Crunching the Class Action numbers.
 

A very well respected Porsche man, Jake Raby, makes his living resurrecting the dead. And as he says, that is all he sees...dead engines. The following is offered as a simple search for perspective.

A thread here had a link to the Class Action Suit re: the IMS issue on the 996. The suit also includes the Boxters for the same years. Based on what I read a total of 235,152 Porsche owners were contacted re: the IMS "failure." A total of 3,571 responded...though 296 of those had objections to the settlement...but lets say all 3571 had engine damage from what is called IMS failure. Just over 144000 996s were made between 1999 and 2004. I saw no hard numbers breaking down the problems by Boxsters and 911s. For the sake of numbers lets assume all the 3571 complaints of failure were from the 144000 996s...that would be a failure rate of just 2 percent. If we take that same 3571 and divide it by the total of 235,152, that failure rate becomes even less.

In my opinion this is the most comprehensive accounting of the issue. It certainly seems more complete than the Rennlist poll at the top of this forum. I'll leave it for those interested to search the pages of "996 The Essential Companion" for the alternative mechanical explanation it offers.



This is not to say that the 996 is perfect and has no mechanical weak points. All Porsches have them. But years ago, during the Johnny Carson era, I worked at NBC. They had a guy who did nothing but write checks to settle nuisance claims.

I guess the relevant question is what proportion of the total number of failures that figure of 3,571 responses represents. How many would have moved house, died, not received the contact or simply not responded for some reason?

Yay, another IMS thread!!!! :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::b anghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::ban ghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

Seriously?

John, just sell your car.

Well he did ask, so. When I got my claim form and saw they would not cover my IMSB replacement, I trashed it.

*Hey John while your doing your deep thought IMSB pondering, do an investigation to see if there has ever been a full week in the 996 forum that did not have an IMSB thread. Not saying there's a problem with you posting it, just wondering. Alpy, SP, Gonzo, any ponderings of your own? Care to opine, surmise, conclude, guess?



*The above post was intended to be humor, satire, or irony. Whichever does not offend any living or deceased human, plant, or animal in the known or unknown universe.

John - You're new to the forum. You're excited. You want to talk about your car. You like Rennlist. I get all of that. Been there, done that. I spend too much time on here myself still after 11 years of membership. But, the repetitive IMS related threads are absolutely killing me.
And for the record, I don't give a rat's ass about the reputation of the 996 - I want to move up to a Turbo and will probably keep my 996 NA, so the unintended bashing of the 996 doesn't bother me because it's probably keeping the prices of all 996s low so that I can afford to buy another. But, it's just silly to keep talking about it because it's been beaten to death.
So, in the interest of maintaining my mental health, here are some other suggested topics that you can feel free to start a thread about that I'm certain people will be happy to discuss:
-What are the best tires currently on the market for someone who daily drives their car?
-What are the best tires currently on the market for a track day?
-What do I need to know in order to prep my 996 for a HPDE?
-What was the biggest mistake you ever made in your 996 at a driving event?
-I need replacement floor mats, so what's the best/coolest solution? OEM floor mats, aftermarket? Which aftermarket floor mat company?
-What cool color combinations have people gotten for aftermarket floor mats? Contrasting trim? Porsche logos?
-What are the top 10 mods that I can do to my car?
-What 996 related items are on your Christmas list?
-Is it worth spending the money on really expensive brake pads for my 996, or will the normal brake pads work just fine if I'm not tracking my car?
-I've heard brake jobs on 996s are really easy to do. Does anyone have any tips before I try to tackle a brake job myself?

OK, those are just a few topics off the top of my head. Not one relates to the IMS bearing. Feel free to use them or any other non-IMS related topic to stay active in the forum. We need good members to keep the discussion moving along.

I'm almost resigned to the fact these threads will never die. The same story continues to play out....some guy buys a 996 and finds RL. Said guys does some reading and discovers holy hell...I proclaim I have an epiphany! No one surely could have come up with this conclusion because no one is as wise as I...I'm right because I'm ....well right!

The number uno epiphany is the IMS. Why? It's the same reason why we can't pull away from a racing accident on the boob tube. See how I worked in "boobs"?

As soon the noob which rhymes with boob realizes that the topic has been circling the toilet bowl for a looooonnng time they move on and enjoy their car. Bad thing there is another guy in wings that is waiting for the same epiphany.

And the sadder thing is some guys can't move on.

^+996 Sneaky Pete - well said
Did I also hear you say this should be turned into another boobie thread? Yes, I thought so - again, well said!

Don't we have moderators? Do they not do anything in this forum? Isn't merging duplicate/similar threads a basic moderator function?

I'd offer to do it, but I'd snap and just start banning anyone that uses any three letter acronym... (add the B or not, I don't care. It's close enough either way)

gnat, the threads are too numerous and it wouldn't really be fair to those seeking real answers/opinions.

oops,,,almost forgot. My contribution for us old peeps.

IMS forever!
 

Sorry that you and others here find the IMS posts boring. I don't. And I don't think the issue has been resolved. So until I'm satisfied I'm going to be posting here and discussing the issue. If that bothers you just avoid posts with my name.

For those not bored by trying to resolve a mechanical issue...when the shaft lets go it sort of trashes it all...from the rear bearing to the chain drive at the other end. The question I wonder about is, at which end of the shaft are the failures first beginning.

Some people feel the easy solution is to just replace the bearing with an aftermarket version. And then keep replacing it every 30 to 50 thousand miles. Since the bearing/shaft was designed and redesigned by Porsche to be a lifetime lubricated bearing, I am curious about what specifically is causing the failures.

Regards to any who share my interest.

...

Nothing hurts a poster's ego more than clicking on his new thread the next day and seeing ZERO replies or even views . . .

And this...

john - post WHATEVER you want WHENEVER you want. That's what Rennlist is for. People telling you to not post are coming very close to harassment which is IN FACT a violation of Rennlist terms and services. As long as people are trying to make a buck off of IMSB issues there will continue to be new threads. So let the threads continue.

With that said, I think your analysis is quite excellent, relevant, and I for one thank you for your contribution to our community.