How many miles?
 

Just curious as mine are starting to get up there. I have 105,000 on a 2000s. It still has the original IMS. And it's a tip.

Other than normal maintenance I've replaced the following:

AOS, around 60,000
MAF
Water pump around 95,000
DME at 100,000

The DME was the only thing that required a tow.

I bought the Boxster for my wife in 2006 for her DD, it had 30,000 on it then. She drove it daily for 4 years and then she wanted a 4 door. So the last few years it was just a fun car. I just sold my truck and I'm thinking about seeing how many miles I can put on the car before the transmission or engine goes. I'm guessing it's only worth around 10k to 12k so if I can get 50,000 more miles on it I will have gotten my money's worth.

So how many 150,000 mile plus cars are out there with there original untouched engines and trans?

There are Boxsters and 996 Carreras out there with 250K miles and original IMS bearings. Will yours go that long? No one knows. If you always changed oil a 4-5k, drove it regularly all the way to full operating temp, and if layed-up for winter with clean fresh oil you stand the best chance. There are a lot of Tip trans around with low miles at dismantlers for not much money so don't sweat that too much.

90K plus, original tip regular min year oil change which means less than 7500 for me. Service the trans twice with filter and one extra fluid service. Have decide to do pan fluid only every 15K. No big deal. Runs like new.

275K miles on my '02 Boxster. Original engine, clutch and IMSB. Only internal engine work/repair was a VarioCam solenoid/actuator replacement a bit before 250K miles.

One wheel bearing, 2 AOS's, one MAF, some O2 sensors, water pump, fuel pump, CV boots, coolant tank, some clutch/brake light switches. RMS done under new car warranty.

^ those are some pretty good stats, have you owned the car since new?

I was in a similar situation last year with my 2003 Boxster S. I made the same decision to keep it instead of sell. A few months later the water pump failed. The dealer replaced it and I thought no big deal. Then a couple of weeks ago while sitting at a red light my idle went rough. I stopped at the grocery store and when I started my car, poof!! Large plum of smoke appeared at startup. I had the car towed to the dealer. The diagnose after removing the engine and head was that the head is cracked and irreparable. Now I am faced with fixing the car >10k or scrapping the car for 2.5k!

I still don't know what I am going to do... That being said if I had that decision to do over again I would sell the car!
Knowing what I know now re water pump failure and cracked heads I would have sold the car immediately after the WP failed! There is no financially viable engine replacement option that keeps you above water when compared to the street value of the car.

That being said I wish I had tracked my car more knowing the engine was going to blow any way!

Good luck with your decision

Regards

James

Yes, from new.

You just never know. Spending a few thousand on a IMS replacement wouldn't have helped the water pump issue though. I had an engine go out on my chevy truck after 125,000 easy miles. It cost $5,000 for that. Main bearings were knocking.

I have about 10,000 miles since my water pump was replaced so hopefully I dodged that one. It had started leaking, I actually smelled it before I saw it. It was just a small drip, I replaced it myself.

I guess I'm just rolling the dice at this point, its gone this long and I don't want to spend money on a older car that's really not worth that much. If I can drive it for a couple of more years I figure I got my money's worth. If it craps out sooner, I'll be pissed.

That's why I'm curious about others experiance. If I have better than a 50% chance to see 150,000 miles I'll take the chance. If I don't maybe I should sell it in the spring.

These motors will run a very long time with fresh fluids and a sound cooling system. Once they get overheated, they are usually toast.

A replacement 3.2L motor from a dismantler runs $3-5K depending on condition and mileage. If you are handy with tools a straight swap is two days in the garage or approx. $1600 in labor from a skilled independent shop.
2000 Boxster s 986 Porsche 3 2 Complete Engine Motor 3 2L Moter 64 895 | eBay