I had just returned to my car at a local shopping center, the sky had begun to look as if a storm was approaching and I decided to put up my convertible top. The top would not go up, so I proceeded home in hopes that I would beat the impending bad weather home. Needless to say it began to storm and my vehicle and myself were soaked. I was terrified as I could barely see to drive. Fortunately I made it home before my car conked out. I called my insurance company and was instructed to have my disabled vehicle towed to the porsche dealer. It was then evaluated by the service technician, and he found that a relay and motor had failed. The design involves two relays, one for the left side and one for the right side. The left side failed and would not allow the convertible top to come up. In addition to the motor/ and or relay failure it caused the cowling covering the top to jam and torched it, so that it became furher damaged. The insurance company agreed to pay for the damage caused by the water, but not the mechanical failure that caused that. The dealer informed us that the motor and relay were not replaceable as porsche had redesigned the system, because of this problem, so that both side would be raised at the same time. Their solution was to replace the system at a cost of approximately $2200.00 dollars. I contacted porsche north amerca, customer commitment department to see if there were any recalls and they indicated there was not. They instructed me to contact the service manager and he could likewise contact the regional level to see if porsche will take responsibility for this replacement and cost of upgrading to the safer design fix. They refused. My argument is that this is a safety issue. I could have been injured if I had not been able to navigate home in this storm, (believe me, it wasn't easy).
1998 Porsche Boxster body problems
11 complaints (34% of all complaints for this car).
- owner complaints
- 11
- of this car's complaints
- 34%
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Body: door5
- Body: roof and pillars4
- Body: door: hinge and attachments1
- Body1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Porsche Boxster body problems in other years
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Door cable failure
Alleged that the interior door lock release mechanism malfunctions as a result of a failed bowden cable.
PE98039
What 1998 Porsche Boxster owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Convertible top glide plates failed. Yh
Left and right sun visor lids broke twice. Yh
Convertible top would not go up or down. Nlm
Coolant liquid started to pour out of vehicle ,vehicle was in service three times.cannot determine defect. *aktailpipe cover came off, convertable top motors out of adjustment causing noise on the right side,ecu had to be recoded to accept key head, left headlight lense reflector replaced, the air bag light illuminated the dealer replaced r/f seatbelt lock was inoperative. Sb
Driver's door cable broke.
Driver's door cable broken.
Driver's door cable broken.
Inside release mechanism on driver's door broken.
The defective door cable make it impossible to open the driver side door from the inside.
Questions about the 1998 Porsche Boxster body
Does the 1998 Porsche Boxster have body problems?
Owners have filed 11 complaints about the body of the 1998 Porsche Boxster, 34% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 1998 Porsche Boxster body problems start?
Not enough complaints include the mileage to tell.
Was there a recall on the 1998 Porsche Boxster body?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
Other 1998 Porsche Boxster problems
Airbags 8Engine 8Electrical 6Seat belts 2Fuel system 1Lights 1Locks 1Suspension 1Visibility 1
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