997.2 warranty extension - worth it? - Page 2 - 911/Carrera GT - PistonHeads UK

Hey folks, wonder if anyone could provide any guidance on the Porsche warranty and how ‘worth it’ is it for a 997.2 - which I understand to be one of the more reliable models. I bought a 2011 997 gts last year (26k miles) which came with the remainder of an OEM warranty and it’s due for renewal next month. What do you think - worth renewing?

these questions make as much sense as asking is it worth putting £550 on red rum at Ladbrokes. You know it's a gamble. If you can afford the car you should be able to afford the risk. If not buy a new Up!

loskie said: these questions make as much sense as asking is it worth putting £550 on red rum at Ladbrokes. You know it's a gamble. If you can afford the car you should be able to afford the risk. If not buy a new Up! Its a genuine question and concern, are you always this sanctimonious?

The issue is it's only the OP who can answer the question based on their own personal assessment of risk.

loskie said: these questions make as much sense as asking is it worth putting £550 on red rum at Ladbrokes. You know it's a gamble. If you can afford the car you should be able to afford the risk. If not buy a new Up! Lol - thanks for your contribution I can afford the gamble but not having owned a Porsche before this one I’ve no idea what to expect and whether £1k is worth hedging that risk or not.

Rob26 said: loskie said: these questions make as much sense as asking is it worth putting £550 on red rum at Ladbrokes. You know it's a gamble. If you can afford the car you should be able to afford the risk. If not buy a new Up! Lol - thanks for your contribution I can afford the gamble but not having owned a Porsche before this one I’ve no idea what to expect and whether £1k is worth hedging that risk or not. Thats £2.70 per day for peace of mind. Forgo your daily latte and get the warranty.

Problem with warranty is your tied into OPC servicing! On a 10 year old plus car I would use a good independent and forget the warranty! As mentioned above get car thoroughly checked out first for peace of mind

I look at it this way. It’s not £1000/year but £1000/year x the number of years you own the car. Say you own it 5 years will the warranty save £5k in costs for failed parts? Doubtful in my experience. However if there were to be an engine or electrical issue the warranty could prove good value.

I wouldn't. I bought my 996 in 2013, so 10 years old at the time.

Twinfan said: The issue is it's only the OP who can answer the question based on their own personal assessment of risk. This , no one can predict the future and if your PCM suddenly dies , as had happened to a mate of mine for no apparent reason on his GT4. If he was out of warranty , it would have cost him a fortune. 997`s have a few years under them now so anything "could" go wrong and we are not talking Ford Fiesta parts money. For me - warranty , all day long.

julian987R said: Rob26 said: loskie said: these questions make as much sense as asking is it worth putting £550 on red rum at Ladbrokes. You know it's a gamble. If you can afford the car you should be able to afford the risk. If not buy a new Up! Lol - thanks for your contribution I can afford the gamble but not having owned a Porsche before this one I’ve no idea what to expect and whether £1k is worth hedging that risk or not. Thats £2.70 per day for peace of mind. Forgo your daily latte and get the warranty. That’s a bit strong! Keep the latte and just drive a little slower and save £2.70 a day on fuel some (latte addicts) would say…

The 997.2 is not known for catastrophic failures that are covered under warranty, and consumibles are obviously excluded from it. The appeal of the warranty is primarily the resale value. Nobody likes to pay through the nose for having their car serviced at an OPC, but everyone wants to buy a car with OPC-only service history. That's the appeal, but it decreases with every year of ownership. If you sell your car 10 years from now, you will not recoup the warranty cost. If you sell it 3 years from now, you might.

The great benefit of the warranty is you can drive it like you stole it, but without fear of component failure. And Porsche repairs cost a f kload.

No warranty for me. Put the same amount as the premium in a slush fund in case you are unlucky, and enjoy cheaper better parts / servicing from a good independent. It has worked really well for me over last 9 years and 45k miles. But always a risk...

I would say it depends on how many miles you plan to do. If lots, well, there's plenty that can fail. Yes, the core reliability of the 9A1 is much improved. But the high pressure DFI fuel system will only get more problematic as these cars age. Loads of other stuff that can fail if the car is really being used. On the other hand, if you're only going to do a few thousand miles a year, or less, you'd be very unlucky to have loads of big bills, so probably better to self insure.

Heya, thanks for these comments - really helpful. I’m only doing 2-3k miles a year so probably will go without renewing. Many thanks

Fink-Nottle said: The 997.2 is not known for catastrophic failures that are covered under warranty, and consumibles are obviously excluded from it. The appeal of the warranty is primarily the resale value. Nobody likes to pay through the nose for having their car serviced at an OPC, but everyone wants to buy a car with OPC-only service history. That's the appeal, but it decreases with every year of ownership. If you sell your car 10 years from now, you will not recoup the warranty cost. If you sell it 3 years from now, you might. When he comes to resale it's a 997.2 GTS so will sell easily. It's £1 per year warranty plus cost of OPC servicing. Better find a good indie and put the money aside for any costs which come-up.

