Link to review on The Babblers Boxster Board - December 16, 2005

Review of Porsche Boxster, Boxster S Service Manual: 1997-2004 from The Babblers Boxster Board, December 16, 2005

Porsche Boxster, Boxster S Service Manual: 1997?2004

Posted By: Tom M.

"Boxster owners have long sought information concerning their vehicles, whether it was for doing routine maintenance or major mechanical work. Boxster owners, it seems, tend to be a bit more frugal and tend to consider many of the tasks related to the upkeep of their vehicles as DIY items. To date the information needed to carry out said tasks has either been word of mouth, via group gatherings of Boxster owners, or via any one of a number of message boards on the internet. Prior to now the only other avenue that was open to Boxster owners were the official Porsche workshop manuals - a hefty and expensive solution. That has all changed with the newly released Porsche Boxster, Boxster S Service Manual: 1997-2004 by Bentley Publishers.

Initial Impressions
My copy of the service manual arrived a few days after being contacted by Bentley Publishers to see if there was any interest in reviewing their latest Porsche offering. As I hadn't heard the initial talk about the book I was pleasantly surprised to see how well laid out and comprehensive it was. Upon opening the book one is greeted by the full page Table of Contents. This is well organized, allowing one to easily locate the desired information. As one might expect the book also contains a comprehensive Index.

Contents
The first part of the book covers the Boxster from an overview standpoint and provides a brief 40-page or so introduction to the vehicle and is the only portion of the book that contains color photos. This is followed by what amounts to all of the routine maintenance items that the Boxster requires. Maintenance items covered range from the basics of safely raising the vehicle and identifying items which are best left to your Porsche dealer to how to check fluid levels in the various transmissions. As one might expect, the book is liberally sprinkled with the requisite Caution and Warning notes.

Each major section of the manual has its own Table of Contents that describes what the work group covers and identifies whether or not any special tools will be required to perform the tasks. This allows one a chance to identify any tools that may need to be purchased, with a list of suppliers included in section 3. A cross reference of other areas that may be impacted is also listed so that one may easily understand the complexity of what is to be done.

Each task is clearly described with step-by-step instructions along with photos and illustrations to help guide one through the process. My aging eyes would have preferred photos with a bit more contrast as the contrast level in some of the pictures seems a bit too low to me.

Major Features

Summary
All in all, Bentley Publisher's Porsche Boxster, Boxster S Service Manual: 1997-2004 is a solid maintenance and repair guide. The book is ideal for anyone that may choose to perform almost any of the routine maintenance items on their vehicle to those individuals interested in doing major repairs. It will also prove useful to owners that never plan on doing any of their own repairs as it provides the information necessary to be well informed when discussing potential repairs with your local Porsche repair shop."