Oh come on no fair, I had my eye on that....

Offer still stands $5k for the car.

 

Awesome man. FYI, i ride a custom Parlee with super record and lightweights (: HAHAHA

 

After a couple of conversations and letters with the powers that be at PCNA, their (unsurprising but disappointing) position is that, while its unfortunate that I had two engine failures thru no fault of my own in 100K miles, they won't do anything to assist with repair or replace of the 2nd one. Again, not shocking since the engine has been out of warranty for 5 years, but still very annoying.

I'm still thinking on what to do, but at the moment it's hard to get excited about putting in a 3rd engine and having to plan for another new one every 50K miles going forward. The idea that I go thru engines twice as fast as clutches just doesn't sit well.

Bob

 

Bob, the first engine was replaced in your ownership period or prior to?

Yea, that's a bit hard to stomach, keep the clutch but swap the motor

 

I bought the car new in 2000, and have had all service done up until this failure at one of the 3 SF Peninsula Porsche dealers (bought at Rector, had some work done there, some at Carlsen, and some at Stevens Creek, depending where my office happened to be at the time). The car's never been tracked, abused, etc, as I think the 100K clutch lifespan demonstrates pretty well.

As I said, I'm not shocked by PCNA's denial, but it's just hard to stomach planning for an engine replacement every 50K miles or 5 years (on average). I've got another car to drive for now, so I'm leaning towards kissing my 996 goodbye and waiting a few months to decide whether to buy a 997, wait for the new 997 replacement, or go in a completely different direction. I've also got 2 kids who didn't exist when I bought my 996, and were starting to outgrow the back seat anyway, so that makes the "switch to something else" more interesting as well.

Basically, no real good choices here is what it boils down to, but I still have a very strong gut feel that engines should last longer than this, and certainly that's been true for every other car I've ever owned (not a huge sample, to be sure, but still).

Bob

 

I think I would side with you on this then and work with the dealer on using it towards a 997S - the dealer will most likely give you more than selling it outright based on some factors like they can put an engine in it pretty cheaply and re-sell it with good service history records...

pretty disapointing for sure

 

Flat6innovations.com has a "CPO" engine for sale on the website with rebuilt heads or you can get your original engine upgraded.

 

So it's been a week or so, did you ever attempt to negotiate with your P-dealer for a reasonable trade in allowance?....

 

just in case if you need a head:
$250 for this one, not perfect but cheap..
http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/pts/2099417665.html

 

After much pondering, I finally decided to sell my 996 as is and wait a few months to decide what to buy next. While I've loved driving the car, at the end of the day I'm very unhappy with the 5 year / 50K engine life I've seen, and I don't want to continue with that.

I may buy a 997 later this winter, I may wait for the next gen 911, or I may buy something else entirely. I'm definitely feeling burned by Porsche "quality" at the moment, though. Something like my wife's new Lexus, with a LIFETIME power train warranty, is looking really good right now.

I did talk to a couple of local dealers, and while they made reasonably attractive "buy new" offers (a few K under invoice), neither of them was willing to offer substantially more for the car than a private party.

By the way, I appreciate the informal offers from folks on the board, but decided to sell the car to a local buddy so I don't have to mess with an unknown (to me anyway), out of area buyer, delivery,etc.

Thanks for all the advice and commiseration. Hopefully I'll have a new toy to drive sometime soon.

Bob

 

thats a bad taste in your mouth and I am guessing the M96 will not be on your list of next potential cars... sorry to hear, glad you are able to find a buyer and come away with something

 

Yup. A 997 MAYBE (although right now I definitely have a bad taste with respect to Porsche in general), but another 996 or another M96 engine for my current 996, absolutely not.

Bob

 

How did you do on resale?

 

Bob,

Tough luck on the 2nd engine in your 996.

If I was in your shoes, I would get a 997.2. It has the new 9A1 engine, DFI, NO intermweiate shaft and has 40% fewer moving parts than the M96/M97 engines.

If and when I get another Porsche, I am 98% certain that it will be a 997.2.

 

slightly under the 5K I was informally offered here, but with zero headaches (I can leave it where it is, and I know the person buying it well enough to be confident in the check being good). Not that I don't trust the good folks here, but anytime you're taking a 5K check from someone you've only met thru an Internet chat board, you should be a bit cautious.

Bob