MJBird993

So far I've had good luck with Porsche reliability. Of my past cars, I know that the friend who bought my 964 still has it, and other than some expensive diagnostics on a distributor problem it has been a good car, on my 996 the friend that bought it has had zero problems since (10 years ago) and my 996 was nearly problem free for the 3 years that I owned it (2 years of which was out of warranty). So I didn't worry too much when I bought my new Panamera S last month. Although to be honest, with all the electronic gizmos on that car, including the PDK, it's very unlikely that I'll keep it past the warranty period. And that was my intent when I bought it. It is my DD and so far I love it. Not crazy about the PDK though...

K-A

Lots of good info here.

One question I have:

People talking about "costs a lot to keep on the road", or "you may not want to drive it past warranty", etc., are you comparing the car to a Toyota or Honda, Ford, etc. when you say that (in reliability/cost of operating)? Or are you even comparing it to a Mercedes/BMW? What I'm getting at, is, is a 911 essentially more expensive to maintain/fix than a Benz/Bimmer, because I always thought they were about the same?

I have an M-B right now, so obviously, the "cost of operating a German Car" has already been digested, though of course, mine is new so under Warranty.

From what I understand, Porsche scores at the top of reliability charts constantly, and has VERY long service intervals, just like Mercedes who has us go in once a year and spend a couple hundred bucks or so (is it the same for Porsche?).

Lastly, are there any known "creeping up" problems with early build 991's that we know of, yet?

Thanks.

Edgy01

I just love the virtually rabid reaction from the 'air cooled' 911 side. Having been a 911 driver for longer than most of you have been alive I need to remind them all that the 911 has never been air-cooled. That stuff called OIL circulates throughout the engine. As a liquid, it dissipates much more heat than air ever does. Today, we augment oil with EGW.

rlhyde

I guess I don't see the point of owning a great car if you only drive it once in a while. Daily driving is the only way to go. Further, when you buy a Porsche, you're spending a lot of money on it. I don't understand why someone would spend a ton of money on the car and then suddenly get cheap and worry about the repairs. My understanding is that Porsches are very reliable. That said, any car can break down. However, I guess I feel like if you overextended yourself to buy the car, and now you're afraid to pay for the repairs, that was probably a mistake.

chuckbdc

I had my 911SC for over 30 years. Over the years, there were continual improvements that I would have loved (some of which I fitted). It was an astoundingly reliable car that stood up to cross country drives, daily commutes and a full schedule of autocross and PCA driver's ed events. Recent water cooled cars outperformed it not one hell of a lot - but at best it did about 200 HP on a good day. The 991 is the first styling revision that I thought to be an improvement worthy of purchase. I have not yet been to the track, but all reports are that it outperforms expectations.

ipse dixit

For me it's not about the cost of repairs, but the inconvenience of having to get your car repaired -- i.e., getting it to the dealer, scheduling a repair, driving around in a loaner, etc. That's what I don't want to deal with. The money is largely non-issue.

FORENN

After four 911s (including a 991), I can say I haven't had to do maintenance or repairs on any of them any more than Hondas and Subarus we've owned. Keep your Pcar properly maintained and you'll be fine. Not sure why you think it is going to be such a burden. Any maintenance/repair that is necessary is surely an exceptionally small inconvenience for the driving pleasure. The CBA is clear in its direction.

Quadcammer

I absolutely shudder to think of how you discovered and verified this.


thats really not good for it you know.

rpilot

To the best of my knowledge the "maintain" part is not significantly more expensive than a mercedes and perhaps a little more expensive than a Honda maintained by a dealer. Either way if you can afford a Porsche, it is more or less a non issue. Do keep in mind that a replacement set of tires can run around 2K +/- depending on the tires and where you buy them and will last you ... what.. 20K ???

The repair part is where you will have to brace yourself for significantly more expense... especially when it comes to diagnoses and repair (usually complete control units of components) of electronic problems.. abs on the blink, pasm error.. things of such nature will cost a pretty penny outside of warranty and is a good example of things that go wrong.

A transmission replacement will be about the cost of a very usable used asian car and an engine replacement will buy you a new asian compact car.

parkerfe

Never own a European car out of warranty.

sjfehr

Porsche repairs really aren't that bad if you're halfway handy around a wrench. For the most part, it's really easy to get to from underneath. It's only because the dealer charges $150/hr that it becomes so expensive.

It's amazing the transformation when Porsches hit 5 years old and get bought up by people that daily drive them. Sad to see so many garage queens wasting away their first 3-5 years

FORENN

That is WAY over the top. I've never had a single major problem with any of my Porsches out of warranty (nor has any of my friends who own pcars). If you keep them properly maintained, there is generally very little to worry about.

rpilot

Yes, the dealers charge that for labor whether or not one thinks thats justified. I dont necessarily like it but i dont begrudge them in any way for it as long as they are competent.

I disagree that being halfway or even all the way handy with a wrench is going to be in any way significantly helpful when it comes to diagnosing electronic gremlins in any modern car and not just a porsche and they are more often than not the more expensive problems. Handy with a wrench will work wonders in repairing a 993 but handy with a wrench will only get you as far as scheduled maintenance on a 991.

Now if you are fully familiar with reading fault codes(the easy part) and able to work through a diagnostic with enough specific knowledge of the vehicle and then order and replace the right parts, more power to you and I respect it. I, however am not and I suspect the OP and the folks posting follow up questions are either.

william_b_noble

if you ever worked on a 993 (I have), I don't think the 991 will be a serious challenge. It doesn't look like stuff is that hard to get at, certainly you don't have to remove two body panels, an under pannel, two air plenums and a primary oil line to chainge the oil and filters, nor remove mufflers, tail pipes, brackets and sheet metal (plus under panel) to change plugs. I'm waiting for the service manual to arrive so I can read how all the "usual stuff" is done. The trickery comes with special computer codes.

Rainier_991

Can you elaborate on the service manual ?
I have the 997.1 but that is the last version made available. Since then the service manual is part of the PIWIS and no longer available as a seperate document.
Are you saying that there is/will be a seperate service manual available for the 991 ?

The 997.1 manual is still fairly useful as a rough reference for the 991 but of course many things have changed or are no longer exactly the same...

Rainier