rmillnj

I agree with you. When I come off of warranty, my biggest risk is now complete engine failure. But while I have high mileage, it is all "good" mileage - mostly high speed on a long daily commute. I managed to get about 25,000 miles on my tires. So not a lot of stop and go which is what hurts a car the most. I figure my 92,000 miles is more like 60,000 on the average Porsche.

The value of my car is not so good right now. I know on a trade I am not looking at much, selling privately would not be much better. Who wants a care with 92,000 miles when there are so many garage queens out there at much lower mileage. But still my car looks new and has lots of good stuff that would be hard to find in the average car. I have owned lots of Porsches and this one just feels right, despite this transmission problem. If I want a newer car with a CPO warranty, I am going to be at least $25,000 out of pocket plus my car. And I might not find one that feels right like this one does.

So the question is, whether it is worth plunking down another $25,000 or so to have a warrranty or live with the risk of having to shell out maybe $15,000 at some point. And lets be realistic, the risk of the engine going is probably a couple of percentage points at most.

I would prefer to have a warranty but on face value based on where I am it is going to be an expensive proposition. The equation would be different if 996's were holding their value better, but they aren't. This is too good a car to give away.

carpundit

That's the kind of dice roll I took when I bought my high-mileage 996 cab last year. I paid little enough that I was ahead of the falling market. If something big goes in the powertrain, I can sell for beans or come up with the cash to fix it.

If I have to put 12-15 grand in, I'll be upside-down by today's value, but I'll be about even with what I would have paid for the same car with the new drivetrain.

(Yes, this kind of math is how I manage to sleep at night.)

Barn996

First of all you hit the jackpot with a great service mgr. who works for a decent dealer. Several times you said you felt your car feels right to you, so I'd conclude you are happy with the car even with the high mileage and should stick with a car that suits your present needs. Thanks for sharing a positive Porsche dealer experience.

dresler

right on. Having a P is beyond economics. Que sera sera

Holger B

Since they have it all apart and you're getting a new tranny with LSD, you should consider also getting a lightweight flywheel as you're only out the cost of the parts for that too. Do a search for the pros & cons on this mod. It would sure go well with that LSD and you'd have a lot of track junkies interested (regardless of mileage) should you ever decide or need to sell.

rleeq

My car has LSD and I don’t see any mention in the owner manual about any additional maintenance service for transmission with LSD. I didn’t even realize I had LSD until I read a post here and checked my option sticker. What is the service recommendation for car with LSD? My car is stuck in 3rd gear and there are no problems with the shifter, cables or linkage? I had both the 30K and 60k service work done at the dealer. Is it possible that they neglected to service my transmission per Porsche’s recommendation for cars with LSD?

UCrazyKid

The service for a LSD requires use of a friction modifier in the differential fluid. There is also probably a rebuild service interval as well, however I am not familiar with the details. If a clutch based mechanical LSD is not maintained when it fails it will just stop working, it will not cause the transmission to fail.

Holger B

I don't think there are any special maintenance requirements for the LSD. Had one in my '99 and got it in the GT3 now. I have the tranny oil changed anually with Mobil 1 fluid. There are some indepth threads about this topic on the GT3 board if you do a search.

Also, note that it is a wear item and it won't cause the tranny to fail.

rmillnj

In my case the failure of the clutches for the LSD caused problems with the differential. Porsche originally wanted to only replace the clutches and the differential but my service manager convinced them it was more cost effective to just replace the whole tranmission.

Found out the transmission arrived from Germany today and the car should be back together by next Tuesday.

I asked about the lightweight flywheel and they are willing to do it, but recommend against it unless I plan to track which I don't. Since money is tight and I don't see any big advantage, I will stick with my orginal stock flywheel which is in good condition.