Doing research on 996/997 future DD.

Looking to make a late model 996 or early model 997 non turbo a DD. The task: 4000 miles a month, all highway. Need to get 200k out of her. Mercedes has done a great job in the past filling this bill, and they hit a wall right around 200k, I would like to see if I can switch over to the P car. So far it looks like the 996 seams to hit a wall around 150k an requires a new engine. the question is why the new engine? is it just the short block or full? have found nothing on 997's. Would either 996/997 be able to run up to 200k with just scheduled maintenance and normal wear and tear replace? what is the expected cost of a replacement engine? Is it realistic to think I can make a 996/997 this type of DD?

996 and 997 will cost you the same in every Maintance Item and Parts... get the Newest in your Budget, get a 997...

An engines life is in revolutions not miles so possibly the higher revs enjoyed makes it 150k not 200k. Then of course there is a bit more wear while in the higher revs

Quotes source post: 8192375

Thank goodness not all M96 engines require rebuilding at 150K or my 2002 Boxster with 238K would have had its engine rebuilt years ago... You're facing a bit of a problem in that you're looking for a used car to drive those 150K or more miles If a car manages to get to 150K or 200K or beyond depends upon how the car was treated early on. If you can find a good example (easier said than done as it requires skill in evaluating a car and some luck besides) then service the car regularly and with some more luck there is no reason why it shouldn't make it to 200K or beyond. Oh, the new engine question. Most times the engine doesn't wear out but suffers some internal failure -- IMS bearing gets the most press and I guess deservedly so -- that renders the engine scrap. However, a few lucky indivduals have had their engines start to exhibit the early warning signs of impending doom -- might add here these signs are not in evidence long before the engine goes from good to bad -- and managed to shut the engine off and avoid running the engine anymore. Upon teardown the Porsche tech using guidelines put out by Porsche found the engine salvageable with in one case I know of just a new IMS, bearing, a chain guide and some other small items. But to do this required the engine be removed from the car, and torn down, the cases split. Sincerely, Macster.

See Macster... no one else is qualified to answer.. he has done it

Quotes source post: 8192375

Might add that at 4K miles a month the running costs could eat you alive. Rear tires -- and this assumes a super alignment -- will be needed every 15K miles. Fronts every 30K miles. The fronts can go longer but they get noisy and slick from heat cycles. That's a set of rear tires every 3 months and a set of 4 tires every 6 months. I just put 18" Bridgestones on my Turbo and it cost me a bit over $1700, so you're roughly looking at $900 every 3 months and $1700 every 6 months or $2600 every 6 months or $5200 every year for tires alone. If you run the oil 6K miles you're looking at oil/filter services every month and a half (though to get to 238K miles I've followed a 5K mile oil/filter service schedule). That's $80 for oil and maybe another $20 or more for filter and bits and pieces if you do the labor yourself. A dealer oil change runs $200 maybe more depending where you are. Local Porsche dealer told me today that VW dealers in this area are bumping their dealer service labor rates to $180/hour and if VW does this can Porsche, et al be far behind? Fuel mileage will be around 25mpg if you're very very good. 4K miles per month at 25mpg is 160 gallons/month. Where I live premium gas is (now) around $3.499/gallon and the forecast is for regular to stay about $3/gallon this year so it is unlikely gas prices will fall much and could go higher if the economy heats up or there's an interruption in oil supplies, etc. So 160 gallons at $3.50/gallon is $560/month. If I had to do 4K miles per month in a Porsche I'd select a good 2008 base Cayman. If I had to 4K miles per month I might consider another car, too. The running costs will be less. Not much but some. Tire life will still be maybe 20K miles rear tires and and maybe double that for the front tires. Cayman tires are cheaper. Not much cheaper though. (Tire prices like gas prices are forecast to go higher and stay higher, forever...) Anyhow the base Cayman is well-balanced -- power, handling, braking, acceleration, purchase price, running costs -- and is good on the highway. It is a comfortable car. I can cover 4K to 5K miles in my Boxster in a week's driving and after 12 hours in the driver's seat get out without any back pain or other discomfort. ('course, I can cover the same distance in my Turbo and come out feeling just great too, but the fuel stops every 200 miles or so really sees my fuel bill go up, up, up.) While the Cayman doesn't have the presence of the 996/997 it won't put you in the poor house. I found in my Boxster I can cover just as many miles per day driving as I can in my Turbo or any other cars I've owned. Good mileage and a big tank help to reduce time lost to refueling. (A surprisingly good car for covering big miles was my 02 VW Golf TDi. 40mpg no matter how I drove it. Affordable tires (Michelin MXV4 or something like that and a *full sized* spare!) Cheap to service. Reliable. Very comfortable. And quiet. Helped by 15" tires. And turbo-charged the car would haul the mail. Sure, it wouldn't scare a Veyron any going zero to 60 but it kept up with traffic and at 40mpg with a 16 gallon tank one could easily travel 500 miles between fill ups.) Anyhow, if you get the Cayman fluid services will be about the same. Fuel mileage might approach 30mpg so there's some savings. Insurance will be less. Registration will be less and depreciation (maybe the 2nd biggest expense to running a car big miles per month) will be less. And if serious trouble develops the repairs will be less. 4K miles per month in a 996/997 is ok if one can afford it. But a base Cayman or even a base Boxster (a bit cheaper to buy) makes for a good driving experience and for less money. Sincerely, Macster.

Macster seems to ignore one big issue in this life / cost discussion. A Carrera driven 4000 per month must be doing 90% highway miles with far fewer start/stop cycles that the average DD. Adrian Streater addresses this in his book and it makes for good logic when you look at any maintenance manual and service/oil change recommendation. In this case Oil changes may only occur 4 times in a year, at 15,000 miles as recommended by Porsche. It is not Miles Driven that determines engine life - it is Hours running and start stop cycles. It has often been noted that far fewer issues occur in a Porsche driven hard - than a Garage Queens once monthly outings shuffling along in traffic. Just my opinion maybe - but another way to look at this fellows options.

Quotes source post: 8192922

And BINGO was his NAME O..... Macster is 110% correct otherwise...as usuall. Id prefer a R32 over the TDi though Thats what I use as a daily driver, 250hp, reliable Audi 3.2L with a solid AWD system.