Are new Porsches reliable ? - Page 1 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

Good friend & colleague of mine has an '03 C4S with <1000 miles on it. Currently sitting in the dealers (as it has been for a few several weeks) with no engine, said item having failed. Not really that impressive.

Would you believe, Thom, that today I am driving a Mercedes S class because my 03 Boxster S is at the dealer having a full diagnostic as the Emissions warning light has come one. To take a harsh view: I have had two Boxster S in a row that have needed to be recovered to a dealer on the back of a truck. The last one was with them for two weeks! The two week thing was a total cock up for which I got an apology from both the dealer and Porsche UK. It should have been fixed the day it arrived - the car spent time being "scheduled" in as it was a busy time in the servicing bay. Not good enough - and they agreed with me. This time the car has been recovered to the dealer from which I bought it, rather than just another one of their branches. I'm hoping that, along with the fact I have a £250 per day hire car off them, will lead to a quick resolution. Does this put me off Porsches due to reliability? NO. In all the time I've been driving them the only problems I've had have meant that I could keep driving the car to a convenient location before calling for help. Then Porsche have fixed it - I'm confident this time will be the same...and I'll report back my findings! BTW: In the same time our TVR has let us down only ONCE (two Porsches, one each!). The Chimaera is a good, reliable car. I will admit the Tiv has had a host of minor stuff go wrong (v. annoying) and absolutely NOTHING has gone wrong with the Boxsters apart from these two occasions.... I'll let you know how I get on!

Hi Thom, Had a Boxster S and now a C4C. Plus a couple of new Mercs too. In fact, I think that the more electronics these cars have, the more vulnerable they are to little glitches. Never had a single problem with the 986, and I must admit I had a minor problem with the 996, it was due to alarm electronic manager, somehow, the car thought the back cover of the engine was open when I closed the car with the remote control, hence that mini horn blow that indicates something's wrong when you close the car (smart BTW) Nothing major, send it overnight at my Paris Porsche dealer and the problem was solved overnight. (false wiring contact in fact). With the Merc SL, same thing, problem with the onboard computer working out the tyres pressure, problem solved overnight. So I must admit that in general, I am satisfied. It may be the goog old days of the 993 and the square mercedes but technilogy evolves and cars with them. On the dealer treatment part, I've been luckier than you Don. When I had my crashes with the Boxster, Porsche assistance was super efficient and sent help within 45 minutes (I was really in the middle of nowhere at 1 am) and Merc is the same, very efficient and nice. This is what scares me a little with smaller companies (TVR, Ferrari, etc.): The service you get after sale. Fanch.

Don - not a bad loan car, though! (Any thoughts, btw?) I quite agree that Porsches aren't the paragons of virtue that some assume...I too recall the Chimera being fundamentally sound. Until I got a decent conditioner, my 911 battery was a bleedin' joke and the rubber seal along along the front boot line came flailing off recently, in an inexcusably shoddy manner (although it was about 180 mph )

DeR: I'll post the results of my "Test Drive" once I've had the opportunity to try it out/thrash the knackers off it. I had to do a "demo drive" in the damn thing to an new IAM Associate ten minutes after it arrived. Sharpened the mind somewhat!

Our new S class is the V12 turbo 500hp. It's really astonishing!!! Not in terms of driving pleasure and sensations but in terms of the shear dragster power this car has. Driving up from Bordeaux to Paris last week end, we left on the spot two 996 (well, I'd know that...) a 550, a 360 and an RS4, and trust me, they were all trying a touch on the pedal and they become a little point in the rear view mirror Smaller roads are quite a revelation with the excellent ABC suspension set up although no sports car of course. And finish quality as opposed to what Mr Farago wrote is beyond criticsm (in our car at least) The 800Nm help, and all that achieved in a massaging air conditonning seat in total silence. Respect. I'd still rather drive a Boxster though Fanch.

I wonder how many of these failures can be attributed to failure to warm the car up properly before opening it up? Steve

precisely, people just come out the front door and expect to floor it down the road, they need an idle at the very least, you don't leap out of bed in your trainers and lap the park do you, course' not

I never take the revs above 3000/ 3500 rpm as long as the liquid temp is not around 90 degrees. (and that's water temp, oil temp will be slightly lower). In normal driving conditions, that'll take about 10 to 15 minutes. Otherwise, yes, you're right, this WILL ruin your engine! Fanch.

In my friends' case I was there when it happened. The engine sounded sick on startup; this subsequently proved terminal. Warming to full temp before you thrash it is true of all engines I think.

I would be suprised if the problems were exclusively down to careless warm up. IMO Porsche engineers are much aware there will always be ham fisted customers and for sure the engines are designed in function. edited to correct increasingly worrying hideous grammar >> Edited by Thom on Wednesday 7th May 17:13

Don't worry about your spelling Thom - ma grammaire francaise est plus merde

Just found this . Are they just one-offs or are Porsche currently having troubles on the reliability side ? Anybody here had such troubles with their Boxster or 996 ?