please help! 996 worries

ive just bought a 2003 996 4s, i love the car and realy jumped in with both feet and eyes closed, the car luckly is good one with 53000 on the clock and a main dealer full history and does not seem to have wanted for anything. my main worry is just what ive read on the 996 engines after googling the subject, is the engine failure rate as bad as ive read?? i just feel like selling it now and avoid a possible big bill!! im gutted and need some assurance if at all possible, sorry for the question as a first post guys, just got the car a week ago.

I think it covered 2% of 996's and was mainly on the 3.4 (pre 1999).. Welcome on 911uk.. Wattie will be along soon to give you the full SP on 996 engines.. :bye:

My advice would be enjoy the car they are bullit proof not sure why people think otherwise, I guess some get ragged so much they just give up, like you I worried about this but now I dont give it another thought. I reckon you would be unlucky to suffer serious failure!!! You can get all technical but this just scares you more. For us mortals keep an eye on water and oil and get it serviced at the right time and that's about it.

thanks for the welcome and advice, im not exactly loaded and just bought my dream car, last thing i want to do is sell it, its mint, alu dials, switchable exhaust etc, i really love it but the stories ive read really upped my heart rate and im only off the toilet! lol

hi I have a c4s 2004 model 23k on the clock 4 owners and full history, I worried to for a while, but apart from odd bits and bobs they are pretty good. You would be very unlucky to have a major failure. Just make sure that you use mobil 1 oil and keep an eye on your levels, and take care with it when cold and it will be fine good luck and enjoy, regards Mike

Relax & enjoy - I'm on my second 996 and have enjoyed every minute. Do failures happen? Yes, but extremely rarely. Just follow the sound advice to check fluid levels and watch the revs until the engine's up to temperature.

People only tell you bad news you dont get all of the satisfied customers 8) wrting in to say they have had no problems. So stay with the programme and enjoy the car but keep it serviced, and treat it with the respect that all mechanical devices require. Regards Big Bon :bye:

Mine has done 98,000 miles.Still on original clutch,just had a sports exhaust fitted but would have lasted another year.Full OPC service history with only normal normal wear and tear items replaced,tyres,one battery,brakes and pads etc. Dont worry just enjoy.

:superstition: hope I'm not tempting fate but have owned 6 porsches (3 x 993's and 3 x 996's) and have covered approx 70,000 miles in total and not experienced any major problems - and only one was was covered by a warranty. Granted some of the bills were big but nothing I didn't anticipate when buying a car that was +/- £100,000 when new

Don't worry mate... I bought an early 3.4 996 (supposed to be the worst for reliability) and did 66,000 miles without warranty and it wasn't using a drop of oil when I sold it a couple of weeks ago at 108,000 miles. Total maintenance & repair costs outside of tyres, servicing, brakes, etc were less than £3000 total in 4 years - and that included a clutch (in fact I spent more on my previous 993 in less time and less mileage). Warm it up properly before using full throttle or more than 3,500 revs, stick to the servicing schedules, and if you are a bit of a worrier why not get it on either the RSJ or Hartech maintenance plans? The catastrophic engine failures reported on this and other forums are a very low percentage of all those made, and tbh you could experience this with any car (it just costs a bit more to put right with a supercar!) Look after it, drive it and enjoy it :thumbs: If it helps, I slept at night by working out that if it all went t*ts up, I could always buy a perfectly useable £500 used car to run around in while I saved up for a new engine! I'd still own a Porsche (albeit on a SORN) and eventually would have a supercar to use again - with a brand new motor!

That is the greatest advice on Porsche ownership I have read. OK, so I would have to push it out of the garage to wash and polish it and would probably do extra shifts until it was reunited with a working engine, but you're right I would still own it!

Er, sorry guys - it's not that great a piece of advice if, like most mere mortals, you've finance on the car...

thanks for all the replies and the warm welcome, the car is going nowhere! all i have to do is lift the garage door, look at it and think 'now thats what you call a motor!' ive just bought my dream car and was considering selling it!! am i nuts :? thanks for saving me from doing something i would have prob regreted. ps sorry for any spelling mishaps, i cant spell for toffee, im that bad i cant even confirm the right spelling when using spell check! :floor:

youve prob seen hundreds like it but this one is mine

Well I had finance on mine - with a mahoosive balloon and was £6,000 inside-out when I sold it! What's the difference anyway? As long as you still make the payments... :?: