Richard - Dublin

Since I've joined this forum I've been very dissapointed to read about the reliability issues you guys seem to have with your cars.
When I was buying my car I was tossing-up between a new S2000 and a 2-3 year old Boxster and decided to buy the Honda because it was perceived as being "bullet-proof"!
I felt I could keep it for 4-5 years, do plenty of Track Days, visits to the Ring etc and have no concerns about reliability, as long as I looked after it - in fact just like the Fireblade it was replacing (my old age etc!).
After all, the S2000 won the JD Power for two years running and it is "a Honda"!
Now it seems (according to this forum) that they burn more oil than a "Two-Stroke" and blow engines if you VTEC to much!
Is it just that most forum contributors drive their cars very hard and there are thousands of S2000s out there which never give any trouble or are they really fairly delicate cars which need to be "Molly-Coddled"????

GrittyShaker

It's cos we all drive 'em like we stole 'em.

lovegroova

Not that many folk have had problems, the vast, vast majority of us motor happily away.

Yes, you do need to check the oil regularly, the same with any car really and engine failures are few and far between, usually at high miles.

Of course, people on here modify which, in my opinion, hurts reliability in the long run.

Seeing as various warranty companies will not cover Boxsters because they are so unreliable and so expensive to fix when they go wrong, you're much better off with an S2000.

Neil2k

You are in a 2007 car, so oil usage is unlikely - my 2001 car used to drink quite a lot to my amazement, but my 2005 car (It's almost 3) hasn't used any whilst I've had it for about 18 months.

Mines a daily driver and covers a reasonable amount of miles (I've put 23k on it since I got it) and get's a fair amount of V-TEC, but I wouldn't consider it thrashed. My old one was on about 56k when I sold it. I know Ian's engine threw a rod at about 126k, as I recall.

In my six years, I've never had a technical issue/ break down etc. My only issues have been a cracked plastic rear screen on the first one and corroded wheels on both (replaced under warranty).

Remember that we mostly post issues and rarely post to say "no problems today"! I've worried about a lot of things I've read over the years that have never affected me.

And finally, having once tried to follow 3 other board members a year or so ago, I think most people on here do indeed drive them like they stole them!

aldfort

sort of.

The car is inherently very reliable if looked after. (just like the Porsche except that early Boxters tend to drop the no6 cylinder liner.)

You just have to remember that to check the oil regularly. The engine is in a very high state of tune for a road car and you need to treat it accordingly.

Despite popular myth if you take a car to track days and rag it's arse off you will impact it's reliability. Does not matter what sort of car it is you will wear it out a lot faster and your lack of mechanical sympathy while grabbing gears and stamping on the pedals will tend to break things.

My car is now 2 and a bit years old. It's been serviced twice and has not had one single problem. It does not go on the track but I do drive it in keeping with it's spirit while staying inside the law. (i.e as quickly as the conditions will allow.)

Nick Graves

My S2000 has actually been very reliable.

OK, it threw a rod and the diff whistles like a kettle, but there's probably a reason for those!

Richard - Dublin

Thanks for the quick replies - Puts my mind at rest!
Really starting to enjoy the car now (about 1500 miles) - I was a bit underwhelmed during "running in" but now love the hard edge that develops at 6500rpm, lovely handling and it hasn't burnt a drop of oil yet either!

Rapscallion

mine threw a rod at 68,000 miles but was 2nd hand so really i had no idea how well the previous owners looked after the engine.

(and thats really my only gripe with the car - regardless of how much service history you have - you never know how well the previous owners actually looked after the car, esp the oil which is really crucial)

but apart from that no problems. my mates 2000 plate boxter on average has cost him

Jel

Do they do MC Blue again??

I thought it was RNBP or Bermuda.

Richard - Dublin

Mines a dark metallic Blue - thought it was MC Blue but maybe not?