10k: Sweet Six: 1999 Porsche Boxster 986, Low Miles, Minty Clean
The Porsche Boxster was released in 1997 to applause and adulation from the motor press corps. They were right to point out that it was the first new car from Porsche in many years and Harm Lagaay’s design work was phenomenal. Finally the car was (still is) a blast to drive and nothing beats sound sound of its mid mounted flat six when the top is down. Find this 1999 Porsche Boxster for sale in Newbury Park, CA for $13,500 via craigslist.
The 986 cost more than $41,000 when new in 1999, plus all sorts of overpriced options that drive the price up on a Porsche like nothing else. This one looks really well preserved and has only 60k miles on the odometer, and while many similar era examples are much cheaper, this one is clean. The 2.5 liter flat-6 engine is good for 201 horsepower and motivates the 2800 lb roadster quite well.
This Boxster is also equipped with the preferred manual transmission, the sport package and the full leather interior option in red. The full-leather option adds a leather covered dash, door inserts, center console and drastically increases the luxury feel of Boxster.
See a better minty clean mid-engine future classic for cheap? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com
The price on these is low for a reason. Great car, but the frequency of IMS failures (and the attendant $14K engine replacement) and rear main seal leaks on even low-mileage cars has scared some away. However, an engine failure would be an excuse to drop a 3.4 in there.
These are one of my favorite rides, but I agree on the pesky engine failures. Good friend owned one and had to cough up $4500, at 75,000 miles, for a used engine. He licked his rather expensive wounds, sold it and moved on. His buyer never asked if it was the original engine. If you're considering one of these, that's very basic question worth asking.
Yep, this is one of those cases where higher-mileage ones are sometimes safer bets because they're more likely to have had the IMS addressed or engine swapped. Amazingly, it eschews the "always buy the newest, nicest Porsche you can afford" maxim.
The 986 Boxsters are a great opportunity to get into a good looking, great handling Porsche convertible for a reasonable price of entry. And yes, the full leather dramatically improves the interior feel (the interior on the 986 Boxster and 996 911 really weren't Porsche's best effort to begin with). Of course, I'm a little biased.
My 2002 986 is also Arctic Silver, also with the Sport and "Boxster Red" full leather packages. 2000-2002 models had a slightly larger 2.7L – a few more HP and "torques" but still not much faster than a GTI. Again, the real upside is handling, not straight-line acceleration.
At 1/2 the mileage of this car, but my only expenses have been routine maintenance (the RMS was done under warranty, and no IMS issues). By comparison, the maintenance and repair expense on any of the Audis and BMWs we've had have been much higher.
I have to differ. The interior of a 996 turbo decked out in all leather is fantastic. Much nicer than the earlier 911's.
Actually, I agree with the first part ("the full leather dramatically improves the interior feel"). However, in comparison to the 987/997 and later models, the 986/996 interior had a lot of cheaper feeling plastic bits. Fortunately, there are plenty of upgrade parts out there to address that.