Buying a C4S

[sebrussellsmith]

I am interested in buying a 996C4S and finally giving up the 993. I apologise in advance for what has no doubt been discussed to death.
What is the likelihood of IMS failure? Do all 996's potentially suffer from it? I have conflicting views from different people, some say its the early 3.4l engines, others say its all M96 engines which I believe includes 997 gen1's.
Could anyone please advise on the real situation and what ( and cost involved) preventative measures can be taken.
Many thanks
Seb

 

[Ewan]

My understanding is that all 996 (and gen 1 997) cars can suffer from IMS failure, the result of which is about a £10k whole in your wallet. But only about 5% of production has been thus effected (though this figure seems to vary from between 1 and 10% depending on who you ask). The one model to not be effected is the turbo, as that uses a different engine.

By chance I was looking at 996 ads earlier this evening, and saw a couple of C4S cars with rebuilt (IMS problem proof) engines. So while buying a "standard" 996 doesn't bother me, if you are particularly worried it is possible to buy a risk-free example.

There is a school of thought that says that if an engine is still fine now, some 10 years and 50k+ miles down the line, then its likely to remain a good one.

Personally I think it's all a storm in a tea cup. I'm looking to buy another 996 at the moment, at am not in the slightest bit bothered about the tiny percentage of engine failures. Let's face it, bad news is more interesting than good/boring/no news, and the internet thrives on this. So I'd wager the true figure for engine failure is even less than the 5% I've read.

 

[sebrussellsmith]

Many thanks Ewan

 

[bo_duke]

I spent about 8 months looking for a manual, rebuilt 997.1 C2S (the early 997 engines suffer from the same issues as the 996). Interestingly, I found the vast majority of cars with rebuilt/replacement engines were automatic rather than manual (I'd say 80-90%). I've heard that the autos move away in 2nd gear, and wondered if this might have anything to do with it (high load at low revs).

In the end, I gave up the search and bought a 996tt.