986 Boxster with ambers!
Discussion
For the last 20 years, I have been fortunate enough to be able to have an older car to muck about with, go on trips, car meetings, the odd track day, euro tours and generally have fun. Mostly long-term ownership - Stag 8 years, 2x TVRs approx 4 years each, Boxster 987 3 years (as a daily) 996 Aero 3 years and a TR6 for several weeks (disaster car). For several years, I had a two at the same time and one year managed 5000 miles in the TVR and 3000 in the Stag.
The 996 Aero was not a car I had ever wanted and ended up swapping unseen it for my modified 5.3 Chimaera during a boozy Sunday lunch. I was actually very fortunate with that decision but my instincts told me that the 996 owner who had viewed my Chim, seemed thorough enough to de-risk the swap. Some details of the other cars and stuff here - https://911uk.com/threads/grahams-996-with-aero-ki...
I was enjoying the 996 but usage was starting to drop and not for the first time during ownership, I was looking at the classifieds for a convertible. Then a couple of things happened and in May 2023 I found myself with the rest of the year off and decided to get another Boxster.
The 996 Aero was not a car I had ever wanted and ended up swapping unseen it for my modified 5.3 Chimaera during a boozy Sunday lunch. I was actually very fortunate with that decision but my instincts told me that the 996 owner who had viewed my Chim, seemed thorough enough to de-risk the swap. Some details of the other cars and stuff here - https://911uk.com/threads/grahams-996-with-aero-ki...
I was enjoying the 996 but usage was starting to drop and not for the first time during ownership, I was looking at the classifieds for a convertible. Then a couple of things happened and in May 2023 I found myself with the rest of the year off and decided to get another Boxster.
When you have spent a while getting a car sorted, I prefer to buy the replacement car and be happy with it before selling the old. It would have been lovely to have kept both but I don't really have the space.
I had been looking for a while for a Boxster and I unexpectedly found myself with the summer off due to a couple of things that had happened. The sun was shining, so the search widened.
For me, there is a lot of like about the 9x6 platform compared with the 9x7 and when a lovely 987.2 and this 986 were advertised relatively close together, I sensed a quick purchase was imminent so thought about the viewings. I wouldn't buy one without seeing both so initially arranged to view the 986 first, expecting the 987 to be the preferred choice.
Aside from colour/spec, my criteria is reasonable length of ownership, regular maintenance and a good reason for sale. The last is a bit subjective but it works for me. The 987.2 3.4 S was actually the unicorn spec for me - no sports chrono, PSE, Guards red, manual, sports seats and full leather.
On the way to view, for reasons unknown, I changed the sequence and ended up looking at the 987 first. It needed a bit of a polish on the lights and apart from that, it was a lovely car with a great owner. It was a very good price as well, so it was hard to walk away without buying it!
When I turned up to see the 986, the owner had told me on the phone that they were getting too old for it and had lost a garage due to down sizing. He came out to meet me on a zimmer frame! I ended up driving it out of the garage for him and it was clear that downsizing depends on your starting position. They had owned the car for 18 or 19 years and it seemed a bit of wrench to let it go.
Without driving it or checking the roof worked, we agreed a price and I gave him a deposit. The car had a hard top on and I was genuinely excited about getting the car home as soon as possible.
Picture of car as viewed
I had been looking for a while for a Boxster and I unexpectedly found myself with the summer off due to a couple of things that had happened. The sun was shining, so the search widened.
For me, there is a lot of like about the 9x6 platform compared with the 9x7 and when a lovely 987.2 and this 986 were advertised relatively close together, I sensed a quick purchase was imminent so thought about the viewings. I wouldn't buy one without seeing both so initially arranged to view the 986 first, expecting the 987 to be the preferred choice.
Aside from colour/spec, my criteria is reasonable length of ownership, regular maintenance and a good reason for sale. The last is a bit subjective but it works for me. The 987.2 3.4 S was actually the unicorn spec for me - no sports chrono, PSE, Guards red, manual, sports seats and full leather.
