L96A1

Don’t get me wrong I’m 200% a Porsche fan, alwasy dreamed of having one, and busted my bank account and bought a 2009 Tagra 4S. Filmed it for protection and almost washed it every other day.
The car was at 43000KM when I bought it, then I drove 1400KM and everything was fine except the passenger window seems to have issues.
Then one day the dash board threw an fault code, a ignition coil was dead. OK, changed all of them along with the spark plug, so I had the gut to take it for long drive again.
Then, a rainy day, I rolled down the windows to let the heat out before I started the car, now the passenger side window won’t go up. Fortunately the rain was not pouring, and the dealer was only 10Km away.
This time I paid for a new window control assembly and a new motor(yes both were dead)
Now I don’t take it for long drives, I went back to my 2010 VW Passat R which never gave me a single issue after I bought it.
I know the 911 was bought used, but what kind of use can destry the coils and window control?
I’ve alwasy believed that 911 is one of the best-built cars there is and tell my friends the same.
Now I have my doubts.

Wayne Smith

Everyone's experience will be different.

Coils and motors and electronics in general don't like humidity and corrosives (salt). If your car grew up in snow country this could be a factor.

Also, letting these cars sit doesn't help anything either. They want to be driven. I acquired stewardship at 35K miles and am at 99,780 just under three years later. I will turn 100K on the way to Werks on Friday. We have a multi thousand mile trip lined up to celebrate three years.

During that time ...

Beyond standard maintenance my problems have (problem has) been a torn boot on the left front drive shaft. This was not the car's fault. Utah had a multi mile stretch of chip seal that was unavoidable. I lodged literally buckets of stones in the car's under carriage. One of these damaged the boot.

Yep, that's my only problem. Well, I did end up with a new windshield and front end spray after encountering a sand storm in the Mojave, but that can't be attributed to the car.

Emptying out three years of accumulated items from glove box, armrests, etc. before that respray resulted in removing all rattles and creaks as well. The car remains virtually new. I recommend using it often. Why else have it?

L96A1

Long may you enjoy your car in good heath and no issues.

The wheather should be fine as we are quite dry here through the year, (the car is in Beijing,China) Except its quite hot this summer(news says an African buddy got sunstroke…)

I drive it whenever I can and I do enjoy driving it out to other cities, with my wife and kid in the back, they all love it.

Guess I need good luck with mine.

alexb76

Electronics almost always fail first in ALL older car, I can't even imagine how reliable a 2017 car would be in 2027 with most cars having more and more electronics doing everything in the car, let alone any electric car.

Porsche is a reliable car, and 911 is their most reliable model, period. But your 8yrs old car may have had not been taken care of in the past by previous owner, or you just got unlucky. As comparison my 2007 C4S has had ZERO issues apart from one lock mechanism (electronic) that failed and had to be replaced.

L96A1

I guess I’m asking too much then.

Hope it will last a while before another issue comes up.

I still love it.

Just ordered 4 BBSs for it.

Ben Z

Mine is 12 yrs old, has not quite 70K mi on it. Recently had to put a new engine in it due to bore scoring.

One by one every plastic part in the car is breaking due to brittleness from age. Just yesterday the engine compartment fan shroud broke off. Every time some panel needs to be removed for servicing something, no matter how carefully it is removed, one or more plastic clips break. The piston damper in my glove box is held together with a twisted paper clip because the plastic broke. The problem is, every little piece on these cars costs an enormous amount of money, and many perfectly good assemblies are rendered useless by one stupid plastic clip breaking.

I would count myself extremely lucky if the worst I had to contend with is a broken window switch (if you took it to a dealer, I would bet $5 there was nothing wrong with the motor) and a coil (I replaced all of them at 50K...you guessed it, nothing wrong with the electronics, it was the plastic housings that had cracked from heat and age).

Petza914

We bought my wife's '05 997.1 C2S in 2013 at around 40,000 miles and it will roll over 100,000 this year. It's her DD and has been the most reliable car we've ever owned.

• Plastic door handle post broke
• Did the waterpump, thermostat, & serp belt once
• Had the starter cable with the bad crimps replaced (solved the ware restart issue)
• At the same time since the Tech had to go right by it, had the AOS replaced preventatively, but it hadn't failed
• I've done coils and plugs once
• Had to reinstall the cup holder assembly when the 2 screws came loose and dropped out
• did pads and rotors once
• 1 new battery

and that's it other than tires, Oil changes every 4-5k miles, & brake fluid flush every spring

Starbuckslova1

There's some things to consider.

Ignition coils go on any car but seem especially bad on Mercedes - example would be cl63 plus expensive.
there plastic they fail.

Im surprised with the VW, they honestly probably have the worst record in reliability just look at the touraeg, jetta or Passat.

All Gm cars have there issues door handles breaking off, roughing rough, dirty throttle body.

IMS bearing on 996 and boxster.

911sc airboxes exploding- issues without Carrera chain tentioners

Toyota prius random gas pedal stuck down.

All cars have issues, its impossible its just how many and is it one after the other.

The 750i I had had 59k and 4.5 years old and a major vanos issue where the motor had to be pulled. sold it.

The audi I had was a disaster, random check engine non stop.

Any new dodge Chrysler is bad really expect for the RAM trucks.

Out of the german brands Porsche is the most reliable.

But german cars for the most part have gone down hill, the last 20 years no one noticed. They really dident increase their prices, they've either stayed the same or decreased. so accountants force engineers to use cheaper subsututes like the plastic cooling pipes on you cayenne. usally once the warranty is up that's it.

I believe its a requirement in Germany to make all plastic biodegradable breaking down within 10 years.

another thing with any car is the maintance, all the records and previous owner.

I drive a 2007 escalade ext pickup with 200k on it, I bought it with 166k- because it was 1 owner, only dealer serviced and I had every record on the car. Except for maintance and changing 2 door handles and the tranny cooler line ( it was not leaking but about to breakdown). I have not had one issue ever.

997's build quality is very good, for what it is, but its not a lexus or Toyota, ford now- if you miss maintance its not forgiving.

A car is only as good as it previous maintance only then can you compare it to other vechicles

last thing, Ferrari 360 needs timing belt service every 8-10k or 4 years that's a 7500+ job, if you don't do this bye bye engine.

I feel you can easily get 100k out of a 997. not gonna happen with an Italian car. unless its 8-10 owners later

msingh5649

Considering that you are in Beijing, I would assume the problems are related to local conditions if the car has spent most of its life on the mainland. If it was brought over-that may account for some of the electrical gremlins, in that salt water/corrosion may have gotten into some of the systems on the ride across the water.

m

AWDGuy

The least reliable car I've ever owned.

Good things its really fun to drive.

Ynot

Really? What are your problems?

My problems,

1. RMS leak, this was due to sitting in the dealer's lot too long, had it fixed under CPO warranty

2. Premature tie rod wear, read on the internet that there were a bad batch of tie rods in 2006

That was it, it's been very reliable for me. I had the battery swapped out and yearly oil/filter change, every other year brake flushes. I haven't need anything more than that.

AWDGuy

in less than 10k km of ownership.

-bad voltage regulator
-Y-cable
-bad starter
-headlight switch
-scored cylinders

captainbaker

Yes they are. Porsche is in the top three for initial build quality according to JD Powers.

EVERY car has some issues. My 997 has has had the usual things like water pump, TMPS etc. Nothing fatal and nothing worth posting about.

Want a worry free car, buy new with warranty including a free loaner.

Shaymus

Have you driven a FORD lately?

AWDGuy

My new and warrantied Subaru goes in for excessive oil consumpton tomorrow. Dammed if you do...

The bus is probably what I should stick too.

Lol