Personally I think 911s in general are pretty reliable, and Turbos are of course different but not necessarily more or less reliable. I have a 996 Turbo and a 991.2 Turbo S. The 996TT doesn’t have the infamous IMS bearing but does have widespread coolant tubes and hydraulic spoiler issues. The 991TTS is generally bulletproof but you hear of pesky issues with the inflatable front spoiler and occasionally the rear wheel steering. None of these are “life threatening” issues.

 

I bought my CPO 2015 991.1 Turbo S with 38K miles.
Kept it pretty much stock for the 1st 2 years except for a x-pipe exhaust.
At around the end of the CPO warranty (2 years ) I did Tune, 3" x-pipe, 100 cel cats, and a BMC filter.
Car now has 53K miles and is as solid as the day I bought it 3 years later.

While under warranty I had a Turbo replaced, personally I think it was just a boost leak, but the dealership took the easy way out and put in a new Turbo.
Except for that, one of the most reliable cars I have owned.

With that said, my 2023 C8 Corvette with 3K miles on it died while driving it yesterday leaving me stranded and in need of a tow.

 

I have owned several generations of Porsche turbos over the past 25 years and every one of them has been extremely reliable, but I have started from new with most platforms. As long as you do not get a car that has been abused and subsequently neglected, you should be fine. Purchasing a CPO car is the best way to mitigate the concern, that's what I did with the GT3'S to hedge the risk of an 80k engine replacement or a 30k PDK failure for 3 years. With the 9,000 RPM red line and PDK-S transmission, things are working hard and CPO felt right on the GT cars. Once you have a CPO, it's renewable, too.

Chances are the big things are not going to fail, but you have to know going in that anything could happen and be ok with it. I did CPO on the GT3's because I do not intend to tune them, which would void any powertrain claim. I did not bother with CPO on the Turbo S, as Porsche would most likely dig and discover anything done to the car in a catastrophic failure and then most likely deny any coverage. That said, the turbos are very robust and the majority run fine for the long haul with a proven tune and all the bolt on mods.

 

My 2014 991.1 TTS cabriolet has only needed repair once, and it was a parking brake adjustment. It has about 38,000 miles on the odometer.

My 997.1 TT cabriolet needed a few more repairs, but it was still very reliable. My 996.2 C4S coupe needed many repairs, but it was my daily driver for six years and it had well over 100,000 miles on the odometer.

 

Well, my 991.2 has been fairly reliable, sans these items that had to be repaired (all under CPO)

Front spoiler, complete assembly
Crankcase valve (leaked oil)
Cable and motor assembly for rear hatch (was not opening)

 

45k miles on my 2017 TTS. Only issue so far was sunroof cover interior piece broke, $400. And front CV axle boot split, $700 to replace those. I would say that is as reliable as any car I've had, and doing well.

 

VWAG are well aware that losing customers of the top-shelf products likely means they will never return because the competition is not messing around in these departments either. Gone are the days of ricketty 'rarris, British shop queens, and Bimmer incompetence/intransigence regarding forced induction. Example: my TTRS is tracked by Audi for maintenance because it was the first 2019 (refresh year) car delivered that year to a customer (i stole the first dealer car on the way from the harbor off the truck) and also happened to be the highest mileage one for at least the first two years if not 3. I've literally driven it across the country and back, and live in New England where the weather sucks and road maintenance is an aspirational concept. Everything of note on that setup is "lifetime" running gear, and 115K into driving it "thoroughly" it is still solid as ever. Fluids, a round of struts, a few rounds of brakes (that kind of adds up, but sharing space with stationary objects is worse). Once these things come into the viable price range, they tend to be worth every penny because return business in this segment is critical to retain.

 

Recently sold my 991.1 Turbo. During my almost 2 years of ownership I had to perform the following work:

• New Rear lid struts
• New Coil Packs and Plugs (around 38K miles)
• New Right-side Turbo (~45K miles)
• New front right drive shaft (~45K miles)

Then the usual fluid changes and brake pads/rotors.
The Turbo and Drive Shaft would have run $8,500. This was covered under my Fidelity warranty however.

 

What was the symptom or symptoms of the failed turbo?

 

I ready to hit 56,000 miles on my Turbo S. In my 8 years of ownership other than the normal maintenance i did not have a mechanical failure until last week when the front spoiler control unit went and it cost me $2300. For that many years of ownership I am happy that it was all I had to deal with on a modded car. It has been a great car to own.

 

I have a 2014 Turbo with Europipe exhaust and tune sitting at 38XXX miles and only issues were a crank position sensor and awd control unit early in its life. I bought the car new and it has been perfect otherwise. It has been a great car.

 

2014 991 TTS almost 90k miles. Lowest maintenance car I've ever owned. Can't think of a single significant issue.

 

almost exactly four years and around 13,500 miles with the only issue being the sunroof refusing to budge and needing reprogramming.

 

2017 911 Turbo, modded, with near 21k miles. Bought a 4 year warranty extension more than 2 years ago, but Zero issues so far.
Quality is obvious...

 

2019 Turbo with 23,000 miles. Bought new 4/19. First problem of any kind. PADM disabled. Replaced left engine Mount. $2,5000. Happy I purchased extended warranty for 75,000 miles and 10 years.