On the way to view, for reasons unknown, I changed the sequence and ended up looking at the 987 first. It needed a bit of a polish on the lights and apart from that, it was a lovely car with a great owner. It was a very good price as well, so it was hard to walk away without buying it!
When I turned up to see the 986, the owner had told me on the phone that they were getting too old for it and had lost a garage due to down sizing. He came out to meet me on a zimmer frame! I ended up driving it out of the garage for him and it was clear that downsizing depends on your starting position. They had owned the car for 18 or 19 years and it seemed a bit of wrench to let it go.
Without driving it or checking the roof worked, we agreed a price and I gave him a deposit. The car had a hard top on and I was genuinely excited about getting the car home as soon as possible.
Picture of car as viewed
The last couple of summers have not been great at weekends but during the weekdays of June 2023, it was scorching hot. The journey home with the hard top on proved that whilst the air conditioning blew cool in the shade, it was not up to the job and first thing to sort identified.
Roof in the shed and first convertible motoring for several years
Roof in the shed and first convertible motoring for several years
It was interesting driving the 996 and 986 back to back. The 3.4 has a bit more power than the 200cc difference between the cars. The 996 was in the garage as the 986 was getting a lot of use in the sun but some heavy rain highlighted what I thought was the need for clearing out the drain holes. Annoyingly, I hadn't checked the carpets and they were damp and I don't know if that was old or fresh dampness. Under a cover for a while just in case!
I wanted to get the car checked over properly before I made the decision to sell the 996 so called Precision to see when DeMort could do a full service and look over the car. As luck would have it, they had a cancellation and the next week, the car was with them for a couple of days. I had coil packs, spark plugs, gearbox oil, brake fluid and drive belt all changed during the full service and thankfully, the car was given a clean bill of health with a couple of notes on minor things. All of the advisories on the MOTs were sorted and the car was running lovely. They couldn't find any leaks and fingers crossed the car has been dry since.
The 996 went up for sale and can't decide if I prefer the standard or short shift gear change as per my 996. I have one ready to put in when I decide to tidy up the centre console.
The 996 went up for sale and can't decide if I prefer the standard or short shift gear change as per my 996. I have one ready to put in when I decide to tidy up the centre console.
I am not sure what to do with the sounds on this one. I am not taking out the centre console, so there is the option of a double din with Wireless car play but I do like to original look of the CDR 22. That said, it was filthy and I missed the bluetooth streaming of my continental. A simple bluetooth adapter connected on the aux output sorted the streaming and a bit of cleaning sorted the sticky buttons.
Some trips away were planned and time to sort the air conditioning. Quite a simple job if you are patient and remember to lift the front of the car up. Lots of cleaning of different parts as well. There was a fair amount of gunk in there and I cleaned the radiators behind and ran the car up to temperature to check for no leaks on the radiators. All good.
[imghttps://i.imgur.com/uy0xtP4.jpg[/img]
imghttps://i.imgur.com/lhT3aPA.jpg[/img]
[imghttps://i.imgur.com/uy0xtP4.jpg[/img]
imghttps://i.imgur.com/lhT3aPA.jpg[/img]
Selling the 996 took a bit longer than expected and I did encounter more than a couple of time wasters. I thought it would be simple to swap the private plates around. Something else that I was not expecting was TFL to forget the previous ULEZ compliance status due to a flaw in their processes on pre-2005 cars registered as compliant.
It was good to have a convertible again and plenty of touring and short breaks put some reliable miles on the car. I soon discovered that unlike the 987, you need to have the hand brake on before the roof can come down.. The weather was predictable and after a lovely few week days on the south coast, come Saturday, it rained!
The car was running great and some of the longer journeys showed that the 986 is a bit tighter for space than the 996 (where I had removed the seat stop) and also the 987 which seemed more comfortable space. I took the drivers seat out and the foam was not supporting properly. Applying a version of the repair used on Chimaera seats, soon sorted out the foam and made it more comfortable but I started looking for different seats.
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