New 996 Owner Could REALLY use some advice/help

Hey everyone, Really glad to be at this board! Anyway I just put a deposit on my dreamcar, it is a 99' 996. I specifically wanted this car for a bunch of reasons but mainly 2 important ones. I was looking at many with 60K miles, give or take and decided I would not buy something with 100k> on them. Well I came across one that did have 120K on the chassis but had a Factory reman. engine put in it in 2005 when the odometer had 96K on the clock, so the new motor has 24K miles on it. The reason this was so important to me was b/c of the IMS issue and the catostrophic failures of these motors. Anyway I also chose it b/c it had an upgraded all new M30 suspension put on it just a few thousand miles ago as well. So now to the part i'm struggling with. I am worried about this car b/c of all the damn negative stuff I find on the internet. I know it is like looking at web md when you are sick, you will think you are going to die, but I still have a nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was hoping you all could help me with. I know there are no garauntees in life but spending 20K on a car that could with one problem cost you 3/4's of that to fix and put back on the road is FU$^!^#$@'n ridiculous and something I would NEVER want to do. This is precisley why I went for one that already had it done. I have seen the paperwork and all the service records since new and have talked to the shop that has done all the work and they verified that it was meticulously maintained to a "freakish" level which I am exstatic about. I actually woke up last night thinking about the dreaded engine failure and that is why I wanted to register and post about this. Am I being too paranoid here? I called the local Porsche "Indie" shop that I will have do all the work, and he is a really nice guy. He steerd me away from one b/c he already knew the history and didn't charge me anything and he could of b/c I came to him about a PPI. He told me to "always" go for a car that has a documented engine reman in it and that I need to just relax and enjoy this car b/c he has not seen problems out of remans. Being that the reman was done in spring of 2005 (it was shipped from Germany in December 2004) I am hoping the IMS issues are a thing of the past like he says but don't know for sure does anyone here know if that problems would have been corrected/updated? Any guidance you can offer me on this would be really appreciated, I have dreamed of owning one of these since I was a kid, and I'm in love with the one I am buying, but I don't want to be stupid. I have owned cars that people on the internet said were "nightmares" and always found the opposite to be true, but they were never this expensive which is what scares me the most. I don't want a 20K car to turn into a 35K car b/c of shotty motors etc. Thanks for any help.

You're getting the car for about ~$20k? Well, trust us when we tell you you're getting a lot of German sports car for that money. I drove mine out to Palm Springs over the weekend, high temps about 115*, a/c on, pedal down, the car never waivered at speed, and it looked like a million bucks the whole time. Sounds like you found a nice one, get it and enjoy the heck out of it!

First off, glad you are here and OH BOY what a first post. Have to say that this is not the first of the first post's on this. That make sense? There does seem to be an issue but the general consensus says that it is a very rare thing given the amount of these car on the road. Personally I drive a '99 and I am not worried about the IMS. I have stopped chiming in on the IMS threads because I'm really tired of reading about gloom and doom and death and nooses and crap like that! I would not worry, I would pay attention to your future car though. Change the oil often and generally love the $hit out of it with maintenance. If its making noises don't wait to look at it until its too late. This should be the same for any car. Unlike some guys that beat the **** out of there cars but don't put any groceries back into it. Good Luck with your new car cuz you are going to love it! Until than I'm gonna sit here and eat

Advice without Pics, you guys are slipping.

He doesn't own it yet, so I'll give a break on the pics. Buy it. You've wanted one your whole life, and will probably take good care of it. Drive it hard, and the odds are small you will have a major failure.

Macster's Boxster ahs nearly 200k on it... big deal it has a lot of miles... the sleepless nights are a personality thing, not a car thing....(ask me how I know) Enjoy the car, relax....remember people dont post when things are "going well" but there is a thread something like Porsche Stories - good bad ugly that I made a long time ago that is worth reading just for the warm fuzzy stories and not the scary boogie man stuff.... BTW I dreamed my car got hit (last night) by a BUS... but my car was white... not red..... I wont be buying a white car!!!! Welcome to the sleepless nights at the Phunny Pharm

don't baby it. drive it like it was meant to be driven. life is short, you only get one trip.

