996 Reliability

How Reliable are used 996's? I might be looking at a 2001 or so coupe, 6mt, 30k miles or so. What problems seem to be re-occuring. Thanks guys

I just love it when this question comes up each week. Search for engine, RMS, oil, then sit back and suspend reality.

Get A PPI. If it's a good deal...buy it. The only thing 100% reliable is the fun, everything else is left to chance.

i wouldn't buy one. likely to explode seconds after buying it. go visit the bmw forum, really, go go go.

996's are very reliable - just make sure you get one that has maintenance records and has done all the regular scheduled maintenance.

Kcryan, I got one because I knew they were great cars. You will never get a straight answer on "how" reliable they are, especially on this forum. I suspect they are very reliable but if that is the ultimate deal maker a Toyota would have to be your first choice! My '03 has been great, bought it with 5k miles on it last April. It did have a RMS leak, warranty repair and needed wheels balanced. I would say get one as new as you can and get it with a CPO warranty. That way, if anything does go wrong you are covered. Makes that easy and quite possibly eliminates the need for a PPI inspection unless you feel better doing that too. Certainly both a PPI and a CPO car will give you great peace of mind.

So far mine has been great. Granted I haven't had it all that long - almost a year. Of course, I am waiting for the engine to explode at any moment! I figure it's a toss up which will happen first, engine explode or getting probed by an alien spaceship! In all seriousness though, it has been great so far. I have had a few maintenance items done, new clutch, new oxygen sensor, new brakes. But then, I burnt the clutch up so only I was to blame, the oxygen sensor was cheap, and the brakes, well they just needed to be done. Find a good indy mechanic with reasonable rates and it's not bad at all!

I think reliability isn't a huge issue....I believe not getting screwed by the dealer is the bigger concern IMO :P. RMS is $800 (that's the commong problem). Engine replacement (due to chronic RMS, or slipped sleeve) is the huge one! thanks, Amir

Like everything else it simply depends. You can ask the question about a BMW and there will be lots of people talking about what a nightmare they, but I had 5 of them and combined I put close to 600k miles on them. I spent about $3,500 total out of my pocket on repairs for those 5 cars. I would say they have a remarkable record. OThers will say it is the biggest piece of **** they ever owned. Porsche is the same. Many on here have had cars that are totally bullet proof that they drive hard every day. Others have had for whatever reason nothing but trouble. One poor chap replaced 3 engines in his car. I bought mine new broke it in according to manufacture stated guideline, but had an engine failure at 5k miles on my MY2004. It has been trouble free since, and I hope and expect that to be the case the rest of the time I own it. I guess what I am saying here is there is no real solid answer to your question. If you want a best guess I would say yes they are generally speaking very reliable for a sports car that is driven very hard most of the time. Is it perfect? No. Is that reliability similar to Lexus? No. Then that should not be your expectation for a car you will spend a great deal of time driving near the redline. IF you find one you love get it checked out. If it passes inspection buy it. I do not think I could recommed strongly enough getting something with the CPO factory warranty. I think the cars are great and generally reliable, but I will not own one out of warranty.

Probably more reliable than Fcars.

996's suck: engines blow up. rms leaks, keys stop working without a reason, tire wear too fast, expansion tanks leak, and much more......if you are unlucky you will get all of these problems!! BUT if you are lucky you get none.....and a lot of fun driving a sportscar EVERYDAY!!!

Leaky engines which may cost you $700-$1500 every few years or less and a slight chance of your engine blowing. Other than that it's reliable. lol!

Buy one and less us know how it works out! Seriously, very soon someone will do a poll which will finally, without doubt, settle, once and for all, how many engines fail on these cars, why, and how often. Then we'll all know. Except... Unless... they used the wrong oil, and that's why the engine blew up. Seriously, look at the car, if it looks nice, get a PPI, if it passes, try to get a warranty and buy the car. You will do much better owning it if you can do most of the maintenance and minor repairs yourself. Michael

If you pay Porsche to have an oil leak repaired, you will have a 2yr/unlimited mileage warranty on that repair, (as on all Porsche repairs). I wouldn't want a newbie to think he will be paying $700-$1500 to fix the same oil leak every other year. Generally, 996 engines are pretty much dry.

Good point!

Read this article on RennTech http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=6470

Ray, This should be THE standard reply to all new threads of this nature, as well as all threads regarding the M96 engine. Thanks for the reminder of this article.

agreed.......

Great article, but "a 996 engine that suffered serious damage due to (purposely) contaminated fuel." Huh?

Angry girlfriend??? Who knows......but they obviously know why the engine failed.

The "search" function is not hard to figure out. I can't believe these posts keep sprouting up.

Actually, 996's are incredibly reliable for what they are.

All my previous cars were Japanese and never gave me any issues. I was in your position as well where I wondered about how reliable the 996 was. After months of research, everything showed that these are very reliable cars and I ended up buying one last year. I've never looked back! The car has been super solid and is definitely the best "all-around" car I've ever driven. Unfortunately circumstances have changed a bit so I may need to sell my 02 996 when summertime arrives but it's definitely been a awesome experience.

I did a fair amount of research before entering the wonderful world of Porsche and have no regrets. Find a well broken in 2002 or newer 996. Review it's service and ownership history and take it in for a PPI. Have the PPI requirements/repairs done by a Porsche Dealership, then NEVER GO BACK!!(unless still under warranty!) Instead find a qualified small Porsche shop, ideally with a Porsche Master Mechanic at the helm and simply maintain the car according to specs and common sense. They're well built, incredibly well designed cars, but a 911 is a pure blooded sports car. Likely the most dependable in it's market sector.

Unless your independent offers the same 2year/unlimited mileage warranty as Porsche, some repairs may be better suited to the dealership service dept. (such as RMS).

Buy the Feb. 2007 issue of Total 911 on the newsstand today. It talks about how reliable the 996 is and the lower cost of ownership. Example; clutch replacement for a 993 is 12 hours vs. 3 hours for a 996. People are putting more mileage on the 996s than previous model cars so there's plenty of information out there on how well they are measuring up against past models- very well. Zero problems with mine since new so far except creaking plastic on dash and Bose speakers; tech alert available at dealer, and it's an easy fix. 911 & Porsche World in December '06 put out a comprehensive buyer's guide for the pre and post '02 996s worth getting. Good value for the money compared to other models since so many were made and prices are lower. Excellent cars if you can tolerate the abuse for owning a watercooler.