But in a boxster, going to work is a pleasure

... million miles!

[i83.photobucket.com]

Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Had to look at the trip odo several times, then adjusted my glasses, cleaned and adjusted them again.

It's true. The trip odo really did not read 250.0. And the Speedo needle - sitting there at rest. Surely you could have found a good hill to assist ....oh, wait, that's right, you live in Florida.

Congrats, Pedro.

PS: I've only got 236,944 miles to go to catch you.

That's a very special photo Guenter.
It's the only one of my milestones where I actually stopped the car to take the photo.
It was raining like I've seldom seen, even by our SoFla standards.
You could not see 20 feet in front of you and it was falling so fast that there were 6" deep puddles on the interstate.
Nevertheless, I made it back safe and I captured the moment.
Looking forward to the half-million mark in another 16 years or so.
Happy Porscheing,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

If you ever get time, you should send the photo into PCA for it's photo of the month section in Pano. I've only seen pix of cars, but that one is very worthy. Heck, don't they also have a section written by members on why they love their Porsche? Your headline could read: I have a quarter of a million reasons why I love my Boxster. Congrats on the milestone. At my age, and the miles per year I average, I won't live long enough to see my odometer read 250,000.

... unfortunately nearly all will be track miles. At least they click over fast!

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

... to replace a lot of parts and stay on top of the maintenance schedules.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

of being taken off the road permanently due to accident damage. My Boxster has had 3 accidents now. Fortunately, none serious but even a non-serious one, like the one that had two bumpers covers replaced, a head light and tail light replaced, for a bit over $5000 could be the end of the car if it happened now. And if air bags go off, forget about it...

Congrats...you give me hope...my claim is that I have 75K on my '08 and not one of those miles has ever been to work...all pleasure miles...

"Bart, with $10,000, we'd be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like...love!"



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/2014 12:03PM by r9i8c7k. (view changes)

..unless one is stuck in traffic....

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Pedro

How many hours would you estimate your butt has been in the seat?

Amazing!
Any chance you could post your maintenance history including the mileage when the part was replaced?

... kidding, right?
I wouldn't even try to put together that list, because it don't remember and more importantly because I don't want to know how much I've spent.
Here are some generals:
It's had 10 minor and 10 major service schedules (every 20k miles).
I've replaced the suspension from M030 to PSS9, all of the associated control arms, trailing arms, drop links, etc.
Anything that has a ball joint has been replaced at least once.
The brakes have been replaced innumerable times (both rotors and pads) I don't use the sensors. They have been bled over 100 times.
The shifter is a short throw that was modified to an ultra short throw.
The cables are original but have been lubed several times.
The transmission was replaced at 225k miles.
The engines: OEM had porous block replaced by Porsche at 23k. The second engine I blew on the track, replaced at 203k.
Every product on my website has been tested on my car (except for the TechNOwind and the TechnoPower2).
When minor parts gave up or were faulty I'd replace it like one of the top's transmissions and cable.
It still has it's original soft top and interior, although I have treated the interior leather several times. I'll be replacing the seat leather liners and foam soon.
It's been a very reliable car.
In all those miles I was stranded only thrice. Twice at the track, when the engine blew and then the tranny and once on a trip when the water pump let go.
I've taken it on 3000 mile trips three times (Boxstoberfest) and 2000 mile trips 14 times (BRBS) plus many other long trips.
She's been my daily driver and my track car, but I won't be tracking her more. I'll use a Boxster Spec a Racer instead.
I promised it to my granddaughter when she turns 16, so I want to be sure she's in good working order. BTW my granddaughter will turn 6 next week
Happy Boxstering
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 311,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

A complete log would be huge (although i do keep one, it has all sorts of other data too).

3 cars - 986 (65k from new), 986S (211k bought 197k, had records), S6 (~100k, from 20kish, near new)
Had two previous Audis 1 >200k, 1> 300k as well, similar results

But over any long period, count on:

- every control arm or other thing with a ball joint and/or rubber bushing
- every wheel bearing
- every CV boot, maybe twice or more on some models
- all the services (filters, plugs etc) every 30k or so
- fluids as specified, oil at twice the "listed" interval
- pads every 40k and rotors twice that ( street use) 5-10x faster if track only or heavy mix
- AoS ` 40k
- water pumps semi random, but maybe 60-100k
- many miscellaneous larger fixes that crop up seemingly randomly

Oddly, unless something is replaced or hit, i never align any car. Or when they do, its check, in spec, end. Modern cars that go out of alignment have an issue
All my cars have original cats. Most O2 sensors are original too.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

That's the list I was asking for...just general major stuff.
I'm particularly interested in these two items:

I've replaced the suspension from M030 to PSS9, all of the associated control arms, trailing arms, drop links, etc.
Anything that has a ball joint has been replaced at least once

I've got 106k miles on my '01 and the suspension is "creaky", which I guess is normal for this mileage?
I'd like to keep it for another 100k miles, so I'm wondering how much did all that suspension work cost?

TIA.

I'd do pretty much every control/track arm, plus at minimum the shocks/struts. Control arms include the ball joints.
Actually, i generally think replacing with a matched spring/shock set ( PSS9, etc) is long term smarter.
Sway bar bushings are fairly cheap - $30/pr

You have to check parts prices yourself - they vary all over the place - get GOOD ONES (OEM manufacturers TRW or Lemforderer)

Then add in maybe 8+ hours labor plus alignment plus corner weighting if you do coilovers.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

25K - RMS (under warranty)
~80K - AOS
~90K - rear wheel bearing
~100K - couple of O2 sensors
<150K - cracked rear window
172K - water pump
<200K - MAF
<200K - AOS (2nd one)
~220K - fuel pump
~240K - coolant tank
<250K - VarioCam solenoid/sensor
~250K - CV boots (bearings cleaned and repacked and reused)
<280K - replaced original converters with used ones (one original had a loose brick)

There have been some door lock, door latch and window regulators along the way. I do not recall the miles now, but all have been after 200K miles.There's been a clutch interlock switch, a brake light switch, and an ignition switch too. Oh, a coolant tank cap and an oil tube filler cap.

