Previous Owner - Car Repairs
Discussion
Recently bought a car in a private sale, happy in the knowledge that I've done so without warranty.
Noticed the car has a bit of an oil leak which, according to the history, the previous owner paid to have fixed 10 months and 1,800 miles ago. It's a 996 and suspect it's a RMS leak.
Long shot but any comeback on the company who did the work for the previous owner? My instinct is telling me it's not worth the bother as they'll just shrug but shame as it's a substantial bill.
Noticed the car has a bit of an oil leak which, according to the history, the previous owner paid to have fixed 10 months and 1,800 miles ago. It's a 996 and suspect it's a RMS leak.
Long shot but any comeback on the company who did the work for the previous owner? My instinct is telling me it's not worth the bother as they'll just shrug but shame as it's a substantial bill.
ThunderSpook said:
When I had a Boxster my Porsche specialist told me they all have an RMS leak, it was kind of designed that way. He reckoned if it were fixed then it would likely just cause a leak somewhere much worse.
That's rubbish but it is true that this was a major design flaw of the 9x6s. Many, many cars leaked continually, regardless of which design of rms was fitted and by whom. More of a concern should be whether your car had had the IMS updated.
If you go over to the Porsche Forums there are lots of tales about the dreaded RMS.
My boxster had a new one when the clutch was changed but through out it's life had a very small weep from it. Not once did I need to top up the oil on the car outside of service, in fact it was hard to tell if any had been used at all!
My boxster had a new one when the clutch was changed but through out it's life had a very small weep from it. Not once did I need to top up the oil on the car outside of service, in fact it was hard to tell if any had been used at all!
Thanks for the advice, as I suspected. Was done by an independent garage and not a Porsche specialist/main dealer.
I actually think I've made a mistake in checking the history anyway - the previous owner said he'd had the RMS sorted but, looking at the invoice, it seems it's the IMS seal that's been replaced.
Regardless, I went into this purchase with my eyes wide open regarding the various design issues surrounding the engine. Even replacing the RMS at a local trusted specialist it's still a very cheap car and it drives amazingly so I'm happy.
I actually think I've made a mistake in checking the history anyway - the previous owner said he'd had the RMS sorted but, looking at the invoice, it seems it's the IMS seal that's been replaced.
Regardless, I went into this purchase with my eyes wide open regarding the various design issues surrounding the engine. Even replacing the RMS at a local trusted specialist it's still a very cheap car and it drives amazingly so I'm happy.
I bought a 996 about 6 years ago from the original owner who was a friend of a friend.The RMS was a bit damp and he said it had been like that for a few years.When I bought the car I took out a warrantee from Warranty Wise with a special offer of 3 years for the price of 2 so total cost £1800 for the 3 years.
Later in the year I had the car serviced at the Porsche main dealer who mentioned the RMS needed replacing and although I thought it would be fine I spoke to the warranty company and although the porsche cost per hour was more than my warrantee allowed the did a deal between themselves and ended up costing me about £10 for some bolts.
11 months later I had my car serviced at the same Porsche dealer and they mentioned the RMS again that it needed replacing which again I thought it was ok but I said ok you replaced it 11 months ago so still under your guarantee so was replaced it again free of charge.
Apparently there was a new procedure and new parts for replacing the RMS and that was about 4 years ago and has been completely dry since then.
Later in the year I had the car serviced at the Porsche main dealer who mentioned the RMS needed replacing and although I thought it would be fine I spoke to the warranty company and although the porsche cost per hour was more than my warrantee allowed the did a deal between themselves and ended up costing me about £10 for some bolts.
11 months later I had my car serviced at the same Porsche dealer and they mentioned the RMS again that it needed replacing which again I thought it was ok but I said ok you replaced it 11 months ago so still under your guarantee so was replaced it again free of charge.
Apparently there was a new procedure and new parts for replacing the RMS and that was about 4 years ago and has been completely dry since then.
Osinjak said:
Apologies for going O/T but why? 
I am not sure what point you are trying to make regarding why and your confusion.I took out the warrantee when I bought the car as it was a good deal as I did not know a lot about this type of car at the time.
After the OPC said the RMS needed fixing I thought it would be ok to leave it as it was but thought if the warrantee company would pay for it I may as well get it done.If they would not pay for the RMS to be fixed I would have left it as it was.
REALIST123 said:
I can't work out how he and the previous owner knew the RMS was damp but OK. Not the easiest thing to diagnose without a strip down.
If you speak to Porsche main dealers for their honest opinion,specialist Porsche independent garages and forums they will all tell you that if the RMS is damp it is ok and just comething that happens.If it was actually leaking and dripping to get it repaired.For the last 4 years Porsche have new updated seals and procedures and I am led to beleive that they will be ok.Mine has been completely dry since replaced with the new RMS but for years before when it was damp never dripped oil on my light coloured concrete garage floor.
If you have a Porsche or independent warranty the OPC will say it needs changing even if it is damp as they will make a good profit and not usually cost the owner anything.A bit like when you take your car in for service they will recommend new brake discs and pads when they are less that 50% worn.
My local OPC chief mechanic took voluntry redundancy in 2008 at the start of the financial crisis and set up his own garage where I have been taking my car for the last 3 years.He can do all the old cars,like rebuilding 993 turbo engines and seen every Porsche in his garage including the new stuff.Even the Bentley garage when they take in a top end Porsche in PX send it to him for a check over and not the OPC dealer on the same street as them.
He says its ok if the RMS is damp or a little wet but if it is dripping to repair it.So thats good enough for me.
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