Smoke coming out of the passenger side exhaust.

[Pete Ansbro]

Yeah, still makes me smile every time i drive my Porsche. Car's been an absolute gem for the nine glorious years i've had her. Absolutely loved it. Car's in very good order otherwise, everything works fine, body work is good too. She is a keeper but i can't afford it to go wrong again in an expensive way some time down the line. So it's a soul searching time for me right now:-(

I can't do any of the work myself as i have no experience at all.

On top of all this i just shelled out £5k on a new engine on my Mercedes! It's all going Pete Tong and i'm having a car nightmare right now. In fact, just sold the Merc today and bought a Peugoet instead:-((((

I will report back with what Hartech and Autofarm say.

Danny I feel your pain: what you're experiencing seems to be the luck of the draw with these cars.


I know it's not easy but can you convince yourself to spread the outlay you're facing over the last "nine glorious years"? It won't make the money grow on a tree, it won't reduce the bill but it's another way of looking at it.

I don't think you said how much smoke you've got from your nearside exhaust? When I had my 996 into OPC Cambridge last year for the free 111-point inspection kindly arranged betwen OPC Cambridge and the 996 Register I mentioned "slightly smokey n/s exhaust" to the technician who went over my car with a nit comb: his remark was to "leave it until the bumper's black". I don't suggest that you can ignore the issue forever but it might be that you have a bit of time to up-end the piggy bank, maybe you should discuss this with Pie Performance I'm sure they'll give you honest advice.

I suppose there's a discussion about whether you entrust the repair of your engine to a shop who can carry out the repairs in-house or who outsource to a specialist like hartech or autofarm: I can't answer that for you but I'd want convincing that they really know their onions if going down option 1.

Keep us posted eh?

 

[dannyp1]

I know it's not easy but can you convince yourself to spread the outlay you're facing over the last "nine glorious years"? It won't make the money grow on a tree, it won't reduce the bill but it's another way of looking at it.

I don't think you said how much smoke you've got from your nearside exhaust?

That is exactly how i view these costs: spread over nine fun and glorious years. I was lucky for nine years, but I always knew these cars cost a lot when they go wrong, so i had mentally prepared myself for something bad during my ownership. So the issue is not the costs, so much, its what do i do now? Should i stay or should i go now? I'm still thinking what to do.

I did not see the smoke, my wife was driving, but if she noticed, and stopped, and it was midnight, then there must have been loads of smoke! LOL.

Will report back when i have further news.

 

[Pete Ansbro]

I don't think you said how much smoke you've got from your nearside exhaust?

I did not see the smoke, my wife was driving, but if she noticed, and stopped, and it was midnight, then there must have been loads of smoke! LOL.

Midnight? Either she'd been giving it the beans and is feeling guilty that she might have broken your precious or she was a very well lit road and there was a lot of smoke which she (or you for that matter) hadn't experienced previously?

A big cloud of smoke and none since of similar magnitude? Tell you what, I know I've got a bit of bore scoring in the approved 996 manner because my n/s exhaust is noticeably sootier than the offside one but it doesn't blacken the bumper and I can sometimes get a little cloud on first start up in the mornings but I don't ever get loads of smoke of a magnitude which I'd see in the mirror and I wonder if Richard Hamilton's early reply might be pointing towards this being a different issue.

 

[wibbaboo]

Hartech may buy the car from you as an option ?

Once repaired with a Hartech rebuild then it will be worth 15K maybe ?

If you like the car stick with it is my vote

 

[Pieman7]

Just seen advertised 3.6 engine for sale on eBay sellers name stevestrange007 he is a Porsche breaker the engine he says has a reading of 23,000 k all for 5k

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

Stevestrange007=Douglas Valley Breakers.

 

[Whiston]

Been there seen it done it. Zentrum did mine 12 months ago. Like a new car now. I know how you feel but when you get up off the floor and resign your self to the cost it was all worth it. However, to sell it after rebuild it will be a selling point but difficult to recoup the outlay. Best of luck which ever way you jump

 

[Boxstercol]

I'd imagine the engine will be fairly bullet proof post Hartech rebuild, plus it may be worth a slight premium when you come to sell.

 

[Andy97]

About 18 months ago I saw a 996 advertised at Autobahn in Coventry with, iirc, about 190k miles on the clock, 35k of them with a Hartech engine. It was up for sale for about £8.5k, and I really wish I'd bought it. It sold quickly and I reckon it was a bargain.

Now, not many of us have got the cost of a Hartech engine lying around waiting for a rainy day that we can afford to throw at a car as unplanned expenditure but, if you plan on keeping the car it is probably worth it. If you plan on doing the engine replacement and then selling on, it probably isnt, but as it is, it's probably not worth much anyway.

That probably doesn't help you much, except to emphasise that Hartech engined cars are desirable, whereas cars with smoking engines aren't!

 

[dannyp1]

I thought long and hard but in the end i sold the car 'as is' to the Porsche garage. They gave me what i thought a fair price for a car that needed minimum £7,350 spent on it: £5k. I spoke to AutoFarm and they quoted me 'realistically minimum £10k' for a cracked bore engine rebuild. And i know only too well that costs can easily spiral upwards once cars get pulled apart and all their gory guts are exposed.

Pistonheads had 16 private seller Porsches available of equivalent age. Eight above £14k and eight below £14k. They even had two identical aged models with engine rebuilds @ £13,500 and £13,000. That would make my baby worth around £12,500-13k - or i should say, what i could sell it for if i got it repaired.

My circumstances have drastically changed recently, i just retired at the tender age of 46 and my retirement plan never included a Porsche, unfortunately. If i still had my city job, money and lifestyle i would have probably sold it too and upgraded to a 997!! But that was then and this is now. So thats the end of my Porsche ownership for the time being. Sad really, an unfitting end to nine glorious years of Porsche ownership. Man, i loved that car! Best thing i ever bought by a long way. Made me feel great. Gonna really miss her. Bought a Peugeot instead. Ho hum...

But owning a Peugeot is fine. I'd much rather drive a normal car and never work again, as opposed to working like a dog and driving a Porsche on the weekends. So for me its the end of an era, and the beggining of a new one. I love my Peugeot: i got 72mpg on a long trip the other day! LOL.

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

Really sorry to hear that Daniel, but best wishes for the future, and I hope you are able to get back in a Porsche one day. You have plenty of time.

 

[CLIFFWILKINS]

Sorry to hear but sometimes a hard decision needs to be made Money don't grow on trees
That's the problem with these early 996 and Boxster engine failure problems just not economical to repair the repair is as much as the cars worth.
Also there's always a few more expenses once the engines removed so probably right decision .
Good luck for future.
Cliff.

 

[dannyp1]

Just got the following message from the garage who bought the car:

'Just to let you know it was a good thing you sold the car. The piston tops have been burnt from the coolant going into the bores, so the engine costs have gone up a lot!!'

I'm gutted for him actually. My lovely ex-car all messed up!

Anyways, onwards and upwards, and thank funk i sold her!

 

[wibble]

Big decision, but probably the right one. I've made sacrifices over the years when it comes to cars (and owned a couple of Peugeots). I am sure the yearning for Porsche will never leave you. Besides an early Boxster can be had for not a lot of money, bang-for-buck is unbeatable in my view - not that I want to tempt you.