How many 997 owners have had their motor or transmission replaced under warranty?

As I get close to the 50k mile point on my 997 and thinking about whether to get the extended warranty / service contract, I'm wondering what the odds of blown motor or tranny are. After all, I view the extended warranty as a safegaurd against high-dollar catastrophic failures (engine, tranny), as the service contracts cost $3500 (more if you purchase one after the car is ex-warranty).

 

The previous owner replaced the tip tranny under warranty in July of this year (2 months before I bought the car).

Actually, the guy replaced a few things... I kinda' feel like I bought a factory reconditioned car.

Prior to purchase I got the warranty replacement record.

 

The only 997 engine replacements I am aware of were done fairly early in the life of a few cars showing excessive oil burning or scored cylinders. A blown engine due to mechanical overrev(ie on a downshift) will not be covered. Manual transmissions seem to be strong. I am more concerned about electrical issues and the cost of repair of such items as PASM and the like. Tough call to make at $3500. Did you do a search to see what others have done here and what other policies are available?

 

I love my 997. I really love the car. That said, with the use I give it, 47k miles in 22 months, and the problems I've had, I would not own one of these cars out of warranty.

Mine is a November '04 build and it's been to the dealer 19 times in the last 22 nmonths. Never a "ride" problem so I still enjoy it, but I can't begin to imagine laying out $140/hr in Connecticut or $175 in NY for service.

I'll get another one (when my lease is up in Feb '08) as I know that mine was an exception, but if you want my humble opinion, get a great warranty.

 

Quite a few problems reported on UK forums,and only a 2 year warranty here too.The extended warranty costs around £850($1700)per year here and if I still own the car when the warranty expires I will buy an extended one and consider it money well spent.

 

I had the Tiptronic transmission replaced at ~6k miles. There was a subsequent recall; apparently there was a bad batch during the early builds (mine was 8/2004).

 

Alan, I just bought an early-build 997S with a tiptronic. What symptoms did your tranny show? Any warning signs before failure?

 

After a spirited drive, the next morning there was a high-pitched whistle-like sound that rose with revs. I scheduled an appointment for the following day, but that afternoon the transmission started to slip (engine would rev, car wouldn't move, then *thunk* it would engage). I tried to nurse it to the dealer, but it completely died on the way...a hand full of neutrals, as they say.

 

My 05 C2S had it's engine replaced last week with 12,064 miles on the clock. Bought brand new, never tracked or excessively abused. My first engined had heavily scored cylinder bores resulting in very high engine oil consumption and very sooty tail pipes.

Picked up my car on Friday from my dealership after leaving it with them for 3 weeks to fix a number of problems.

Today, Monday, car is back with the dealership again for more problems. I recommend anyone with a 997 coming up to warranty renewal age, extends the warranty and factors it in as an ongoing running cost.

 

I had my engine replaced under warranty at about 9000 miles. Long story short... I took it in due to air bag light, they called me and said the engine seized at idle and needed to be replaced. I'll never know the real story, but I highly doubt their version. How many engines seize up at idle? Well, there is only 1 Porsche dealer in Phoenix, so not much I can do but cross my fingers everytime I take it in.

 

And I thought $110/hr for both the local "Stealership" or privately owned shops here in Santa Barbara were expensive!

A friend's 997 had a new tranny put in with under 3,000 on the odometer. Fully covered by the warranty.

 

Just curious, if 997s didn't have these problems, would you guys be more likely to purchase the car instead of lease it? Or, would you lease anyway because you just prefer getting a new car every couple years?

 

Even though I had a transmission replaced, the relatively few instances of major failures in this thread shows that they are the exception and not the rule with these cars.

They aren't perfect, and mine has had other less serious issues as well, but I'd hardly call the vast majority unreliable. Mine's leased for business purposes, but I wouldn't hesitate to purchase it at the end of the lease or lease/buy another (in fact, I plan to).

 

I had a new engine at 7500 miles due to scored 6th bore. Symptoms were smoke on start up and heavy oild consumption (1 - 1.5 litres per 1000 miles). Porsche played very difficult and insisted on a repair (new block rather than new engine). Fortunately after a major stand off my dealer waived labour costs of an engine install to close the deal. This is my 10th Porsche and the whole experience left a very bitter taste in my mouth, and although I love this car and intend to keep it for a long time, I shan't be buying another.

 

Sorry to hear that. By the way, I didn't think Porsche even bothers repairing these engines, I've never heard of them replacing just the block. Maybe they do things differently over there?