Doesn't every car manufacturer have an achilles heel (or heels)?

Frankly I am so tired of the negative 996 quality issues being the predominant topic these days on this forum. I mean it's down right depressing to read. Perhaps it's because most of the cars I read about now are approaching 8 to 12 years of age, and owners are experiencing increasing number of problems and this may be a place for commiseration. But at my age I've gone through so many brands I've lost count. My first car was in 1983 - a Daihatsu Charade - then a Mazda 626, a Nissan Laurel, then Volvo 164 and 244, followed by an Acura Legend, and many successions of BMW's (3'er, 5'er, 7'er) and then a Mercedes ML320, another succession of BMW's, and a 996. Every single one of those brands had a 'catastrophic' achilles heel that led to catastrophic engine or transmission destruction. Of course most weren't as publicly well known - after all it was waaay before the internet forums were popular. My first forum I joined was MBWORLD.org - a great bunch of guys but again very revealing on the amount of catastrophic failures plaguing MB's and you'd wonder how MB sold a single car in the US. Then I joined Bimmerfest.org, and again so many reports of catastrophic failures plaguing BMW's you'd wonder who would ever buy BMW's! So for all you folks out there with your first Porsche - we are NOT alone! Don't let all this stuff detract from enjoying your car. If you really are worried about this, don't buy it and worry yourself sick - you're missing the whole point of enjoying this car. And NO - Porsche does NOT owe you something that you think you're entitled to just because the hood crest says "Porsche"!

I had similar experiences on the Saab forums when we owned Saabs. They had issues with coils, PCV valves, engine sludge, transmissions, etc. My Saabs didn't have any of these problems. You can certainly find the same thing here - I've seen it on the Cayenne forums and the 996 forums. I don't worry too much about it - it's just information. These are problem solving forums, and so most of what you read is about problems with the cars. I just drive mine and don't worry about it. Our two Porsches are among the most reliable, trouble-free cars I've ever owned.

+1 Well, I know my RMS and IMS were done when my car was a year old by the first owner under warranty (only OEM parts obviously). But I will drive this car till it breaks. I'm sure after-market companies love to charge 2k for a bearing, And all the free advertising they get by the scaremongering. My Farther used to drive a London taxi (Austin Fairway FX4) When it was about 8 years old and had been around the clock three times the Garage showed him that the axle Had cracked and then bent and how it needed changing right then and there. He said "No thanks, When it falls out Ill change it I only drive around town." Soon after the speed o stopped working. He had that Taxi for another 12 years!. Only God knows how many more times he clocked it. It then went to carry on its life. Might still be out there somewhere. So will I be replacing Hard to reach bearings in my 996 "NO IN MEMORY OF MY DEAR OLD DAD, ILL BE TAKING MY CHANCES IN LIFE" Damm, What if I changed that bearing and the following day a tree fell on my 996. What if, what if, what if. Live your life, Enjoy what as Little boys we dreamed of.

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Aftermarket IMS bearing is around $600 IIRC.

Timing chains with Audi TTs were certainly a weakness, they were failing long before suggested replacement by the factory.

Great points guys! Virtually ALL automobiles have known weaknesses. Most cars don't have the loyal ownership following of a Pcar and as a result these cars just fade away to be replaced by a newer model. Pcars get passed on to new owners who are just as passionate as the prior one. Our cars are special to us and I for one would rather talk about virtually anything else than IMS.

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Of course they do. That's precisely the point. When you can buy similar function for 40% of the (new) price of a 996, what's the upcharge for? Porsche style, Porsche history, Porsche prestige and, yes, the assumption that a Porsche has that extra bit of engineering, that extra quality, that extra durability under high performance driving conditions. And when it turns out that they don't, owners are justifiably pissed.

roadsession, That was my point in another thread. "It's always something" (Thank you Rosanna Danna) So drive it, enjoy it, break it, fix it, drive it some more! We have got new owners so paranoid they almost have a heart attack when the wheel weights fall off.

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Frank has it 100% correct If you cant handle this, go buy a Honda like Tim I have owned many cars that had "weaknesses" to look out for, on the majority of them I never saw an issue. Not to say these are not real issues it's just that in this day if instant communication these things really grow legs fast.

yup.... the biggest weakness of them all.... the internet.

Amen, brother.

LOL @ Buy a Honda !! My suburban is wonderful.... if you dont mind the occational "seat gone wild" episodes, where the seat goes to some position set by a 4'10" WAY BEFORE my days ? ? ? It just smashes me into the wheel... NICE HUH? So it has a couple gremlins... and yea, all cars have them, or one car of all of them does and people dont come here to say how wonderful the car was today,.... they come for help on PROBLEMS the basis of this forum is problems (that is why I fit in so well ) Here is a thread of "mostly happy" stories https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...funny-sad.html

I totally agree too much attention and time is being spent on the negatives of the car. As i sat in my 996 this morning starring at the large tach before firing up the awesome engine, i was thinking what a wonderful car this is, and how happy i am driving it. ( I have owned this one for 5 years). I never owned a car that i still loved this much after 5yrs... As i arrived into the underground parking at my office, i will never get tored of the sound of the exhaust and engine howl.. I love my car,,,,

