60k unexpected maintenance unhappiness

I guess I pay to play. In less than one year... 58k - 60k service. replace spark plugs, change brake fluid, change tranny / diff fluid, oil change. tiny crack in 2 coils, but no CEL, so did not replace. $450 at indy 60k - clutch died. replaced clutch and RMS. $1900 at dealer 63k - coils died. replaced coils and plugs again. $750 at indy 65k - oil changed. diy. $80 by myself. 68k - new winter tires. $850 at discount tire. 69k - water pump squeal. replaced water pump, gasket, serpentine belt, coolant. $1050 at dealer. 70k - oil change. diy. $80 by myself again. if I had to do it again, I would strongly consider something like this, so I could have saved a bit of labor, time, and frustration: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...eted-more.html but driving it daily still gives me a smile. =)

I'm curious as to why all the plugs would need to be changed when two coil packs go bad?

bale, nothing in your list is dificult for a DIY project. You could read up on it, get a manual, and go for it. Some just seem to frown on those that choose to do so. IMO an easy way to save money.

The plugs & coils, while more involved than many other cars, is a rewarding DIY service. Why did you go from Indy to dealer & then back again? The dealer beat you up pretty good. You can pick up a new OEM Porsche Water pump for $263 & a whole set of coils for $300. Of course this is parts only.

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I agree. Everything on your list except tires and clutch could've been DIY, even for a beginner as I would consider the difficulty level to be on the low side. There are many detailed instructions out there. If maintenance cost is becoming an issue, you really need to asses what is a doable DIY in the future or save up more money or sell the car. Those are your only options. Well... Unless you are handsome enough to date a Porsche mechanic. lol

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I'm not daring enough to do a clutch yet but I've DIYed all the others myself.

DiDO...NICE....More HP than the the 997..money and time well spent. '04 996 40th Anniversary

Thank you for sharing the cost of the repairs. Not many of the posts include cost and it is a nice frame of reference for some of us who may have have these same repairs coming in the future. Would it be safe to assume adding another $1000 to your clutch job if the IMS was included?

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I have to say this; I don't think most folks frown on someone doing a competent DIY service. I do however personally frown on folks being critisized and lambasted for choosing not to do so. Everything is not always equal - time, tools, aptitude, knowledge, or money. Your way doesn't need to be my way, my way doesn't need to be your way. That's just life bud. Most important, in my opinion, is that these cars are properly serviced and maintained as scheduled/needed. If one chooses to pay for this, that's all good, if one chooses to DIY compentently and save some cash or simply because it is satisfiying, that's all good too. I am one of those guys who has chosen to pay. However, if time becomes more available I am about ready to give some of the simpler repairs a DIY try. I have been remodeling a house ongoing for quite some time, so usually it comes down to do I DIY on the house or do I dust off the tools and work on a car? You ever pay a plumber or a tile setter recently? Makes my dealers hourly labor rate look like a gift. Yet the cost of paying for service on two of these things is noticable - I am grateful that I never had to carry a car payment on either of them, not sure I could pull off the ownership if I had payments on top of service. And yes Krazy - you do share good DIY information and that is appreciated. Wrench away. And oh yeah - I am addicted to driving these things. I have options in the driveway but darn, I only drive a 996 every day and I am starting to believe that I am about as insane as other people accuse me of being.

silotwo, well said!

Silo, thanks. Im about to post several more. Just organizing the info and pics. Im trying to prove that even a Porsche n00b like me can do basic to moderate maintenance like all fluid changes, plugs, clutch, RMS, IMSB, etc. with no previous Porsche experience. I think it just rubbed some the wrong way because I didnt experience 10 years of Porsche mechanic dues or something. I am now confident I can disassemble the valve train and top end if I need to. These cars are fun to work on. For instance, a 996 plug change is easier than my V6 Rubicon. These cars are not the super secret complicated maintenance nightmare some would have you believe. You know so much more about any vehicle if you are the one crawling around under it looking at every detail vs. "just drop off at dealer or indy".

+1 for silotwo that is correct I mean owning a car and doing some of your own work is awesome - and the OP is but not every home owner wants to install new sewer pipes even though it is not all that technocal - **** flow downhill....got it - doesnt mean I want to do it - and you fail to recognize the failures may have required diagnosis sure swapping coil packs isnt a huge ordeal - maybe being stuck with a CEL on the side of the road is and getting a rental for a day while the tech figures out your car has a small issue and it will be back on the road tomorrow is great news for a worried owner to the OP my only advice is never total the receipts - never, ever enjoy the car and when its not enjoyable buy something that is oh and mute/ignore Krazy

I am going to look at it from another angle. KrazyK's DIY is full of information even for people who are not going to DIY. OP could have saved money from his repair bill by planning his maintenance by doing a bit search and research here. Example: Do the coil pack at the same time when changing plugs. They are know to fail. It is not a if but a when with these cars as they age. OP could have just paid for the parts in the 60K tune up. Another one is to pay an extra $600 for a IMSB when doing the clutch and RMS. The thread link you posted do not provide a good "while you are there" work list. AOS is better to be done with clutch/RMS and IMSB. Water pump, expansion tank and belts are another set of related work. OP, I am sorry that you are going through this but these cars are not cheap to own and your maintenance costs are in line with expectation. Those costs can be managed better if you pay attention to what the mechanically inclined members are doing. They won't do the same work twice because their time is valuable too just like everyone else. This is a technical forum with a lot of valuable information that can save you money even if you don't DIY.

