Schpee007

When I was shopping for my first 997 last fall I often heard the expression "bullet-proof" to describe the build quality of the engine and powertrain (and then of course came the caveat about early 997.1s and the IMS). I took this to mean if you take regular care of your 997, don't make shifts above 5000 rpm, say, your daily driving technique, then your 997 will reward you with many years of trouble free, joy inducing, performance with the added ability to put it through its paces on a track from time to time. With this "bullet-proof" definition in mind I bought my 2009 C2S with confident a positive, and long lasting ownership experience would be had. I'm now three months into my 997 ownership experience and have embraced the wonderful sharing of information within the rennlist community. It's truly a great community and resource for learning about Porsches. However, I've read a good number of threads that are making me start to think that while gorgeous cars, 997s are subject to big repairs even with dutiful care and my "bullet-proof" definition was me drinking the Porsche mystique Kool-Aid to motivate a purchase. After dreaming for 30 years to own a 911 I'm not planning on doing anything but stay the course with my 997, but would love to hear your definitions and thoughts on 997s being "bullet-proof". Thanks!

neanicu

991GT3 engine!

user 72902

I thought the 993's were solid and the OEM components in the engine were difficult to improve upon. Seemed like you could take them directly to the track without much fuss. The 997 motor (M96/M97) appear to have some room for improvement.

utkinpol

5 ton brabus?

yashagrawal

The P-car "bullet proof", standard is a very low bar in my opinion. If the car reaches 100K miles, that's thought to be an achievement even for non tracked cars. We should be talking bullet proof, when 200K miles is routine in P-cars (non-tracked). Until then, IMHO they cannot be called bullet proof.

myw

this is the most grounded and realistic assessment i have heard from a p-car owner in a long time. thank you.

for a while i was scratching my head wondering if something was wrong with me re my definition of bullet proof.

pete, you had to do i didnt you

myw

LMFAO!!!

wc11

It's a high performance car.
Bullet proof & high performance sports cars are usually oxy morons.
There is however, the 1,000,000 mile 356 in California.

Sorry guys.
Bullet proof = Toyota 4Runner.

wheeler

No shifts above 5000 RPM? I'm f#cked!

Robocop305

Why buy a Porsche?

wheeler

... I was kidding.

I bought it to look to cool and irritate my neighbors. ;-)

myw

i believe the concensus is to shift at 4000+ (at least for my car) and don't cruise around under 2500 rpm to keep the engine 'healthy' + 'utilized'.

ps. wheeler your car looks HAWT

alexb76

997 is one of the most reliable sports cars you can buy, period! Even 997.1 (post 2005) is extremely reliable, as .2 cars may have the carbon deposit issues.

I wouldn't call it bullet-proof, it's a sports German car, and ANY major repair is very costly... so even if the chances of a big repair is low, when you multiply the cost time the probability it's still more costly than any Toyota, Honda on the road...

PhilD

Me too! I routinely shift between 6-7k in the lower gears. If I wanted to drive like Miss Daisy I'd buy a minivan

Luckymba

[QUOTE=alexb76;11201937]997 is one of the most reliable sports cars you can buy, period! Even 997.1 (post 2005) is extremely reliable,

Other than the overblown IMS issue I have heard/read/seen nothing to suggest 2005s are less reliable than other 997.1. I'm at 75K miles with nothing other than routine maintenance for the almost 2 years I've owned her.