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What he said +1

I,ve owned a dozen 911s and they have all had issues with things like chain tensioners,syncros etc. I had a 944 Turbo new in 1986 which had a cam belt fail at less than 30000 mi. Since it was out of warranty but 300 mi short of the first cam belt inspection Porsche split the cost of repairs. This sort of goodwill repair is often done by other manufacturers also. GM has issues with intake manifold gasket leaks and Ford has had some early transmission failures.They will help original owners even out of warranty Less expensive cars can easily be junked by a worn out auto trans which might cost over $3000 to replace . That said I bought and sold a 996 in 3 months and bought a 993.I know the 993 has some expensive parts also BUT I no longer cross my fingers when I drive the car. The 996 doesn,t have the same solid feel of the 993. I expect the 993 to wear out over time and probably continue to be rebuildable. I expect the 996 to wear out over time also but if the engine blows then it isn,t likely rebuildable and probably will result in junking the car. Planned obsolecense like every other car, not what I have come to expect of a 911.

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now that makes alot of sense. Some people just cant live with the idea that their 996 MIGHT someday blow....

Hey wake up people, all cars will wearout in one way or another... I have this feeling too many people are buying these Porsches with unrealistic expectations!!! And the biggest complaint is the stress of something breaking.. If that is your biggest issue, then buy a 2010 and replace it when the warranty expires. my $0.02

I had a 03 mustang cobra before the porsche and the big thing with the cobra was the tick noise coming from the motor everybody was talking about. That was a big deal on the cobra forums just like the ims & rms are here. But I never had any problems with the cobra.

Of course all cars have issues.. and I am sure on the Honda, Toyota, Hyundai "boards" of enthusists this rings true. Recent mustangs had heads that you couldn't remove the sparkplug from without the plugs breaking! As to the 996, its biggest problem is the percieved and ACTUALLY build quality of its predecessor. The aircooled cars were extrememly reliable. They were overbuilt. They also bankrupted the company. Yes, they too had issues, but they were also sold in low numbers to enthusiasts.. not simply folks running on cheap credit looking to keep up with the jones (yes, stereotype here). I think the other issues is based on the owner demographic. Folks who had grew up replacing BIAS ply tires, or valve adjustments every 3K miles, or carbs that would plug up, or engines that needed replacement at 50K miles, etc KNOW that cars can break and cars can be replaced. This was why Merecedes cars, in the '60s and '70s were valued for lasting 100K miles or more compared to GM motors that couldn't get 1/2 that. I think the "new" car buyers, folks who came of age driving 1980s and 1990s "Hondas" have grown to expect a car to "never" need repair, except for routine maintanance. That a car should go 100K miles for the cost of gas, oil, tires. Plugs? many hype the 100K mile plug intervals. They are used to cars as "appliance" and not cars as "breathing, soulful characters" Folks nowadays would rather spend $30K for a new car, then take their 10 year old car (ok, even that seems old knowadays.. 5 year old car) and drop $2500 into new shocks, tires, clutch etc and run it for another 100K miles. People want ease.. They don't want inconvenience. I also think most folks nowadays have LOST a simple mechanical knowledge because there "cars, bikes, scooters, radios" just don't break anymore. They simply replace instead of repair.

My winter car/other car is a 1997 Honda Accord special edition. I swear that thing never has any problems except wear and tear. Now that's a supercar!

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OUCH Marc, that hurt ! Seriously, I have owned/driven three Hondas in my lifetime and they have all been "bullet proof." My current Honda is two years old now and I don't lose any sleep at night worrying about it. But..... it is the most @#$%^&* boring car I have owned in the past 10 years. It is an "appliance." It is a F@#$%^&* toaster with wheels! I would rather have to worry about a car at night as long as I enjoyed driving it during the day. Give me a Porsche any day! There is no substitute!

I've had several Hondas that had problems. The last new Honda was a 1998 Accord EX-V6 coupe. It had two transmissions and a head job done under warranty. Needed another transmission, and several smaller misc. items out of warranty (front calipers, wheel bearing, tie rods, etc. by 120k miles). I've had my C5 Corvette give a few problems, as did several VWs I've owned, along with Saabs, etc. No car is perfect, and I actually don't think cars are getting more disposable. The 996 has proven both easier and cheaper to work on/upkeep in the last 3 years I've owned models/worked more on them. The 944 (especially the later turbo models) were another high watermark in terms of reliability from my experience.

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The older gen v6's are a different ball game. 4 cyl are the real bullet-proof ones minus the fact they burn oil if pushed hard. Timing belt and water pump are a must on those though.

The truth is, so little goes wrong with these cars that we have nothing better to do than worry about what could. For a ten year old machine, I've been blown away by how rock solid reliable it is. This year alone, I narrowly averted a new head on the MINI, which is four years newer, had my Toyota truck recalled twice and had a catastrophic engine failure on my John Deere tractor. Meanwhile, the P car soldiers on...

I kind of look at these forums in two ways. First (but less important) is a place to bitch when we have a problem with our cars. And of course few of us are posting about the problems we don't have. Second, a place to exchange information and learn about the cars and how we can fix them. This is the best value!! I know the forums have been incredibly helpful to me in fixing the problems I have had, the worst of which was an intermix. Without the benefit of the information I have gatherer on the forums I don't know that I could have fixed it myself, or would have tried to. So I know that I am glad to have a place to air my gripes and opinions, and to learn and exchange information.