Joined the shifter cable club on Sunday.

Going from 4th to 5th at a leisurely pace. Halfway into gear all the tension on the shift lever vanished and I had the oft reported floppy shifter. The lever would move fore and aft in the 5th to 6th plane, but it was stuck in fifth. Got to a parking lot in a strip shopping center and called Porsche Roadside Assistance. I went and had lunch, and got a call from the flatbed driver that he was ten minutes away. He trucked my 2010 Boxster base to Hennessey Porsche in Roswell, Georgia. They replaced the cables for me under my CPO warranty and did a four wheel alignment while they had the car in the shop. The shifter feels really nice now, a lot tighter than it did prior to the cable break (at ~ 39,600 miles). Not a terrible experience, but I was on a low speed limit road (45 MPH) in a major metropolitan area on Sunday morning, not even five miles from a Porsche dealership. I don't think it would have been so easy had I been trying to merge onto the highway, or if it had happened out in the back of beyond somewhere. Hopefully these are the latest "new and improved" cables, and will outlast the first set.

This is not a real problem or poor engineering/design, but simply the cost of owning a Porsche much like the IMS bearing issue or the oil starvation issue (tongue planted firmly in cheek). Glad yours was covered under CPO and that no damage or injury resulted from this "feature." Eddie

The shift cable is not that complicated. I think they could do better.

Joined the club about two hours ago. Shifting from 2nd to 3rd, shifter went slack. Stuck in second. No way to make dealer 15 miles distant. Flatbedded to dealer. 2012 CS - 36,850 miles. Dealer advises will be covered under warranty. Hope so.

ncredulous, Glad to hear you and your CS are okay and that the dealer is going to do the right thing. Hopefully the new and improved factory cables will give us more than ~40K of life. I hope your dealership experience is a painless as mine was. SilentMike

We shall see SM. Figured long as "I was there" would also get 40K service. Dealer also mentioned proposing an extended warranty and hinted they "would not charge" for inspecting the vehicle to see if it qualifies. Hope to retrieve the car this PM.

Just picked up the car. Parts/labor fully covered under warranty. Dealer inspected car during 40K service and is proposing extended Porsche warranty. My understanding is extended warranty covers additional cable failures AND water pump replacement(s). Expecting formal proposal shortly. Have 30 days/3400 mi to make decision. Any thoughts on Porsche extended warranties? Thanks.

Welcome to the club. Mine snapped back in May, right before finals started. I was headed to class, backing out of the parking spot at my apartment. When I went from reverse to 1st, the shifted went limp so it was stuck in reverse... I didn't know at the time this was a wear item until I checked on the forum; people have been replacing them around 60k miles. I didn't want to worry about it ever again so I went with the numeric cables for replacements. So far, I have enjoyed them; I feel like I am pulling back a rifle bolt every time (in a good way). There is a bit of noise and vibration but who cares when you are enjoying the engine roar, the speed, and the road. Anyways, it was just a slight inconvenience of ownership. That's my Porsche rant for the day.

+1 on the Numeric Racing Cables!!

JJust curious ,how much does the porsche CPO cost? I just picked up a 08 CS warrenty expired. Looking to get one.

The only way to have a CPO PCAR is if it was bought through a dealer (and they CPO'ed the car prior to sale) or the car is under CPO when bought from a private party as the CPO transfers to the next owner. Eddie

I joined the broken shifter cable club too last week on a road trip from the UK to Germany. The car is a 2011 Boxster with 17k miles. While at the furthest point on the trip in the middle of Germany, the gear stick became loose while shifting from 1st to 2nd gear and could not be moved sideways. The car was stuck in first so I pulled up by the side of the road and waited for the tow truck, organised through Porsche Assist. The car was taken to nearest OPA who said the cables had broken and replaced them. How do I know if I've had the new/updated part fitted? Repair was covered under warranty

I joined that club over the summer. Mine was stuck in third, which was pretty fortunate because I was able to limp it about 10 miles home. Porsche picked it up the next morning and covered it under warranty. It only had 38,000 miles, I agree they should last longer.

Has anyone replaced their cables (with Numeric cables for example) preventively? Replace them before they break - since they seem to break eventually anyway...

Yes. My original broke @ about 46K mi and was replaced under warranty. I drive a lot and planned on doing lots of cross country trips on retirement. I plan on keeping this car a long time and knew the OEM would break again - probably out in the middle of nowhere. Without a warranty and probably at the mercy of the nearest dealer. At the time Numeric was having a special for P9 members, so that cinched the deal for me. I bought them so I'd have them handy. After seeing those cables just sitting around the garage for a few months, I decided to preemptively replace my perfectly good and nearly new OEM cables with Numeric. I said - no more. Fix it once and fix it right and forget about it. And I've been very happy I eliminated one nagging 987 problem. Now - if I only knew a permanent (or at least long term) water pump solution I'd be nearly worry free.:dance:

I installed NA cables preventive at about 40,000 miles. Main driver was for a more connected, mechanical feel. Boy does it work!! I also weighted my decision on the fact they can break and my car was 9 years old at the time. FWIW, installed Porsche short shifter at the same time.

