37 captured repliesDiscussion pagination complete · Source accounts, not a confirmed diagnosis
THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHHighest Mileage M96 3.6 Liter Engine
Leading reported evidence
Use of the time and are well maintained do great
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
Read evidence and context
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that performed work without a confirmed outcome
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
Seems like the ones that get used all of the time and are well maintained do great.
Leading evidence: 'Use of the time and are well maintained do great' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, the most frequently mentioned possible cause is 'car will have 120 or more' (1 discussions; 0 report identifying it and 1 suggest it). The most frequently discussed action is 'Replace not' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
Source reports, not a diagnosis or a success probability. Counts refer to discussions and can overlap.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that suspect a cause
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suspected cause · Original poster
I suspect my car will have 120 or more when I pay it off.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that suspect a cause
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suspected cause
I suspect our cold climate really in the problem with these engines that are have very tight specs.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
Service every 20.000km with oil Change, not before.
Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion · Original poster
My opinion is that most of the failures are due to not driving the car frequently enough or changing the oil frequently enough.
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
To the OP - no offense but if you're going to use the forum to question whether you may or may not buy a Porsche and be depressed, can I suggest that you look into another brand..such as Toyota (recalled), GM (recalled)...etc.
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
37 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261027T154520Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
There are endless threads on these engines dying. I would curious to hear of cases where these engines did not die. Everyone has heard of the two and three hundred or more thousand mile 996 Turbos. Are there any 3.6 liter M 96s out there like that or close?
It would be an interesting thread to see who has seen the highest mileage one that hasn't needed a rebuild.
They exist, but only in singular instances on this board.
Everyone who has high mileage 996 drives it a lot. Most people here are too worried about oil, I
S, R
S, rubber smell from rear, engine making noise, car getting dirty, car getting wet to drive the 996 N/A to reach the big 200k.
My car might get to 150k by the end of the year depending how much I will drive it during the summer. I am at 13X,XXX right now. Got it at 117,XXX last July.
Kalashnickov,
150 is a very good number. Mine has 57K. I just bought it. I have put 1400 miles on it in the first month. I suspect that pace will slow somewhat but not that much. I bet I put 15K a year on it easy. So, in five years, I could have 130K on the car. Nice to hear of one that went past that.
I'm afraid of wearing out the 10's and 1's spinners on the odometer, so I try to keep the mileage down. Of course, my M96 is just a lowly 3.4 liter, so nobody cares.
No 5CHN3LL
The 3.4s were made closer in time to the sacred 993s and therefore are supposed to last longer than the more defective 3.6s. I am looking for date on my unclean engine.
Heh, keep reading, my man. The 3.4's were the first water-cooled boxer cells to soil the Porsche petri dish.
I don't know if my 996 is going to get to 200K miles, but I know it's going to earn every one of them. Me and the rev limiter are tight.
This is a 200 C2, so I guess it is a 3.4.
Anyway, video depicts car reaching 500,000 km (310,000 miles).
Local car. Looks great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtEq9OeGF60
^ I heard about that car, from the dealer. It's amazing luck in this region. I suspect our cold climate really in the problem with these engines that are have very tight specs. I have a feeling that warmer climate regions don't have nearly the same cylinder scoring issues as colder climates.
I am in the mid Atlantic. It gets cold here but nothing like Toronto. I hope it is warm enough not to have to worry about cylinder scoring. My opinion is that most of the failures are due to not driving the car frequently enough or changing the oil frequently enough. Seems like the ones that get used all of the time and are well maintained do great.
I don't know any of the cars I know were all well maintained. Mine included. DD driven. I know a dozen guys with 996's and only like 3 with the original engine. The longer I know them they eventually go down, just takes time. Thankfully don't know anyone on their 3rd engine.
The one above is from Ontario. So apparently some of these engines make it in the cold. Your experience is a 75% failure rate. That is high even for a 996. Not sure what the mileage on those cars are. Assuming they are all say 100K or below, a 75% failure rate below 100K would make the engine the most failure prove engine maybe ever.
That is depressing.
