I'm thinking of buyingmy first Porsche within a year. I live in the US,South Florida to be exact. Here are some questions I have. Any and all information is GREATLY appreciated!

Which Porsche is the most reliable and is best for someone that does A LOT of driving 20,000 miles per year? Boxster, Cayman, or Cayenne?

In regards to getting the best value is it better to buy new or slightly used (2006 - 2003 or later)

If buying new, is it possible to purchase any "upgrades" which could make the car last longer regarding engine, transmission, cooling system, etc?

If I buy new or used, is there any way to extend my warranty ? If so what is the longest warranty I can have?

My height is 6 foot 3 inches, what would be the most comfortablevehicle for me for my height?

If I am interested in "Do it Yourself" work such as changing engine oil, transmission oil, are these things difficult to perform? Are special tools required? Where can I buy a Repair Manual for a new car? only from the dealership?

In the future, I plan on renting a vehicle fora day to really test it out.

Here is a link that I found relating to renting cars if it helps!
http://www.exoticcarrentaldirectory.com/directory.htm

Any and all info is GREATLY appreciated!

 

I have had great service with http://www.autopartsbrothers.com

 

Two of thecars you mentioned, Boxster and Cayman, are rather similar - coupe and convertible versions of the same sports car, basically. But the Cayenne is a totally different thing - SUV, and its hard to imagine anyone would be considering all three.

Porsches are quite durable if well cared for, but it is important to do maintenance by the book.

They are not as easy to work on as many cars and although I can do about anything (e.g., rebuilt and engine or trans) I have the oil changed and all service done: you will find it cheaper as well as cleaner in the long run, by the time you buy the tools, etc.

 

I think if you can find a use Porsche that has very little miles on it, (500 miles to 3000 miles) and buy it with Pre-own certify from the dealer, you can get 6 years, 100K miles warranty which I believe is the best deal. The dealer told me you cannot get a new car to certify which mean you can only get the regular warranty, I believe it is 4 years, 50K?? warranty. Of cause you can buy other aftermarket warranty at any place that you find. I myself brought a 3 months old Boxster S with 400 miles on it from the dealer Preown certify, the previous owner of this car is super rich who switching from cars to cars, he hardly drive the Boxster S at all.

 

Boxster Pro
Thanks alot for the link. I seen that I can buy a 2004 boxster manual which I think would be interesting. I could purchase the manual and look through it at the different repair procedures to get an idea on the overall difficulty. Do you fix your own Porsche and if so what type of repairs do you do? Any and all info is greatly appreciated!

Lee Willis
I think i'll probably go with either a Cayman or a Boxster. I have thought about getting a cayenne, its bigger and more roomy, but for some reason consumer reports hasn't rated them to good for some reason. Who knows. Anyway, you said that;

"Porsches are quite durable if well cared for, but it is important to do maintenance by the book"

If I buy a used one from a private individual, can you give me some tips to look for to find out if the car has been well maintained and cared for, and its durability? At what mileage does a Porsche become a problem? I seen a 2000 Porsche Boxster with about 60k miles selling for US $19,000 dollars. You think that's a good deal? Some thing like that would be in my budget right now, but if its junk I would rather not touch it. Any tips or pointers would be greatly appreciated on this.

From my understanding you do all of your own repair work on your Porsche? I think that's awesome! When I first bought my Hyundai elantra I did the same, I bought Mobile 1 fully synthetic motor oil, and I used the Lucas synthetic oil stabilizer which makes the oil last longer. I also used the fram oil filters. My car currently has 180,000 miles on it, only thing i changed was the transmission. In regards to the necessary tools and equipment needed to work on your own porsche, do you need a lift? or is a jack sufficient? What about hand tools, etc? What web sites have these tools? Any and all info is greatly appreciated!


