2003 Boxster S Second gear - help!

[Mr Alex]

Today I bought a 2003 Boxster S with 67k on the clock. FSH etc.

Loved the test drive, and was loving the 60 mile drive home until about 20 miles from home the gearbox started to grind when shifting from 1st to 2nd!

Really worried, have I bought a lemon?

Been looking around on Google lots since getting home and starting to panic that it might cost £1800 odd for a gearbox rebuild!

I've only had the car for less than 24h! It was a private sale though so I don't have any comeback!?

Really, really hoping that there is a cheap fix to this. Totally regretting this purchase right now.

[Rockster]

Mr Alex said:

Today I bought a 2003 Boxster S with 67k on the clock. FSH etc.

Loved the test drive, and was loving the 60 mile drive home until about 20 miles from home the gearbox started to grind when shifting from 1st to 2nd!

Really worried, have I bought a lemon?

Been looking around on Google lots since getting home and starting to panic that it might cost £1800 odd for a gearbox rebuild!

I've only had the car for less than 24h! It was a private sale though so I don't have any comeback!?

Really, really hoping that there is a cheap fix to this. Totally regretting this purchase right now.

Doesn't sound like a cheap fix will do.

Best advice is if you have no comeback -- based on fair/honest disclosure, car unsafe, fraudulently represented to you, or something like that -- get the car flatbedded to a proper shop and have the symptom cause ID'd. Grinding is almost certainly an internal transmission problem but I hope I'm wrong.

[Tom 911V]

Sorry to hear of your problem Alex, unfortunately it sounds like the dog teeth are broken on 2nd gear which would cause exactly the symptoms you are describing. It is something I've seen before. The best person to contact would be Mike at Sports and Classic in Knutsford. Even if you are some distance away from him he's your best option without doubt. I would be inclined to contact the previous owner to see if he is prepared to make a contribution toward the work. He will have known about this, it didn't just develop on your drive home. Good luck Alex.
Tom 911virgin

[steveo3002]

why wouldnt it have shown up on the test drive?

[thegoose]

What Tom said ^^^^^^^

Hartech can do it too but Mike does more of them, often for other Porsche specialists too, which should tell you something.

[Mr Alex]

Thank you for your replies. From what I googled that was exactly what I was fearing.

It is odd that it didn't happen either on the test drive or the first 40 miles home. Perhaps high temperatures aggregate it!?

I will try the previous owner but don't hold out much hope. I feel very unlucky!

I will try Mike - he came up on my searches too. His website says from £1400 + vat for a rebuild, and he is also quite a distance from me. That's more than 25% of what I paid for the car!

Gutted. Love the car, but we've got off to a really bad start!

[Helicopter123]

I can't see how the seller would not have been aware of the issue? Was the car advertised at a lower than expected price, or was the seller keen to do a deal? Poor form to sell a car privately with a known issue.

[itsybitsy]

Mr Alex said:

I will try Mike - he came up on my searches too. His website says from £1400 + vat for a rebuild, and he is also quite a distance from me. That's more than 25% of what I paid for the car!

Gutted. Love the car, but we've got off to a really bad start!

sorry to hear of your grief but am I reading right that you paid about £6k for the car that's cheap even adding the money for a gearbox rebuild.
a good 2003 986s would cost about £10k.so if everything else is good then you got yourself a cheap car

[Shurv]

It does look like the seller knew about the issue. Perhaps it was starting to show signs of failure ,so the seller decided to get rid, and the new owners drive home finished it off. Its not an uncommon thing unfortunately, I know of 2 911's that were recently "moved on" when potential expensive issues were identified as starting to show themselves. Both were sold via the trade rather than private sales, but it still leaves cars with imminent failures of major components waiting for the next poor sod to come along and get stung. In the old days you put a load of sawdust in your diff to stop it grumbling prior to sale, this is no different.

[Mr Alex]

Spoken to Mike. He confirmed the box will need a rebuild, at approximately £2k + vat. He was very helpful.

Gutted though, to be having this problem within 24h of ownership!

I've made an initial contact with the previous owner. This was his response,

"Hi Alex. I have had the car completely looked at by that AP Autocare in Bristol and paid for them to take it for a drive and also asked my mate from Hamilton cars to check everything as well and tell me if anything needed fixing. They said that it was common that the second gear can sometimes be like that if you whack it in due to the fact of where the gearbox is in the Porsche"

So it sounds like he must have been aware of it, and hadn't mentioned it. I paid £6.6k for the car which did seem like a good deal, but not massively so. That was partly to reflect it soon needing a full set of tyres.