I ran a 997.2 T4S as a daily for 5 years and I did always extend the warranty. I never worked it out to the last pound, but I broke even. From memory, these are the parts I had replaced under warranty: 1. Left lambda sensor (but OPC replaced both) 2. Rear light cluster (due to condensation) 3. Valve lift solenoid (cheap part but lots of labour) When I sold it, the new owner had the Targa roof mechanism replaced under the warranty. During the work for the solenoid, the technician remembered I'd enquired about PSE upgrade a few months earlier. He explained that the exhaust was off anyway, and did I want it for parts only. With PCGB 10% discount, it was an easy decision. Also, factor in that on each occasion I had a Boxster or Cayman as a loan car for 1-3 days, therefore little inconvenience.

Waste of money. Find a good Indie. My 997.2 GT3 only had warranty for the first four years of it's life. Solid car, no need. Different story with a 991.1 GT3 for example. If the car is prone to failures you need a warranty.

Do you plan on selling the vehicle privately in the next year or two? If so the extra warranty is a huge amount of added piece of mind for the next buyer. If you're keeping it for life then its probably not worth it. I just bought a 997.2 GT3 CS and I will keep the warranty running as its only possible for another 2 years - its been under warranty all its life so its silly not too on a car that cost me over 100k. Dan

I think the main question to answer is how easy is it to claim successfully on the warranty as with age, the line between general wear and tear and failure becomes very grey. If your concern is with electrical items e.g. PCM, etc then it is fairly clear cut between working and broken so you may think there is value in a warranty for these sort of things. My 997.2 is now 12 years old and out of warranty because it is all mechanical wear and tear stuff that a warranty wouldn't cover anyway.

gottans said: I think the main question to answer is how easy is it to claim successfully on the warranty as with age, the line between general wear and tear and failure becomes very grey. If your concern is with electrical items e.g. PCM, etc then it is fairly clear cut between working and broken so you may think there is value in a warranty for these sort of things. My 997.2 is now 12 years old and out of warranty because it is all mechanical wear and tear stuff that a warranty wouldn't cover anyway. ^ this They’ll wriggle out of most of it and the rest rarely goes wrong. But if it helps you sleep go for it.

It may be useful to review the actual letter of the law. https://www.porsche.com/uk/accessoriesandservice/p... Porsche Fine Print said: The following components are not covered, if they must be repaired or replaced for reasons of ageing or regular wear and tear: Wiper blades Tyres Brake pads and brake discs Shock absorber Clutch disc and clutch pressure plate Drive belt including tensioning guide rails and roller Spark plugs Batteries PDCC reservoir Coolant All light bulbs (excluding Xenon and LED-lamps) All filters, fluids, oils and greases That still leaves quite a few bits covered, among them much of the suspension and of course the engine. No?

Fink-Nottle said: It may be useful to review the actual letter of the law. https://www.porsche.com/uk/accessoriesandservice/p... Porsche Fine Print said: The following components are not covered, if they must be repaired or replaced for reasons of ageing or regular wear and tear: Wiper blades Tyres Brake pads and brake discs Shock absorber Clutch disc and clutch pressure plate Drive belt including tensioning guide rails and roller Spark plugs Batteries PDCC reservoir Coolant All light bulbs (excluding Xenon and LED-lamps) All filters, fluids, oils and greases That still leaves quite a few bits covered, among them much of the suspension and of course the engine. No? I read this with a wry smile, on a new car it is all very reasonable and clear, take a 12 year old car where the service life and condition of a part comes into the analysis of a warranty claim and things are much less clear. Warranties are great when all the evidence of the failure is clear and unambiguous, I would suggest most if not nearly all warranty claims are not like this.

ttdan said: ^ this They’ll wriggle out of most of it and the rest rarely goes wrong. But if it helps you sleep go for it. Not been my experience. There are certain things like dampers which are explicitly excluded and I might expect them to try to wriggle out of other items like suspension arms or mounts, but generally they fix the cars when they break under extended warranty, albeit perhaps it varies a bit from OPC to OPC. For those who only use their cars up to a few 1,000 miles a year, the warranty probably doesn't pay. But if you're doing 10k-plus a year, I suspect over a few years you're almost guaranteed to come out on top. There's plenty to go wrong and if you're doing 10k miles a year for a few years, plenty will go wrong, almost for certain. Would think the warranty works out for the underwriters because most cars aren't driven much, so nothing breaks. They'll lose money on the policies where the car is actually driven quite a bit, but those cars will be such a small minority that the overall numbers are very much in their favour. Worth noting the official wording: "The Porsche Approved Warranty is an insurance product which provides comprehensive cover comparable with the Porsche New Car Guarantee." Should a reasonable claim be denied, would remind them of this wording. Comprehensive cover comparable to the Porsche New Car Guarantee. If it's not explicitly excluded I would expect them to cover it. In my experience, they do.

As cars get older, indies get better and more experienced in maintaining them, arguably to a better standard, i.e coolant fittings, etc. I think you would be better off with a good indie on a 997. Leave the OPC to look after the panamera, cayenne and macan.

jimPH said: As cars get older, indies get better and more experienced in maintaining them, arguably to a better standard, i.e coolant fittings, etc. I think you would be better off with a good indie on a 997. Leave the OPC to look after the panamera, cayenne and macan. Tend to agree. A good indie goes a very long way off piste from the conventional service schedules. It may require you to spend a bit on pre-emptive maintenance - for example coolant or heating hose/manifold issues, or brake lines - but they are basing recommendations on what they know is likely to cause issues. See also suspension. A good, thorough geo and setup will check bits that would pass any MOT but require replacing for performance.