The 1997 Porsche Boxster has 4 recalls, the most serious involving the Tiptronic automatic transmission, where a seized bearing sleeve can make the gear selector increasingly stiff until it stops moving entirely, and a misadjusted key-lock cable can allow the car to roll away when shifted out of park without the parking brake applied.
Both transmission issues affect Tiptronic-equipped cars only. The seized bearing sleeve makes the selector lever progressively harder to shift between gears, eventually leaving the driver unable to change positions at all. The key-lock cable problem means the interlock that normally keeps the car from shifting out of park unless the brake is pressed may not function correctly, so a car parked on any incline without the parking brake engaged can roll freely.
The remaining two recalls both trace back to the ignition switch, and prior repair attempts did not fully resolve the issue across both filings. The switch housing can crack, which in one case causes the ignition key to stick when turning it, and in another leads to electrical failures across multiple systems. Either way, the practical result is the same: headlights, windshield wipers, the heater blower, and the air conditioning can cut out unexpectedly, leaving the driver without visibility aids or climate control while driving.
