Service

Well Sunset is servicing my car, oil change, new PSS all around alignment. Did request inspection of water pump as advised in Excellence Mag. and by many on this forum. I had purchased a new AOS as I thought this was the culprit of my small oil leak, apparently AOS is dry but spark plug tubes very wet with oil. Bottom line my check book was open for AOS, water pump, but dealer is not concerned about either. Oil change, filter back to me for inspection, tire mount and balance and I'm back on the road for another year. Currently 104,000 miles on the odometer. After talking to dealer about my fears, and getting the puzzled look back at me from the service advisor, feel like this forum is causing me undue paranoia, anyone else feel the same way?

I've only recently recovered from my Porsche hypochondria. This forum wasn't helping. Now that I am recovered though I can read here without fear and enjoy driving my car even more.

Adverse selection in the forum posts is what creates this paranoia - the relatively small number people that have issues are far more likely to join the forum in search of answers. E46 M3 forums are full of people scared of VANOS kabooms, S4 forums are full of people scared of cylinder scoring, RS6 forums has people terrified of transission/torque converter problems etc etc.

No question that at times there are threads that instill a momentary lapse of confidence towards my 99' 996...I#$, R#$, water pump, AOS, air pump, chain tensioners, D chunk, oval cylinders, overheating, warped heads.... Then I remember that in my current ownership going on 6 years(this Sept.), I have had no major parts failures and very little outlay of $ other than routine oil/filter changes, tire replacement, MAF, 1 wheel bearing, and a leaking coolant tank. Reliability with my Porsche has been outstanding to date with just a little over 60k miles on the odometer.

I bought a warranty and since I did that in June of 2010 I had the passenger seat switch replaced, the starter motor, coolant tank, front passenger sway bar bushing, vario cam actuator and solenoid and one of the horns. If I recall I think all of that cost around $5500.00. I got the warranty dirt cheap throgh a friend for $2250. I'm way ahead with still 2 years to go and 22K miles of coverage. I had the same paranoia about the water pump and got the same stare from the service writer at North Scottsdale Porsche. Every time I have my car in Porsche I ask them to check everything out and they come back with a good report. My car was a garage queen when I bought it, the guy drove it about 4K miles a year. Now that I'm using it for 2 years as a DD everything is sorted out and I have to say at 54 years old and owning more than 30 cars, trucks, SUV's and 2 other 911's in my life, this by far is my favorite vehicle, a '99 911. This site can get one spooked from time to time.

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The previous owner of my 4s had $23K worth of work done under extended warranty, including a new motor. Absolutely worthwhile on a mid-mileage car.

Yeah - I think Paranoia is high due to the fact people are coming to the forum with problems (so this skews our view of how many cars have these issues) - but it is still good to know what the issues are to look out for - where preventative makes sense - and then make the call on if the work is justified or not. My water pump is at 10 years/60K now - and I will probably replace soon as preventative - if I get another 10 years out of that it is worth it - cost is relatively low. For IMS on the other hand - I will wait until I have to do the clutch - & keep checking the oil for metal in the meantime. And if that is the one time the engine is dropped in the next 5 years - makes sense to me to take care of AOS , IMS at the same time for the small incremental cost at that point.

I would agree that most forum participants are searching for answers to problems. Preventative maintenance makes sense, so replace those items and drive it like a rental.

Good to know I'm no alone. Thanks for the replies!

the forum is tough to read, indeed a lot of people coming to answer their problems, not many just thinking about posting a good review that the car is great and run fine... your post is refreshing. I will add my 'all is good' words. I purchased my 2003 911 with 27k miles on it. two years later, it has 41k miles on it and I have not spent more than $100 fixing things. Ok my headlight and key switches went dead Aside of those two little things, the engine has been perfect. I drove the car from Lubbock Texas to Miami Fl over 3 days of driving 8 hours per day, the car was perfectly reliable. Extended warranty is still good for piece of mind but on my 2 years ownership I paid them $2,700 and they have not spent a dime on me... piece of mind was priceless though

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70% of all Porsches ever built are still on the road

