Ta-daa! 100k miles, Baby!

Today I rolled past the magic 100,000 miles on my 1999 996 C2 coupe. Original engine, transmission, clutch, RMS, IMSB, and rear brakes and pads. Pictures are posted below to commemorate this special occasion.

Mark, your 996 always looks so nice. A big congrats on achieving 100k miles. I feel bad having only 64k miles on my 'original' MY99. Nice going!

Thats some nice photoshop work...but we all know M96's dont go past 50K J/K - Congrats. I will be there soon

Great to read about a 996 that hasn't (what reading forums would lead one believe) blown up with various RMS, AOS, ect. ect. issues. Congratulations!

I have been waiting all day for the pics. Congrats to you and Big Red!

Congrats. Let me guess, you keep a rabbits foot and 4-leaf clover in the car at all times, then drive with fingers crossed while knocking on simulated wood dash trim?

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He also rubs his belly in a counter clockwise motion. As a frequent passenger in his car, it's a bit awkward to watch.

looking great !

Guards Red cars last longer...

nice!! just turned 142k miles in my 03. the only foot I have in my car is a lead one.

99's rock. nuff said. The red looks awesome !

Great post Please give us your service Methods Were the miles highway or Around town Any other info would be good slso

Thanks guys! I hope to roll the odo again at 200k. Krazy K, yep, lots of good luck is a very good thing with 996's. Also lots of quality and timely preventative maintenance, and the occasional track time so Big Red knows I still love him. And if it all comes apart at some point, I'll just do whatever it takes to put it back together, again. I expect the clutch to be next on the list of things to go, and when it goes, that means the obvious upgrades at that time. Until then, it gets more daily driving, more fun road trips, more track time, more QPM, and more fun mods as time goes by. I will be the first to admit that I have spent a ton on maintenance and mods since I got this car in 2004 (with only 6,500 miles on it then - THANK YOU First Owner for spending all that money on depreciation and giving me a new car at half price!). But every penny has been worth it for the thrill of driving it and the pride of ownership (yeah, the red gets a lot of attention). And for me the math always works out best to keep this one no matter what it needs in the future, and to keep driving it every day.

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Zanzibar, The driving has been a mix of daily commuting in suburban traffic (but few trips are less than 10 miles each way), road trips, and 19 track event weekends on this specific car. I have never trailered it to or from track events. It takes me there, gives me a thrill, and brings me home. It has NEVER been garaged. I do have a nice car cover which I use at night to keep the trees and birds at bay. I put a light coat of wax in it every few months. No grinding. I live in North Florida, so although we have winter, it doesn't snow, no ice, and no salt. So the car is never stored. Driven pretty much 365. One of the few advantages of not putting it in a garage, is it is always in full sight, ready to go. And so I choose it rather than my wife's Honda. And driving it almost every day keeps the lifters full of oil, so no clickety-clack on starts. ALL service has been performed at my local Porsche dealership. EVERYTHING. Even the mods. Maintenance routines followed to the letter, with oil and filter changes at twice the recommended rate (usually about 7,500 miles). I have not waited for things to break to fix them. I did the water pump proactively at 60k (including a full coolant system flush) and it will get it again at 120k. Replaced the AOS at 45K and 90K and same with the plastic coolant tank. Why wait for known disaster to visit me on the highway or track? Also chose to have the manual transmission fluid flushed and replaced at 75k. As for the xxx and xxx, I live for the danger! LOL! If/when it goes, I am prepared to deal with it. Simple as that. I do not drive in fear. And I have never had any weepage from that area, yet. Yeah, maybe some day. Just not right now. I check for weepage every oil change, and clean the area thoroughly each time so that I will know if it starts. I also have a magnetic drain plug. I always cut open the old oil filter to look for specs. Always put a fresh filter in, and a fresh seal ring on the drain plug. Being here on the Rennlist 996 Forum has made me aware of potential problem areas, and provided me with a wealth of knowledge. You have to carefully sift the wheat from the chaff. AND JUST DRIVE THE CAR! And it may just be that my car was a "Wednesday car" and none of my attentions would have made any difference.

TT - congratulations! Looks good! Keep going and going...plenty of miles and smiles to go! Joe 99 C2 Coupe - 125,000 miles Daily Driver Original engine, transmission, RMS, IMS, clutch, etc.; Lots of love and attention

Mark, Great post. FYI-we have some P-car things in common, plus I'm a former Florida Crown member (had to move back North for family reasons a few years ago). My '99 cabrio (68K miles), Guards Red, is a sweet heart, too; totally original except for coolant tank (it was leaking) and water pump (a recent PM measure). Previously, I also had a '96 993 cpe and then a '97 993 cpe; both great cars although the '96 was a Tiptronic (a slug of a transmission)...I simply could not adapt to that; so, sold it and found the '97, 6 speed, Guards Red (of course). Looking forward to your 200K report. relinuca PCA Ohio Valley Region Porsches Forever PS: Bummer about Brumos dropping their racing program.

Congrats Now on too the next 100K. Also a nice looking Donzi.

Welcome to the club. The engine is officially broken in now and is ready to be driven.

I like these type of threads. 88K on my 99 C2 6sp coupe. Daily driver too. All the maintenance is always done as scheduled. Like you, a few bolt on items have had to be replaced but nothing major. Interesting to note: I had the window regulator (driver's side) and the window motor (passenger side) replaced recently by an independant Porsche shop and the tech told me to red-line it a couple times. I usually shift around 5k rpm. I was thinking.... with 88k, I don't know about that. I guess these engines are really meant to wind-up. Anyway... glad to hear your story.

Congrats! 127k here and didn't replace the IMS until around 115k. She still runs strong...

