Don't Buy a Porsche?

[devans]

Still driving my 98 c2 as intended. Engine and performance good as new at 107,000 miles. All cars have an Achilles heel but as stated earlier, any £70k car new is going to cost even for the simplest replacement parts.
I think if paying for it new, then maybe I would be cautious, but as many now go for around £10k, you have a choice. Drive an icon which many of us probably felt we could never afford when young or go for a different car which DOES NOT have the PORSCHE experience. After all, just being on this forum shows that surely we are passionate about a car which we all try to upgrade if the money becomes available. The turbo still awaits!

 

[Ripmax]

Me too!

ORIGINAL: Boxstercol

Ouch!!

I must admit that all this IMS talk is starting to make me paranoid!

 

[blease]

Owned my 98 C2 Cab for 9 years and took mileage up from 50 K to 80 k. Car has been excellent but all the stories plus a niggling little top end ticking sound convinced me I had piston slap and the end was nigh!
So, booked her into Hartech and told them...fix whatever needs fixing.
Turned out the ticking was caused by a loose spark plug. Bores etc are fine. Had clutch and RMS changed. Both serviceable. All other bogies like air/oil separator attended too as well. But essentially, the engine was fine and I paid 6K for peace of mind and a 4 page report by Hartech which may, just may support a reasonable price when I sell the car. Which is now my plan. PM me if interested!

 

[blease]

Full details on my Cab are here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/porsche/911-carrera-996/porsche-911-996-cabriolet-c2-manual-full-hartech-preparation-1998/2125729?isexperiment=true
Thanks.

 

[sambaman]

Early 996 do have engine issues as do the later 996 apart from the Turbo / Gt3 etc as they use a different block , I had a 997 GT3RS - Porsche Leeds rebuilt the engine twice only due to they could not get the RMS to seal properly , thankfully the second time they built it they resolved the problem

 

[thirteeneast]

Just been out to the Garage and mine to my amazement hadn't imploded into a blubering mess of PTFE RMS sprinkled with IMS bearing.

Turned the key and mine still works.
Please help Is something wrong with my 996?.

 

[chriscoates81]

ORIGINAL: thirteeneast

Just been out to the Garage and mine to my amazement hadn't imploded into a blubering mess of PTFE RMS sprinkled with IMS bearing.

Turned the key and mine still works.
Please help Is something wrong with my 996?.

Is it a turbo or gt?[]

 

[JuliusF]

There's a pretty good article on the issue here from as far back as July06 - Total 911 magazine.

http://www.autofarm.co.uk/pdf/Total911_July06.pdf

Of course, I'm hoping I'm one of the 95% who won't have a problem - at 86k miles my 98 Carrera 2 runs sweetly (doesn't always start too well, but that's another story.......).

As always the horror stories make for the interesting reading, satisfied customers, the silent majority I suspect.

There always seems to be a model in any heritage chain that draws the flack - personally I always liked the 996 (I even like the headlights!), but my pal who has worked as an OPC mechanic tells me more horror stories about 964's than anything else (so stone me for committing sacrilege) - I'd still like one though, and when you plump for any marque/model, do your homework, go in with your eyes open.

Years ago I was in another car club (no names) and we used to say that the definition of an optimist was someone who believed they could afford to run a second hand Aston Martin............ But, plenty still out there looking good!

Don't buy a Porsche? Don't think so!

 

[thirteeneast]

Just imagine if we had bought a Lotus [] Splitting my sides at the thought.

As for the Headlight theres this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLe4ZMYaM8s

And then there this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5HfxTDQVYQ

Not much of a decision.

 

[Andyvvc]

Before i purchased my 996T I had done a lot of research (6+ years, but not by any means an expert!) into the 996 and earlier 997 engine foibles. I'd owned Jap cars before the 996T and they were (by and large) bullet proof in the engine department. The one article i did read (on a US forum so may be cobblers) was the price differential between the Mezger 996 Turbo/GT2/GT3 engine and the M96/M97 engines in the other 996s. The Mezger cost a staggering $50,000 to buy, whereas the M96 engine cost $28,000. Clearly, Porsche either cut corners with the M96 design, or it was genuinely a big leap away from the Mezger designed block and made it's cost savings through clever engineering/mass production of parts etc.

The M96/M97 engines do have a flaw with the IMS/bore score and D-Chunk issues. But they are reletively rare (less than 5%, probabaly quite a lot lower). In all honesty if i owned an M96 engined car i would just be making sure i warmed it up/down properly, changed the oil and filter every 4,000 miles, and kept an eye on coolant levels. I rather suspect that 12k mile service intervals for the 996s don't help. My old and leggy Nissan 200sx ran to 152,000 miles before i sold her in 2008. Original engine. Original turbo. Oil changed every 4k. No issues what-so-ever.

How much does a good Indy charge for an oil+filter change? £150? Less? It's peace-of-mind if you ask me. Do any oils actually last 12k miles before they break-down and become less than perfect?

 

[bradders]

Hi all,

From what I'm reading it sounds beneficial to buy a higher mileage car? Say above the 75kish mentioned.

Thanks in advance

Mark

 

[bradders]

Hi all,

From what I'm reading it sounds beneficial to buy a higher mileage car? Say above the 75kish mentioned.

Thanks in advance

Mark

 

[blease]

Bradders, I think you just have to drive a few. That will soon sort out the wheat from the chaff.

Erm, they really are rather great when everything is working as it should. Took mine out at the weekend after its SORN snooze and, well, I've decided to keep her! The flat six howl through a Dansk at 7,000 rpm is intoxicating!
A very nice chap called Charles came to look at her. We did not make a deal as he was going to be looking at others. But at least he has the knowledge of my car as a yardstick to measure others against. Good luck with your hunt Charles.