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For various reasons I'm in and out of Porsche dealers a bit and often I use my time there to speak with a tech or the techs about various things. I tend to stick to things that have some connection to my cars but I also speak to thiem about things about a model I *might* be interested in. And once in a great while I will bring something to them that has no link to any of my cars. In these cases sometimes I get the gentle brush off and I understand. Some of the things... Jeez. When I bring up some of the stuff posted here (and there's another site with even weirder stuff...) the techs just look at me like I said a bad word in Church. The water pump, cam shaft chains, rails, tensioners, and on and on and on should be replaced at well, you name you favorite mileage number. The techs' reaction? What the heck are you talking about? No symptom? No problem. We should run Turbo Diesel oil? What is the basis for this recommendation? As best I can respond is "because I guess it has "turbo" in its name" and I feel stupid for even saying it cause I know it is stupid. Sorry but there it is. Ditto some super du jour tranny fluid, or anti-freeze, or no anti-freeze but some magic radiator elixer. Low temp t-state is the biggie in some regions now. And guess what? In cooler regions. Owners in AZ ain't talking low temp t-stats, but owners in mild/cool/damp UK are... Gimme a break. The list is endless. And about all the techs would advise is a more frequent oil/filter servicing -- though often they qualify this with something along the lines if the owner's usage is severe usage, which means one thing to them and another to well, just about everybody else -- and other vital fluids servicing done more frequently if one wants to do this is it. They point out that Porsche can set a transmission/diff fluid change schedule at say 90K miles because Porsche knows through 100's of thousands of miles of testing with test "mules". Allow me to stray a bit: Many a test mule car gave its all so our cars run as well at they do, last as long as they do. Those test mule cars live a hard life and after Porsche is done with them they are crushed! Let us take a moment of silence to say a thanks to those poor test mule cars... Anyhow, Porsche knows not only from test mules but from the feedback over the years of millions of miles from the cars that are in use that the fluid will last this long without any problems. These are wonderful cars. (I've spent a week driving a Chevy Captiva and while it served its purpose I'm ready to kill myself! I miss my Porsches!) Most Porsches will gives miles and miles and years and years of good relatively trouble-free service. There are a few that suffer from various afflications the majority of them due to manufacturing defects with a few from just being unused or even neglected or a few abused. Now one big plus in my book when considering a Porsche was Porsche offered a 4 year 50K mile warranty. I had been bitten by 3 year, 36K mile warranties on my two Fords. I vowed to if I could do this to not let it expire on time, but on miles. I was successful. My 02 Boxster has covered over 256K miles and while it has had some problems related to the miles, it still is a heck of a car. While I can sympathize wth those unfortunate owners that experience a catastrophic failure out of warranty for many of them it comes at low miles, low miles that had the car been used more would have been reached with the car still under warranty. Part of my says oh so sad and it is a heartfelt emotion. Another part of my says should have driven the car more. They are made to be driven. Drive your car more. Visit online forums less. Sincerely, Macster.

^^ Bingo ...

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^^^ THIS This 996 forum should come with a big disclaimer: "Caution - Reading the 996 forum may reduce your enjoyment of your 996!!!"

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Ha ha! So true! There should be a 996 support group... Maybe this is it

I completely agree. I was well aware of all of the major issues before I bought my 996, and appreciate knowing the things to look out for, and the amazing information here, but if you read here regularly, and aren't a well versed shade tree mechanic, it can be daunting, and downright nerve racking. But like someone else mentioned, adverse selection definitely plays into this. If you have a problem, you go to the interwebs, plug in a few keystrokes, and find yourself here reading all about it from a seemingly endless supply of people who have had catastrophic failures, and you pucker up tighter than the first day of prison. So I agree that while the information here is absolutely priceless, it should be taken with a grain of salt in the fact that the people here are speaking from a vastly different experience point than most P-car owners, in the fact that a) they are technically aware of their cars, and b) a lot of them have had something occur that brought them here...that's my .02, for whatever it's worth.

