Owner Review: A car that forges valuable family bonds - My Porsche Boxster S (987.2​)

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Basic information about my car:

2009 3.4 Porsche Boxster S (987.2​)

Reasons why I bought this car(purpose)

A car for weekend leisure drive and leisure outstation trips with the option for occasional roof-down experience.

Car selection process

● I had a budget of: RM 250k

● Models that I have considered include: Mercedes SL350, BMW Z4 35i and Porsche Boxster S

Reasons why I chose this car

Naturally, Porsche's brand name stood out and the preferred choice, although a little smaller car than the rest. The mid-engine layout was a plus. For that budget, the SL350 available in 2014 were much older, 2007 5-speed gearbox pre-facelift version. While BMW Z4 was much newer, I have my concerns on the reliability.

User Experience

I have already driven 24,000 km since July 2014. Average fuel consumption for highway driving is about 8 litre / 100 km while around 12 litre / 100km for city drive.
The general perception of continental cars being expensive to maintain doesn't seem to be the case with the ownership of this car over the past 7 years. The annual service done at German Motors in Seksyen 13 PJ comes out to around RM 1,000, which is not more expensive than a normal Japanese car that requires two services a year.

As the car is a reconditioned one, the built-in GPS does not work and Porsche Malaysia wanted a RM 7,000 upfront to “register” the car. Didn't proceed with that, as Waze would be more useful anyway. While the analogue speedometer is in miles / hour, the digital display can be set to km/h so no problem there either. Car interior doesn't feel that it has aged much, still has a touch screen infotainment system and a semi-analogue dashboard. After all, a 2020 G20 320i still comes with a analogue dashboard too.
Porsche recommends N-spec tyres which are at a slight premium over the same size Michelin or Pirelli tyres. Over the 7-years of ownership, only one major repair cost was the replacement of control and lower arms, which upon replacement, the car's handling felt much better and can corner more confidently.

One interesting feature that Porsche has is the “sleep mode” which disables your key fob from unlocking the car if left unused for more than 7 days. To bring it out of that, just pull the door handle and press the key to unlock the car. Probably a way for the car to preserve the battery life.
The 300-odd hp from the Boxer engine gives a nice exhaust sound when rev upwards of 3,000rpm even from the stock exhaust that the car came with.
There is an active Porsche Drivers Group where friendly Porsche enthusiasts from around the country share ideas and maintenance tips as well as organising activities, which has been disrupted with the current travel restrictions.

Pros and Cons

Pros of my car

1. The 7-speed PDK gearbox is on the facelift model felt much smoother than the 5-speed ones that I tested during the car hunting process.
2. The ventilated seats that this UK reconditioned car came with is a certainly a plus with the warm Malaysia weather.
3. Given its engine location, there is ample boot space, both in front and the back.

Cons 

1. Car came with the 19-ince Carrera rims which is bumpy in city driving, also had the unfortunate experience of kerbing a tyre (described below).
2. Lack of front sensors and low sitting position makes parking a little hard, similarly the rear-view is limited.

Ratings:

Total Score: 4.2

Performance: 5

Quality & Features: 5

Space: 4

Ride comfort: 3

Fuel Economy: 4

Price & cost: 4

Summary:

A retirement car for the father that also became the wedding car for the son and provides valuable father-son bonding road trips over the years with their common interest in cars.

Interesting events:

The low-profile tyre is prone to crack if not inflated properly, hence tyre pressure check every 2-3 weeks is required. Also had the experience of kerbing it without realising it. The tyre gave way along Jalan Duta (now known as Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim). Luckily was only travelling at 70km/hr when it happened.

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