autobonrun

I got a chance to go to the local introduction of the Panamera this past week. Regardless of what you think about the looks, it's an impressive piece of engineering.

But as I sat there enjoying the nice shiny paint and smell of expensive leather, I was thinking, "so what problems are hidden within this latest model"? How many times will the Check Engine Light come on with this thing? Lots of new technology here.

Looking at the older cars, they all had some technical issue; overheating reactors, failing chain tensioners, blown air boxes, weak valve guides, RMS issues, porus engine casings, bad wiring harnesses, CEL lights, and the list goes on.

Not just because I have a 993, but looking at all the models, it appears to me that the 1st year 993 and maybe the 1st year SC and Carrera had the least number of major problems, and problems that continued past the warranty period. I'm not familiar with the Cayman but I haven't heard of many problems with them either. I'm curious which Porsche model or models you think had the least first year problems. I know it's said never to buy the first model year of any car but many still do.

bart1

Gotta be 993, 997 or Cayman (though it's mostly a hardtop Boxster with the bugs worked out). SC was also good, but then there are the popoff valves, chain tensioners etc.

blitz928

I'd have to go with the 993, my '95 was the most reliable car I ever owned, and as reliable for her new owner as well.

VNTGSPD

Pretty much impossible to prove, but I'm gonna say the "901". There's just not much to go wrong with these early cars and the standards were a little different back then as well.


Though, to be fair this should be evaluated with consideration given to total production. So, since Porsches are pretty reliable in general, it is quite possible that the first year model with the least number of issues (as a percentage of total units) is going to be whichever model had the greatest first year sales. Anyone know what that is? Probably front engined I'd guess...

993/907

See my post of 9-19 (page 6, about 7 up from the bottom) regarding "best looking....and reliable". The 993's are considerably sophisticated compared to the earilier cars (I've had two '83 SC's and a '69 T) in my opinion, yet more reliable. I think that is one reason the values have held up so well.....

AOW162435

My '95 (6/94 build date) has been utterly reliable. I've changed countless bits & pieces over the last 4 years because I wanted to, but the car has in no way developed an actual problem.

As for first year production, the 993 was in circulation for quite some time in Europe before landing here.


Andreas

ninjabones

I've had a 944, boxster S, 993 cab, 993 track car and an 06 Cayenne S. My pepper is the most reliable and least problematic of all my p-cars (maybe because I haven't had an opportunity to put her on a track yet).

Amfab

My 3.2 carrera. The thing just kept going

race911

Whoa there...........ever talk to (or work with) anyone who was there when the 911 was first introduced? Plug fouling from the Solex carbs, and splash fill chain tensioners? Not to mention oil leaks from 6 stud exhaust covers.

Plus, I'm not really sure how anyone can call an SC or 3.2 Carrera a "new" model. At least not like the clean sheets that the Cayenne, Panamera, etc are. (Though I suppose it's only the Panamera chassis that's new.) And the valve guide and tensioner issues were just following along the same problems their immediate predecessors had.

I'll throw my vote out there for one of the two humblest of all things Porsche--the 914/4 or 924 (I'm too young to remember first year of production 356's!). Build quality may have been suspect, but I really don't remember hearing a lot of total system failure stories.

2Many Cars

I subscribe to the simple car = fewer things to go wrong truism. Also the 911 is basically an evolutionary car so I'm not sure "new" fully applies here. That said the Panamera is both complex and totally new so I'd expect reliability to be average at best.

soltino

As far as all new there aren't many and i'd have to say 928.


tino

ReinerFink

95 993's don't count as the Europeans got to work out 2 years of kinks.. ;-)

-reiner

autobonrun

That's a good point about the Euro models. Still the only real intro problem I recall with the early cars was the wiring harness and those got replaced under warranty. Given the fact that there was lots of new technology in those cars, including the rear suspension, I'm voting first year 993. It seems the warning about first year cars doesn't apply to the 911 series.

IXLR8

I'm glad you posted that because as a newbie, I was a bit confused as to what years the 993 was produced; I've read 1993 to 1998 and also 1995 to 1998.

So it seems the latter isn't really a production run, at least not as far as the Porsche factory is concerned.

vjd3

Interesting premise They have all had their issues right out of the gate, although the early 911 (pre 74) was pretty good, as I recall, except for the chain tensioners leaking and collapsing. That destroyed a few engines. Good old interference engine.

74-77 2.7 911S pulled studs right out of the case (and had bad chain tensioners)

78-83 3.0 911SC snapped the head studs instead of pulling them, blew air boxes when they backfired and exploded their clutches (and had bad chain tensioners)

84-89 3.2 Carrera was basically an SC with Motronic, but it had premature valve guide wear issues, believed to be because of the Viton seals Porsche used; 87-88 G-50 also had needle pin issue on clutches

90-91 3.6 964 had cylinder head oil leaks because there was no seal, defective dual mass flywheels and broke distributor belts, which fried a few engines due to detonation, depending on when the second distributor happened to be firing after the belt broke

Early on, the only problem I recall on the 993 out of the gate was problems with some piston rings never seating correctly on break-in and the engines drinking oil, but that was not all engines. And, of course, we have the dreaded SAI issue that emerged later.

The 996 has its rear main seal issue. I haven't kept up with the 997 ...