Re: Make the Boxster my daily driver?

We are reducing the number of vehicles that we own and I'm thinking about making my Boxster into my daily driver.

It's an eight year old (2006) base Boxster, heavily optioned with Carrera S wheels, sports chrono, sport seats, short-throw shifter and fancy blue headlights. The car currently is at 41k miles, and it has never driven in the rain.

My commute to work is a short eight miles; but over the past four months, we have had both a power steering pump failure and a water pump failure. The car spits out a small puff of blue smoke every third or fourth startup. Our indie mechanic is about 30 miles away in the wrong direction, so each of the breakdowns took the car out of services for about three days. I'm a little worried about downtime with the Boxster... if I do this, we would have three cars between me and my wife (but the third (spare) car is not one that we want to drive to work).

Are any of you guys other than Pedro driving your cars daily? I appreciate your advice, perspective and words of wisdom.

First - Sure the Boxster can be a daily driver. That's part of what makes it a Porsche.

Second - Replace your air-oil separator now.

Yes, my 2005 is at 98,900 miles. I did the AOS two months ago when I had a small hiccup of a problem. It's a car. Drive it. It's just a car. Drive it. It's also a pretty convenient car for 1 or 2 people: the frunk and the trunk hold a LOT of stuff. I get good mileage on the highway (about 30), so it is not like I have a gas guzzler. My 200 lb Irish Wolfhound fits -- in the Pathfinder.

My Porsches have been daily drivers (4 miles each way). My only word of caution is where do you live? I'm in DC. We get snow, but not enough to justify snow tires. These cars do not handle the snow at all unless you put snow tires on them. If you do, they are champs. If we get any predictions of even a slight accumulation of snow on the roads, I leave my car at home until the streets are black again. My only complaint about driving mine to work is that my commute is not long enough Also, I'm not sure where you'll be parking it. I have my own spot in a covered garage, so I can even keep the top down when at work. There can be a downside, but it can be an upside, as well. The car is definately a conversation piece. I meet people at meetings for the first time and they say, "Oh, you're the one with the Porsche." Then it leads into conversations. So, it's a good ice breaker. The downside, people hear Porsche and they think you make too much money. There's always envy at the work place. The Porsche can add to it. So, be prepared for both good and bad reaction; although, you might not know about the bad. When I got my first Boxster a work friend told my wife that there was a lot of buzz around her office on how we could afford such a car--this was '98 and people really thought that the Boxster was a $100k car. Lots of speculation about our finances. So, the hens will gossip. My wife had no idea people were talking.

Good luck on your decision. If you are doing it to cut down the number of vehicles, then the only answer is yes, daily driver because how happy will you be if you don't have a Boxster in your garage? To me, that's the real question you should be asking: Can you do without a Boxster?

Thanks for the tips guys. Indie mechanic says the engine vacuum is within spec and AOS does not need replacement at this time. I monitor the oil level (never any consumption between annual oil changes) and watch for the puff of smoke to see if it increases in frequency or quantity.

I'm in California. Snow will not be an issue, probably the biggest worry is that the sun will accelerate the destruction of the fabric top. I will need to buy more RaggTop.

You're right, if it's daily driver -versus- no Boxster at all... then it's a no-brainer decision to drive the Boxster to work.

with over 281K miles I pretty much drive it every night too...

If the Boxster has to go into the shop, and it will even if only for regular servicing, you either have to have a 2nd car, or alternative transportation arrangements, or you do not have a pressing need to have a car at your beck and call 24/7

Since I have to have a car 24.7 I have a 2nd car so it is no big deal to me if the Boxster goes into the shop. Your wife has a car I guess and perhaps you could get a ride to/from work from her?

Whether you DD your Boxster or just use it for special occasions, you can't let things go. Scheduled services should be done on time or miles and if any issues appear these should be dealt with promptly.

The 3rd or 4th start up smoke could be an AOS but doesn't really strike me as the AOS being bad. While the AOS can start to go bad, go bad, at any time, the smoking is usually a late failure symptom and it is present upon every engine start and continues as long as the engine is run. By this time there are or have been other signs: CEL and error codes, rough or varying idle; that just confirms the AOS diagnosis.

However, if the engine smokes upon every start and the smoking continues the engine should not be run any more until after the cause of the smoking is diagnosed and addressed, which is usually an AOS.

My boxster is likely the most trouble-free car i have ever had. For many years nothing broke. I don't wish to jinx it, but its been great.

For several years it was a dual-purpose, DD and track car. Still no problems aside from the usual track issues - AOS, lots of brake work, a clutch due to someone else's F-up, etc.

Experience indicates - of course we can't prove it - that regular use actually is beneficial - for things like the IMS anyway. Of course miles are miles and wear is wear, but lots of us have had 150-300k of useful life. The key is to keep up with maintenance. I do 95% of my own, so its no big deal.

The puff of smoke is somewhat typical of a flat-plane motor that leaks a little oil into the combustion chamber, either from the crankcase (less likely) or the upper heads (IMO, more). It does not necessarily indicate a problem, nor an AOS problem. OTOH i can relate that i have two boxsters - the one i've had from new and treated MY way pretty much never uses oil or puffs anything. The on that has a motor that was used lightly for 14 years before i got it, smokes irregularly but sometimes a lot (mostly at the track, its a track car). Experience says it dos not mean imminent anything, except more of the same.

Water pumps are either good from new or short lived. I've seen them fail in a year and go 10.

