Transmission Stuck In Gear Problems of Porsche Boxster

Car has a manual transmission. Shifting from 1st to 2nd gear, the shifter suddenly went completely loose, leaving the car stuck in 1st gear. After subsequent analysis, the root cause was determined to be a snapped shift cable between the shifter "stick" and the transmission. Further research reveals this is a very widespread problem within the Porsche community, caused by a bad engineering design where the shift cable is made to take a sharp bend in it's path to the transmission, causing the shift cable metal to fatigue through the bend and eventually shear/snap without warning. Simply google "Porsche shift cable break" for example to find the many many folks suffering this issue. This is extremely dangerous if it happens at an in-opportune time like on the highway or in traffic! I was very lucky that I was traveling at low speed in an area where I could safely pull over. Imagine if I was cruising on the highway at speed and then downshifting for say an exit, suddenly finding the shifter go completely loose, causing me to be stuck in say 6th gear. The initial shock and not having time to figure out what is going on could have caused me to get rear ended at speed. I contacted my local Porsche dealer to see if any recalls or notices were out for this issue and they confirmed nothing has been done by Porsche. Attached are pictures of the two cables removed from my car. One is still in tact while the other broken one clearly shows the broken/sheared off cable end that attaches to the transmission.

See all problems of the 2011 Porsche Boxster 🔎.

Vehicle stuck in neutral after few seconds stop at stop sign in cross street. Was able to drive into hotel parking lot a few feet away and vehicle was towed home. Missed first repair appointment but rescheduled for 11/20/2014. 11/13/2014-vehicle now will not stay on when key is turned, will try a battery charge. Expecting to replace battery after diagnostic appointment. I don't drive it that often and have never missed a service appt.

See all problems of the 2009 Porsche Boxster 🔎.

I was driving on a major 8-lane highway. I shifted uneventfully through the gears, until I attempted to shift from 5th to 6th. At this point, I discovered that the shift lever offered no resistance and had no effect: the shift linkage had failed catastrophically and without warning. The car was in 5th and I could no longer change the gear. Because I am an experienced driver and knew the area, I was able to drive to an exit that offered safe parking, and call for a tow. A bit of web research suggests that this is a model defect that has already affected many. The Boxster and cayman (987) have a cable linkage, and I suspect that the cable (part # 98742404211) is underdesigned and prone to snap (e. G. . Read more...

See all problems of the 2010 Porsche Boxster 🔎.