^^ That's my way of thinking, correct the issue and drive worry free.

Has anyone compared the Numeric shifter versus the Porsche short shift kit? Same question for the new Porsche cables.

I replaced mine before failing with the Numeric, I like the feel more like a mechanical connection, seemed to tighten throws as well.

This scares me more than anything about the car. Totally could be done better. This should be goodwilled whether you are in warranty or not if you have the older design cables. Sent from my StarTrek communicator using Tapatalk

It is disgusting.

I just joined this club last Friday I've got a base 2009 Cayman (987.2) with about 64,000km. I was merging onto the highway, went to shift from 5th to 6th and it was completely slack. No noise, and no previous symptoms. Thankfully the road wasn't OVERLY busy, and was able to get the car most of the way home. Things got a little dicey once the highway started to congest a bit, and when I had to avoid a couple of lights (yay for merge lanes and decent timing!) in my search for the nearest parking lot. The car was (is...) stuck in 5th, so there was no way I was going to be able to get it going again once I lost my momentum. Had to have it hauled home on a flatbead, as I can't get it in to Porsche until Nov 23rd (they have no service appointments available and have to order in the parts). Oh, yay *eye roll*. Was quoted around $1200-$1500 for the repair. Will update once repair is complete. Quite surprised on the stance Porsche has taken on this... also frustrating.

Just joined (37k miles). Car is stuck in third gear, shifter changes position from 3rd to 4th, but it's moving freely, as if nothing is attached. No side to side movement (to the 1-2 slot or the 5-6 slot). Seems like the Numeric cables are the way to go. What is so special about their "performance wrench"? Are there any other options? Store - Numeric Racing How much time does a mechanic need to get them installed? Thanks.

The wrench they sell makes installing it easy. There is no off-the-shelf wrench that will work. I made mine myself. The cables aren't hard, per se, to install. Once the center console is out of the way, the engine cover off, the insulated carpeting removed, the rest is pretty straightforward. I could probably do one in about 4 hours, but I took probably 10 hours doing it the first time over 2 days. No idea what a mechanic would charge, but he's going to want the wrench. I put it in with the tools in case the next guy needs to change the clutch and wonders how the heck to get those cables loose on the transmission side. Numeric for the win! Nice product.

Before buying new cables,you might want to jack up the rear and examine the cables' connection to the transmission on both sides. It is possible that it just became disconnected instead of snapped. There is a ball/socket connection at the end of each cable. One cable on each side of the transmission - they are easy to see and reach from beneath. AFA time - an experienced Porsche guy could probably do it in 4 hours. But the correct Numeric installation and adjustment is a little different than OEM. Make sure to print out the Numeric instructions for him. He'll need to slice off the old cable's insulation and securely wrap it around the Numeric cables - otherwise you'll get a lot of noise in the cockpit. Also, at the firewall the old rubber bushing (rectangular with two nipples) needs to be reused. It must be carefully split open with a sharp blade. The Numeric cables are thicker and stiffer than OEM - so insulation won't fully close around them. I used plastic cable ties to force the insulation closed. Note that it has been suggested in another write-up to use 3/8" ID silicone hose for the noise/vibration insulation in the engine compartment. That may do a better job than re-using the old hose - since it will fit the new cables better.

Had a look underneath the car, shifter cables are connected well on the transmission end, put the transmission back in neutral to test what worked and what didn't. Shift lever operates side-to-side, moving the cable that selects the Reverse, 1-2 / 3-4 / 5-6 gates (confirmed underneath). Shift lever can engage Reverse, 1st, 3rd, and 5th gears (confirmed underneath). Shift lever has no resistance (free moving) when trying to engage 2nd, 4th, and 6th gears, which is essentially pulling the cable underneath the console. I can engage neutral from underneath the car and repeatedly select Reverse, 1st, 3rd, and 5th gears with the shift lever. When I put the transmission back in neutral from underneath the car, am I effectively mating the split sections well enough to move my shift lever back into the neutral position and start over again? That implies they are more solid than I imagined and there is no side clearance inside the cable casing that would allow the split sections to overlap. Took off the console for a look at the cables inside the car. Disconnected the offending cable, was curious if I could pull it out, able to pull enough to get the tip as far as the front of the shifter (near center stack), but it stopped there. Stuffed it back in (needed pliers), and was again able to repeatedly make the shifts noted above. My dealer is nearby, so manually selected 2nd gear from underneath the car and drove it over (flat bed shouldn't be necessary) for the updated OEM cables. Forum posts aren't clear if they are failing, too. Time will tell.

Great details, Thanks Ron.

I don't think I've heard of a cable breaking inside the sheathing (or whatever the outer protective layer is called). So if the ends are attached at the trany, I'd suspect that the problem is at the shifter. Unfortunately you'll have to remove the console (or at least the boot) to see if one is disconnected. I guess it is also possible that the shifter is worn-out, but I would think you would notice a gradual increase in sloppiness.