Change the oil regularly. make sure the oil gets fully warmed up and stays there for 20 minutes regularly, to boil off water, fuel and acids. Don't wail on it when its still cold (aside form the oil being cold, parts are not at operating temp and don't fit together as they should - metal expands when hot and is designed to fit when HOT, not cold.

In the long run you may find that you are doing your car a favor, and saving a great deal by eliminatng carrying costs on a car.

Grant

Grant

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

When I bought my Boxster, I also had a Toyota Supra that I had owned for 10 years. Trouble free, fun car that I LOVED and it fit me like a glove. My plan was to keep it and use it as my daily driver. I sold the Supra two months later. Every morning of those two months, I would raise the garage door and be faced with a choice...drive the Supra or drive the Boxster. The Supra just sat there. 16.5 years later and I still smile when getting in the car, or when looking back after parking it and walking away. I've had my frustrations with the car, but in general it's been very reliable and I've never regretted driving the car at every opportunity.

car with a real attraction, a performance car of sorts in its own right.

I added a VW Golf TDi to the stable shortly after I bought my Boxster. The Golf was a very nice car around town -- good view out -- and a very nice highway car too believe it or not. In that thing I could really get down the road. Maybe only 115mph tops but it would do easy 75/80mph (or more) for as long as the road ahead was clear. Mountains didn't phase it either. It was as home at 11K feet as it was a sea level. (Turbo-charged engines rule!) Plus it was surefooted in the bad weather common where I lived at the time. Besides it had plenty of cargo space -- I used to haul a lawnmower in the back every week 150 miles to help my Dad cut the grass at the two houses -- and it was easy for both Mom and Dad to get into and out of when they wanted to go out for a bite to eat and they wanted to eat out every time. Economical too. 44mpg average over the 140K miles I put on the car.

My next car was the GTO. 6l. 400hp. Need I say more? Well, maybe I don't need to but I will anyway. Actually the GTO was a nice car to drive, easy to get in and out of, with more room in the cabin and plenty of cargo space and not only nice around town -- lots of torque so easy to drive and a good view out too which is important -- but great out on the highway. Could really cover the miles in that car. And fast… Oh my it was fast. Triple digits at the touch of my right foot.

Then I got the Cayman S. Just like the Boxster only more so. 2200 miles in 4 weeks. I think the Boxster was losing its shine… Then the Cayman was gone.

After I lost the Cayman S I opted for another muscle car, so to speak, and picked up a nice 996 Turbo. 420hp. A bit more room in the cabin. Good view out which with the way people drive nowadays is getting to be a real must have for me. Did I mention the 420hp?

Sure, I can leave the Boxster parked but it takes another special car to get me to do so. And recently I've left the 996 parked and have been driving almost exclusively the Boxster. With the "new" (used) converters and the buzzing gone the car is quiet again and a pleasure to be in, the engine's appears to have gained some HP from someplace, gas mileage appears better too (22.3mpg over 318 miles this last tank) and the fact the Turbo's parked a bit further away means I turn in the direction of the Boxster more often than not when walking out to a car. The fact the view out is not as good as that of the 996... What the heck. Win some, lose some.

Nice package. Gobs of power. Relatively light weight and compact chassis.

Such cars are emotional purchases, and it didnt punch the right retro buttons.

I liked it too.

Grant

Grant

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/2014 08:10AM by grant. (view changes)

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and had a Red Hot leather interior. (When someone commented on the colors I told him that I bought the car at night and thought it was brown.) And a guy who works at the Fremont Porsche dealer told me he had his out one day and did a big old smokey burnout and pulled up to a stop light right next to a cop. The cop was swiveling around looking for the guilty car all the while the guy told me he was trying to make himself as innocent looking as possible. More than once the cop looked over at him and the car but it never registered that he was the driver and it was his GTO that did the burnout.

OTOH, I got some pretty enthusiastic whoops and waves from young women who spotted the car and reacted. More so than I get in the Boxster.

It was a good car -- well made better made than the 2001 Camaro I owned -- and I would have it still but I couldn't find a dealer at which I could get it serviced that would keep the dealer lot rats (or the techs) from hot rodding car. At least two times I know of the car was hot-rodded so I decided to trade it in on a new Cayman S.

for 5 years. Never had any problems at all. 30 minutes for about 12-15 miles. Wonderfully reliable. Since I was in the DC area I had another car for the snow but once the road was sorta clear it was the Boxster again. Like you I had covered parking at work.

Any one rags you about the car, point out how old it is. Most will have newer cars. Few better.

Do respect the temperature and the kind of tires you have on the car...cost me a Boxster when I didn't. My bad.

My only worry is your commute is so short the fluids won't warm fully.

My wife knew I'd pick the furthest grocery store if she sent me out with the list. Our pizza joint was 20 miles away. Oh shucks.

Quote
mikefocke, '01S Sanford, NC
My only worry is your commute is so short the fluids won't warm fully.

My concern too.
But 8 miles ( one way) should be sufficient except in the very cold weather, when you should plan an additional longer trip once a week or so.

I still have cardboard that i (can if needed) slip in front of my radiator on the Audi for ridiculous cold/

Grant

Grant

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

We have found the Boxster (snow tires and hardtop for the Winters, Summer tires for the Summers) can take anything Boston has to dish out. Our particular Boxster does even sit in a garage :-) It has, however, gone through three car covers!



Here is a shot of it going through its "Winter to Summer" transition...
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2014 07:08AM by RainyDayGarage. (view changes)

Only time I had a problem was the Snowpacolypse of Atlanta this past Winter. I had to ditch the car in a parking lot as I couldn't get up the hill. It's fun to look forward to driving it to work and then home!