munro86

gota911

fast1

About a year ago I sent a mesage to J D Powers trying to get the data that you seek. I got a friendly e-mail message from them giving me the names of two PCNA contacts. Just for laughs I sent messages to both of them asking the same question, and as I expected they didn't even bother to reply. I didn't even get a form letter from them stating that it's not their policy to release information of this nature.

So that leaves us with anecdotal information, and this isn't unuusual when making car buying decisions. So if I were you I'd check with friends who have owned 996s and check with your local Porsche mechanics who have extensive experience working on them.

I have owned three 911s, the last being a 993, and I have owned two Infinitis. The first one that I bought was a '95 G20 which I got for around $15K. The car is now owned by one of my sons and the engine is running perfectly with well over 200K miles on the odometer. So based on my experience Infiniti engines are extremely durable. Of course Infinitis are no where near as much fun to drive as Porsches.

If you have your mind set on a Porsche, you can minimize your risks by buying one that is Certified Pre Owned. That way you will have at least two years of worry free driiving pleasure. On the other hand if you are still undecided, why not postpone your decision for a few months until the '08 G35 coupe is released. The engine in the '08 coupe will be the same one as in the Skyline, and the early speculation is that it will produce about 330 HP.

Good luck.

cdodkin

LVDell

Great PS work! I just spit diet coke through my nose

Thanks mate, I needed a good chuckle this afternoon

cdodkin

Careful Dell, that stuff'll kill you!

My biology teacher said that you should always dilute 50/50 with either Vodka or Rum to be safe...

He's dead now of course, but really well preserved!

LVDell

My vodka stays as pure as can be with either vermouth or club soda

MJBird993

I guess that's tongue in cheek?

I'm reminded of my engine replacement in my E34 BMW. When I had that done, I remember having to wait a few weeks. According to my service advisor, they had only one mechanic who specialized in the short block replacements, and he was busy.

So, if you asked that mechanic how many V8 engines failed, he may answer "every one that I've seen". You ask another mechanic in the same shop, and he'd say, "I've never had to repair one".

See?

Dell's not the only statistic Jedi here, it's just that we all defer to master Yoda to handle all of these when they come up, because he is able to eloquently explain how stupid the whole thing is.

Until he gets pissed off, of course.

Michael

LVDell

At least it is not as easy any more. I kinda like the new Dell

Kevin H. in Atl..

Oh, I don't know..... A good "what in the blue hell?!" can be refreshing from time to time......

LVDell

Ok Kevin, I'll have to remember to pull that out from time to time

Sids911

I think I'm going to start a thread Survey titled "How many of the porsche owners have started a survey about the reliability of the 996 engines?".

Porsche owners saying "engine reliability of 996" reminds me of ..... the knights who say "ni".... LOL !

arenared

That's funnier than some of the stuff in off-topic!

arenared

Even if we were to agree on that (which won't ever happen until Porsche releases their internal data), even the incidence of X% catastrophic engine failures doesn't mean that M96-based cars are worse than any other. There are plenty of cars with non-catastrophic but chronic problems with engines or the rest of the car that DO add to the cost of maintaining and operating the car. (Last I "heard" those Honda V6 auto trannies were dropping like flies.)

In the end, it's whether or not your enjoyment of the prospective vehicle would be negated by the worrying or inability to afford the possible maintenance/expense of driving it. I, for example, know people that own Boxsters (aka 'Chicksters' for some) who are disappointed that their M96 engine has NOT failed because they want an excuse for their SO's to transplant a 911 motor

itorque

Here is my take on this subject. My 03 996 engine had to be replaced due to excessive knocking in the intermediate shaft area (it is an early 03 996). This prompted me to do an internet search on this problem and I found and joined this forum as a result. I would guess that many other 996 owners with engine failures found this forum the same way. This, to me, means that this forum shows a heavy bias towards engine failures because if I never had a problem I would not be on this site.

Another example (forgive me for getting into this but the example applies perfectly):

I had two artificial discs put in my lower back last year (I flew from the U.S. to Germany to get it done) . I belong to a forum of people that are considering getting an ADR (Artificial Disc Replacement) and those that have had it done (kind of like those that are considering a 996 and those that have one....a stretch but it works). If you used this ADR forum to determine if you want to get one done you would get scared away because most people on the site are those that are unhappy with their surgery and are still looking for answers. Everyone else (who by far make up the majority) has had a good outcome and have returned to their life and no longer hang out and post.

The mechanic story can also be applied to this experience. There are doctors who have seen terrible results from botched ADR jobs. These doctors will tell their patients to never get an ADR because of their limited experience with poor outcomes, when in fact a very high percentage of patients are very happy with the results. So by listening to one doctor (mechanic) your are not getting the full story.

So, IMHO, you should not and cannot make any conclusions based on a poll from this site as it is absolutely biased to one direction-just by its nature.

What's great is if you are one of those that have had an engine failure you can use this forum to learn about the process of getting it replaced, learn about how best to break it in and learn about a whole bunch of other great stuff for and about your car. But DON'T use it to make a call on how reliable 996 engines are because this is where those that have engine failures may (and should) reside.

P.S. My remanufactured German bionic back is 100% pain free along with my German remanufactured 996 engine. The only regret I have is that I could not afford a GT3 because the cost of the surgery was about the difference between the cost of a Targa and a GT3. But, I will take no back pain and a 996 targa any day!