Talking about preventative maintenance, I had a very interesting visit to Porsche of Beachwood last week. East side of Cleveland. Porsche of Beachwood is the "surviving" dealership after Roger Penske bought out and closed both the Stoddard and Fred Baker Porsche dealerships a couple years ago, built a brand spanking new dealership in a different (richer) part of town from either of those, and pressed on. Beachwood was a Premier Dealership last year, pretty amazing considering the incredible metamorphosis it went through over the past 2 years. I was invited to tour their service bays, and specifically the engine rebuild shop. My guide was Kellen Miller, their chief engine builder. He just happened to have an M96 engine completely disassembled on the benches. WOW! He gave me a piece-by-piece walk-through of the internals and the heads. He prefers to use the late 997 MK I IMS (THERE, I said it) shaft because it is so much more robust than the older ones. And although he has a lot of respect for LNE and their products, he said that you are only replacing one end of the potential problem. Yes, it is way more expensive and complicated to break apart everything to install the new shaft. But way cheaper than a replacement engine. His statement was that after 100k miles, that a good refresh (block split apart) on an otherwise healthy engine would run (dealer pricing), about $10,000 split roughly 50/50 between parts and labor. This includes magnafluxing the heads to look for cracks (intermix), and porting and polishing the heads for major flow improvement and a maybe 20 more HP. Plus all new electrical and internal wear items. I did not ask for all the intimate details as I was on a "bonus" tour, not a tech session. But I am strongly considering this to be the perfect "intermediate" solution between the LNE IMS bearing retrofit, and a new engine. This way I still have "my" engine, and it is fresh and ready to go. To me, $10,000 is an extremely good cost/benefit considering you also get a Porsche 2 Yr warranty on parts and labor (good anywhere in the country), and a free brand new Porsche loaner to drive while they do the work. Here on Rennlist we don't discuss much that "intermediate" solution. It seems we either say go for the LNE upgrade (which does not address any of the other 24 ways an old engine can die suddenly), or wait-and-see 'til it blows and then buy a new crate motor. Since I am not a penny pincher on service and maintenance, and I am definitely NOT a DIY guy, I am now reflecting heavily on spending a couple more weeks in Cleveland, perhaps next summer. The polished heads intrigued me. Not a bad time to also get new motor mounts, and do the next round of water pump and AOS. Yes, the clutch and all that too at the same time. Then, it is just parts, with no additional labor. The motor is out and completely disassembled anyway. And the 997 shifter... And those new shifter cables... And... well, you all know the "fun" list stuff. There will be those that argue that the cost would not be recovered when I sell the car. Then again, where can you buy a 996 with a FRESH engine for $10,000? I have no plans to sell right now, anyway. Or I can park it from fear, and have this really red object d'art in my driveway.

Now Mark, you know you are seriously affecting my soon to come offer to buy your car? My unbelievable and amazing paint restoration that I will soon perform on Big Red will not be enough to compensate.

Looks great! 110k on my 99 & going strong....

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Gator996, Call me at your convenience. Big Red will be available for a week very soon for your more-than-capable hands to bring his finish back to perfection.

^^ Will do my friend.

Great thread and nice 996! Awesome to hear the original equip is going strong and all the best with the upcoming maintenance. ....no need to park her in the driveway for any extended period!

Congrats Mark. I see you out and about once in a while. You must live on my end of town (south Mandarin). You're car always looks great and you also always throw a wave. Hope to see you at another PCA event soon.

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2006 Donzi 22ZX. Last "civilian" production 22ZX built (there were 5 more built after mine but they were purchased by a government agency and fitted with 50 Cal. gun mounts). This one was known by the Donzi factory to be their last one so they did it all up with many options and graphics not normally available. They took it to the Miami Boat Show in early 2006. I went to that boat show, saw the boat, and forgot about it because I already had a smokin' fast 2001 Donzi Classic 18 with the MX 6.2 MPi motor and Bravo One outdrive. One month later, I stopped by my Donzi dealer to see what they had around, and this boat was on their showroom floor (apparently with my name on it - "But, Dear! It followed me all the way home - from Miami!) and I took it home. They got the 18 in trade. I have never been happier with a boat. Right size, right speed, right maintenance, right size for trailering, right size for lakes, rivers, or open ocean running. Not planning on selling it either. All of this reminds me why I should keep Big Red. And now back to our regularly scheduled topic... LOL!

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Jim, Not sure what my next major PCA event will be, but if you want free pizza for dinner 6/5/2013, show up at the monthly board meeting at 6:30, this time at the Hospice headquarters on Sunbeam Road. Easy-peasy!

Congrats. Heres to another 100K!

I just turned 101,000 miles on my '03 C2. There were no problems at all, but I got paranoid about a potential catastrophic IMSB failure, so a few weeks ago yanked the engine/tranny and did the LN IMSB upgrade, replaced RMS, water pump, all belts and hoses, and every other item that I felt was an item that was nearing or at the end of its useful life, even though none of those parts had failed. Cost a pile, but the peace of mind was worth it to me.

Nice....Mark, here's to another 100K miles and smiles.

Gator996 is taking my car for a few days later this month to whip his cosmetic magic wand on Big Red. So the next 100,000 miles starts with a rejuvenating spa treatment! (Does he cover the headlights with slices of watermelon since there are no cucumbers that big?) I couldn't be more excited!

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I actually painstakingly slice up grapes and cover each headlight. I leave soothing music on all night so it won't be lonely and a night light so it won't be scared in the dark garage. He may not want to ever leave Spa Gator.

I like to read these facts. I have a 99 C2 Cab with 65000 on it. 99s Rock. I M H O Nothing very smart to be in a financial position to have Porsche work on your 911 as is the case with Mark. The smarter more satisfying and classier act I consider to be the DIY man who brings his car to its first 100,000.. Hey that's only in my Honest opinion.