malahhaor

Dont know if its just a rant or a plea to help me stay with a Porsche.

Had my carrera for a year. its an 06 C4. got it with 43K on the clock.
Like the car allot, fun to drive, looks fantastic. did some upgrades to make it a tad nicer in power. But the car has been at the dealer more times in one year than my last 3 mercedes combined.

The following is all different trips to dealer:
- Coils, understandably its a maintenance item but at 46K? And according to dealer 5 needed to be changed.
- Steering wheel computer module
- Steering rack
- Shift cables
- IMS and Main rear seals
- Door leaking water in to interior (dried seals)
- And now after having the battery disconnected for doing some sound deattening in the doors, the entire car has been locked down. Both keys don't work, alarm wont turn off, car doesn't start. Spoke to dealer and car needs to be towed so they can turn off the immobilizer and reinitialize the keys. I don't even know how to get the car out of my garage since the steering is locked as well. Had batteries disconnected on Mercedes several times and never an issue like this.

I understand things happen, its a car, but this is all in one year, 7K miles. And every time its time off work or screwed up weekend and headache all around to get the car towed or limp it to dealer

Just WTF?!!!!!

Although i love the drive of the car. nothing else i've owned or can afford that looks, handles or accelerates like this car does. love the 6spd as well. But i dont know if i can continue with all of the headaches. I still have a year left on the warranty but i dont know if i want to even wait that long to see if things stabilize.
I know everyone says its a reliable car, but i dont know if i can say that.
The car was one owner with maintenance records at the dealer it was purchased from. So it has been maintained. I've made sure to do it as well.

Any thoughts?

motopix

It's just a car. Move on if you're unhappy.

j beede

That's a lot of annoyance in 7,000 miles. Cars of this sort are expected to have issues at times, but the overall balance has got to be a very positive one--else what's the point?

OKB

Ive had more trouble with the SL than I have with 2 911s combined, all under warrantee, but still a fault of the car. The porsche is more trouble free by comparison. The MB is more user friendly.

Lvt19672

Go back to Benzos.

speedracerf4i

If I were you， I would dump the clunker。

Hella-Buggin'

yikes, mine has been pretty worry free other than maintenance and wear items. The only unexpected failures were a radiator fan and a front strut both covered by cpo. I say move on and try again. I wouldn't be happy without a 911 in the stable though. a MB is nice but just not the same.

malahhaor

Perhaps that's what i should do. Was looking online for possible replacements and just cant let go how much the car makes my ticker going. I know i'd enjoy a CL63 or something of that sort, but its not going to be as much fun.
Should I look in to 997.2?

Hella-Buggin'

It sounds like the car sat outside for extended periods of time. Dried out seals come from not getting driven. The battery thing is inconvenient but not really a deal breaker. It must have drained all the way down and then did a reset. My battery died a few months ago and the heated seats stopped working. Had to go to the dealer for a $200 handover reboot.

Your problems seem mainly to do with a 10 year old car.

I'd understand moving on but if you really enjoy it then give it another six months and see if you've gotten through a rough patch.

Scott997

Go back to a Benz then. See ya.

DC911S

bought my 07 C4S last October at 45K miles and now have 59K miles on it. no problems except the starter cable. I drive it only on weekends for the most part, but I make sure to get it out every weekend for at least an hour drive. At times I get it out for a three or four hour drive, and make sure to run it pretty hard. No leaks or problems. Sorry to see you have problems, but drive it more or het s battery tender if possible.

Dstutler

The Porsche experience can be a good one or frustrating. I had a 2002 996 C4 that ran great but only because I continued to fix issues before they became problems. About a year ago I upgraded to a 2012 997.2 turbo and all I've done to it is tires and tuneup. If you really are an enthusiast for Porsche I'd recommend you try again on a newer model.

squid42

It sounds like you deliberately disconnected the battery to do some work. That's not generally a supported procedure. There are numerous thread on rennlist and renntech about how to do another reset that hopefully comes out proper.

I agree that this sounds like the car was stored outside through seasons.

OKB

A CL is a giant car, triple the interior room of a 911, a great cruiser but not a sports car. A SL is near a 911 but alot more luxury and room. Any 997.2 with PDK from 09 up is a great new generation 911, maybe you should go drive all of them again and compare

NAM VET

I understand the coils needing to be replaced, but a steering rack? And the seals too? It sounds like your car has been pretty expensive to keep on the road. Not long ago, I had a $7000 repair bill because an independent shop made a mistake on my car. I ended up just going back to work for awhile to pay for it. But all is well now with our car, and when I am out and about , I just love the driving experience.

But if you are always waiting for the next unpredictable expense to come along, then the worry is likely taking all the enjoyment out of owning and driving your Porsche. There are other great high performance cars out there to enjoy. If you buy a used one, perhaps it would be best to get some sort of aftermarket or CPO warranty on your choice.

Life is too short to worry about unreliable cars.

All the best....