Never (Knock on wood).

 

Once with a broken alternator belt, about a mile from a Porsche indy. Limped there with all the lights on.

Once a flat rear tire on the freeway. Yes the deflated 295 does fit. I miss the spare in the 993, so now I carry tire plug kit in the TT, used once. Never used the can of goop.

Tempted fate through ignorance of the spare DME for the first 80K miles or so that included road trips in very remote parts of NV and other Western states. Got a spare but never had to use it.

 

this is a great thread, especially for newbies like me so we can set our expectation accordingly and be more prepared.

 

I commuted in mine daily for over ten years (22 miles each way)! So my roadside strandings are probably a good data point:

Two broken alternator belts. (able to find a safe place to stop and replace w/spare).

One dead alternator. (I don't carry a spare one of those)

One dead fuel pump (quit at 75mph in moving traffic...Nerve racking experience, to say the least - required flatbed).

One dead DME. (Easy fix, obviously...I always carry a spare).

And IIRC that's it.

 

Thanks for this thread! It reminded me to buy some extra key batteries.
--Michael

 

Thanks for the link, ilko.

 

Thanks everyone for you input and stories. With a few modifications to my tool kit, I should now be well prepared for most mechanical problems on the road.

Also, just went through my tool kit and did a "dress rehearsal" tire change to verify jack, spare, compressor, etc.

In no particular order, here is what this thread has led me to keep in the car. Below are in pairs of risk -> mitigation.

Remote failure -> Batteries + small screwdriver
DME relay failure -> Spare DME relay
Broken alternator/fan belt -> Spare belts, blue point triple square socket, hex socket, 3/8" breaker bar, 24mm wrench, leatherman tool (for cutting A/C belt)
Flat tire -> factory jack, toolkit, compressor. Verified all works

For these, there's not much you can do on the side of the road so...
Dead alternator -> Cell phone
Dead fuel pump -> Cell phone
Clutch hose rupture -> Replace periodically (I just did mine a few months ago)
Shift linkage -> Replace bushings periodically (Also just did this as cheap insurance)

Pic of my dress rehearsal attached. I thought it was kind of crazy how the spare tire inflates and deflates. It expands one side then the other.

 

I used the spare on my 964 once, and I could never get it back to its 'as-new' size no matter how I tried. Hence I had trouble fitting it back in the frunk. I'd be afraid to pump up my pristine spare on the 993 for the same reason - did you manage to get it back to original shape?

 

Sure did. No problems at all.

 

After 10 years of ownership, only once did I get stranded. The belts "went" while driving and the dash lit up like a xmas tree--so I turned it off and pulled over immediately. It was mainly because at the time I was uneducated about checking every so often to see if the belts were in good shape. After a flatbed tow and a few hundred bucks to replace the belts everything was perfect again. Pretty amazing reliability (knock on wood).

 

Only 1 flat tire (LR) in more than 10 years. Actually used the spare to limp about 10 miles to the shop. And I have a spare DME too.

P.S. Had no trouble getting my spare back to its original size

 

My fan blew apart and took out the belts and the belt tension sensor and chewed up the ac belt after 17km of ownership.

 

My 85 targa stranded me due to DME failure once- so I keep an extra in the glove of the 993.

 

My 993 stranded me once. Alternator. Begin drive home from work with and alternator/battery light. By the time I was 2 miles from home, everything was quickly going dark. Pulled into a parking lot. Called my wife to take me to an Autozone. 30 minutes later, the 993 was back on the road.

If you can, put a roll of duct tape with that toolkit.