers.

I bought a 1997 back in 2003 with 70,000 KM and love it, put about $1500.00 for repairs and maintenance, workshop manual, 4 brake rotors & pads & oil flush, oil & filter, 2 front tires, 6 spark plugs,2 carpets, 1 MAF sensor, changed coolant, air filter.

I drive the car 6 months (5,000 KM) and store it in the winter.

Montreal CANADA.

Of course you people are having problems.I would suggest spending a little more money a getting something worthy of driving, such as a Carrera. It's the same thing with Jaguar. People that can't afford a good one settle for the cheap X-Type. The X-Type is just Jaguar's version of the Taurus. Porsche has made some damn nice cars and some terrible ones. Starting in the 70's with the 914. Just realize the Boxster doesn't have very good quality in order to keep the prices somewhat low. And the old adage is true, you do get what you pay for.