Bad form that he didn't mention it but what can I do!? I can ask for some money back but I've a feeling that will get me nowhere.

[Magic919]

Do you still have the wording of the advert for the car? Have you spoken to the first garage to ask if they know about the gearbox?

[Mr Alex]

itsybitsy said:

sorry to hear of your grief but am I reading right that you paid about £6k for the car that's cheap even adding the money for a gearbox rebuild.
a good 2003 986s would cost about £10k.so if everything else is good then you got yourself a cheap car

Yes it was a good price (£6.6k, advertised at £7k). Pretty much everything else is good with the car other than the tyres. There were other face lifted s models around in the £7-8k bracket. So it didn't seem alarmingly cheap. But yes by the time it's done I should have a nice sorted 986 which assuming they find nothing else wrong with it will have cost me about £9k. Not too bad, just a shame I didn't know what I was letting myself in for!

[Mr Alex]

Magic919 said:

Do you still have the wording of the advert for the car? Have you spoken to the first garage to ask if they know about the gearbox?

This was the text from the ad,

"2 Door Convertible, Blue, Petrol, Manual, Drivers airbag, Alarm, Air conditioning, ABS, Heated door mirrors, Immobiliser. 5 previous owner(s), 5 months MOT, 6 months road tax, full service history, no accidents, leather interior, air conditioning, parking sensors, 67,000 miles,. £6,999"

No, not spoken to the garage he used yet.

[mollytherocker]

I am sure that rebuild is probably the best option, but is it worth investigating a secondhand box?

[Tom 911V]

mollytherocker said:

I am sure that rebuild is probably the best option, but is it worth investigating a secondhand box?

Rebuild all the way and take the opportunity whilst in that area and you're not doubling up on labour to upgrade / replace seals / bearings e.t.c where necessary. It will give you the peace of mind moving forward should you decide to keep it long term.

Tom

[Mr Alex]

Tom 911V said:

Rebuild all the way and take the opportunity whilst in that area and you're not doubling up on labour to upgrade / replace seals / bearings e.t.c where necessary. It will give you the peace of mind moving forward should you decide to keep it long term.

Tom

Yes, that's what I'm thinking. A good chance to check out the clutch, oil seals etc etc.

[Boxstercol]

I feel for you, not nice to experience that just after you've bought the car, can certainly leave a bad taste to the ownership experience.

I'd still go back to the previous owner & ask for a contribution - the worst case scenario is he says no. This is probably what will happen but nothing ventured nothing gained.

[itsybitsy]

Mr Alex said:

Tom 911V said:

Rebuild all the way and take the opportunity whilst in that area and you're not doubling up on labour to upgrade / replace seals / bearings e.t.c where necessary. It will give you the peace of mind moving forward should you decide to keep it long term.

Tom

Yes, that's what I'm thinking. A good chance to check out the clutch, oil seals etc etc.

get the IMS upgraded at the same time if not done already!!

[OIL996]

Mr Alex said:

Thank you for your replies. From what I googled that was exactly what I was fearing.

It is odd that it didn't happen either on the test drive or the first 40 miles home. Perhaps high temperatures aggregate it!?

I will try the previous owner but don't hold out much hope. I feel very unlucky!

I will try Mike - he came up on my searches too. His website says from £1400 + vat for a rebuild, and he is also quite a distance from me. That's more than 25% of what I paid for the car!

Gutted. Love the car, but we've got off to a really bad start!

You mention high temperatures. Where you stuck in traffic on a hot day for a length of time?

[Mr Alex]

OIL996 said:

You mention high temperatures. Where you stuck in traffic on a hot day for a length of time?

No, but it was 60-80 miles to get home.

Took it out this morning and it did it once while cold, so maybe there is no connection with temperature. Just odd how it didn't happen in either the test drive or the first 40-60 miles home. I tried to generally shift from 1st to 3rd...

Still loved driving it earlier, so this whole issue hasn't tainted my relationship with it too much hopefully!

Going to try and speak to the seller, to see if he will contribute to the repair bill.

Thanks for all the replies!