Oil/filter is done every 5K miles. Other vital fluids are changed on schedule or if not then done early. For instance, most of the time I have the 5-speed tranny fluid changed at less than 90K miles. Brake/clutch fluid flush/bleed every 2 years. (Well, recently I had an experience where I let this go for 2.5 years and while the braking was unaffected clutch action/shifting was degraded quite obviously but thankfully recovered completely after the brake/clutch fluid was flushed and bled.)

Plugs are done based on miles. Serpentine belt, ditto. Engine air filter, cabin air filter, done every other year. Coolant drained and refilled every 4 to 5 years. I would have done this regardless, but it so happens the 1st one came about after I ruined a radiator hitting some road debris. The 2nd change came about when I had the water pump replaced. The 3rd one came about when I had the coolant tank replaced. There is no serviceable fuel filter. It is part of the fuel pump housing.

I can't recall how many miles I get from the brakes. But I do know that brake life varies considerably and given my driving usage is consistent and my driving style is consistent too I have to attribute it to differences in the pad/rotor material. Some pads seem harder and rotors softer than at other times I buy the brake hardware. As near as I can tell with the longer wearing hardware present or with the shorter wearing hardware present braking action and feel is unaffected. Braking is still, and always has been, superb. One clue as what kind of brake life I'm going to get is the amount of brake dust. When I see the wheels black with dust in just a day or two after washing the wheels I'm pretty confident brake life will be shorter than it would be otherwise. This set of front brakes appears to be based on the brake dust a set of the shorter lived hardware. The previous set was the longer wearing hardware.

Rear tires last easy 20K miles, fronts double that. Alignment done only if tire wear patterns indicate alignment issues (or if dealer has a $100 special on alignment when I get 4 new tires installed). As for tire wear patterns, for instance, if there is inner edge wear on the rear tires that's a cue for an alignment. With a proper alignment and with strictly street driving rear (and front) tire wear is even across the tread face. The front tires on the Boxster have never shown any wear signs of being out of alignment.

Oh, I forgot. Some plastic trim. For instance, the plastic strip that runs along the base of the windshield was replaced after it cracked due to age/exposure. A few underbody panels that something kicked up under the car damaged to the point the panels were no longer secure. Drop links of the front sway bar. A dust cover cracked and I had the links replaced. Which reminds me the windshield was replaced after a rock chip developed over a year or two into a huge crack that extended across the full width of the glass at eye height. However, I can't remember at what miles or when this was done. There have been several batteries: The original one (Moll) lasted 6+ years. Its replacement, also a Moll, less than 2 years. The 3rd battery -- Interstate -- appears to be holding up well. (As an aside a replacement Interstate battery in my 996 lasted just 7 months. Thankfully its replacement, also an Interstate has beaten that and appears to be going to last a reasonable amount of time.)

Current mileage? Well, I filled up the fuel tank on the 20th and the mileage then was 281726 miles.

This reminds me of the fable of my great grandfather's axe. It's been in the family for many many years. Over those years, the handle has been replaced a half dozen times. And the head has also been replaced a half dozen times. ;-)

I would dare say these have cost me less than if I had replaced the car. Every time something "major" comes up I price replacement cars, not even Porsches but just say Mini Cooper S and M-Bs and so on, and I'm looking at spending way more money for the replacement car, way more, so I just fix the Boxster.

In a big list, one that i can get averages from. I do a lot of my own maintenance, which reduces costs, and i have to make some judgement calls on what to count, especially when stuff is consumed on or for the track.

Overall it runs about $1000/year over a long period, on rather pricey cars.

So i never, ever find it even close to replace a car with something comparable.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

I'm surprised with all the mileage you've never had to replace any suspension parts like control arms or shocks, etc? Also never replaced the engine mount?
Did I miss something?

Quote
boxsterd
I'm surprised with all the mileage you've never had to replace any suspension parts like control arms or shocks, etc? Also never replaced the engine mount?
Did I miss something?

I missed, well forgot to list the front engine mount. I forget the miles but it was after I returned to CA in 2004 but not right away so the mileage was approx. 100K.

Rats! I forgot to mention the front sway bar drop links. They were ok but the dust boots were shot so I ordered these from the dealer's parts department and the tech installed them when I brought the car in for something else like oil/filter or tires or something. The techs do these little jobs for me quite often, either they offer it before hand or just do it and even though I offer to pay refuse to bill me for the labor.

Except for the front engine mount, the drop links, the CV boots, no other components that could be remotely considered suspension or steering related have needed attention.

Not that I didn't try to replace the suspension and shocks. I approached one of the senior Porsche techs about shocks. He said if they are not leaking and not otherwise exhibiting symptoms of trouble to leave them alone. He said they seldom see cars in needing shocks. I talked to him about installing ROW suspension to "freshen" up the car, but he said the ROW lowers the car and gives the car a harsher ride on the street that he didn't think I'd like. On the track oh yeah he's a fan of the ROW, but not for a car used mainly or strictly for the street.

There, that's my list unless I've forgotten something else...

Nope.

I hope.

Awesome!!! I'm closing in at ~187,000