Optical TDI

The targa top will fail for sure?

georgiadis

Obviously it won't fail for sure...
But I wouldn't bet against it!
That is what I have been told by a couple Porsche shops (specifically Tony Callas and Dan at Porsche Speed Gallery) and also based on my own experience.

wyovino

@Januz - You bring this up in every conversation. Where are you getting your information? The best I've seen for my 2000 C2 is 2 years/$3800, and I'm having problems getting a response.

psuboy

Hey Larry, I did not mean to rub anyone wrong way. Sorry if I offended. And, I would not take a tricycle to the guy that damaged my car. I think you should go to who you are comfortable with. I only put my 2 cents as a precaution to be careful.

larry47us

I didn't mean to get uppity in return, I was just pushing back the way I usually did with the early crowd when I did something expedient rather than "original." I am used to some regular banter back and forth. I didn't take any of your comments as more than reasonable suggestions.

That being said, I have been cautioned about many things relating to buying my 996, including the impending doom of the engine due to IMS/RMS failures, and the inevitable failure of my Targa top. I am sure that if I felt it necessary, I could prevail upon them to let me take it to a Porsche mechanic for the repair. I don't know that the replacement of this fan is that difficult, and I would certainly hope that they didn't dirty my spanking new (6 year old) interior. I guess I would rather hold that card in case something really bad happens. Then, I will go that route.

In the interim, I am waiting for the call back, and then the inevitable appointment. Until then, I take the tape out every night before going to bed to tape down my cheeks. I feel that I am the master of the road, now. If there is any arrogance, it is ME looking down (figuratively, since I am inevitably lower than the car next to me) on the wheels that pull up next to me and have the unmitigated chutzpah to share the road with royalty!!!

larry

TrackDays247.com

Wow, yeah maybe its time for a PPI and get other stuff taken care of!

Janusz

I got my information from the research which I did when deciding to renew my warranty last June.

After confirming that the company which contract I took over from the previous owner while buying the car in Jan. 2009 has indeed one of the best reputations I found out that they will accept the car up to 12 years old and this seems to be a general standard in the industry. Therefore the most economical deal for my 2002 car was to renew for next 4 years.

Then it follows naturally that OP 2004 car could be insured for next 6 years relatively cheaply and yours for only 2 and it will be expensive since, logically, the older the car is they will want more money per year.

In less then 2 years of ownership my warranty carrier spent over $12,000 on my claims already so naturally it makes me a happy man. I enjoy driving a fantastic car with many new parts including transmission, without any worries about unexpected expenses for next 3.5 years. Then in the summer of 2014 I will sell it and buy a newer one since the last thing I want is to drive Porsche car without a service contract.

I hope 997.2 S's will be selling at reasonable prices then.

larry47us

Well, I guess that I would be happy about having my warranty company spend $12,000 on my car in 18 months rather than spending it myself, but that begs the question as to whether your car was well sorted when you bought it. The evidence is anecdotal, but I have read posts from quite a few 996 owners that they have spent only nominal maintenance costs on their cars, in spite of the fact that their car is a DD, and they drive it hard. I would certainly be relieved if I didn't have to spend the $12,000. But I would certainly be fearful of the first few months after the warranty expired.

What you haven't done is to tell us the name of your warranty company, so that we can't call them up to see what, in my case, would be the cost of a 6 year 100,000 mile warranty. My PO had an aftermarket warranty on my car, but when he sold it to a dealer, the warranty was cancelled, and I can't renew it.

larry

Janusz

The bulk of the expense was the transmission. The 2nd gear synchros got weak and while shifting cold there was more and more frequent grinding in 2-nd.

Thank God for warranty; if I was on my own I'd had it repaired with hit or miss result but my insurer figured out it would be cheaper for them in a long run to give me a brand new which came directly from Porsche in Germany. This way we both win...

The transmission in 996 is a weak point and 2-nd gear especially. It is not related to general shape of the car or how it was cared for. Similar like an engine you cannot forsee if you will be lucky or unlucky one.

larry47us

And the name of the warranty company is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the envelope please.

928FIXER

A good new car tech at the yota dealer should have no problem installing a blower motor into your car.Its only about a 1.3 hour job,and trust me he looked up what it pays and how hard it looked to do.Blower motor is probably a nippondenso,same as a toyota

Janusz

Larry, I will not answer this for 3 reasons:

1 - My comments were of general nature and I do not want to create impression like I am advertising something,

2 - I am in Canada and do business locally so it would not be relevant for you,

3 - I think that if you discuss any claim scenario with sales people before commiting yourself then you know exactly what if...I know exactly what will happen if my engine leaks or blows or say ABS fails. I think any legitimate company is good enough if you do all your investigation before anything happens and then your business decision is an informed one.

larry47us

Janusz:
I know from experience that there are good warranty companies and bad warranty companies. You can search the internet for information on any of them, and they ALL have a few situations where someone is PI$$ED at them because they denied a repair, or for some other reason. So, I feel that doing a generic search for warranty companies may not give the information that's helpful. I just thought that since you had a good experience with your warranty company, I would contact them. You don't want to share . . . OK, don't.

larry

larry47us

So, here's the latest episode. The warranty company approved the replacement of the blower motor. They put a hold on it because the selling dealer hadn't filed the paperwork to register my car with them. Took a couple of days to get that done. I was getting calls from the Toyota Dealer every day, keeping me posted as to their progress.

Then after it got registered, I got a call saying that the warranty company wanted to get the inspection certificate and/or checklist that they used when they inspected the car before I bought it. Over the next few days, nothing happened. I don't know if they didn't inspect the car or what.

Just got a call from the Toyota Dealer. They finagled a few things, and got the approval from the warranty company to go ahead. They have ordered the new blower motor from Porsche, and will call me when it comes in. They said that they didn't have a manual on the car. I told them that I had a sheet showing the dismantling and re-installation of the new motor. They said that they could pull it up on-line as well. It is a 45 minute job to replace it. Not a big deal.

So, they will call me when they get the motor, and I will hop over there, sit in their lounge, drink a coke and eat popcorn.

More later

larry

996Pilot

Keep us filled in on the final results