Macster - another great post - thank you! The techs at my dealership often give me "the look" - like I must be nuts. I've gotten to know the guys over the past 5 years so now they speak more openly. They say things like "you've been on the internet again haven't you"? "stay off the GD internet" "if you want to pay us to replace something that's not broken because you read that it might break, it's your dime". Lately it seems they have been running across cars with major problems, cars bought at a "great price" or from out of state off of the interner that looked REALLY good in the photographs. In these cases they typically are finding that lot's of duct tape and bailing wire had been used and I believe they are correct when they say the price point of a used 996 or Boxster has gotten so ridiculously low that people who do not understand or appreciate the car are picking them up, trashing them thinking they will save a few bucks with DIY, and giving the car an even worse mark than the cars already do not deserve. As for me. I have had my 04 C2 for 5 years and put 50k miles on it. It was a CPO car and any issues it had surfaced between 30K and 45K miles. Since then it has just been a stellar car requiring nothing more than routine maintainence and service. (I have always had oil changes done at around 5500 miles - never followed the recommended oil change interval on any machine I ever owned) The 04 C4S that I purchased in 10/11 had 23,500 miles on the clock with a top tier 3rd party warranty good for another year or 22,000 miles (yes the PO rarely drove the car). I have put 10k miles on this one so far and the same minor problems that surfaced with the C2, and a larger issue with the audio surfaced with the C4S - all covered under warranty. My tech did tell me before I pulled the trigger on the C4S that I should already know what to expect based on the experience with the C2 - he was right. So for me, my experience with the cars and with Porsche has been a good one. My biggest problem with the cars is that some mornings I have a tough time deciding which one to drive, I've been known to walk back in the house to swap keys - or to stand in the garage debating. Tough ownership problem to have. My wife gets a good laugh when I return from a business trip, after driving an Impala for a few weeks, even when I get in from the airport near midnight - I begin by starting both cars because "they don't like to sit". After they reach full operating temp I always end up taking one of them out for a ride. That ride is the best, it's like reliving the original "wow" moment that made me fall in love with Porsche decades ago. Drive and enjoy - plenty of other things to worry about in the world that trump "will my Porsche break today".

Silotwo and Macster are so on target. I believe the relatively low price of th 996 encourages ownership by people who simply can't afford the proper maintenance. People with no mechanical ability will not change oil every 5k miles when it cant be done at Jiffy Lube for $40. So we end up with too many cars that are "all show and no go" that end up on the market. Nice paint, nice wheels, nice interior, but the engine has not been cared for. As for this forum, the technical help and info is great. The other stuff, especially the scaremongering, is entertaining (and a bit calculated if you know what I mean). So for all of you scaredy cats out there just remember, you don't need to worry about the Boogeyman in your closet...just watch out for that monster under your bed.

Thanks for all the great posts! Was actually expecting something like "go ahead and put your head in the sand". Refreshing! Now it's killing me to not have my car to run to the store, or simply walk throgh the shop and stare at it! I will say having no oil drips on the ground will be nice and I'm hoping the spark plug tubes take care of that. I'm sure no one will call me crazy if I buy a new water pump and install it with my son some rainy weekend this winter? At 104,000 miles my labor and an excellent DIY found on this forum, should be rewarding and prudent. Thanks to all for excellent feedback to my post! Macster not sure what it is you do for a day job but you are a great asset to this forum and I read your posts with respect and appreciation.

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That may be my favorite forum post ever

My dad was a radiologist. He was against us riding horses, because all he saw every week, were people who were injured while riding horses. Hm-m-m. Some get their 15 minutes of fame by delaring some new weakness, the unfairness of it all or some bizarre home remedy. You can see long threads that are mostly the screaming of just a few people....out of how many owners? Enjoy your car. Use common sense, your owner's manual and a trusted mechanic. Online forums are one step above horoscopes....primarily for entertainment purposes. Fear mongering......people have told spook stories around the camp fire for centuries. The tradition continues here.

I have a 99 C2 Cab with 58000 miles on it... early on in my ownership I claimed for a new transmission under warranty and apart from that NOTHING. I have done 12000 miles in as many months of ownership. I am a DIY guy on the preventative maintenance side only. ie:- oil and filters, brakes and coolant changing etc. The small things. No engine dropping for me. I still have 18000 miles and just under 2 years left under warranty. And as much as i hammer this car wanting it to throw up a big fault, it will not. It runs and handles and pulls and brakes way way better than any car I ever owned (which i expected it to to do before buying it). Before coming to this forum I was overjoyed with the purchase and slept very well every night. Then I discovered Rennlist Forum and read about the things that can go wrong with the water cooled 996. My *** hole twiched from dime to quarter size as I was reading the forum. I quickly took up preventative action and became a DIY man. However It didn't take me long to figure out that if 20 porsche 996s were lined up and I had to pick the bad one out of the 20 cars. I would fail. A 20 to 1 shot is a good bet that I got a good one when I bought mine. I say thanks to the scare mongers. It brought the price of the 996 down to a price which I could afford. I have a wonderful car in my garage. I am more than proud to be the owner of a 911-996 and only smile when I see these lowered down silver painted, black wheeled, loud muffled pieces of crap these kids own. I take great delight in burning the ***** off them as they tail gate me on the highway. Or for that matter, anyone else thats throws the gaunlet down to my 996..