Is 996 worth keeping after 100K miles? How many miles on you P-car?

I have a 91 MB 300E with 189,000 miles which I bought brand new 15 years ago. With high mileage, warranty is of course not available, but repair & maintenance after 100K has been somewhat manageable. These MB's are known to last much longer than BMW's. A tax driver in Greece put on 2 million miles, and that car is in the MB museum. Ok for P-cars... I have a 01 996 with 20K miles, which is under a lease. I am thinking whether I should just buy it. I am considering doing a 02+ facelift, after seeing some picutures on this forum. Those 02+ headlights look sexier than those on 997, IMO. I plan to get a 997 in a year, but I wanna keep my 996 after the facelift. I'm also shopping for an extended warranty on 996. Is owning a Porsche 911 (regardless of year) after 100K worth the expensive repair & maintenance cost? Are there owners with more than 100K miles or more?

I have a '99 996 C4 tip here in the UK. It has 102k miles on the clock at the moment and still going strong! No major issues. I'm planning to keep it long term - had it 4.5 years already. I think that regular servicing and regular hard driving keeps these cars in excellent condition.

I think that regular servicing and regular hard driving keeps these cars in excellent condition. That's true but you missed the most important factor: good luck.

To be honest - I think the scaremongering on the net about 996 reliability issues is bordering on ridiculous. Of course, it's not going to have 'Lexus' reliability (if that's what you want - get a Toyota or Honda) - but it's a high performance sports car that has sold in very large numbers - so the law of averages results in there being more negative stories about the 996 than the 993, 964, Ferraris or any other high-performance car for that matter. No, it's not perfect and Porsche have been lazy in sorting out engineering issues (e.g. the RMS problem) - still not sorted, as you'll see from the 997 board, however, for a true high performance sports car, it takes some beating - in everday reliability and practicality. As these cars get older, new owners will have to be aware that they are buying a supercar for family saloon money - so potential repair costs are going to be high. They will have to factor this into the buying decision, rather than whinging about expensive repairs if things do go belly-up.

Does it strike any else as odd that people would suggest that lackluster reliability in a car that starts at 70K is acceptable and often rationalize as "hey its a performance car". If Honda can make a car that can produce 100+HP per liter that will last for 150K for a fraction of a Porsche why then should I expect anything less from a Porsche? Why is the quality and reliability expectation of a Porsche so low?

are you going to start this on every thread? Why don't you just go buy something else as you have obviously decided that buying a Porsche is a guaranteed disaster

Expenses will go up as old age piles on (bushings and what not may need replacing) but lots of people drive their cars with more than 100,000k miles. I plan on driving mine till the wheels fall off (er..well...again) and then i'll rebuild her and keep on driving). Pierre in switzerland winterdrives his 996 TT and racked up 256k kms on the original engine, turbos, clutch, tranny so i have no qualms about 996's lasting a long time. The only variables are how well you maintaine it and how hard you drive it.

It's all about servicing. These cars keep on going. 100K is just a number.

103,000 miles, very happy, no major repairs, daily driving, hit redline almost everyday. Lots of tires.

spiderv6 that isn't my assumption, I have just noticed a trend within this community. I wish to question the logic of the people here who I assume to know more about Porsche ownership than I do. I am perplexed by people telling me that Porsche engine issuse are way over blown and int he same breath saying make sure you get that extended warranty. I am glad to see so many people reaching and going beyond the 100K mark with little to no issues. I don't intend to offend anyone or cause trouble, I just find some of the logic a little off.

if you log on to a porsche forum you are going to hear lots of people talking/complimenting/moaning about porsches. i dont believe it is representative of the real-world situation. before i bought one a few weeks ago (see, i am no expert) and started researching it a few months ago, i had no idea that porsches regularly blow up without warning. at least thats what you'd believe if your only source of info is this board. here is my yardstick; most of the guys here are into moding the car to some extent. i'm guessing the majority here have done the basics, e.g., changing the side lights to clears. i have done that. out there in the real world, check every porsche you notice to see if they have the clear side-lights. i hardly see any. if you believe this board....EVERYBODY has done it. in the real world......do you get me yet?

There is no logical inconsistency. The decision about whether to get an extended warranty has more to do with the attitude/financial status of the buyer/driver. You should never buy a car that you think will have a problem. If a 996 passes a PPI and it has no indications from its history that it may have an issue, then I would not expect there to be any problems apart from the same types of problems that affect all cars with high mileage: normal wear and tear. If you are very well off, it would be stupid to get an extended warranty. Extended warranties are like gambling. The warranty company must make money or they would not offer it (or they would go out of business). This suggests that self-insuring is the wise choice. Nonetheless, if you could not take the potentially expensive hit that a low percentage but possible failure could deliver, then you may want to buy an extended warranty to insulate you from that possibility. You are literally buying peace of mind that you otherwise would not have. So, the decision regarding an extended warranty is really more about the driver/purchaser than the car itself. That is why it is not illogical to say you probably will not have a problem but get an extended warranty if you are so worried about it. BTW, I don't think that 996s are any less reliable than Lexus provided that they are maintained and driven like most people would drive a lexus. If you abuse the car by not properly maintaining it, or you track the car the way it should be tracked, you will incur higher maintenance/repair costs than you would with a Lexus. This is just logical.

