Honest John - Boxster engine failures
Discussion
Turning the pages of the Motoring sections in this morning's papers there's an item in Honest John's column (Telegraph) about Boxster engines. In short, he says there have been a lot of serious Boxster engine failures around the "midshaft" requiring either a rebuild at £6,500 or a new engine at £9,800! Goes on to add that water-cooled engines are nothing like as reliable as the older air-cooled units.
Honest John says extended warranty companies know of the problem and won't touch the car. With older Boxsters now becoming affordable is this a real issue for potential buyers or just a panic?
Honest John says extended warranty companies know of the problem and won't touch the car. With older Boxsters now becoming affordable is this a real issue for potential buyers or just a panic?
poorcardealer is so correct. Its panic induced by the internet and people like me....I went round shouting the engine in my box had let go after reading a few threads and deciding I recognised the symptoms....when in actual fact it was something much more simple...at the same tim some chap on boxa.net had the same symptoms and thought his had gone...and again it was something a lot more simple. An example thats been looked after well and properly serviced should be fine.
POORCARDEALER said:
Its hysteria created by a badly researced article by Honest John, there have been failures on them but in relation to the amount sold its very very small, it wouldnt put me off buying one.
Exactly. If it was a problem the Official Porsche Warranty wouldn't be £895 p.a.Check out what other manufacturers (Land Rover, BMW, etc) charge at warranty renewal, and with a max claim limits.
histonpead said:
there would need to be an element of truth or he'd be in a spot of bother with porsches legal bods.
Agreed. It would also very likely be an evidence-based "element of truth".So it doesn't matter how many on here disagree with his research standards, the fact that he's reported this in one of the UK's top selling newspapers spells bad news for residuals.
I'm willing to bet that if Porsche challenged the article, more material will be published on less severe matters affecting ownership, further denting the brand image amongst the new customer base that growth targets are likely based on.
Geneve said:
POORCARDEALER said:
Its hysteria created by a badly researced article by Honest John, there have been failures on them but in relation to the amount sold its very very small, it wouldnt put me off buying one.
Exactly. If it was a problem the Official Porsche Warranty wouldn't be £895 p.a.That Honest John feature has been there a while. Since engines started to fail in 996s and Boxsters in fact...
Yes, they fail. Probably more than they should, so get a warranty and be prepared to fight for your right to free repairs if it all turns nasty.
TOENHEEL said:
A Journalist plays on your fears, it sells Newspapers even if its bo
ocks. Lets face it everyone knows Porsche Engines are bomb proof full stop. If you are in any doubt go to your local track and observe who drives home unaided after the Scurry
With all due respect I (and a likely majority of Telegraph readers may) prefer to accept the text of said journalist than any view of a tiny minority of people who visit tracks to check out the reliability of cars. Further, OPCs in Germany have confirmed to me the opposite of what you describe as "bomb proof full stop".ocks. Lets face it everyone knows Porsche Engines are bomb proof full stop. If you are in any doubt go to your local track and observe who drives home unaided after the ScurryThe simple fact is that the Telegraph could be sued by Porsche's lawyers at any time if this were libel. Porsche have deeper pockets than the Telegraph's owners, so they can buy the best lawyers anywhere.
So if they don't sue, there must be merit in the article.
And if it is true that the article has been around for a while, what's stopping the writs?
The M96 engine problem has been high lighted on Honestjohn site for a couple of years now. Do not forget this man was quite a serious car dealer and very well known in the trade. I think he knows Autofarm quite well so he is in touch with the Porsche scene as well as traveling world wide to test cars. He is not afraid to call a spade a spade.
It is a well known fact in the trade that the present crop of engines are far more likely to fail than the earlier air cooled ones .
Apart from the well known RMS problems they suffer with failure of the intermediate shaft bearings,Cracked cyl heads and cracked cyl bores on early 3.4s. You can swat up on this on the great sites that Hartec and Autofarm provide. Both these companies are trying to do something about the situation by reengineering the problem areas rather than keep taking peoples money time and again.
As to percentages that fail it is hard to tell but because of the American buyers laws and legistration there seems to be a shortage of replacement units at the moment and the dealers are being instructed to rebuild problem units if possible.
Porsche have carried out many mods to the engines and the newer ones are now what you would exspect from them.
