996 Reliability Issues

As you can see below, i'm a 993 and not a 996 owner, so please know I'm NOT dissing the 996. However, I did want to pose a question regarding the reliability problems that have been occurring to that version of the 911. Case in point, I have some friends who have purchased new MY2003 and even MY2004 996s and have experienced engine failures. The latter had just 300 miles on a new 2004, was out for a short drive and the CEL lit up. He immediately pulled over and shut the engine off. He called his Porsche dealer and spoke with the service manager, who tells him that there probably is no problem, that it's probably just a faulty light and bring it in in the next few days to check and be sure. You guessed it. The poor guy fires the engine back up to drive directly home, however, the engine grenades before ever getting there. In my opinion, it is "understandable" that Porsche could/would have some reliability problems with the water-cooled engine the first year in production.....and maybe even the second year.....but still five and six years later? I'm concerned for two reasons - (1) wondering about Porsche's quality control overall and (2) because there is a possibility I might consider the 997 after it's introduction. (Of course, I know it's generally not wise to buy the initial model yaer of any car.) Everyone's thoughts?

Any car could grenade on you. Just bad luck. I have had a 02 996, 03 TT, and now an 04 996 and drive them all very hard from day one without any problems. My older cars, however, have been complete money pits. I spent close to $ 15,000 on repairs this year on an 88 and 90 cabriolets that checked out on PPIs.

Maybe it's not just bad luck, there are just too many examples. Another car without the sex appeal of P cars would go under or suffer with such reports. Hyundie comes to mind. I mean.. my god 23,000 mi & not tracked? in 2003??? It's a sacriledge that P engineers haven't corrected the RMS issue for such a mature model. It's unbelieveable their reputations are still in tact. I don't think they have earned the religious passion bestowed on them.

I think every brand of cars has it's ups and downs. I mean you can go to any car forum and hear people with problems (some major) and hear others with no issues at all. I think it's just luck or in some cases dumb luck if you get a bad car.

I've been a participant on this board since 1998 when I got my first Porsche, a '99 C2. And I also speak as an owner of an '02 cab that had an RMS problem. However, in all honesty, I think one has to wonder whether the experiences related by a limited group of "enthusiasts" such as ourselves are really representative of Porsche owners as a whole. Indeed, the number of respondents to the recent poll regarding the reliability of the '99 models was only about 200 (if memory serves) vs. the tens of thousands of cars sold. Compare this with the JD Power survey which gave Porsche one of the highest ratings for reliability. For myself, I've had two 996's which were/are daily drivers. The first had 50k miles and my current car has 35k miles. Neither one ever let me down on the road, which to me is the true test of reliability.

I think we are finding that the people with problems seek out the boards to look for help. This results in the the problems all being publicly aired. There are definitely problem cars, and we definitely hear a lot about them. However, as far as I know, published surveys such as JD powers and even our own little survey here at rennlist show that a significant majority of 996 owners have no or minimal problems with their cars, with the 996 being up there as far as satisfaction and reliability. I am one of those completely happy with my 996. Unfortunately, there are always a few bad apples in an otherwise excellent crop of cars. I sympathize with the 996 owners with problems. But, compared to the anecdotal reports we have in the boards, I think the broader surveys are more of a true measure of the satisfaction and reliability of the 996. And those numbers are excellent.

i have had 8 different porsches from 1986 until my tt now, and overall, i have found p-cars to be extremely reliable.

Well I guess I'm cynical. Ever since my Boxster experience, when the car was in the shop for 160+ days in three years of ownership. PCNA took the car back within two meetings w a full refund. So why would someone by an S after that experience? Because PCNA took care of their responsibilty w/o Bulls**t. If it wasn't under warranty I'd still be stuck with it. But I have no illusions about the reliability of the product. Every time I start the S or the C2 I'm not surprized if it doesn't start or if something breaks. I never had those feelings with my MBZ, Lexis or Jeeps. Its remarkable what bringing a car back & forth to a dealer dozens of times will do for the product credibility. I'm surprized at the religious zeal in which these cars are defended, even when a RMS occurs with an owner. I'm not making judgements, I'm just surprized.

After two days driving a minivan due to sloppy weather. I fired up the new C2, backed out of the garage, no oil, no smoke, no strange noises, just mechanical perfection ready for adventure. Another day in Porsche paradise. I wonder if any other car endures such intense passion and scrutiny which will amplify any problem.

bmw had TONS of probs w/ E65, E46 M3 w/ engine explosions, and now many E60s are self destructing. sometimes u get lucky and your 99 c2 can be trouble free for 100k miles w/ good maintenance, sometimes a new 04 c4s will cause nothni but trouble