Porsche Boxster S (986) | PH Fleet
We'll fix the important bits soon enough - but not before we've made it look pretty
Things are progressing quite nicely with the Boxster. How on earth people keep on top of owning more than one car permanently I still have no idea, at least not without off-road storage - but everything is slowly moving in the right direction. Some new suspension is on order, the roof will be replaced next month, and the wheel refurb should have been completed by the time you read this. Plenty more to sort with Wrightune, yes, though a tiny bit less than there first was. And now with a deadline to work towards - RU51 POR will be on Michelin’s stand at Annual Service in a few weeks.
So a lovely day detailing ahead of all that was probably the wrong way around. It should have been the finishing touch once the major mechanical things were sorted ahead of the show, but an opportunity to have some TLC lavished on the paintwork sooner rather than later was too good to pass up. Having lived outside at my father-in-law’s since 2001, the Lapis Blue paint was tired, having lost some of its lustre, and gained some imperfections. In fact, it was swirlier than a scoop of raspberry ripple - i.e. far, far beyond just needing a wash.
Enter Purity Detailing. Friends had spoken very highly of them, they were local, and the boys - Jamie and Tom - couldn’t have been nicer to deal with. Even if the Boxster must have been much mankier than what they're used to seeing. (Full disclosure and all that: I paid £300 for their efforts, this isn’t just an outright blag.) On initial inspection, they identified easy areas for improvement and inside, perhaps most encouragingly, they weren’t fazed by the task ahead of them.
The Boxster was subjected to Purity’s Paint Enhancement and Interior Detail; the former includes a 10-stage wash, clay bar treatment, and machine polish, plus work for the glass and tyres. The latter uses steam cleaning and compressed air, among other techniques, to reach every corner of the interior. Trim is deep cleaned, mats shampooed, seats vacuumed, and so on. The Boxster was with the Purity boys for ten hours on a Saturday.
The results are little short of extraordinary. It doesn’t look far off a respray (obviously some stone chips remain), with a vibrancy and depth to the paint that just wasn’t there before. In the right light, there’s a purplish tinge to the blue, to the extent that people now comment on just how good the paint looks. They commented before, only the sentiment was slightly different. Bodywork that was rough to the touch is now soft and smooth, proper showroom quality. With the refurbed wheels and new roof, it’s going to look fantastic.
The interior, too, has been usefully improved, everything a bit less grubby and nicer to use. The mats in particular have come up really nicely, given their age. It all serves to make the Boxster look so much more presentable in all scenarios; from something I was a little embarrassed to be associated with, it’s now a Porsche to be proud of. And it’ll be even more so when more of the to-do list is sorted.
As someone who was perhaps a tad cynical about the whole detailing craze before handing the Boxster over, the end result has been more than enough to park my previous reservations. The Purity lads have transformed the appearance of an old car; of course, it rained a few days later, but now I’m determined to keep the Porsche somewhere near as good as it looks in the pics - and that wasn’t really the case before. It really would be rude not to, given the considerable effort invested. Purity come heartily recommended - see for yourself at Bicester in August…
FACT SHEET
Car: 2001 Porsche Boxster S (986)
Run by: Matt Bird
On fleet since: April 2025
Mileage: 59,745
Last month at a glance: It’s all in the detailing
Previous reports:
Is a bargain Boxster sports car bliss?
Up on the ramp - and it’s not great news
The first brand new back in 2001, yellow, brilliant car and loved it, fantastic handling car and fast enough to enjoy.
Then I bought another about 10 years ago, in beautiful silver. Looked immacualate and drove well enough. Turned out to be the biggest single money pit I ever owned!
Costs included (but not limited to):
Cracked cylinder head
Brakes all round
Tyres all round
Roof
Ignition barrel
Air con condensors, and pipes
Exhaust back box
Etc....
Thankfully I was able to do most of this work myself and eventually the car was perfect but at a cost.... I paid £6.5K for it, and ended up spending another £6.5k getting it sorted. It came very close to getting scrapped when the cracked cylinder head was diagnosed.
I sold it after a year for £6k.
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