Are modern Porsches actually ticking time bombs?
Discussion
While my dad had a few in the 80s, I've not actually owned one myself. However I've always aspired to 911 ownership; Dad nearly got a Turbo (80s style) but went for a Quattro but a ride in a basic one had me captivated.
I always thought of them as the compact, well built, reliable fast car, whatever the age but reading a number of recent threads, it appears that they are very often time bombs in disguise with incredibly strict servicing regimes. Numerous reports of total engine failures, bore scoring, etc, etc. In many cases the quicker versions (different engines) seem more robust.
This isn't a dig at them; I have always admired the cars very much; but are they super fragile or is it just the internet distilling issues as is often the case?
I always thought of them as the compact, well built, reliable fast car, whatever the age but reading a number of recent threads, it appears that they are very often time bombs in disguise with incredibly strict servicing regimes. Numerous reports of total engine failures, bore scoring, etc, etc. In many cases the quicker versions (different engines) seem more robust.
This isn't a dig at them; I have always admired the cars very much; but are they super fragile or is it just the internet distilling issues as is often the case?
I understand the 996 had some issues but the 997.1 and especially 997.2 and 991 seem ok and no worse than other cars like them.
As far as servicing goes, for 911 Carrera S it is £410 for minor and £650 ish I think for major at an OPC with service intervals of 2 years.
Same cost as a Boxster.
Not bad in my book.
As far as servicing goes, for 911 Carrera S it is £410 for minor and £650 ish I think for major at an OPC with service intervals of 2 years.
Same cost as a Boxster.
Not bad in my book.
Coolbanana said:
I understand the 996 had some issues but the 997.1 and especially 997.2 and 991 seem ok and no worse than other cars like them.
As far as servicing goes, for 911 Carrera S it is £410 for minor and £650 ish I think for major at an OPC with service intervals of 2 years.
Same cost as a Boxster.
Not bad in my book.
Current OPC charges are £295 for a minor & £395 for a major on 986/996 both inc VAT.As far as servicing goes, for 911 Carrera S it is £410 for minor and £650 ish I think for major at an OPC with service intervals of 2 years.
Same cost as a Boxster.
Not bad in my book.
Ari said:
Loads. Think how many Ford Focuses there are out there, you don't hear about catastrophic engine failures with those.
And it's not even just the 911, the Boxster has similar issues.
Very poor form.
Yep and the Cayman (clearly almost the same car) - look at the "most expensive car to look after" thread and there's a lightly used Cayman S needing a £7.5k engine rebuild!And it's not even just the 911, the Boxster has similar issues.
Very poor form.
Now many cars (our camper included) needed odds and sods doing. I reckon our van has had not far off £8k of warranty work done. But proper engine failure seems rare. Heard some 997s can be flaky too.
Max_Torque said:
You have to also remember than in the 1980s internet forums hadn't been invented. Hence when you had a major vehicular catastrophe there was nowhere (other than the local pub) to moan about it...........
And it was far easier to put journalists onto the marketing budget of the manufacturer. Coolbanana said:
I understand the 996 had some issues but the 997.1 and especially 997.2 and 991 seem ok and no worse than other cars like them.
As far as servicing goes, for 911 Carrera S it is £410 for minor and £650 ish I think for major at an OPC with service intervals of 2 years.
Same cost as a Boxster.
Not bad in my book.
997.1 arguably worse for engine problems than the 996As far as servicing goes, for 911 Carrera S it is £410 for minor and £650 ish I think for major at an OPC with service intervals of 2 years.
Same cost as a Boxster.
Not bad in my book.
I have always wanted a 911, could happily buy one but sadly won't (unless I get a disposable old Boxster) as the engine issue are too common and too expensive to fix. For those that think the Internet inflates the issues actually try and buy a 996 and look at histories loads of very expensive bills normally early in the cars life done under warrantee.
rallycross said:
tr7v8 said:
Current OPC charges are £295 for a minor & £395 for a major on 986/996 both inc VAT.
I doubt a £395 service by a Porsche dealer could be considered major more likely a service II on a 2/3 yr old low mileage car.Service II isn't a Porsche definition so I fail to see the relevance.
Vladimir said:
Yep and the Cayman (clearly almost the same car) - look at the "most expensive car to look after" thread and there's a lightly used Cayman S needing a £7.5k engine rebuild!
Which was mine!As I stated in that thread I would never buy another Porsche without a full OPC warranty.
Until the last 6 months I had the car it was genuinely brilliant. It was around 18 months old with 12K on the clock when I bought it and I had it for 4 years and put just under 50K miles on it in that time.
I did several VMAX days at Bruntingthorope in it, trips to the Spa and Le Mans Classics and several long European touring holidays in it.
It was a brilliant all rounder. It can sit at 3 figure cruises very easily and is quick and very accomplished in the twisties.
It all feels very well screwed together and is comfortable. It even has the boot space as a 3 series using the front and rear boots so is quite practical for long trips away.
My local OPC was good on servicing and the bills were pretty good for what was originally a £50K+ car. Tyres werent cheap but Pilot Sports in those sizes are never going to be.
The problem is the engines. Porsche are now renowned for seemingly making parts of their engines out of chocolate. They clearly know about the issues on both the Boxster/Cayman and 996 and 996 engines yet did nothing about it.
A full warranty would have solved the issue for me but unfortunately I didnt extend it.
There will be several other Cayman owners who won't have any problems with their cars but that seems to be pot luck.
Genuinely brilliant all round performance car but really let down by a major design flaw and an unwillingness by Porsche to acknowledge the problem and provide a solution at their own cost.
Edited by Davey S2 on Monday 2nd December 11:20
Decoy said:
If the car has been maintained as it should have been by an OPC or an independant that knows to looks out for the IMS\RMS seal leaking and rectifies it immediately if it does look like it may become a problem then there will be no problem
That may work for RMS Seal but doesnt help with scored cylinder liners. People like Hartech can fit a lower temp thermostat which can help but doesn't provide a full solution.Knowing you could end up with a very large repair bill tends to kill the fun of driving a performance car hard.
I've never been a believer in extended warranties (insurance). If a car really needs one, don't but it.
Our LR warranty saved us a fortune but because it was outside the main three year one, it was full of disclaimers and getting payment was a total nightmare.
I worry about our camper going out of warranty (a year left); we've had a new steering column, rear diff and propshaft, a section of roof repainted and more. Our seven year old BM hasn't missed a beat yet it's definitely a high performance machine.
Does anyone build cars properly any more? Even Jap cars seem flaky now.
A shame about Porsche; fragile engines coupled with indifferent dealers isn't a good combination, however appealing their range is.
Our LR warranty saved us a fortune but because it was outside the main three year one, it was full of disclaimers and getting payment was a total nightmare.
I worry about our camper going out of warranty (a year left); we've had a new steering column, rear diff and propshaft, a section of roof repainted and more. Our seven year old BM hasn't missed a beat yet it's definitely a high performance machine.
Does anyone build cars properly any more? Even Jap cars seem flaky now.
A shame about Porsche; fragile engines coupled with indifferent dealers isn't a good combination, however appealing their range is.
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