This thread is exactly the type of web forum chatter and inexcusable lack of any factual data whatsoever that drives everyone crazy. Based upon someone saying one thing and deriving a conclusion that engine failure rate is 75% is absolutely crazy. To the OP - no offense but if you're going to use the forum to question whether you may or may not buy a Porsche and be depressed, can I suggest that you look into another brand..such as Toyota (recalled), GM (recalled)...etc. etc. ad nauseum. Also, apologies for this morning's posts...wrote a big check to the IRS yesterday and my bank account was hit with fraud yesterday...having a stressful day.
DJoe996,
I forgot the sarc tags in the post about the 75% engine failure rate. No engine has a 75% engine failure rate before 100,000 miles. I thought it was pretty obvious the experience of "I know a dozen owners and all but three of them had their engine blowup" was not in any way typical.
Instead of starting flame war, I just laid out what that observation would actually mean if it were representative.
The facts regarding this car are as you probably know, nearly impossible to come by. It is anecdotes all the way around. I was curious to hear how many positive ones there are. I didn't really bank on getting a "hey man, three out of every four I have ever seen blew up before they hit 100 thousand miles" comment.
Why not 150K Dennis? If it is still running well, there is no reason to think it will go in the next ten thousand. If it is not running well, you really didn't hit 140 healthy.
I just don't drive that much! The limit is me, not the car! The car is running well and will easily surpass 150K miles, it just might not happen until 2015!
I find myself driving this car all of the time. My motorcycle is feeling very unloved. I am very happy to hear about people like you with 140K and still going. I suspect my car will have 120 or more when I pay it off.
Brother I hate to hear about the fraud and the IRS. Sounds like you need a good drive.
I am tired of the hype over the engine failure subject. 130k still on the original ims. Watching it but driving it.
I know of several 996s in my area with close to 200k miles on them. My old C4S has around 120k on it now. Just like any other modern car, 200-300k+ miles is no big deal if you take care of your car.
I found a six speed forum with tons of them over 200 thousand kilometers in the UK. Thanks for the responses. I think some of the "I took perfect care of it and it still died" stories are post hoc rationalizations. No one ever wants to admit that maybe they messed up. Not all are like that but some.
Bottom line is that there seem to be almost as many examples of reallyhigh mileage N/A 996s as there are turbos. You would just never know it if you didn't look for them. In a month of ownership I just can't describe how fabulous my car is. These cars are like crack. I think if my engine did blow up I would risk divorce getting it rebuilt. We will see as time goes. Maybe I will change my mind. Right now, I think I just got the best bargain in cars available. People who say these cars are going to end up like 928s selling for four figures, I think are dead wrong. They are just too good for that.
A turbo will easily hit any mileage, as will a GT2/GT3, the engines are totally different. A Carrera however... mine failed at around 96k miles. Maintenance according to Porsche specs at the dealer. Oil change yearly. No warning, instant failure with cracked cylinder. Was pretty sure I wouldn't get the IMS/RMS bullet and I didn't. Oval cylinders though...
135,000 miles and running strong. I should see 150,000 by the end of the year...it all depends if I take this car on a roadtrip or not. The cars were meant to be driven. Post on forums less, drive more.
I have 172,000 miles on a 1999 C4, daily driver, year round, which I've owned since April of 2006 when I acquired it with 37K miles. No engine issues. Runs great! I always treat it gently and keep it below 4K on tac until it warms up. Uses about a quart of oil between changes, which I do every 5K.
I have 142.000km this week Bought it with 97.000km. Daily Driver, winter, snow, summer, every day. 2004 C4S. Very happy. No oil issues. Clutch renewed and replacement gearbox at 100K. ( warranty ). Otherwise original.
Had it 3 years tomorrow. Love it. Service every 20.000km with oil Change, not before.
I recently rolled 107 in my C4S, had it since Feb. Already have done 10k miles. Original IMSB. Drive it everyday, change the oil every 5k, keep the revs up (just like the old ones, I don't know why this is a new concept for some) I am going to drive it till it dies, then do a LN 3.8 baby!
