1999 Porsche Boxster 986 review

Hello car enthusiasts, today i have a very special car for you all. Every petrol head has a special place in his heart  when it comes to Porsche.

So what about this car ?

So today we take a look at a 1999 Porsche Boxster convertible in cherry red, the color suits the car perfect I would say. This car is mid-engine, that means that the driving capabilities of this car are sublime. Mid-engine configurations mean perfect weight distribution, this way you will not have any over steer or under steer, this helps driving pleasure.

The car glues to the road and is very stable on higher speeds.

Engine

It has a 2.5 liter flat six engine that produces 204 horsepower and 244 newton meter. As the cherry on top the car is rear-wheel drive, that benefits driving capabilities even more. So all in all the perfect mix to create a machine that will satisfy the sporty driver. This car is very well balanced, it is comfortable and quite powerful. Off course their are more powerful cars for less money on sale, but i am not sure if they offer the same experience.

Plus the car is engineered very well, i would take a Porsche over a Lamborghini or Ferrari every day, especially if they aged a little.

986 model

This 986 model is the first generation of Boxsters from Porsche. This model was produced between late 1996 and 2004.

This particular car is on sale in the Netherlands, like i said before its from 1999. It has done 87.000 km which adds up to 54059 miles, its on sale for a little under 13 thousand euro. (exact price € 12.986,00)

Keep in mind that if you buy a car from the early 2000’s then you will have to do a little work yourself. If you look at this particular car, it has done very little miles, it was always placed in an indoor garage, the paint job is spot-on, the mechanism for the roof is still functioning very well, there are no strange rattles of squeaks to be heard. It’s wonderful.

Maintenance

Also this car always had it maintenance at the Porsche garage by specialists, even though the car did not do many miles on average each year. Doing maintenance at a specialist means that the right oil has been used, the mechanics know you to look for, they use genuine parts etc. All worth it. And let’s face it, this car is not a cheap car, also maintenance will be more pricey. Tires, parts and hourly rate of the mechanics.

But then again these cars are very reliable.

This car does not have a great gas millage, it is not terrible but it is not great neither.

Wear and tear

Then when you drive a lot and use the power frequently you need to know that tires will not last that long as on your normal daily commuter. Going back to millage, it uses premium gas all the time, you have to put 98 octane gas in the car, which is best for performance and the longevity of the engine, 98 octane is more expensive then the regular 95 octane off course. Porsche uses special tires with an N-code, always check out the tires when considering buying such a car. Also when a car is fitted with such tires it is a good indicator that the previous owner did not safe any money on maintenance.

Issues

Another suggestion is to check the engine for coolant leakages, you can already smell it when there is a leak, it is kind of a sweet smell. Also the clutch pedal should operate quite light, if the clutch is worn out then it will be heavier to operate. This is an indication that the clutch could be worn out.

Fixing this issue could be pricey, since this car is mid-engined. To replace the clutch the mechanics should take out the mid-engined block, that takes some time, and time is money especially for certified Porsche mechanics.

Take that in consideration.

Spare parts

Finding Spare parts for this car is no problem, Porsche still produces parts for this car even though it has been taken out of production 12 years ago. Prices for this generation at a Porsche dealer in Holland start around 12 / 13 thousand euro’s.

If you can do maintenance yourself you can safe a lot of money, but if you are not that technical then always go to a Porsche Dealership. They have the knowledge about every type of Porsche, they know what to look for and they use the right parts for the car, and lets be honest these cars a worth it. Every man deserves a car like this, get up in the morning early, have a breakfast and a cup of coffee and drive to Germany. Enjoy the speed and handling of the car for a couple of hours, eat some German food in the afternoon and cruise back home.

Reliability

From a mechanical standpoint these cars are very reliable, they are build to last. The perfect example is this car from ’99.

Everything still works perfect. A fun detail of this car is the fact that the dipstick from the Oil is located in the trunk of the car. It is easy explained because this is a mid-engine car. The front of the car has some storage, not big, but enough for a small suitcase or some bags if needed. The naturally aspirated flat six engine makes a great sound. It has an instant throttle respond and revs really nice.

Especially over 4 to 5000 rpm.

This car has a 5 speed manual gearbox. Back in the 90’s most sport cars still had manual transmissions. Today most sport cars will be specified with PDK (semi) automatic transmissions.

Again this car is from 1999.

In 2000 an update became available, the standard 2.5 liter block was replaced with a 2.7 little block that produced 220 horsepower, also the boxster S came to market, this car had a 3.2 liter v6 with 252 horsepower. Thanks for watching this video.

I would like to thank the current owner of this car to lent me the car to make this video.

Hope to see all of you in the next video.