Agreed chsu - I am not adverse to DIY - just don't care for people being blasted or belittled for not doing so. As to saving money - yes there is a lot to be said for understanding these cars and economy of scale. Bundling work, if your shop is open to working with you instead of trying to bill individual book rates for each job, can save big labor dollars. I recently caught my service writer billing me an additional $450 for labor, buried in the invoice for an IMSB retrofit, but he also charged for the clutch and AOS replacement. I brought the invoice back and challenged the charge and was immediately credited with no questions asked, but the service writers face was bright red. Had I not understood the service I very well might have accepted the charge. So yes, knowledge is valuable and always good to be open minded and learn. Parts - again if the shop will work with you - I buy my own OEM parts at about 40% below what my dealer charges, my dealer will not negotiate price on parts but they are very agreeable to installing the parts I provide. Add to that the 15% to 20% service discount coupons they keep on hand and apply, when I ask, and the savings are significant.

there is a lot to be said for DIY and there are a lot of variables - for example I replaces ALL suspension bushings, shocks, and torsion bars in my car at home, new wheel bearings at all 4 corners, brake caliper rebuilds, new brakes and upgraded to bigger brakes. Made and installed my own shifter, changed seats, front and rear spoilers, upgraded headlights, tune, plugs, valve adjustments, exhaust swap, oil changes, batter, alternator, washer pump and a list so long I dont recall everything but I take the car in for yearly inspection to my indy - because a second pair of eyes is a great thing and I have my indo do some things - one of which is trans oil (which couldnt be simpler) BUT I cannot jack my car up flat so when i fill at home it's at an angle which means i never get it full - the shop is great fo that because the lift raises the car level - I also have my indy do fuel/air setting as I dont have those tools so when it comes to doing things yourself the reasons NOT to range from time, space, ability, tools, temperature outside, and TIME Heck it's not uncommon for me to take a LONG time to do a job - and this isnt my only car. For some it is. Some live in apartments, or have no garage, or snow on the ground or have medical reasons why yarding out a transmission on their back in the garage is just plain stupid to attempt - NO I get it....and yes he might have saved some money - but time is valuable to. as for not doing the IMSB @ the same time, that doesnt make sense but he didnt say if it had already been done either - which it could have been...the while your in there lists always need to be addressed or the penny wise become dollar foolish cheer and happy hump day

bale, see what I mean? How dare anyone have a different opinion than an expert. Good luck whatever you do.

LOL @ expert I just have loud fingers

This forum has a lot of banter and may give some members a feeling that we like to spend other people's disposable income when it comes to modding. It is true... However, you can get excellent advice when it comes to maintenance and caring for the car because we are all passionate about these cars.

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Don't worry I'm an "expert in learning" If everyone tells me it takes 2 hours to do a job you can count on it taking me 6 to do the same thing!

Right on Fernando - you know how I roll!! nothing like a long weekend to do a simple job....the rewarding blood on the floor and the wondering if it will ever go back together..... but as stated, there is nothing that cant be done - heck there are people who have rebuilt their engines on the ground @ home, several of them here - and KK makes some good points dont mute him if we all agreed on all things then really only one of us is needed and the rest are not needed at all - it's the diversity of answers combined and averaged that yields the correct response - no one person can do what a group can do

^ now you tell me that I am not perfect... My life is ruined. I should have kept my head buried in sand.

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If we all agreed we would be talking about the best cupholders and how to pick lint from our headliners...no thanks!

My goal is to learn what I can from everyone, even those that enjoy internet punching me. In person Im sure we would all have something in common about our passion for the 996 and working on / improving it. Its just the internet, which is quite entertaining at times. No joking comments I make are to be taken seriously or meant to be insulting. I have to be professional at all times in the real world so I am quite the internet goof sometimes. I apologize if anyone takes the "nonsense" parts of my posts seriously.

Which one of those shiny, silver things is a wrench?

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does anyone know what kind of fluid goes in my 710 fill hole?

Do you think $119.95 is a fair price for my dealer to top off the halogen fluid in my headlights?

I'm still trying to find my muffler bearing!!

anyone know how much weight these save ? http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main...products_id=39 the website doesnt give weights of theirs -vs- stock

Thanks for the link. I immediately placed my order for this.

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When were you in my garage watching me? Do you also have the Busted Knuckle garage sign? Repair and Despair under One Roof?

I have no shame in admitting that I am a "plastic mechanic" .....good thing I have a local indy who is honest and fair.

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Unfortunately, I'm restoring a car that I took apart a few years ago. It will be interesting if I'll be able to put it all back together from memory as I don't have manuals or didn't take any pics or label anything. I just hope I'm able to complete the project before I get Parkinson's or inhale too much paint fumes and kill off the remaining few brain cells I have...

LOL - this has me recalling many,many,many years ago in auto mechanics classes. One was on rebuilding automatic transmissions, back in those ancient times we were taught to rebuild and repair rather than simply swapping parts. Anyway, you'd have a tranny case and a box of parts and the task was to assemble the trans, install it on a test bed, start the engine, and the trans would have to hit all of it's shift points and of course not leak or blow up. There were a ton of jokers and I always was afraid to leave the bench and go out for a smoke for fear a joker would take one of the parts (yep, smoking was permissable back then, all you had to do was tell the instructor you were going out back for a smoke) But we had one really good joker - I had my assembly complete and ready to bolt it up until I found "one" bolt left on the bench. I was definitely in oh crap mode and picturing disassembling the monster and getting dinged on my build time. Luckily the jokester couldn't contain his laughter - the sob had slipped an extra bolt on my bench, something I never thought of. I wonder if this long term memory is a sign of early Alzheimer's? Problem with having two 996's is when you carry both keys and stand in front of your car like an idiot pressing the key and panicking that it won't unlock the car. As it shouldn't because it belongs to the other car. Just did this tonight leaving work. Yeah, I use different key fobs but then I'd have to pay attention.