"...and that's all I have to say about that."
Forest Gump

 

I really like mine actually. Works flawlessly (frantically knocking on wood!!!).

 

If you dislike it, you can have it taken out. It involves some $ but it can be done.

 

From what I've read here, no can do on 95's with OBDI; later cars can-do.

 

i thought 1995 models do not have it?

i have it in my 1996 and wish it the hell out.

 

I have a 95/OBDI and do not have it (thankfully!)

Edward

 

A search will turn up Bill Verberg's write-up on the removal of the immobilizer on his OBD-1 car.

Cheers,
Joe

PS - Late 95 cars (approximately 3/95 onward) have the immobilizer.

 

I just don't understand the ongoing angst regarding the immobilizer....My 993 has been my daily driver for almost seven years. I use the immobilizer 4-6 times a day. Lock it when I leave it, unlock it when I come back, get in and go. The only problem I've had with it is when I ignored the signs of a dead key fob battery and got caught out, but even that wasn't really a big deal. A quick trip to Rite Aid for a battery and I'm back in business. I just don't get it.

 

It's not that it's really all that bad, it's just that it's one of those little irritating things that get's on your nerves once in a while. Everything about the 993 is so well thought out and then along comes this little irritating gremlin that gets in the way of total perfection. I can live with it but I don't have to like it.

 

my take on why i hate the immobilizer.

First all, the clunky cheap 1980's plastic key box "fob". (Yes, i now have the suncoast key fob upgrade, but im just sayin')

Second of all, having to always depend on the keyfob battery to unlock to doors in order to start the car sucks especially when you have a power door related issue or an issue that all of a sudden pops up.

I had a drivers side door actuator fail while i was driving across country. Having to always unlock the door manually and then having to cycle the key fob and then sometimes cycle the fob while in the ignition was horrible.
And hotels with valet... painfull!

Now my doors are fixed, but it is a system that shows its age on an otherwise timeless car.

 

You'll get it when it costs over $3k to sort it out when it goes kablooey.

Gordo

 

This is a serious question(s) ... What happens when the immo goes kablooey? Did it stop responding to the fob? Car wouldn't start? What was fixed/replaced after $3k?

 

Only sucks if you leave your trunk open, door open, cabin light on, turn signal on, engine hatch ajar or your battery can't hold a full charge.
Seems to me if this is all we have to bitch about on a 16 year old car that has vintage cutting edge theft deterrent features I would say the engineers got it right!
Try sorting out the ignition kill system on a 2001 Jetta,, or better yet any new car today and you will learn to love the system on the 993!
Andy 

 

4(?) years ago had infrequent difficulty getting the fob to lock/unlock doors.
Became more frequent over the next year or so.
Sometimes one of the parking lights would stay on after locking the car.
At times it took several tries fobing the ignition to engage the starter.
(Fresh fob batteries, etc).
Dealer replaced ignition switch, which helped temporarily.
Back to dealer; finally determined (best guess) that the ignition keyway was so worn that it was sending some kind of transient signal to the immob module and caused it to fail.
New module, new ignition keyway from factory (which required replacement of integral steering wheel lock).

Gordo

 

That was me (and the service manager, Shawn) that did the work on your car. The immobilizer control unit had stopped responding completely, and shortly after (successfully) replacing it, we were unable to reprogram the fobs to it. The switch in the ignition lock which determines if a key is in the lock had gone wacky. It seemed to always think a key was in the ignition (the warning buzzer would go off with no key in the car), and as I recall, this affected our ability to program the immobilizer. Replacing the lock cylinder was an enormous pain, but everything seemed to work consistently after that!