I wonder if he’s a dentist

 

Agree the discussion is very relevant to the values thread. Don't agree that Porsche reliability is a myth. Virtually all versions of Porsche engines have their "kryptonite" (chain tensioners on the very early cars, magnesium cases on 2.7, etc -- the 3.0 on the 911 SC may be the exception). Both of my 996.1's -- the first one back when they were new, and the one I have now, have been among the most reliable cars I've owned. Same with the other 911's and the 912 I owned. It's important to understand the vulnerabilities of every model, both for choosing the best car to buy and for maintaining it once you own it. If you buy well, and maintain it well with knowledge of the vulnerabilities, it will be very, very reliable.

Porsche definitely could have done better to be free of vulnerabilities (how long were chain tensioners problematic?, how long did it take them to finally ditch the IMSB?) -- but if you have knowledge of the vulnerabilities to maintain it properly, and take advantages of subsequent fixes for them where they exist, any 911 can be the most reliable car you own.

 

Not trying to derail the thread in another direction but what you wrote distills to "if you spend X sum of time/money to fix the vulnerabilities it is reliable". That can be said for many cars.

Maybe I should qualify the statement. When I say "reliable" I am talking about Honda/Toyota reliability. True reliability. Drive it 200K miles and only ever do tires/brakes/oil.

I'm a BMW person. I understand their "quirks and features" that need appropriate time, attention and expense applied, if one is to be able to rely on them. I don't mind doing those things. But I don't call the cars reliable. Compared to my wife's CRV they are ridiculous. So is this new-to-me Porsche, apparently. I don't mind that either. Life is too short to drive boring cars.

 

I agree with you conceptually, but you are mixing "maintenance required" and "reliability" under the single umbrella of "reliability". They are not the same thing at all. There are plenty of cars that require a lot of maintenance, but they are still not very reliable no matter how carefully you maintain them -- most "specialty" cars in fact (Maserati, Alfa, Range Rover, Jaguar, etc). If you have owned one of those brands, depending on the model, then you probably know what unreliable means.

The Maserati we had was mostly reliable in that it started almost all the time -- but sometimes, randomly, it wouldn't start, then it would 10 minutes later for no reason. The F1 transmission relay went out twice, and then you are stuck wherever you happen to be (happened to my wife at a busy 4-way intersection during rush hour, she was NOT happy), the FM radio inexplicably works fine sometimes, other times it doesn't tune any stations. Random warning lights come on. Literally 99.5% of the time the car was fine, but you couldn't trust it. Same with the Jaguar, tons of warning lights and messages, only stranded us once, but you couldn't trust it. Porsche is not like that -- when it's well maintained -- you can drive it with the same confidence you have in a Honda, and everything in it works all the time.

Porsche requires more maintenance and more knowledge to maintain it properly, but they are very reliable when you do that., If you want a brainless "Honda like" maintenance experience, no specialty car (e.g. Porsche, Aston, Jaguar, Alfa, etc) is going to provide that -- but Porsche will be reliable when the others still will not be, despite all that maintenance.

 

I think EDIT philbert996 was being facetious. I've seen multiple Porsches in the same photograph backdrop (so presumably same dealer) with extravagant markups that are way over the top

 

Peter makes a very good point: Porsche 911’s aren’t just reliable when properly driven and maintained, they are hands down also the most predictable cars I’ve ever owned.

The 911 was born and bred from endurance racing, and at some level they’re all masterpieces of German engineering and craftsmanship. There will always be flaws, because the humans that create them are flawed. Ferrari, Bugatti, forget it. Nothing else even comes close to the “feel” of a sorted 911.

 

Born and bred from performance racing? Lol

That's a lot of funny words for VW Beetle

 

Mine has 143.9k miles. I don't baby it. Sure it needs work but it always starts

 

Ok Jeremy Clarkson, don't you have a farm to run ?

 

 

RNM. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...1-carrera-218/

 

Red/Beige with bad Carfax, it did almost $40K all-in RNM. Hmmm

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...rrera-targa-3/

Current bid is only 16k with 5h left. Bad carfax

 

^^^^^ Yup AND its Tiptronic, airbags-deployed accident, Black, "Additional Charges" from used car dealer, only ONE-key, absolutely NO-records..,

AND yet ANOTHER bad Carfax, ONE-key, w/100K+ miles just went live five minutes ago:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...-911-targa-20/

BaT is just grasping at 996 straws now.. NO idea what to make of all this other than someone is just cranking them all straight from Manheim onto the BaT queue.

 

Maybe its just me but BaT in general seems a lot looser with what they take now. I don't think there is anything wrong with accidents or salvage cars but I dunno if BaT is the place for that when you are trying to set a certain standard. I can't blame them for trying to cash in when the market is hot though. I kinda wish I could put my car up and see what happens without having to actually sell it but that is the risk for the potential reward.