BlackCab996

AHEDAU - if you think the cost of maintaining a 993 is less than a 996, you have a surprise in store for you. The 993 is a BEAUTIFUL car, but it has high maintenance costs of its own. Go onto their forum and read all of the maintenance, rebuild, and repair posts.

Another thread killed by RMS paranoia - time to log off and go to bed...

JasonAndreas

That's unfortunate, all previous model 911s have their own set of issues that can be just as costly to repair. Just like when purchasing the model 996 you have to perform due-diligence or you can end up with a real money-pit. The earlier models are no different.

MikeP Long Island

My 99 996 developed the RMS leak at around 15,000 miles. Dealer replaced the seal. It started leaking again at 25,000; dealer replaced the engine. It now has 55000 miles with no further problems.

I would worry more about the transmission. My car has suddenly developed a totally inability to shift into 4th gear. All it will do is grind. My experience tells me that it acts like a synchro failure. Here's the interesting part - the tranny, per Porsche, is not rebuildable - just replaceable. Of course it's out of warranty so too bad for me. So instead of replacing the bad synchro, P wants me to buy a new tranny.

They asked me if I was hard on the transmission. I asked, "What's hard?" If you mean do I drive the car in a spirited manner, the answer is heck yeah!" They explained that the transmission wasn't designed for that. Oh - I should have known that I guess - a $80,000+ sports car wasn't designed to ACTUALLY be driven that way. Stupid me...Last Porsche!

Kevin H. in Atl..

This may be true, but what does it really mean?

Sure, you can find a less well cared for 996 with higher mileage and compare it to a pristine early 993 with less mileage (per year) and find a similar price. You can also find pristine, low mileage early 996's selling for considerably more than an average condition late model 993. If you plan to actually drive the car, you need to consider the 996 is more comfortable, lighter, faster, handles better, stops quicker, has better climate control, more modern interior, etc., and the list goes on.

993 values are going to always be higher than 996 simply because fewer were built. There were far more 996's sold than 993's.

Why does one buy such a car? As an investment ? If so, cars that have seen use as drivers are poor investments. Or to enjoy the experience of owning and driving a very unique high performance sports car? In this case, either car will reward you with many miles of unique pleasure. Sure, you have to budget for maintenance, but that is simply part of the price of admission.

There is no such thing as a maintenance free high performance car.

AHEDAU

Jason, just wondering what you drive?
I don't hear about the 993's grenading randomly as I've read on the 996 board. Maybe I'm wrong.

bobporsche996

hey now, i think my herpes analogy makes perfect sense.. i've never had rms, so i have no internal bias.. but once you got it with your engine, you got it forever on that engine... it does show up once in awhile, just like herpes, and then goes into hiding... and just like rms 996s, about 1/4 of people have it..

bobporsche996

when buying a used 996, i think we can all agree it comes down to this.. CPO is the MOST IMPORTANT thing to look for in a used vehicle.. infact, i'd pay twice as much as the original dealer cost for the "CPO extended warranty" for a used 996.. as i think many here would as well for the peace of mind... and/or have $15,000 stashed away in the case of a major failuire... engine, tranny, gearbox, etc... not saying it will happen.. BUT this is an expensive car, and these things can happen, and with some reasonable probability, during the ownership of your out of warranty vehicle, over several years, most likely something major will happen..

if you don't have $15,000 handy to cover the costs of a major repair and the porsche is your daily driver, and your credit is shot, and/or you don't have a CPO available, then don't buy one...

if you do, then all the power to you, and enjoy the 996, and drive it like ya stole it.. :>

1999Porsche911

Other than 996's bought at a Ford dealership, I have heard of NO 996's "grenading randomly" Comments like this are stupid, especially when you can't back them up.

bobporsche996

when replacing my second engine when the cylinder came out of it's sleeve lining.. the engine didn't come from a ford dealership thank you very much

AHEDAU

I've spent hours on this site researching RMS and engine failure, and my interpretation is that the engines can fail at any time on the 99-2002 models. Low mileage or not. Thats unacceptable.

1999Porsche911

Well, if you read the forum, you must know that there have only been a few claims of engine failure for the 996. If you are claiming that a leak of the RMS is an engine failure, then the numbers increase slightly as it does for all production cars. It hardly means that there is a problem with the 996's. No model car, of any manufacturer has ever been exempt from an occasional car crapping out. If you are that perenoid, you might consider a bicycle.

I assume that you found no record of engine failure with the 993? If you didn't, do your research again.

Riad

That's extremely overstated. Some cars have RMS issues, but that isn't an engine failure, it's a small oil leak, and it can be fixed.

Some people have had engine failures, but it's not epidemic.

TT Gasman

So buy a 993. But don't base the decision on what you see on he boards, that's hardly scientific, anecdotal at best. Enjoy the 993 they're great cars.

billh1963

It is true that 993's have their share share of issues as well. I owned a 1996 993 C4S. When I was shopping for the car, I knew about the potential of getting a CEL resulting from clogged secondary air passages or the possibility of valve guide wear. That being said, when I shopped for a 993 I looked at a bunch (20+) of cars. Not one of them had a replacement engine or any engine work.

Many on this board that downplay the engine problems of the 996 are turning a blind eye to the magnitude of the problem. I think that they are relating their own fortunate experience and are not aware of all the problems others are having. I have looked at almost 30 996's over the last three months and 26 of them either had RMS issues or had replacement engines. I could give you links right now to nice cars on ebay that I have inquired about (all with low miles) that have had a replacement engine or RMS issues. I am finding that when it comes to 996's the odds are that it's not a matter of "if" you will have an RMS issue but a matter of "when".

The RMS and "grenading" issues should be a big concern for 996 and 997 owners. It is happening. Although there may no official survey (and there never will be since you can bet your *** Porsche would never sanction one) those of us in the market interested in a good 996 see the large number of cars with these issues.

Maybe the statement that "I wouldn't own a Porsche without a warranty" (which we hear on this board all the time) says something about the shift in buyer attitudes that will define how Porsche builds cars in the future. Maybe Porsche (and the new generation of buyers) has adopted the old GM attitudes of accepting planned obsolescence.

1999Porsche911

Either you do not believe a word of what you just said, or you are not the brightest bulb on the tree. Why would someone who is so absolutely sure that a car will someday "grenade" be out looking to buy that exact car?

Am I missing something here?