robrichtx

On the contrary pfbz -

You can see the coolant tank and labor are listed separately. That's because I tried but was unable to remove the coolant tank myself. After removing the smog pump and lowering the engine to the limits of the stops, tolerances simply would not allow for the removal of the tank even after removing the cap on the driver side fuel rail. Having to hop a plane in the morning, I put the 911 on a flatbed (0 dollars) and sent her in for a quite reasonable visit with my indy.

Some of us have the luxury of time - some don't. I do a lot of work myself, from brakes to oil changes, to clutch cable replacements and pedal cluster rebuilds. I have 2 Porsches and 2 diesels, and sometimes you just can't juggle. However - I'm smart enough to know when I'm in over my head, or when my travel schedule doesn't allow for my shade tree pursuits. So you might want to wait a minute before casting judgement.

Also - you'll note the oil pain, serpentine and RMS were done at the same time as the IMS. Since the engine was out, it made perfect sense to replace a few items that were easily accessible and wouldn't induce extra labor.

The main purpose of this thread is to arm the OP with information and let him make his decision based on data - not opinions. I'm arming him with data from my experiences so he can make his own decisions. If my experience is different from yours - so be it - but put some information out there to help him - critiquing my decisions on how I choose to service my car does not help Rotaryjunky.

Rob

pfbz

It wasn't my intent to be critical of your repair decisions.. Only to point out that what is $5,000 worth of ownership cost to one person could also be $2,000 of ownership cost to another.

Everyone has their own skill level, time constraints, and financial flexibility. My point is that cost of ownership can vary wildly depending on what work you are capable/willing/have time to do yourself.

Though I will point out that you don't need to drop the engine (or transmission) for the serpentine belt or oil pan... Both are easy repairs. The the RMS on these cars often has a minor leak that is nothing more than a very minor inconvenience (usually not even enough to actually drip). Typically minor RMS leaks are deferred until the transmission is down for other reasons, so a $250 guardian would have allowed that major repair cost to be deferred indefinitely.

WCE

I had a similar dream about 25 years ago!
Bought a 5 year old 928 with about 40k miles for about $20k or half the original price (and probably overpaid). Put another 180k miles on it over the next 10 years and dealt with many expensive repairs. Fortunately no major engine or transmission failures, but I chased many oil leaks which definitely put a damper on the pleasure of ownership during the later years. Overall, the repairs and maintenance ended up being more than the original purchase price, however this was rather extreme mileage and I did drive the bejesus out of it frequently. Worth it to me to realize that "dream" on what was a very limited budget at the time? I'd say yes - sort of, but most people I know would have lost patience much sooner than me. Having your "eyes wide open" as you seem to going in definitely helps!

LordVicious

My car has back seats?

robrichtx

My apologies then pfbz - looked to me like I was getting lumped into the key-turning crowd as opposed to the wrench turning crowd.

Another thought on the IMS - there are a million long threads on it, so I won't rehash them here, but from my perspective, I felt the 700.00 part was worth the investment, given the worst-case scenario of a dead $16K motor. I also looked at it from a resale perspective too - figuring it would add value and make the car easier to sell when the time comes. I think it's a good item to replace if you have the engine down for something like a clutch replacment - turns it from a 10 hour job into a 1 hour job. My car had a new clutch, so I didn't feel like waiting unti the car had l 75 or 85K miles.

To give fair time to the other viewpoint though, I think estimates for IMS failures are in the 5% range, plus or minus a few, so it basically comes down to what kind of risk you're comfortable with, rotaryjunky.

KrazyK

Dont feel to bad even though that seems like a fortune for a coolant tank R&R. I was dumb enough to buy into how low cost the maintenance for a 996 is when in reality the cost can be incredibly high depending on what part fails. The 996's are from 9 to 14+ years old now. You could buy one that seems great but in reality you will be replacing more parts than you can imagine.

I would just buy the better model; TT and you will avoid all of the potential engine problems. The GT2, TT, and GT3 Metzger designed engines have been described as "bomb proof". The ordinary M96 engine is, well to be polite, a mistake. A rather cruel joke played on the unsuspecting Porsche flock of sheep consumers.

alpine003

KK, why do you keep your car? No one is forcing you to keep it. I'm often baffled to say the least...

Zanzibar Red 996

Yes you can drive a 911 for seven years for $ 44K
Start with brand new car...

mrmadd

If your dream is to drive a Porsche, then buy one. But honestly, these are expensive toys. You might make it seven years for $44K, but don't get one if you can't absorb the cost of a catastrophic failure. And it sounds like you can't.

Would you advise someone making $40K a year to buy a Rolex? They certainly COULD, but that doesn't make it a wise decision.

WalterRohrl

And then there is one guy on this forum that as far as I can recall has:

A. Never actually had any part actually REQUIRE replacement in his time of ownership and
B. Does ALL of his own maintenance work and
C. Finds ways to and posts a DIY on how to reduce a potential $300 SAI replacement (or $1200 if you want the exact same part in a silver box) into a $10 bearing replacement and
D. Finds a way to replace an IMS bearing, variously quoted at between a $600 and a $1200 cost with an equivalent (his words) $12 off the shelf bearing and
E. Will tell anyone who cares to listen about how unbelievably expensive and unreliable these cars are to operate and that you'd be a fool not to spend 2x the amount for a turbo or GT3 as if they would never require maintenance or repair while he
F. Has probably driven his car less than 3000 miles total while he has owned it and
G. Shows no inclination to sell it which pretty much says a LOT more than anything else even though as far as I can tell he is not related to Bill Gates either.

I just returned from driving mine 3005 miles in 9 days . Before I left I did take the time to clean out the radiator ducts (looked like it was never done judging by the pile of crap I found), changed the oil (because it was time) and checked my tire pressures. Traveled at speeds as low as 10mph for over an hour on an LA freeway up to 120mph (briefly in Wyoming with nobody around) with a trip average of over 70mph all-in and an average mpg of around 26. Weather temps between 46 (Vail Pass) and 113 (Arizona) and the car not once gave me any cause for concern AT ALL. Frankly this is what I expect from our Honda Minivan (except the speed), not a Porsche. What an utterly amazing car for the money, I am SO glad I never listened to the naysayers when I was looking who either never had one or never really experienced one.

You seem handy enough, you've had an exotic before, I'm sure NSX parts aren't cheap either but you learn the best sources and just go with it. As long as your family is on board with it, go for it.