pg103

Thanks for all your input. I am going to go with the 991. I'm going to the launch event at my dealership in 2 week. I probably won't order it till I can see the Cab. I've decided to go with "s" instead of base but still trying to decide between Cab or coupe. Thanks again! I can't wait to drive it after all the positive review.

Graygoose997

And sometimes in the last year.
Ask some of the '97-'98 993 owners about their engine issues they thought would be eliminated by Porsche's years of experience on that model.

Ed Burdell

I have a 993 made on the last build date for the US market...what engine issues are you talking about?

I'm at 103k miles with no CEL and no top end rebuild in sight....

Rushman71

Oh yeah, get the PSE, it sounds great with the Symposer or whatever it's called.

Graygoose997

Granted not every car has had the issues, but enough to make this part of Porsche legend:


"And, the 993 motors do have a tendency to develop 1 or 2 major engine problems.

One of them is the carbon coking of the O2 passages in the heads. This seems to be a result of lugging or not revving the engine enough. If this happens, the car will trip a check engine light and because it has OBDII you will have problems passing emission testing. The repair requires a full top end tear down which is very costly. There are some shops that routinely blow solvent and pressurized air through the ports and have had mixed success in correcting the problem like this without a tear down.

The other issue is even more serious. It seems the 993 motors tend to prematurely wear their valve guides. The problem is more evident on cars that have spent their time in warmer climates and those that have been driven hard and/or spent a lot of time on the track. In the beginning, oil starts leaking past the valve seals and the car blows smoke. Once the wear becomes more serious, the engine will start to lose compression and power. The only fix is a complete top end rebuild and installation of the newer harder guides. Most cars tend to be fine until about 60,000 miles. Some cars develop problems after only 40,000. Most mechanics feel that most will show the problem by 80,000. Many mechanics suggest removing the lower engine cover to allow more cooling and hopefully prolong the life of the engine.

So, it's one of those catch 22s. Drive it too soft and the air passages foul up. Drive it to hard and your valve guides wear out."

930man

No comparison .... Just the dollars...
The 991 is amazing .. I loved the feel sound brakes ... Interior leaps and bounds above
I have had a bunch of 997's I giggled when I drove it.. Just sayin

rijowysock

991 is much better, but porsche lease rates suck, can finance for almost the same and actually own the vehicle.

930man

I couldn't imagine contemplating buying /owning a Porsche base on lease rates or gas mileage it's all about the drive! The sound, the feeling... That is hard to translate to a dollar figure... You really can't ever justify owning any exotic or performance vehicle... Lol

lhd7

nice problem to have except I would guess that checking a few of the "must have" boxes on an 991 S cab will get the price to $140k really fast - turbo S territory... just sayin'..
have fun agonizing over the choices!

Franklin229

Those issues can be problems but not very common ones. In the odd case they do arise they are deep into years of ownership and far from what we are talking about with the design flaws out of the gate with the water cooled cars. Those engines have been value engineered-my engine is built to take way more than I could dish out. BTW I have gone 60K miles w/o any mechanical failures save for a broken window switch.

96redLT4

Wow! Three days...have you elaborated on this in a separate thread? This would seem to be much more experience than anyone else (even the journalists) have had.
Jim

exc911ence

For me, the question wouldn't be 997 vs. 991, it would be leasing vs. buying... and I'm all about having an asset to balance the debt equation. With a lease, you have the debt but the asset is on someone else's books. Unless it's planned to be a business expense, I wouldn't touch a lease with a ten foot pole.

pg103

What if you are plan to only keep it for 3 years?