Boxster - Long Term / High Mileage Update @ 137K [Long windy post, but may contain information of value to you, some day]
HISTORY: It has been a long time since I dropped in on alt.autos.porsche, and I figure what with it being the New Year and all, this is a good time to share. Anyone not familiar with my prior posts can Google this group for 'stoner' & 'arctic silver', and you will get updates on my experiences with buying a brand new 1998 Boxster, and driving it every day as my primary transportation for about seven years now.
I last posted a long time ago, partly because the Boxster is now semi-retired, and has been a 'weekender' for about two years. I purchased a used but cherry 2000 Ford XLT F150 in 2002, and it became my everyday wheels due to higher seating/better visibility for my daily highway drive, lower miles on it, lower overall value, and not too many worries about dings, etc.
TODAY: The Boxster shows 137,000 fun-filled miles. It still sports the original clutch and top, and the paint and interior remain flawless. The last major maintenance (until now) was the water pump replacement documented here two years ago.
AN A/C ISSUE: Quite some time ago, after an extended period (around two months) of car sitting idle in the garage, I decided to fire it up for a spin, and noticed the A/C was not cooling. The compressor was not coming on, so I figured after over five years, the refrigerant needed a recharge and so a pressure switch was preventing compressor activation.
I took it to my authorized Porsche dealer, and of course, it could not be that simple. Diagnosis: leaky evaporator. Estimate: $1400 part, $1500 labor =3D ~$3000 (with tax and shop fees). Ouch. I told them that since the cool season was coming, I would think about it for a while.
They told me that the part was so expensive because it is only sold as a unit -- not just evaporator, but includes entire big plastic box I assume that's fan, dashpots, evaporator, housing, basically everything. Labor is expensive because they said the dashboard pretty much has to come out to do the job.
I called a couple of independent Porsche shops, and one guy has done a couple where he takes a Celica (or some other import evaporator, I forget) cuts the existing Boxster plastic box, adapts the evaporator core in, and then rivets a plate over the entry gash. Not too attractive, but cuts about $1000 off the overall job price, due to a bit less labor, and cheaper part (evaporator only).
Finally, I went to web and looked around -- sure enough, as of about six months or so ago, I could not find any aftermarket parts listed as just evaporator core for Boxster.
EVAPORATOR AVAILABILITY: Well, a few days ago, I searched again, and hit paydirt! It seems someone had come out with a replacement, because several on-line parts places now showed availability. I went to one site and saw the following (text is *exact*, formatting has been lost)
Core Charge List Price Our Price $0.00 $1,446.67 $146.44 Notes: Complete A/C Housing with Evaporator
That $1446.67 sounded correct for the *whole* assy , just as described by Porsche dealer. But what was up with the online price of $146 -- that must be just the core? Nope, looking at the description, there can be no mistake, "Complete A/C Housing with Evaporator".
Wow. Maybe for once in my life I'm getting a bargain (sound of Credit Card being pulled from holster) Maniacal laugher : "Haaaaheeeehaaaheeee...."... Naturally, when the part arrived, it is just a square box of aluminum fins with two pipes sticking out. Drat.
TEAR DOWN AND REPLACEMENT: Well, I ran down the street to my local A/C repair outfit and after affirming that they actually seemed pretty much on the ball, I asked if they would take the job on. For instance, the main guy insisted that no matter what Porsche said, he would first do careful diagnosis, check for leaks with dye, and proceed slowly. Well, tonight my car is in a multitude of pieces and once it was torn down, the shop called me over to see what is involved in this job. (Really good guys so far!) I took some digital photos and have them posted at:
I had noticed little flecks of gray and light brown foam that occasionally got blown up against the A/C outlet, and eventually would blow out onto carpet. I had assumed this was foam duct tape used as gasketing between sections of plastic piping, so I wasn't worried -- I mentally filed it, and if I eventually got rattles from plastic on plastic or a noticable air diffusion, I would then find the elbow and re-tape it.
DESIGN: The foam's actual origin was some 'blades' or 'deflectors' about 5" X
12" long, located in the evaporator box, whose purpose is (when driven by dashpot) to direct air to defrost or floor or panel etc. So, what I had assumed was innocuous seems, in fact, a very significant failure of what I consider to be a cheesy design. That is, unless I'm misunderstanding something major.Take a look at photo in link: http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/244/244359/pages/635243/IMG0228e=dited.jpg
First, the little white door with a bellcrank is exactly what I had envisioned as the control mechanism for air handling. So I was shocked to find that there are three other 'flaps', that when I first saw them, still had some papery thin foam over their surface. The covering for those paddles or flaps were what had been showing up in my ducts! So, after a complete cleaning, you now see those flaps now as three shiny silvery metal pieces in the photo. The A/C repair folks are locating an acceptable substitute to recover them, but it amazes me that the system would rely on the integrity of such an obviously transient covering. And the stuff is not just an edge gasket, notice that due to the HOLES in the face of all metal paddles, without a covering those paddles aren't going to be worth a darn at directing air. Weird. Escapes me why that would be designed that way. Must be due to auto climate control feedback/control, but seems odd.
OTHER WEAR PARTS: There is also traditional squirrel cage fan in that plastic box. And, there are other assorted parts that might fail. So, depending on your comfort level for risk, if you should ever have an evaporator or a motor failure, going with the entire replacement assy might be worth the added piece of mind.
CONCLUSION: The car was in the shop for three days, and it took all of it to get it done. Total bill was 2Gs even, and included replacement of several other parts gotten from Porsche that were worn or cracked, besides the evaporator, and the refurbed blend doors; i.e both the pass and driver side vent assys (the little adj parts had broken), a 'clock spring' (hey, don't ask me...), and the usual o-rings, oil, flush, refrigerant, etc. Now works great, looks great, and the guys did a careful job, but on something this huge, I wonder if taking to the dealer and negotiating for best price (or some dollars off accessories...?) for 'peace of mind'.
EPILOGUE: TBD. I'll let the group know if anything else comes up, however...
I am getting more and more interested in fulfilling a long-time dream of obtaining a 1940 Ford Coupe, and I only have a one-car garage, so it is possible that the Boxster will be fully retired (i.e. sold), and I will be on to new adventures! The Boxster has been a pleasant overall experience, and I would gladly do it again, all things being the same. Doing a bit of rough calculation, at $45K initial, $18.5K residual, owned for ~ 7yrs, that runs about $300/month cost (or 0.19=A2/mile) (of course excluding maintenance, insurance, gas, etc). For the enormous pleasure I have had with it's performance, style, handling, and *real* day to day drivability plus practicality, I am well pleased. I have toted sacks of fertilizer in it's cavernous front trunk, traveled 600+ mile days in comfort, cruised the Keys, gotten the groceries, drove to work in style and grinning with the wind in my hair, and just generally enjoyed it. As a kid, I heard that you ruin a car by trying to make it too versatile, i.e. a true sports car has to be finicky, no trunk, poor amenities, uncomfortable for long drives, unreliable, etc. I can now say with the confidence that comes from direct experience - B.S. The Boxster does have some quirks and is a bit pricey to fix when it does break, but aside from that, it's been hard to beat.