LVDell

Funny Dave!

ElTorrente

Yeah, me2.

I have 100k miles and it's still nice and tight and doesn't burn a drop of oil.

AndyK

Are there any MY01's that are certified? I actually like the original headlights better than the '02 upgrade! But having a warranty with these cars seems to take precidence over which headlights look cooler!

jetskied

Andy I would not worry about the RMS as many have said its not that big of a deal. The thing why it is so populated over the net is that most dealers repair them because it bumps up their warranty $$ they can get from Porsche NA. The truth is that they might seep some what, but not many really leaks. I own older 911s and can tell you they leak like crazy. The oil tubes, valve covers, cam feed hoses, ect... The new cars don't have that many leaks, but the RMS is an issue. Make sure that you are buying a car that does not leak or been repaired. A PPI is something to consider if you are buying a car. Early casting did have some problems with engines so its best to buy a 2001 or newer. As far as values depreciating its on every car sold today, you see more people lease cars now so there are too many used cars availiable thus driving down prices. I guess its good for the guy who does not want to purchase new.

justinmm2

Andy,

You can still find certified 01s, but I think we're getting to the point where you'd have to buy it from a private party and get the remainder of the balance. My '00 has 4 months of CPO left on it.

Engine failures are real, yes. I had one. But I consider myself unlucky. The degree to which is open to dispute (every goddamn day on this forum!) Until the engine failure at 62k, the car had exactly one RMS done, and that was in '01. If I were buying now (vs. a year ago), I'd be pretty optimistic that the new seals are not prone to repeat failure. Possible, but very unlikely.

The 996 is a fantastic car. Other than the engine "grenading" in a very non-dramatic fashion (hell, I drove it to the dealership without knowing what was wrong), I've had minimal problems with my car. Some electrical problem they fixed at the dealership in 10 minutes and some brake fluid problem I fixed by adding a tiny bit of fluid to (annoying that the techs didn't "think" of that when I took it in to the dealer).

'99-01s have a cubby underneath the steering column where I keep the documents you were talking about There's even some room left over for the owners manual.

Good Luck,
Justin

Rob in WA

I beat her like the naughty bitch that she is and everyday day she comes back for more.

Porsche_Smile

AndyK

Wow, why did your engine blow up? Not because of an oil seep, right?

I assume I will have cash in hand in the spring/summer. By then, even most MY02's will be out of warranty/CPO, right? I guess the reason I am looking at earlier 996's is because I can't shell out $50k for a newer one. And, when I do buy an '01 for $40k (give or take), I wont have an extra $10k if the engine lets go on my trip to the strore.

Things to think about!

fast1

Dell - Care to make a wager about how long will it be before another poster inquires about 996's reliability, oil leaks or blown engines? That was really a surprising post from someone with over 4K posts. He should venture out of the 944 forum a little more.

Ed Newman

Ok, lets review a few points... the M96 engines are wonderfully relaiable, they are probably the most reliable engine Porsche has ever built. That being said they have a few quirks and weaknesses.

The dreaded rear main seal - The old RMS had a tendency to leak. This does not pose any functional problem, just leaves a few drops of oil on your garage floor. IMO, its a Porsche, they are designed to leak oil. Porsche does have a new RMS 997.xxx.xxx.xxx that works on all the cars and stops the leaking. There were a small handfull of cars whose RMS was leaking because of a different problem. A crankshaft machining problem. This can easily be checked by a Porsche dealer. Any PPI car should have been checked, if not, ask them to check it or check it again. Any PPI car should also have the 997 rear main seal. The creankshaft problem is rare and many people took advantage of it to get new engines when all they had were a few drops of oil on the floor.

Oil Starvation under high G load. The 3.4l engines had a problem on track that they would oil starve on left (?) turns under high g-loads. This was due to oil pooling away from the pickup. This ONLY comes into play on the track with a highly modified suspension and Hoosiers or slicks. Porsche introduced a modification available through motorsports to ix this for the Grand Am guys and other racers. The 3.6l also introduced changes to eliminate this problem. The X51 powerkit took it even farther. If you are not going to track the car, don't worry about it.

Transmission - A couple concerns here. There were a small batch of cars in 2002 that had bad trans from the factory (I had one). The problem made itself obvious in a catastrophic failure before you made it home. Once you got past that, there are some weaknesses in the M96 transmission. The trans uses all brass syncros instead of steel. These are fine for the street but will fail if you abuse the transmission shifting too fast and forcing it into gear. The 1/2 dogleg arm is also weak. There are aftermarket fixes for this and I understand Porsche has been making changes as well.

One good thing about Porsche is they never sit still. If something breaks they analyze it and improve it. Compare a 3.4l M96 from 1999 to a rebuild 2.4l M96 purchased today and there is more different than the same.

The last major M96 problem was slipping sleeves. This only effected the 2.5l Boxster which is sleeved to reduce the displacement. There were a few cars who had a sleeve slip down to the crank which brings the motor to immediate and catastrophic stop. I've owned two 2.5l Boxster and tracked both, no problems.

There was a great article in Pano or Excellene about a year ago by a longtime Porsche engine rebuilder who ripped down a high mile M96 and analyzed it and was very impressed by its durability. Take everything you read online, particularly complaints, with a grain of salt. Most people are just looking for a place to air their complaints.

My suggestion... buy a 996, treat it with respect and take car of it and much more likely than not, it will take great care of you.

BruceP

Thanks, Ed. Others probably knew this stuff, but I found it very interesting.

Ray S

For those that think oil leaks are something new with the 996 check out this 964 thread.

https://rennlist.com/forums/964-forum/330513-how-do-you-define-an-oil-leak.html

Ian suggests the following scale for leaks;

1. Bone dry - no weeping at oil pipe connections, front cooler or
under car from engine.
2. Some slight weeping but NO drips - moist oil pipe connections,
under tray slightly filmed in oil.
3. Slight leaks SMALL maximum 1 - 10 mm size drip or drips on
standing for 24 hours or so after running.
4. Definite leaks - 1" to 2" puddles under car after running.
5. Serious leaks - puddles after running and oil top up needed
frequently.

FWIW, both of my Porsches would be "1's" on his scale.

RaceCarDriver

my 02 C4S has 52k miles and runs perfect. It's never been tracked, has no RMS, has original clutch and runs great.

You'll be fine with a 996, just be picky, I looked at about 10 before I bought my car. No regrets, would do it again in a heartbeat.

AndyK

Surprising post? I asked if you had to really abuse a 996 to get the problems that I discovered in my various searches - to occur. Try doing a search for my question - bet mine is the only one that comes up.

Had I asked a really basic question, like "do 996's have RMS problems?", I can see getting the "you should know better" response, but after 4,000 posts in the 944 forum, when I have a question that I think hasn't been answered, I think I have the right to ask it, no?

And thanks Ed, excellent info, nicely summarized!

BruceP

Let's talk about something fun...