Tinchao
You brought up some good points. So I gotta follow the super rich around....lol... Anyway a used car with 500 - 3000 miles? I think that would be very very hard to find. I would be willing to travel to find such a deal though. Do you know of any good web sites for dealerships which have these types of cars? The Porsche you bought, when did you buy it and what year was the car? I'm thinking it was just a year old. When buying a used car, what should be the limit on miles? Should I buy a used car that has say 20 or 30 thousand miles? or is that too much? Any and all info is greatly appreciated!

THANK YOU EVERYONE AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU!

 

Hi, Jasonluck, to find a like new car with very low mileage is not that easy, as least in the area that I live (Honolulu) I have been checking the market and with the dealer for almost a year prior to brought this car. Finally is pop's up. Porsche dealer told me this is hard to find. Now I believe them because their is no like new Boxster that I like available in the last few months in our market. May be where you live has more choice. My car was first sold in Oct 06, the previous owner does not live in Honolulu, that is why he only put 400 miles on it, he eventually trade this in and brought a turbo, I brought in Feb. 07. This car has some add on which make the sticker price at around 66K when it is new.
I don't know any web site has a lot of infor for use Porsche. May be other members can help on that.
I have it for 3 months, I put about 5000 miles on it already. This is my daily driving car.
Let us know what you end up getting.
Make sure check up on the "Cost to operate the car" not just "Cost to buy" because it is expensive the maintain :-)

 

Tinchao,
To maintain your car, how much does it cost for the year?

 

Hi, Jasonsluck, well, I only own the car for 3 months, may be other 05 Boxster owners who own their car for 1 to 2 years can offer more information. All I know at this time is oil change / oil filteris about 20000 miles or 2 years (Myfriend who owns a 03Boxster told me cost him about$700when he took it down to the dealer for oil change)My dealer even suggest me to do it every 10000 miles or every year, I don't think I will do that.I think they just want more $. Other items such asspark plugs 60000 miles, air filter 40000 miles as recommended in their book (don't know how much cost for this item yet.) anyone know the cost for these item?
The other cost will be new tires, rear tires will last about 15000 miles according to the dealer and most people who share their experience on this formun. Front tires may last 20000 miles, but I think this has a lot to do with how do you DRIVE your Prosche. For my Boxster S, it will cost about $700 for a pari of rear tire, front will be about $600, but everything is more expensive in Hawaii :-(
Check tirerack.com for tire price or Costco, they offter good price.
Other then that, just the insurance and cost of premium gas.
PS, I am glad that I brought a fairly new car with warranty, because I have been to the dealer 6 times in three moths to fix two small problems. 3 times for each problem.

 

Tinchao,
You have discussed alot of good information in your last post. If you dont mind I some questions for you.

You mentioned that you went to the dealer 6 times in 3 months to fix 2 small problems. Can you elaborate on what these problems were, why you had to go so many times, the hourly charge, and the total charge? To me it seems strange that I car with such low miles has so much problems already. This is valuable information to know. Did you car have any recals on it? Any and all information is greatly appreciated!!

 

Not a problem at all :-)
The reason why I considerthey aresmall problem because it has nothing to do with the engine.
First problem, the driver side power seat quit working, when I took it down, they said the seat just stop communicate with the computer, so they reprogram it, it works for two days and it happen again, I went down again, they reporgram it, it works and than stop working after a week, I start talking "Lemon", so the third time they order a part and switch toa new control unit.
Second problem, if I turn the mirror control at your door towards the right mirror, when I back up the car, the right side mirrorwill turn towards to the pavement so that I can see better during back up, same thing, I don't think this functionnever work from the beginning after I brought the car, first try, they reprogram it, fail in a few days, second time, reprogram again, fail in a week, third times, they order a new mirror and change theenire thing.
So,3 + 3, 6 times, it sounds bad, but as least it its no major enginee problem. So, touch wood,hope my car will be fine from now on.
I don't know any recall on this, most likely is just my car. Also, car is under warranty, no charge at all :-) otherwise, I will be screaming at them.