I've got a 99 with the original engine and 50k. I'm not losing sleep over the ims. I plan on addressing it this winter along with the clutch, but in the meantime I am loving this car. Don't sweat it too much. Enjoy the car!

Wow, thanks guys I can't believe I got so many posts in such a short time! I want to go through with this purchase but it would be an understatement to say that as of right now I am "waffling" badly. I've always owned American muscle cars, vettes, cobras, grand nationals, chevelles, etc. But always lusted in secret after the 911's. I have owned 2 of them in the past when I was a kid, I had a 68 912 and a 79 sc and loved both of them, but the day (about a year ago) a dealer put me in a 99' I was flat floored. I had a smile that I had never had before. Cars had become Ho-hum for me and then this refined yet savage beast, I was genuinly aroused, I am in that much "love" with the 996. Here is the other part of this story. I have always done my own work to my cars, clutches, tune-ups, whatever and always enjoyed it. I'm scared I will not be able to do work on these, maybe b/c some of the owners I've talked to don't know a socket wrench from there butthole I don't know. Anyway I am not rich, God has blessed me though and I want to continue to grow finiancially. I got where I am today b/c I don't buy stupid things that go down in value. I feel like I am getting these cars at the bottom, someone asked if I was getting it for 20, but I am actually getting it for 18.5 but with taxes, pickup fees etc. it will be that so that is why I used that number. The big "if" here though is if I had a failure like that then it would be like paying over 30 for a car that was worth about half that, and honestly I can not stomach that. So knowing I can not stomach that should I be buying one of these? Yes I have dreamed of one as long as they have been out, my heart races when someone passes me in one, and honestly I don't want anything else (I thought about getting a terminator cobra too) so the money I'll just keep in the bank. My stomach is chruning trying to figure out the right thing to do. I have never bought a muscle car and worried about something that can go "boom" and cost damn near as much as the car, that just seems INSANE to me. Guess I thought these were different but these damn forums (other forums, pelican parts especially) it just seems as though people think these are big POS which really pisses me off b/c I love them so much, but hell who am I to say they are wrong? I just keep getting a lot of conflicting opinions and am not sure what to believe, ultimately the decision lays with me and maybe that is what is hard, I don't want to make the wrong move. I feel like I am going to lose either way, if I don't get it I am going to regret it, if I do get it and it has some massive failure I am going to regret it with 0's on the end. The only way it will work is of couse if I have a happy few years like some of you. I hate that I let all the negativity I have read affect me, guess I'm just that way (really sucks sometimes). And for every article that says they are not as bad as the internet makes them out to be, there are 20x that amount saying they are time bombs AAAAAAAHHHHHHGGGGGGGG! I'm really stuck guys.

Your problem can be expected since you haven't even really driven it yet. Take this advice. Don't take any turns at less than 25 in town and if you catch a red light waiting in the turn lane, when it turns green be up to 35 before exiting the intersection completing your turn. That ought to get you to worry about not being able to really enjoy your car instead of day dreaming while waiting. A track day ought to have you falling asleep whimpering that you can't still be on the track. Check the year of tires on the car. Some guys find some pretty old tires on their cars. 6 years old is the max then trash them.

Scott, my 99' had almost 120k miles on the original everything!! have not heard the status of it lately, had a cam actuator error a little while back

I went through this when I bought my car... Did exactly the same thing as you are about to do... sought one with a remanufactured engine. I admit I was concerned about the "reliability" issues of the IMS and RMS and lost some sleep over it (or was that explaining to the wife why I had yet another Pcar before I had sold the previous one). The reality is that the issues often get blown out of proportion on the Internet - yes there are issues and engines have been replaced, but that's what gets emphasized. But the probabilities are in your favour. Even if an astronomical 10% of the IMS' have failed, that means 90% have not. At the end of the day, this is a risk that you cannot stomach or if a engine failure breaks the bank for you, then walk away. Sometimes these are decisions of the heart and not the brain... I do not regret buying mine for one minute....and it was a decision of the heart.

