I hear you. That being said its about the same probability as getting diagnosed with a brain tumor. Everyone has a small risk but its not something most people spend much time worrying about.

 

 

PPi?
Price seems fair.
I'd buy that. Everything I would want on it.

 

If it passes a thorough inspection, and all is truly well, you've found a fantastic deal....probably $12.5K discount to market, at least.

 

Yea, unless the motor is ready to blow you got a steal.

 

You are saving so much money on the purchase price that you should strongly consider your "ALL IN" price - meaning spend the extra money BEFORE you buy the car to get PPI, compression test, and bore scope. If your mechanic doesn't understand that right off the bat find another mechanic. Now's not the time to teach ABCs.

Cars like this normally get up to $40k.

 

And I hear you too. I just have a problem with the idea promoted here repeatedly that IMS failures in -06 through -08 997's are "non issues". It's simply not true. There are documented failures in every single MY 997.1. Again, with the larger improved bearing, very, very rare to be sure but rare is not synonymous with non-issue. Bottom line is that IMS failures did not become a non-issue until MY -09. Thing is, we don't don't know the people we're giving advice to here. Some have zero or near zero risk tolerance for a failure such as the IMS and would rather pass or pony up more money for a non IMS car if they're well informed where others look at the odds and have no problem with it. I would just hate being the one who tells the zero risk tolerance guy that the -07 997 he's about to buy has an IMS bearing that's a non-issue and a month after he's bought the car the IMS fails. That's all.

 

As much as we appreciate the repeated reminders of how much you dislike the 997.1 and the IMS boogie man, I think, just to be fare, you should also warn and list all the known issues of the 997.2 engine/pdk as well to prospective buyers. Since you are so concerned about prospective buyers and giving good advice, then you should give them the whole truth on the 997.2 package with the 9A1 engine and pdk issues. It's been well documented that Jake Raby of Flat 6 Innovations,a highly respected and well known engine builder, has worked on close to 50 or more of the 9A1 engines that suffered Bore scoring issues. There have been a few others on this forum that have spoken about their 997.2 engine failures as well. One of them being a 997.2 GTS that suffered bore scoring and engine failure. Other forums outside of rennlist discuss the issues of the 997.2 engine also listing high pressure fuel pump failures that are fairly common and well known, fuel intrusion from the DFI injectors that is leading to cylinder wall scoring issues, injector failures and more concerning are that there have been multiple reports of abnormal cam chain wear. If the chain fails, the end result would be the same as an IMS failure and catostrophic. Slow speed stalling issues are common as well as PDK having many known software issues, clunky slow speed behavior, and more failures or breakdowns popping up as time marches on and the miles pile up that require a complete replacement since rebuilds are not possible.. These are just some of the issues that pop up doing some quick research on the 997.2 issues.

Jake Raby said something very interesting when discussing known issues between the M97 and 9A1 engine when it comes to addressing and fixing the known issues.
Jake Raby quote " I will say immediately that I do NOT care for DFI. Not in these engines, or others. Manufacturers still don't have it figured out yet, and that's clear, even from an engine oil point of view. I have swapped a DFI engine over to port injection, swapped the pistons out, changed the cam profiles to favor port injection, and made 20% more power immediately. The M96/ M97 is well developed today. While we still find problems with the 9a1, we've pretty much documented the M96/97 failures, and addressed them. I haven't added a mode of failure to my list in almost two years for the M96/97. I'd rather have the one that's been figured out, than the one that's still not showing all of its colors. Now that we are onto the 9a2, the 9a1 is pretty much yesterday's news, while the M96/97 is booming."

Some would say Jake is a fear monger and has made a good profit doing so. He is not a fan of the 9A1 engine and maybe that's his way of scaring up business to address 997.2 bore scoring issues and making more profits. I don't know what his true motivations are, but maybe he does care, is driven to find solutions and wants to warn others about what possibly could happen. Even if that means hurting some peoples rose colored views of the Porsche M97 and 9A1 engines. What I will say is that Jake is highly respected and admired for his years of expertise in engine building. He is a master at his craft and no doubt his rebuilt engines get lots of respect.

What I do find interesting and comforting as a M97 owner is that the M97 engine issues have been thoroughly investigated, addressed and solved. If and when I or anyone else chooses to "bullet proof" their M97 engine or take it to 4.0 liters, then there are well known solutions to do that. Some quick solutions to fix the ims issue are already reasonably priced, such as the ims solution or bearing upgrade. For anyone interested and willing to make a small investment for peace of mind there are solutions available. Then the IMS truly can become a "non-issue".

What I would much rather be doing is talking about how awesome our cars are and how fortunate we are to own them rather than focusing on worst case scenarios

 

I apparently stand corrected. Gorgeous looking car! You stole it.

 

It's a little shocking because Porsche prices are almost commodities. But now and then....

 

Very well said Bill. Each generation 911 continues to evolve. It doesn't make much sense to talk about .1 issues w/out talking about .2 issues.

 

Did the OP close this...? If so, well played sir!!! Amazing. Thats the deal of the century.

 

 

Hello All-
So here is the update. Not too much change but here is goes. Went to Fletcher and spoke to Gunter. He really is awesome. We reviewed the service history and discussed some concerns. I am bringing the car in Friday to do a check out. A bonus I opened the front trunk and found a brand new Porsche car cover and a pair of new front (side) clear turn signal lens. The car seems like a great buy. I will update this weekend with the results. Again to all who responded, thank you. This is a great forum and I'm thankful to have found it

 

Oh...so pointing out that the IMS on .1 cars -06 through -08 is not a "non issue" as some insist on repeating means I dislike .1 cars? Odd conclusion to say the least especially since I owned a .1 car and put more than 40,000 miles on it. What I dislike is sloppy misinformation to those who come here looking for advice before purchasing. How about trying to give new to the 997 potential buyers the best available information which they will likely use to base their purchase decision on? Do you really think telling an individual who knows next to nothing about 997's that the IMS on -06 through -08 997's is a non issue is factually true? "Failures are very rare and almost a non-issue" would be a better description in my opinion.

As for the .2, I don't read every single post here but if there was one about a .2 engine having imploded or even having to be dismantled for repairs I missed it. As with any engine it's obviously not fail safe but it's clearly a sturdier design than the .1 engine. Furthermore, I posted recently that I bought an extended warranty from Fidelity because of the PDK and added that I would not own a PDK car without a warranty. Both cars have their issues, just different issues.