I would agree with this up to a point. However, if you were driving a 2000 Carrera and it was paid for and the IMS bearing failed and you were faced with a 15k bill - you'd have to think long and hard about investing that much in a car that was worth not much more than that. Let's face it guys, Porsches are a hell of a lot more expensive to maintain and fix than a Toyota or a Ford - that's just the facts. If Porsches worked as well as Toyotas we'd all be dancing in the streets and buying old Porsches with hapless abandon but that's not the case and it has never been the case.

Sure Porsches are well made and they use good parts and their designed well but they are not so bullet proof. They are more bullet proof today than they were just a few years ago before the new DFI engine. I think that the class action suite speaks volumes about the IMS issue for the 996! Toyotas just don't have issues like that. They didn't make cases with porosity issues in 1999 and 2000. The didn't make cars that had issues with their RMS - no engines replaced under warranty. Ford didn't either - well not lately that is. They had trouble with fuel tanks going boom when hit from behind but that's different. Not good but they weren't blowing up from bad bearings.

Porsches do very well - the predominance of 911s didn't have those issues. So should we worry? Who here wouldn't find a CPO vehicle offering a bit of peace of mind and when a tranny costs 12K to replace and they don't fix em - well I'd surely stand up and salute the extended warranty! For my money it seems like a good bet for peace of mind. However things like this, stories that come one at a time when there are thousands out there suffering no such maladies makes for interesting reading and some cause for worry. How much - up to each one of us.

My 2 cents worth....

 

There are always exceptions as you have unfortunately experienced, but, an IMS failure costing 50% of the total car value would include a new engine? If I had a 997.1 in your example (known issue), I would have had it checked at the dealer before the warranty period expired, whether or not if I had to pay for the service.

 

If you were driving a 2000 Carrera and loved the car, $15,000 would be a huge PITA to pay, but what are you going to replace the car with for $15,000?

 

1. Yes...an IMS failure typically results in replacing the engine.

2. Not all IMS failures are detectable in advance no matter how much you spend on preventive checkups and maintenance.

To each their own. As I've said before, a $3,000 warranty policy that covers 4 years and 50,000 miles seems like a no-brainer bargain for a car with a $20,000 engine, a $12,000 transmission, a $2,000 water pump and garden variety repairs that rarely go for less than $500. I had almost recouped my $3K on the garden variety items before the PDK implosion.

 

I have an extended warranty that I got through the dealer when I bought the car new. I got it because this is my first Porsche and I figured better safe than sorry. But, if I feel as good about my car after the warranty period ends, I'm not going to sell it at that point just because I don't have any remaining warranty.

 

for the vast majority of 997.1's it is absolutely impossible to access and check on the ims bearing without splitting the engine case apart.

 

sandwedge, did you install the third radiator on your car? If no, wonder if the lack of it's cooling effects could have played in here? As I understand it, the engine and PDK share common cooling components. And in 2011 the third radiator became standard on all PDK equipped 997s. Has to make you wonder if the lack of third radiator on 2009 and 2010 PDK 997s is affecting their durability if driven spiritedly with regularity?

Just a thought to ponder...

 

I think the problem is more electronic than mechanical.

 

Gut check time is just before the warranty expires. Not after. Once you're out of warranty it's tough to get new coverage.

 

I don't have the third radiator but I doubt that played a role. The readings they pulled off of it suggested some kind of electronic issue. Which makes sense given how it failed. Worked perfectly when I parked it the night before. Backed out of the garage the next day which also went without incident. Then tried to move forward and that was the end of it. It crept maybe a foot or two as if saying...."hey...not sure what to do here. Directives please or we're not moving."

Yep.

 

Thanks sandwedge. Do you know where the electronic brains of the PDK are located? I'd think this would be avoided, but if they are near the PDK and it gets hot there absolutely would be cumulative affects which could cause the electronics to lose their minds, so to speak, early.

 

Heat and electronics don't do well together. Stereos have fans, right. They are nothing but electronics. The fact that there is an additional cooler doesn't make me wonder it makes me want to install one on a 2009 or 2010 for sure. Anything you can do to improve the cooling capacity is a good thing ESPECIALLY if Porsches design team came up with it - I mean this is a no brainer.

This just makes my point even more about Porsche - why in the world having designed a 3rd radiator for PDK, when something goes out and your tranny stops working for no apparent reason and it's electronic - not mechanical will they not participate in the fix/replacement for the transmission especially since they get the transmission back to Germany - it is just awful. This is about as poor a customer relations/bad faith as it gets and makes one wonder and really makes me a little upset at Porsche. Same thing with the IMS issue in the 996. How many failures did they have to have before they came out with another bearing. Rabby and group beat em to it - that sucks. So here we go - now at least they make a 3rd radiator but do not dare come out and advise anyone to put the damn thing in their 09 or 10 model - unreal. Better get that extended warranty and put that radiator in ASAP in all 09 and 10 models I say! Talk about better safe than sorry - 12k will make one damn sorry!

 

If a third radiator is a fix and Porsche skipped this for 09 10 models, then they should issue a TSB and install these as a recall ?

 

I questioned this "discrepancy" w my dealer before I bought my '10 C2s. I had noticed all the 997.1 tiptronic cars had a 3rd radiator that was actually a trans cooler. Why did the early PDK cars not have this? And why does the 991 PDK cars not have one? Sandwedge did not track his car and had a failure so "heat" was probably not the culprit but it does beg the question? Very frustrating!

 

Bijan, my speculation would be because the lack of a third radiator did not represent a safety issue Porsche wasn't inclined (or compelled by the Feds) to do a recall. Stinks for owners of 2009-10 models, but if Porsche wasn't compelled I can see a business decision made that nothing needed to be done because all the the 2009-10 were covered by their factory warranty. Have to agree, though, if the radiator count design change was made because of durability impacts Porsche was seeing overall with the 2009-10s then they should have done right by those owners and offered to add the third radiator gratis. I suspect Porsche could afford the hit. But with sales rising as they have been I would bet there's plenty of folks in Stuttgart who feel empowered to not do right by their customers if they keep buying regardless. IMHO.