You need to let this go.... someone here not to long ago sold his car because he couldnt live with the fact that one day his 996 is gonna someday die. It was a perfectly good car but, it drove him nuts. please dont end up like this guys.... enjoy your purchase and drive it like you stole it.... it is good for the car and good for your experience of ownership.... if you truely love this car, do yourself a favor and take it to the track to shake out the cobwebs.... that is the only way to understand what these cars are all about. As for pelican.... the majority of the members there are aircooled guys, the 996 is the first watercooled 911... that war has been going on for sometime now.

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I'm in your camp as well with just under 52k miles and no immediate plans to do anything other than drive and maintain my 99 996 with its original motor.

These are great cars, don't worry, just drive the car and relish the great value you got purchasing a $80K plus car with a 24K mile motor for less than 20 grand! You can't get a used Toyota for that!

The doom and gloom of what ifs really chaps my a$$. This is not to you but to the naysayers who say the car will blow up. The marbles these guys wait hear in their engine are just in their heads. When I drove my car for the first time I was sportin' wood! The main thing is like others have said is to drive the car the way it was designed....ballz out! Please make the purchase because you will NOT regret it for a second.

Plus these cars are not that bad to work on. I just changed my rotors from info on here. Once I got past the P-car jitters its home sweet home.......but you won't find me digging into the motor, That's what the professionals are for.

I went through the same dilema when I contemplated buying mine. I did a LOT of reading and some of it made me sick to my stomach too plus, my co-worked had bought a 2000 and suffered a catastrophic engine malfunction about a year ago and that experience scared me ****less. So, I took a few months looked and more than a few cars and made more than a few inquiries. Then I resigned myself that when I found one that looked good and well taken care of with reasonable service record and was priced "fair" (fair is NOT the cheapest) i would do IMS upgrade and I factored that into cost (so I could sleep at night. Well, the one I found met all the criteria but when I did a PPI had a slight RMS leak which actually helped as I negotiated the seller cover the RMS and I took advantage to have the IMS done at same time and saved on the labor. If your getting car for $20k then if you factor PPI, RMS and IMS and maybe a clutch at same time then you would be out maybe another $3k which means you would have a car for $23k - $24k which is still a deal and most importnantle you can sleep at night which is priceless

Dear CFI, You are in good company. I myslef had this EXACT same struggle in Jan, 2010. My main worry was IMSBF. I made the choice I was not going to pay over 20K for the car PERIOD. How could I pay anymore than that for a car that has this meltdown issue.. But even so, I was still worried about it. Terrified actually. I found a very very nice 103K mile 1999 Aero in SLC UT for 17K. I had to make a choice on what to do. I wanted the car. So I came to the realizations that I needed to install the LNE retrofit bearing to give me peice of mind. I did this and knock on wood, I couldnt be happier with the car. The 120K on the car isnt anything to really worry about if the car was taken care of. My car has all service records since brand new. My car was maitained well above and beyond any car I have ever owned. The car runs and drives like a 40K mile car. I say go for it.. Just do the bearing upgrade.

If you don't post pics of your car within two days of receiving it, we'll hunt you down and make sure you have a RMS leak! Welcome to Rennlist! Don't forget about the @#$%^&* pics, Newbie!

I have not performed a major repair on the 911 yet, but in all honesty it is just a car right.... I have done motor swaps, tranny swaps, clutch replacements, and head rebuilds on other cars, so I would imagine if/when the time comes I will be up for the challenge. A porsche is just like any other car when it comes to repairs right? The motor is in the front, the gas tank is in the rear... Ohhh wait, scratch that last comment... Seriously though, you are buying this car for the experience of driving. Do your due dilligence and get the car checked out. Know what the estimated maintence costs will be, and pray that no major failures occur. But most important, enjoy every minute of driving the beautiful beast uncle Ferdinand designed for you. Every day in the Pcar should be an extension of your everyday life... keep on learning, and do it with a big fat cheesy grin on your face!

Buy a warranty, I have one and it is a big relief like lat week when a $1695 repair cost me $100 deductible and $25 for labor not covered. Send me a PM and I will tell you where I bought it.

all this talk... have you bought it yet er' what

I can see a market for porsche car owner therapy opening up with these new generations. If the costs nag away in your brain add the thought aspect of the car would be a fantastic getaway car robbing banks to pay repair bills.

