TMPendergrass

Hello everyone, long time lurker here
I have been looking to purchase a 997.1 carrera S for quite some time. I plan on using the car as my daily driver as well as 4-8 track events per year. I have my eye on a 2005 since the IMS is easily replaced unlike the 06-08 cars. However, judging from the forums, there is a lot of other things that seem to be causing catastrophic failure than just the IMS. Since I plan to keep the car for a while, it leads me to think I should have the engine rebuilt for piece and mind and years of reliable use. There seems to be a lot of stores on these forums of engine rebuilds after the engines blow. Does anyone have an idea of what a Raby “pre emtive” rebuild would cost? Are there shops on the west coast that do “Raby Engines”? If I decide to go the Raby route, I’d be interested in having him convert it to a 4.0 (can anyone give me price figures on this)?

I am considering the following options, I would appreciate any feedback.

1.
Purchase an 05 carrera s. Get an aftermarket warranty, in 50,000miles, re-evaluate and decide if I want to sell the car or get it re built. (this seems like a good option in the short term, but I’d rather put the warranty money into the rebuild.

2.
Purchase an 05 carrera s. Send it to Raby (or similar) to get it rebuilt to either a 3.8 or a 4.0 depending on price. (If I decide to spend this much upfront, should I just be looking for a 997.2 C2S?)

3.
Purchase a highmileage carrera (i know, base model) and have Raby build it to 3.8. (05 Carreras are dirt cheap these days but I really want a C2S.)

4.
Buy an M3 where replacement S65s are all over eBay for $7500.

RollingArt

If you are that uncomfortable owning a .1 model that you're willing to drop over $20k on it to help you sleep at night, then just start shopping for a 997.2. The .2 will hold more of it's value even over a Raby rebuilt motor. You will not see a good return on your dollar for the rebuild at sale time.

You should call JR to get better info on the cost of his services, but I think you'd be looking at 20 large plus. Plus the cost of shipping your car each way. It gets expensive. I do know Jake has stated on these pages that he loves doing preemptive builds. Says he has big incentives to do a build preemptively. Give Jake a call and chat him up a bit.

BTW, I drive an '06 C2S and I sleep well at night !

myw

^^ i would go 997.2 as well.

997at

I have an 06, and I sleep well at night too. Personally, I think the engine failure thing is overblown in terms of the probability that it would happen………..then again my thinking is that if it blows, I dump the car , eat the 25K, and pick up the next one (964, 993, .2, or 991). I agree with the post above, if you're really concerned about it………get a .2. Everyone has a different tolerance for risk and you need to do what makes sense for you and gives you peace of mind.

TMPendergrass

Thanks for the responses guys.

The main reason I don't want to go with a 997.2 is cost delta is around $20k (in the same ballpark as a rebuild). Once the IMS is upgraded, it seems there is still a fair probability of other parts failing. I got quoted $3750 for a 4yr/50k drive train warranty. Does this sound fair? I'm thinking this may be my best option and then re-evaluate in a couple years time.

Slamuth

Get the .1 and add an aftermarket warranty, that's the financial sweetspot for you. Btw. I have a .1 with an IMS upgrade, and I sleep fine at night.

tomc_mets

Roughly speaking, how much are you looking to spend?....T

TMPendergrass

I'd like to keep it under 40k. Could spend more but I don't see a reason to since the IMS seems easier to sort on the 05 than the 06-08s.

SJP3003

I bought a low mileage 06S 997.1 a few months ago. After considering trading for a 991 or 997.2 I've decided to double down on the 997.1 and push my luck by installing an X51 powerkit. Sleeping well so far as well!

tomc_mets

Thank you. From what I see on Cars.com, 2005 S < 40K means more than 50K miles.

Saw a sweet '05 British Racing Green in Raleigh. It's 46K, so above your ideal, but man is that color nice! Good luck with the hunt...T

vector99

That's what I did 05 S from carmax with 5 year warranty

7391420

The fact that it's an 05 doesn't guarantee that you can replace the IMS. Only some early 05's had the smaller bearing . The only way to know is to look. You'd Need to have a mechanic inspect the bearing housing.

From way I've read it's not clear by vin if a car has the early or late bearing.

BetaSteve

JR quoted me 24.5, including shipping both ways, for a 4 litre engine. Certianly does not make sense on resale, as I recently saw a standard Carrera with the 3.6 converted to 3.8, and while I don't recall the exact asking, it did not convey the value of the motor, at all. For longevity though, if you want to keep it for ten or more trouble free years, it's certianly worth considering...
I've seen somewhere the engine serial number will tell if it's a large or small bearing 3.8 in an early '05 S, and a quick call to the local indie or dealer should confirm...
While I own a very early '05 S, I wouldn't consider an extended warranty, from anyone. Thinking out loud here... actuarial tables will tell the likelyhood of a payout on any given car, do the math, add for marketing, overhead, and profit, then write the contract to protect yourself, and you too can sell a warranty. In my eyes, much better to pay for IMS replacement than fund someone else's account, or just get a .2 car. Which of course, is purely personal opinion as to whether it's worth it or not...

Wayne Smith

If you are looking at 40K for a car and 20K plus for mods, simply start with the .2 instead. The standard .2 has .1S power, no IMS, better oiling, better torque, stiffer chassis, better brakes, and more (Google the gen 2 Porsche press release). And if you go .1 then the 20K in mods kind of gets thrown out on resale. Go .1 if tight budget and few mods. Otherwise save up for the .2. Just my .02 on the matter.

StormRune

Agree with Wayne... as soon as you say you are willing to spend $20k+ on a rebuild on top of $40k then all of the things Wayne mentions come into play as well as all of the improved creature comforts such as improved PCM, bluetooth and iPhone inputs on most cars, ventilated seats option(can't tell where you are but in Texas this is a big plus), more modern LED lighting front and rear, better resale, and PDK if you want it.

The press release info is here: http://press.porsche.com/vehicles/09..._carrera_s.php The PDFs at the bottom are the meat of it.