AeroSmith

Guys, the 997 dash seems to be made from fewer parts than the 996 dash. It seems more solid. My 996 dash is not the quietest in the world and I was thinking that the 997 dash would be quieter.

What's your take on the 997 dash? Quiet? Noisy? Same as the 996? Better? Worse?

Thanks.

huskydog

The entire car is quieter in my opinion in all aspects. Dash is silent in mine, so is headliner even with roof open, no squeaks from back seats, etc. Of course it only has 300 miles on it so I'll let you know if I feel the same way later on.

jcnesq

Mine is tight and quiet. I do think the exhaust / mechanicals are louder than 996, but I think that was intentional and I like it.

SrfCity

That's where one of my vibration noises is coming from the left side where the vent is. When I whack it it stops for about 30 seconds

Ray G

In my car, there is a buzzing rattle coming from the ignition key unit - heard only on roads with a porous surface. My service guy removed it and confirmed that the key unit has an inherent rattle that is probably in all 997s. He reported it to Porsche.

rnlarctic997

I noticed a buzzing sound from where the plastic-meets-plastic at the base of the main instrument nacelle( right below the tach/speedo unit). If you push down with your finger right below the tach, the buzz stops...I think a small piece of weather sripping placed in this spot will rectify this.

Roadking

So far, this is my only complaint with the car. I love the looks, the power, etc. However, I have a couple nasty rattles. One is at the gauge cluster as described previous, two is in the center tranny tunnel. If I push down on the console, hard, it will stop. Three is in the passenger side dash board. I can rap on the dash and hear something rattle. Bugs the crap out of me when going over bumpy roads. I have had the car in twice to the dealer, comes back the same every time. No improvement. Gaining access behind the glove box looks to be a pain in the butt. I now turn up the audio system when driving or roll down the window. By R32 has zero squeaks and rattles... the 997 should at least be as good.

OH997

Dash quiet. Seat belt harness on the drivers side, not so much.

SkipSauls

Bill & RNLarctic997,

The noise from the instrument cluster is a relatively easy fix. Have your service tech remove the cluster and put felt on the areas that rub, which is what causes the creaking. My car exhibited the same problem where you can push on it to get the sound to stop, and after the felt treatment it went away. Apparently this was also a problem on some 996's, and the tech recognized it immediately and knew of the felt fix.

My car also has the rattle in the passenger side dash area, although I can't tell if it's the glovebox or the wacky drink holders. If I were keeping the car that was going to be the next noise to try to hunt down and eliminate.

I also get noise from the passenger side seat belt knocking against the hard back of the sport seats. A temporary fix is to move and/or twist the belt so that the plastic and metal of the buckle are not touching the seat back. A better solution might be some sort of strap, perhaps like the ones that are on some Boxsters. The thing is that this would really need to be secured with a pop rivet or something, which might not be that desirable.

Finally, I sometimes get noise from the area where the dome/map lights are. Pushing on this area makes it stop, and it's probably another thing that could be fixed by removing/re-installing and perhaps using some felt, "gummifledge", or something like that.

If you have any creaks, squeaks, or rattles, make the dealer fix them. Turning up the radio isn't a solution, and there's simply no excuse for such noises in a modern car. I've heard things like "the leather dashes are a source of trouble", "Porsches often do this", and so on, which is absurd.

rnlarctic997

Skip--thanks for the idea with the felt--I'll try it...something easy like that, I'd rather do it myself, rather than have the technician do it.

AeroSmith

WOW! So now I'm thinking that my 996 might not be so bad! It's actually already been to the dealer to have the dash taken apart and felt inserted in all the rub areas. I guess I may as well quit while I'm ahead.

I thought from the looks of the 997 dash (it seems to have fewer parts) that it might be more rattle/squeek free. Sounds like I was wrong. Hopefully this is an issue that Porsche sorts out in the next year or two.

Thanks for your input, guys.

Roadking

Thanks Skip for the input. I have had a number of MB, BMW and Porsche vehicles, this is the first "rattler" I have had. My Cayenne was dead quiet and the 993 was too. I will try the dealer again... thanks for the advice.

jlee

2000 miles and my 997S is completely rattle-free. The interior actually feels more solid than my wife's S500(in all fairness, that car has 40,000 miles). One of the main reasons for getting rid of the 996tt was that even after repeated visits to the dealer(and getting them fixed), new rattles and squeaks develop or old ones keep coming back. I could not help thinking why Porsche cannot make a reasonably rattle-free car like any other car company. Finally, the 997 is like a what a "normal" modern car should be like.

Patriot

Hi - I think I now have this same buzzing sound. It's intermittent, but when it occurs, its over rough or coarse roads, and sounds like its coming from around the steering column area. Do you still have it? if not, how was it resolved?

YoungTurk

Patriot

Well I found the problem! If I squeezed upward from the bottom of the leatherette dash trim just to the left of the odometer reset ****, I could stop the buzz. So, until I can make it to my closest dealer (200 miles away) to install some felt tape, I soaked a Q-tip with some W-D40 and brushed the crevice between the small arrowhead-shaped metal-look trim just to the right of the driver air vent and the softer leatherette with the Q-tip. Drove over a coarse road that had never failed to produce the buzzing noise and I'm happy to say the noise is gone!

YoungTurk