986
Two distinct phases sharing a chassis code. They take different parts — pick the one you actually have.
- Years
- 1997–2004
- Phases
- 2
- Spec blocks
- 5
- Power
- 201–258 hp
The 986 was sold in two phases that differ enough to be treated as separate cars — different engines in most cases, and different service parts in all of them. Choosing the wrong half is how people end up ordering a bulb that does not fit.
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986.1
1997–2002The car that saved Porsche. Plastic rear window, 2.5 then 2.7 litres, and the purest version of the shape.
3 trims 201–250 hp 9 known issues -
986.2
2003–2004The facelift: heated glass rear window, better interior, 228 and 258 hp. The one to buy.
2 trims 228–258 hp 8 known issues
About the 986
In the mid-nineties Porsche was a single bad year from being bought. The 986 Boxster is the car that fixed it: cheap to build, shared its entire front end and much of its engine with the incoming 996, and sold in numbers the 911 never could. It is fashionable to describe it as a parts-bin car. It is more accurate to say the 911 borrowed from the Boxster, because the Boxster came first.
What that commercial logic produced is, almost accidentally, one of the best-balanced chassis Porsche has ever sold. The engine sits behind the driver and between the axles, the car weighs under 3,000 lb, the steering is hydraulic and unhurried, and there is a boot at each end. A base 2.5 is not fast by modern standards and it does not need to be — the interest is in the middle of the corner, not the exit.
The catch is the same M96 engine risk that haunts the 996, plus a set of water-ingress and convertible-top failures specific to an open car now old enough to vote. A 986 is cheap to buy and emphatically not cheap to own badly. Bought on a proper inspection with the drains clear and the top working, it is the most car-per-dollar Porsche makes.