j beede

The used 996 owners I have met have all (100%) confessed to buying their car on a whim, or without doing adequate investigation. They viewed the 996 as a $20,000 "toy" that looked cool. None (0%) of the 996 owners I know knew whether they had an original or reman engine before they were given instructions on how to find and read the engine code. None of the 996 owners I have met knew that the reman engine likely precluded the LN Eng IMSB retrofit. None of the 996 owners I have met knew that a single sealed bearing failure could end up costing them over $20,000 in parts, labor and "other" sensible repairs done at the same time. This is a different sort of a car buyer--in my mind this is how people end up in Smart cars and Nissan Leafs--not in Teutonic wizardry.

Sue Esponte

You need to meet more used 996 owners.

I should amend that statement a bit. It doesn't surprise me that anyone who bought their car 'on a whim' without doing a little bit of diligence on it, isn't aware of a particular vehicle's typical problems.

While I will admit that I haven't met many used 996 owners in person, it's safe to say that most (if not all) of the folks on this board who are still searching for a 996 are more than aware of the 996es common maladies. I don't know how many people you've spoken to in person but anyone who buys ANY car without doing a little bit of investigation (whether it's a Porsche or any other brand of vehicle) is foolish...and it's safe to say that there are fools who buy every kind of car out there. Certainly those of us on this board who have bought used 996es aren't buying them 'on a whim' without doing a little research.

-Eric

bwdave55

Sounds pretty elitist , Bedee .......

buddy911t

It's safe to say you have met perhaps one tenth of a percent of the perhaps ninety thousand 996 owners worldwide.
Also this whole IMS hysteria is out of proportion to reality.. The percentage of cars that had it is small. Imho, If you leave a car in the garage for months at a time trying to bottle the Porsche mystique and alow moisture to build up in the oil there will be problems. Stop fretting and drive your freaking car.

j beede

Mositure in the oil is the root cause of IMSB failure then? (sigh) See what I mean? Where's Henry Timken when you need him? Perhaps you are in bearing failure denial my friend.

Look, it's simple, it's as simple as this: Your oil-cooled p-buddies accept head stud and valve guide issues... but 996 owners seem to live in IMSB denial. 996 owners are a different sort.

redridge

Ben?

buddy911t

Who said anything about root causes. If you don't drive the car the oil will degrade and cause problems is what I said. You hear that over and over on this forum, and in my opinion it is a strong factor. You come on here making general statements about 996 owners and I believe you are wrong.

j beede

I fear that simply reading the same "truth" over and over on this forum doesn't make it any "truer".
You lost me at "drive your freaking car".

911FM

mmmhhh. I don't think we have met then... Bought it after thorough research and extensive PPI. One of the first mods was LN IMS upgrade.

FM

2001996c4

My wife bought me my 996 as a total surprise. I immediately set out to find out exactly what I had. Fortunately for me I grew up dreaming about 911's and learned how to throw my 65' Mgb around corners, learned how to double clutch and heal toe. My first drive in my 996 one year ago was my first drive in a 911! Exactly everything I'd ever imagined and maybe a bit more! An hour after my first few trips taking my family each for a spin I dove into the Internet and learned to refer to my particular 911 as a 996 funny all those years of dreaming of a 911 and I never refer to it as one... It's a 996. Anyhow, I quickly had a bit of a sick feeling when I learned about the IMS, felt a little better at least mine was a 2001 and had benifited from some minor up grades from the 99 and 00'.

Here's how being overly aware of the IMS was almost as bad as actually having an IMS failure. Of course I needed a poor oil change a nice hot day and an unscrupulous and or stupid Porsche dealer to take advantage of the situation. I would have been a statistic of the statistics had I taken the $9,000 offer on the badly smoking car I had towed to the dealer. This forum and some common sense saved me from this fate. Many said check your AOS or maybe an oil overfill. Funny, with out the knowledge of the forum I'd have never thought my entire engine had blown up as I'd be blissfully unaware of the dreaded IMS failure. Then, lucky for me the collective knowledge of this forum guided me to retrieve my car from the dealer and determine what was ultimately the problem... Oil over fill.

Fortunately the car is so much fun to drive that even the nigling worry about the engine possibility blowing doesn't rob me of the pleasure.

carcster88

I don't agree with the OP.....I have owned German cars for over 20 years and always did my research. Also....the 996 problems that scare people can be just like the Audi timing belt problems...or the BMW subframe problems....sometimes posts on the internet scare people away from them.

Regardless....when you buy any used older German car...you better have some money stored away. Just my 2 cents.

Divot

What is this IMS thing?

Maybe you should start a thread about it. There are a bunch of people here that own 996s and would appreciate learning something new.

DreamCarrera

Jake?


















Is this for real?

aviography

I would have a lot more to say to counter OP's "observation", but the above statement pretty much says it all.

fbgh2o

In respect to the OP, I think there are probably a lot of buyers out there that buy cars like the 996 as a status symbol and because they can finally afford the 911 that they have always wanted. Remember how many were built and then thing about how many ended up the hands of true enthusiasts who peruse these forums.

A significant portion of new buyers probably do not know the RMS from the IMS Bearing and would be lucky to figure out where to add oil. When it breaks they take it to their mechanic... As such, they don't do a PPI and they don't find out about the potential long term risks and costs, because they are making an emotional purchase that is governed by a visual inspection, test drive and maybe a Carfax.

All that being said, the oldest 996s are now 13 years old and I would regard such an approach as higher risk and advise anyone on the realities of the car.

I would also postulate that most of us here view the above approach as heresy and would never buy without PPI and full knowledge of the potential issues, and performing preventative maintenance etc.