If you want the car, buy it. If you need peace of mind, spend an extra ~3 grand and have the IMS, clutch and RMS replaced on the engine. Simple as that. When I got mine 8 months ago, I had the same doubts. Believe me, every time I drive it, I'm more than convinced I made the right decision! The 996 is a great example of German engineering.

I am a new owner < 1 year and didn't know anything about the IMS issue before I purchased a 996. My plan was to purchase a 964 or 993. In looking for a pcar I found a MY 99 996 that keep coming up in my search. I started emailing the owner asking questions, drove it and fell in love. I know the car did not have the best service history, the last two owners were car dealers, but the car had <37K miles. I had a PPI at a local Porsche dealership and they listed about $3,500 of repairs they recommended. I paid 23.5 + 3.5 (P spec Tires + major service, etc, etc....) so 27K total for a car with low miles. If I had known about the IMS issue in advance I would not have purchased the car. I am planning on having the IMS upgrade done in the spring so I can sleep at night. I'm having it done at a local Indy shop who said that the 996 is one of the most reliabile cars porsche ever made. Yes they have a couple major problems but they really only effect a small % of the cars. He also said that the cars are expensive to maintain and even if you dont have an IMS issue there are other things that can cost 4-5K to repair that do not include replacing a motor. BTW I did ask the service rep at 2 different dealers about the number major probelms they have seen in the cars and they reported very few. I do believe it is the people who do have to replace a motor who will complain the most. But I do believe most of the cars are fine. (I keep questioning if mine is the 2% that fail.) Then I drive the car and all is forgoten!

Since the OP's potential purchase vehicle had its motor replaced, wouldn't that mean that the reman motor's IMS is unserviceable (like all newer Porsche remans) or because it was an early replacement (2005) it was replaced with a serviceable IMS bearing motor. That's important to know in my opinion. If you can't replace the bearing, you might have to buy a warranty to feel comfortable.

2005 was the year of the change... its possible it has the new OR the old.... there is no knowing till its opened up (from what I have heard)

^^^^ wow, yeah I'd really like to know the answer to that, talk about screwed, you can't even fix it if it is a problem ?!?!?!?!?

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Roger roger. The newer design has an unserviceable IMS bearing. The alumium case of the engine encompasses a larger portion of the bearing making it impossible to remove unless you split the engine case. To the OP, It really doesn't sound like you have the stomach for the car you are looking to purchase. Not sure If a warranty company would even give you a warranty on such a high mileage vehicle with a replacement engine.

the "newer" IMS is HUGE compared to the old ones... (though still not proven to be any better) and because of the size of the hole in the case, it wont fit thru it anymore... so NO you cannot just "change it" however you can reach in there and pull the seal ring off which allows new engine oil to lubricate the bearing... Cost = the same as an IMS job without the parts

PS I dont have the stomach.....

The best way to figure out whether your fears and concerns are rational is to learn as much as you can about the problems. Check out my article here: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...e_Failures.htm Also, the IMS replacement here: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...ft_Bearing.htm -Wayne

This is great: Engine Number Model Bearing Type Up to engine # M 651 12851 Boxster 2.7L M96.22 Double Row Bearing Up to engine # M 671 11237 Boxster S 3.2L M96.21 Double Row Bearing Up to engine # M 661 141164 Carrera 996 3.4L Double Row Bearing From engine # M 651 12852 Boxster 2.7L M96.22 Single Row Bearing From engine # M 651 11238 Boxster S 3.2L M96.21 Single Row Bearing From engine # M 661 141165 Carrera 996 3.4L Single Row Bearing All 2005 Boxster 987 (maybe some 2006 models) Single Row Bearing All 2005 Carrera 997 (maybe some 2006 models) Single Row Bearing Maybe some 2006 Cayman models Single Row Bearing http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...ft_Bearing.htm

Just based on your posts in this thread, it seems that this failure will always be in the back of your mind. That sort of thinking can ruin an experience. If you can buy it, and spend the money for the new engine without crying yourself to sleep, get it. If not, look for a different car. Coming from mustangs, I can tell you that I got an entire forged shortblock for my cobra for $3k. Thats a bit more than headers and mufflers cost on these things. Its just a different world price wise. Maybe save up a little more and put money into a "new engine fund" or a xanax fund.