I think some of the problems with the modern cars is that they are not used on a daily basis ,some are just weekend toys. The trouble with this is that the oil drains back over this period so when you start up, the pumps the have to prime all the valve train again leading to rattle you get on startup and this is the time the int shaft is under most load.
I use my Boxster every day so have no rattle on startup nor does my battery go flat or my discs corrode as i am always reading on this forum.
Getting back to HJ I think he does say not to buy a low mileage early Boxster rather go for one that has been used as the were intended.
It is a well known fact in the trade that the present crop of engines are far more likely to fail than the earlier air cooled ones .
Apart from the well known RMS problems they suffer with failure of the intermediate shaft bearings,Cracked cyl heads and cracked cyl bores on early 3.4s. You can swat up on this on the great sites that Hartec and Autofarm provide. Both these companies are trying to do something about the situation by reengineering the problem areas rather than keep taking peoples money time and again.
As to percentages that fail it is hard to tell but because of the American buyers laws and legistration there seems to be a shortage of replacement units at the moment and the dealers are being instructed to rebuild problem units if possible.
Porsche have carried out many mods to the engines and the newer ones are now what you would exspect from them.
I think some of the problems with the modern cars is that they are not used on a daily basis ,some are just weekend toys. The trouble with this is that the oil drains back over this period so when you start up, the pumps the have to prime all the valve train again leading to rattle you get on startup and this is the time the int shaft is under most load.
I use my Boxster every day so have no rattle on startup nor does my battery go flat or my discs corrode as i am always reading on this forum.
Getting back to HJ I think he does say not to buy a low mileage early Boxster rather go for one that has been used as the were intended.
Dunit said:
The M96 engine problem has been high lighted on Honestjohn site for a couple of years now. Do not forget this man was quite a serious car dealer and very well known in the trade. I think he knows Autofarm quite well so he is in touch with the Porsche scene as well as traveling world wide to test cars. He is not afraid to call a spade a spade.
It is a well known fact in the trade that the present crop of engines are far more likely to fail than the earlier air cooled ones .
Apart from the well known RMS problems they suffer with failure of the intermediate shaft bearings,Cracked cyl heads and cracked cyl bores on early 3.4s. You can swat up on this on the great sites that Hartec and Autofarm provide. Both these companies are trying to do something about the situation by reengineering the problem areas rather than keep taking peoples money time and again.
As to percentages that fail it is hard to tell but because of the American buyers laws and legistration there seems to be a shortage of replacement units at the moment and the dealers are being instructed to rebuild problem units if possible.
Porsche have carried out many mods to the engines and the newer ones are now what you would exspect from them.
I think some of the problems with the modern cars is that they are not used on a daily basis ,some are just weekend toys. The trouble with this is that the oil drains back over this period so when you start up, the pumps the have to prime all the valve train again leading to rattle you get on startup and this is the time the int shaft is under most load.
I use my Boxster every day so have no rattle on startup nor does my battery go flat or my discs corrode as i am always reading on this forum.
Getting back to HJ I think he does say not to buy a low mileage early Boxster rather go for one that has been used as the were intended.
Thank you for a most informative post. It is a well known fact in the trade that the present crop of engines are far more likely to fail than the earlier air cooled ones .
Apart from the well known RMS problems they suffer with failure of the intermediate shaft bearings,Cracked cyl heads and cracked cyl bores on early 3.4s. You can swat up on this on the great sites that Hartec and Autofarm provide. Both these companies are trying to do something about the situation by reengineering the problem areas rather than keep taking peoples money time and again.
As to percentages that fail it is hard to tell but because of the American buyers laws and legistration there seems to be a shortage of replacement units at the moment and the dealers are being instructed to rebuild problem units if possible.
Porsche have carried out many mods to the engines and the newer ones are now what you would exspect from them.
I think some of the problems with the modern cars is that they are not used on a daily basis ,some are just weekend toys. The trouble with this is that the oil drains back over this period so when you start up, the pumps the have to prime all the valve train again leading to rattle you get on startup and this is the time the int shaft is under most load.
I use my Boxster every day so have no rattle on startup nor does my battery go flat or my discs corrode as i am always reading on this forum.
Getting back to HJ I think he does say not to buy a low mileage early Boxster rather go for one that has been used as the were intended.
Given your comments about engine shortages, I wonder if we should expect that an OPC rebuilt engine will be less attractive than a newly replaced engine (both occurring in, say, 2007)? Just a thought.
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