ivangene

NO NO - dont be sorry,... that's why we are here!

did you see the 2 links I added to that last post of mine???

LOL @ alien! I stared at mine for a month before I was willing to try and jackit up... in the end I was jacking it up and pulling the wheels almost weekly and was pretty un-afraid of the car, now the new (old 86') is offering the same challenge, still not comfortable jacking it up, but getting there

Keep the questions coming, I like that you are asking and excited !! This is what its all about, learing and discovering

Steve2112

When I was shopping for a 40th anniversary edition 996, I visited a sales shop in CT that specializes in Porsche cars. When I arrived, there was a 997 in the showroom with a huge puddle of oil under the engine.

I asked the store owner about it - he said he was getting ready to give a customer a test drive, and after starting it up and moving it near the door to exit the showroom, it started making loud noises - he then parked it back in the showroom and it gave birth to that huge oil spill.

He said something about hoping Porsche can help him out with the cost of the repair - I don't know how he made out, I ended up buying my car at a dealership.

Graufuchs

(fingers in ears) LA LA LA LA L ALA I dont hear you.......

If the trans goes or If I have to drop the engine...I will upgrade.

Pac996

I give up. So Ed you want to buy a 99 996 for cheap? I'll sell you mine for 30k
It comes with a police helicopter and gaggle of motorcycle cops if you move here.

Anyway maybe there needs to be a thread on how many guys end up getting in trouble for looking at chicks in cross walks and such instead of IMS threads. Some times it just seems things get senile with threads on the IMS. Where's stats on blown engines vs IMS failure?

Just for kicks try driving the other cars like the 911 and see how far you get

Garage queen car

call911s

So as a noob question, is the issue IMS applicable to the C4 and C4S models as well? Curious if it's only a C2 issue...

gota911

The C4 and C4S are not immune to this issue.

Janusz

I think a service contract (extended warranty) is a good answer to the 996 problems. Anyways it worked for me rather well.

When buying my 2002 2C in January 2009 I did take over the Easy Care warranty from a previous owner for $1,400 till June 2010 and it paid for itself many times over:

--new coolant expansion tank
--new sway bar links in the front
--new transmission (ouch!)
--new clutch pedal helper spring (yes, I like it and contrary to everybody's opinion I would not choose to drive without it.)
-- new clutch installation for free (the transmission was already out)
--new IMS flange
--new RMS seal
My cost: 2x$200=$400. many thousands saved already.

Do all of you guys willingly accept the risk driving such a wonderful car with known timing bomb issues which can be averted with so little cost?

When the transmission was being replaced I had a chance to have the LMS bearing installed but decided to just renew my servce contract fo next 4 years. I put a lot of miles on the car and total peace of mind for next 4 years is worth lots of money for me.

If the engine grenades I will be happy too. I will gladly accept brand new engine at no cost. Other then that anything which goes wrong on a Porsche is an easy $1,000 a pop.

Anyways, this was my experience and i thought I'd share it.

philooo

+1 to the extended warranty. If you purchase a Honda you still want one, but if you purchase a 996 where you know some IMS stuff can happen, then it is a no brainer.

It would just be great if those extended warranty company were not so 'shaddy', no joke you can't even download the policy on their website... scary...

Pac996

Cute. It's all relative dude. Got any other fears?

Notice the tell tale oil leak from the IMS after the engine blew.

Dharn55

Don't assume that you will get a new/remanufactured engine from your warranty company. Sometimes they soil just buy a used engine for the car. I had an Easycare warranty that I bought from the selling dealer when the factory warranty expired. It also expired before I had an intermix problem. But when I talked with the dealer they told me that Easycare probably would have found a used engine based on there experience. This is more so now that the cost of an engine has gone so much.

RPMulli

Hey, LN already has mine.. they wanted it for warranty and inspection purposes...

RPMulli

Alien? Hey for all you soon to be DIY guys... this car is amazing to work on, don't be afraid to dive into it. this is by far the easiest car I've ever worked on.

philooo

At least with the cheap manufacturing come one good things, it is all plugged together like a giant lego... Even better they did not even try to add glue in between When you see how the headlight pop, the center console pop with what 6 screws, radio covers, pop... I assume they wanted to save the wieght of nuts and bolts...

Janusz

It is not about any fears but pure common sense and mathematics.

My warranty cost me so far $1.400 + $400 deductible = 1,800

Easy Care paid only for my new transmission flown from Porsche from Germany $11,402.49 including labour (I am in Canada).
On top of that for other claims Easy Care paid 618.83 already. Simple arythmetics show tham I am ahead $10,221.32 SO FAR.

What part of it is relative dude and why shoud I fear after saving over 10K in 1 year?

Janusz

I do not assume anything. I got a new transmission from Porsche with factory warranty for 2 years. I put over 2,500 kilometers on it already. There were only second gear synchros noisy when cold.

I know it will be the same story with an engine. I got confirmation directly from EC.

I NEVER bought any extended warranty fo any of my 20+ cars before and I strongly believe, if able to afford, in self insuring.
Being a Financial Planner myself I always teach my clients the simple rule:
"Never insure anything you can afford to replace and ALWAYS insure things you cannot"
But 996, for the reasons I mentioned before, is an exception and the proof of that is my own case and many others'.

This is just my third post and I create a controversy already. I better shut up for another year now