My Three Years With a 2001 Porsche Boxster S: One Impulsive Purchase and Three Years of the Cold Shoulder

Sometimes the most memorable purchases begin with the least sensible intentions. I went to Porsche Cambridge hoping for a test drive and perhaps a free coffee, with no real plan to buy anything. A short while later, I was driving home in a brand-new yellow Boxster S, having made a rather expensive decision on impulse—and one that would give me three memorable years of open-air motoring, mechanical lessons, and a decidedly chilly reception at home.

My Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 had arrived in the early summer of 1999 and my wife Janice’s new Alfa Romeo 156 in March 2000. I would normally have kept the Mitsubishi for three years but by early autumn 2001 the fuel and servicing costs were getting to be a drag and then when its gearbox needed to be changed I fell out of love with the car if not with the experience. I was getting itchy feet to find a replacement which would obviously need to be capable of family duties as the kids were growing and the Alfa 156 wasn’t the largest of cars for family use. I knew it would be a challenge to try and find something which matched the qualities of the Mitsubishi and I imagined that I would likely have to sacrifice some performance for sensible running costs which in future would be out of my own pocket. I thought there must be something that fitted the bill. Then in October 2001 I found myself near Cambridge with an hour or two to spare before a meeting I was due to attend. What could I possibly do to fill the time?

That’s right. I could buy a new Porsche Boxster 3.2S. In yellow… again. It happened like this.

I sat in a layby and phoned Porsche Cambridge. Perhaps they would have a demonstrator 911 I could play with? If not, at least they would give me a free coffee. Yes of course Sir could drop by and have a chat, and yes, Sir would be very welcome. No they didn’t have a 911 handy but would Sir like to try the Boxster demo? Sir would indeed like to try the Boxster demo, have a coffee and be on his way; an hour or so enjoyably spent.

The story (and I’ve always been gullible for a salesman’s pitch) went that alongside the replacement demonstrator for stock, which would be arriving shortly, they also had a cancelled order, a car with a weird selection of options and salmon coloured (Zanzibar red) with a brown roof and a caramel interior (I did later see that car, it was truly horrible). But if Sir would like to sign here and now they would take the cancelled order as the demonstrator and let me have their stock order – which had just a few well chosen options such as upgraded wheels (but still 18 inch rims rather than the optional 19 inch), heated seats, wind deflector and so on. I could have it for list price (3.2S cars were going at a premium over list for early delivery) and I could have it now and not in 18 months time. They would even take the Mitsubishi in part exchange – which other dealers had turned their noses up at.

I signed, even though this was going to be my money, but Janice who has had a lifelong and (and in my opinion slightly irrational) dislike of Porsches and the people who drive them, once she found out refused to speak to me. For three years.

I anticipated this, to the point that I was too afraid to tell her what I’d done. I decided it was best just to arrive home one evening in it and hope letting her drive the car would persuade her it was a pretty decent machine. Spoiler Alert: no it didn’t. We were out with clients for dinner that evening. We drove in silence and very little of the steam had escaped by the time we drove home. The cold shoulder remained in permafrost. Hey ho, sometimes you have to do these things. Another Spoiler Alert: she did eventually start speaking to me again and we’re still married.

There was a logic behind my choice, strange though it may seem. One was tax changes meant that a lot of the benefits of having a fully funded company car were being consumed by higher personal taxes. I always believed in leading from the front in business and if we were going to gradually start getting rid of company cars then I ought to set the example. As the company had started paying business mileage costs rather than providing all fuel I wanted something that was (comparatively) economical. I also wanted something that had a good track record for holding its value so the depreciation hit wouldn’t be too hard even if the entry price was high.

A second consideration was that we didn’t actually need another large car. In 2001 for our summer holiday we had taken the Citroën Ami Super to the World 2CV Meeting in Austria and we were already planning our 2002 summer holiday around attending the 12th International Citroën Car Clubs Rally at Amherst, Massachusetts. After that the next 2CV World Meetings were scheduled to be in Italy in 2003 and Scotland in 2005. The Alfa was perfectly good for any other trips.

The third logic was probably that it was time for a mid life crisis – how else can you explain a yellow Porsche Boxster?

What about the car though? Well, what about it? I loved it so much in the end that like the SAAB Turbo which preceded it I don’t have any decent photos apart from buried in snow – hence the library pictures: right colour, correct wheels. That’s not to say I didn’t like it, I did a great deal, but I guess Janice’s opinion also weighed heavily. It was my first two seater, my first real sports car, my first full convertible – the full length sun roof on my original Citroën Dyane had introduced me to the delights of wind and sunburn whilst driving and I hadn’t really remembered how much I’d enjoyed that until the Porsche reminded me. In fact I drove it with the hood down in all weathers and all through winter whenever I could – I knew Janice’s opinion was thawing a little when she bought me a woollen skullcap to help keep my ears warm.

There was actually lots to love about the 986 series Boxster. The seats were good, the relationship between seat, pedals, steering wheel and instruments was exactly what you would expect of something designed with ruthless efficiency and sense of purpose. It was surprisingly practical too with enough space for carrying around the cases of paperwork that the pre-internet professional of the early noughties needed to have with him. Janice did of course eventually drive it but to this day I dare not ask her what she really thought of it because I don’t necessarily think I would like the answer…

At least it was covered by a decent warranty. It needed to be because Porsche spent all or more of their generous profit on warranty work. This was the time of the infamous Intermediate Shaft (IMS) Bearing. IMS bearing failure affected all 986 series Porsches and especially post 2000 when the original design was ‘upgraded’ to a single row bearing which was substantially weaker and even more prone to failure. Such failure would be catastrophic for an engine, and probably catastrophic for an owner too.

In fairness my engine never got as far as failure and because they needed to take it out to cure the oil leak from the rear main crankshaft seal (another common issue), so they stripped and changed the IMS bearings whilst they were at it. The cam covers also leaked – in fact it leaked more oil than my flat four Citroëns – and the oil return tubes from the heads on those leak like sieves; they just do. So, in the end a routine service usually became an engine out job all at their expense covered by warranty. They changed the hood because they couldn’t stop it rattling; and the driveshaft gaiters, which were four times the price of a pair for a Citroën 2CV but half the thickness and a tenth the quality.

We did have some good trips though, notably to Rennes in France to sign papers for a ski apartment we bought in the French Alps in the spring of 2003. The car proved perfect for a couple with a weekend’s luggage and a trip south in the sun on quiet French ‘N’ roads.

Then the paint started peeling off. Summer 2004 was a warm one. I spent the middle part of it in a loan Ford Fiesta with no air conditioning when I should have been out enjoying myself with the roof down. They seemed to take ages to repaint the front clip and door mirrors which looked to have been as badly painted as my father’s Lancia Beta had been back in the mid 1970s!

With the three year warranty coming to an end in October 2004 and 50000 miles on the clock it was time to move on again before my pocket started to take direct hits. After the turbo wastegate and limp-home mode issues with the SAAB, a broken gearbox in the Mitsubishi and now the trauma of Porsche ownership surely there must be a brand that could deliver me a car that would hold together without catastrophe? The Alfa Romeos, despite their reputation, had been just fine but maybe it was time to look towards Japan again? Maybe I had some unfinished business in that part of the world?