Is a 997.1 C2S a timebomb as per forums/guides/reviews?

[MarJay]

Hello,

Complete Porsche virgin here, so please be gentle.

A friend of mine has recently got and then sadly had to sell a 996, and I was very impressed, not to mention a little jealous. Since then I have found I may be inheriting a little cash, and started to browse the classifieds (as you do). I ended up with the exciting and yet potentially crazy idea that with some man-maths I might be able to afford my dream car, a 997 C2S. The problem is, the more research I do, and the more background reading I've done the more I'm worried about two things. Bore scoring and IMS bearing failure. Lots of buyers guides say "Less than 5% of cars are effected" but then you get angry owners ranting about no goodwill from Porsche themselves, that the car should have been recalled and Porsche should be ashamed blah blah. "I've personally seen 5 cars with this issue" is one particularly worrying comment.

Sadly, with said man-maths I can't afford a 997.2 (which does appeal, more power and more reliability, yes please!) And I'm guessing the prices of early 997.1's are soft for that very reason. If I went ahead with this idea would I be crazy? Would I be sitting on a ticking timebomb? It seems that unlike a lot of common automotive and motorcycle mechanical issues there is no warning before it happens...

I'd also consider the slightly cheaper Carrera 2 as some places seem to say it's less prone to the IMS bearing issue, but I can't seem to get a definitive answer on that.

I'm sure you've had this question many times before but any comments would be appreciated!

[MarJay]

Crazy4557 said:

I bought an 07 997.1 with just 27k miles last year. Every time I looked at it on the drive I wondered if it was going to trash it's engine even though I could afford to fix it. After a couple of months thinking like this I sold it at a loss, life's too short to worry about issues like this, it just totally spoilt the enjoyment for me. I've had several 911's over the years but this one just didn't do it for me but I'll happily buy another that doesn't have this stigma attached.
If you're not totally chilled about potential problems with this engine you may just regret it like me.

I suppose the answer would be to buy a car that has pre-exploded for a big discount, then get the engine rebuilt for peace of mind... I don't see many for sale like that though!

[MarJay]

I have considered a Cayman, but it just doesn't quite do it for me. I think maybe your option 1 might work. The bore scoring is less scary for me than the IMS as at least you can check to see if the damage already exists.