Well after reading several articles and horror stories about the 911's 3.6L IMS failures, I am frustrated and utterly confused. The failure rate seems alarming in the 2004's with @15000 to 40000 miles.

I was offered a Porsche backed 2 year / 24,000 mile warranty for $1800 on the 2004 911 AE (30,000 miles) I was looking at but now I'm scared to proceed any further. I don't see how I can risk dropping that kind of money on this car then just waiting for it to frag. Would IMS failure even be covered?

Then I read about the weak internal parts in the 3.6, etc. Im just about ready to give up. Have I been disillusioned about the great things I heard about Porsche? Was it all BS and now their less reliable than a beater?

I even read about numerous failures on this forum. What the hell is going on with these cars? They look great but the engine is severely flawed???? I simply cant afford to wait around while the engine self destructs then shell out 14000 for a reman. These cars are too new and low mileage for this to be going on.

Are these problems being exaggerated? I would be scared to leave town in a 911 if I buy one. Please help me calm down because I just loss faith in my Porsche dealer.

 

its all true, don't buy one.

 

Ok, I will start with this,

Originally this was a $90k or more car, buying one for $25k and hoping it will never need a $5-10 or 20k repair is ok, but not out of the relm of possabilities.

Cheap to buy does not mean cheap to own


Then again a large % of these cars can be driven for years with minimal out of pocket expenses. Don't think it is abnormal to have one last for 150k miles, nor go kaboom at 40k

Protect, prepare, preserve, pray and prevent

 

If you buy a Mercedes the engine could blow, it happens. If you're going to be paranoid find a different car to buy.

 

Any vehicle forum will be littered with people that have had problems,in many cases it's why they're at a forum. The thing to remember is that,the number of threads is probally not the cross-section of owners you're looking for. There are far more cars that don't have a problem than do. Myself and many others have changed the bearing as a preventative measure,and I sleep just fine. It shouldn't be a deal breaker. If it concerns you use it bargaining leverage on price and have it replaced after purchase. Anything mechanical will have design problems that won't show up until years into the production run. This bearing can be replaced,so don't sweat it.

 

or spend 2k and get an LN bearing. really is not a big deal.

 

Curious where you developed your target year {2004} and milage { 15K-30K }

 

Buy the car and if the engine or IMS goes kapoooot. Throw th car away (:

 

go away! Get a friggin Ferrari.

 

clutch on a Ferrari = $20+k, same for the CGT

and the more I dig into this the more I realize that other cars have problems and those problems cost money...but for what ever reason the people dont mind as much. I think it has to do with the buy in point of these cars...sub $20k so people are thinking a motor rebuild is $5k - and it's NOT

 

Simple... Buy a Turbo or like mentioned, get the LN bearing installed. That solves the problem right there pretty much.

But by the looks of it, you are not the Porsche owner type. I had all these questions as well + more when I first started looking and bought mine, but I didn't make a thread about it.

You also seem a bit conservative judging by some of your questions. Conservative and Porsche don't go hand in hand.

The decision is yours, just like anything else in life if you really want it.

Just as an fyi, I've had my car for 2 years now, and literally nothing broke or failed on it. I love it!

 

I can't believe no one brought up the IMS Guardian!

 

Yes. Next question?

 

Yes, it would be covered...

On the other hand, have you looked at the new Camry?

 

Camry is dreamy

rides like a 997 too !!




(thats is not true I had a ride in a 997 c2s that actually hurt me!!)