BrockPorsche

First I'll put on my asbestos suit

Would it maybe put a slow to engine failure questions if someone posts a poll asking something along the lines of "Have you ever had an M96 catastrophically fail?".

I'm guessing the poll would overwhelmingly show no.

I can't find one in the archives, just a few that ask how many miles someone has on their engine, which isn't quite the same question.

Just a thought. I have no confidence as a newbie to post it

cdodkin

Check the 986 forum for the most comprehensive attempt at a forum based survey

LVDell

Oh dear God, here we go again.

BrockPorsche

Again? I haven't seen a poll on this topic and it's certainly one to ask for people for who are looking at getting 996s don't you think?

LVDell

Fine, I'll bite once and then I'm out. This topic has been beat to death like no tomorrow--I assume your search skills are not honing in on the correct threads. Polls have been done, banter has happened and it gets NOWHERE. Besides, let me ask you what you hope to accomplish with a self-report poll? Do you think you will get a number representative of anything meaningful? I can tell you with 100% certainty that you will not. In fact, it is a statistical certainty that you will miss the mark by a long shot. If you want to do it for fun and watch the all the banter that comes with it then sit back, grab some popcorn and a nice beverage and let the games begin.

BrockPorsche

Hm, didn't mean to touch a nerve

...but it does make a prospective 996 purchaser skeptical when I talk to mechanics and they say "ya we see failures a fair bit for those cars". That makes me worry. I'm just looking for reassurance from an enthusiast community that it's a statistically irrelevant number that it happens to. It's all about percentage risk for me to rationalize a $50,000 purchase. It doesn't help when half of the posts I find in the search get unconstructive "oh god here we go again" replies.

And I respectfully disagree on the relevance. If 300 people reply and 290 say they have had no failure that's very relevant compared to if 300 reply and 150 say they have had a failure.

I guess I'll drop it and listen to the mechanics...and I apologize for my poor search skills. I've yet to find any such poll other than a mileage based one which doesn't answer the question. If you have a link to a yes/no poll please do send.


Cheers

Thanks

BruceP

I totally fail to see how anything good or informative could come of this. I'm starting to think that it's a conspiracy by people who can't afford a Porsche, hoping to drive down resale values to where they can.

If you really want some kind of answer, there is plenty on the web about this if you search intelligently. Sources that have no axe to grind (which does not include forums, by the way), put the number at around 5%. If you want a 996 bad enough, those are decent odds. If you think the odds are too high, you probably don't really want a 996 bad enough. Kinda how life works.

BrockPorsche

Ah that's it, sling insults I'm poor so am trying to drive prices down nation wide I've searched intelligently and read TONS over the past month on this exact problem. It's inconclusive, which is why I wanted to ask enthusiasts.

Sigh

Any way to delete a thread?

99firehawk

bottom line, anything mechnical fails be it engine or wrist watch

whos going to participate in the survey, or complain about the numbers
the few who have had issues over the 100s who have not

LVDell

And Brad just hit the on the reason why you will get NOTHING meaningful. Remember, it is YOU that are allowing somebody to participate or not. If you would like to learn how to contruct, administer, and analyze a reliable and valid survey, then please come sit in on one of my lectures. Heck, I'll even clear my schedule for you to spend some time on the phone with me during my office hours to figure this out. But, I'll warn you that the one thing you need (population data from PCNA) you will never be able to get.

Crash and burn eh Mav?

ps. you can't delete the thread but yuou can close it to further posts if you wish. That is under thread tools at the top.

spiderv6

so you asked a mechanic (who fixes broken cars - not good ones) if he sees a lot of broken cars. he said yes. big surprise.

ask him if he ever fixed a TVR. I bet the answer is either never or very very rarely. Therefore TVR's must be great cars - right?

did i miss something here

BruceP

No insult intended. It's just that there is a lot of acrimonious history around this subject. If you deserve a spanking at all, it would only be for not searching the subject on this forum first.

As for it being "inconclusive", it always will be. Porsche is never going to say.

BrockPorsche

Oh I've searched I'm being teased by the SO for spending 3+ hrs a night reading porsche forums/web sites/groups/you name it.

I understand the history, which is why I want to ask questions. I'm curious by nature I guess (and maybe paranoid, perhaps obsessively so...? )

Thanks for the replies. Closing the thread off.....except I dont have that option under my thread tools dammit. Maybe that's for members only?

All I see are:

Show printable
Email this page
Subscribe
Add a poll (better not do this!!)

eurotrashed

Damn, I was going to say, Dell is going to go through the roof when he sees this one. But I was too late.

PS- My engine is holding steady.

LVDell

Well, not exactly through the roof but rather setting the record straight and explaining the survey cons in a polite manner. Hey, I'm a changed man now.