I guess since I am in the market for a 996, I'm pretty qualified to provide "buyer's logic". I believe that the 996 is pretty damn reliable, however, if you do get a problem, it's not cured with $1k or $2k, it's like $12k!!!! Ouch!!!! Most problems I see are RMS and IMS/engine related. Therefore, you are always driving a time-bomb that may or may not have a fuse. In Ferrari land, it is extremely rare to have an engine failure but lots of little failures (which are very expensive!!). Warranties are expensive and usually don't cover everything needed to repair an engine. I plan on keeping the car 10 years at least so warranties do me no good.

WRX, I think the problem you are having is with internet fueled hysteria. Are these cars perfect, no way. However, the majority of them run great and experience no problems. Look at the JD Power satisfaction surveys. Porsche is doing very well.

Agree with TC, I do not have an extended warranty on my Porsche only because they are not valid in Germany where I live. Now I have 2 houses in the states and both of them have a home protection warranty to protect against an AC, Heater etc.. going out. Now I know that in the past 6 years I have only had 1 claim and the payout is not even close to what my yearly fees are but I can sleep at night knowing that I do not have to worry about it so it is money well spent. So drive your Porsche, enjoy it and if you worry then get an aftermarket warranty. As for me I wish I could have one but I have now had the car 2 years and outside replacing the clutch that the previous owner wore out and updating the RMS while they were in there I have not had 1 problem and drive my car almost daily at 135mph plus. So relax!

I think you are mistaken. An RMS leak can be fixed for 750 - 1.5 K, which is far less than 12k. Even if you have a catastrophic engine failure, you can get a new crate motor from Porsche with a 2 year warranty for 12K or less, which is extremely cheap and less than the cost to rebuild or replace many other engines out there. You could easily drop 12K in just routine maintenance in Ferrari land, and if you did have a catastrohpic failure good luck in getting a crate motor from Ferrari for 12K from the factory with a 2 year warranty. It will not happen . . . period. So, it don't think it is fair at all to say that driving a Porsche is like driving a time-bomb. That seems to me to be a gross exaggeration. Under that logic, nearly every performance car out there is a little time bomb. (e.g., M3, Gallardo, Ferrari . . . )

I've put 15,000 miles on my daily driver 996 since May, taking it up to 65k. It hasn't been perfectly reliable, but the CPO warranty has covered the expensive stuff. The warranty covers up to 2 years/100k, and will probably expire on both counts simultaneously. At that point I'll decide whether the reliability is acceptable for continued heavy daily driving. From other posts and the feeling of solidity of my own car, I currently think that a well maintained 996 will go well past 150k without putting the driver at a high risk of being stranded - just don't expect good maintenance to be very cheap!

My intentions would be to get a nice 1999 996, and slowly mod over the years and keep it for a very long while... I guess all I can do is what you would do with any car. Be well researched, look for a well sorted car and PPI it... then just drive and enjoy. PS: I hope I haven't been to big of a pain in the ****.

No, it is normal to be concerned about any purchase of this magnitude. A lot of us are just trying to give you good advice without making claims that we can't substantiate.

Oh yea, the darn internet and no emotion in the delivery is hard at times.. I do appreciate all the help that I get hear, I try to play "worse case" but feel that I may come off poorly at times. Working in automotive for 12 years may have helped make me a little synical as well

rms leak is just a leak, few oil spots in the drive way, in way will a rms leak make your engine blow up. unless you just never put oil back in it, typical rms leak though would take 100k trackj miles to leak out all 9i qts

How many of you guys leased your 996 vs bought one? When I get my 997 probably next year, I 'm planning on leasing one. I read that with expensive cars, it is more sensible to lease while it's new and under a bumper-to-bumper factory warranty. Of course you could get an extended warranty later on, but less mileage cars have less problems. Has this been you experience? Besides, selling the car after ownership is such a waste of time. I had tough time gettinig rid of my 1999 740iL at a wholesale price, and I finally sold it to a used car lot at $2K below wholesale. Should I lease or buy a 997?

With Pcar depreciation starting to become more like mainstream cars' depreciation, I don't think I'd buy a new one even if I could afford it. The CPO warranty covers most of the really expensive stuff, and the $20k+ you save over a new car should compensate for any other repair bills

Here is my take on this: Buy a low mileage, 2-3 year old car with records. Save on the depreciation/sales tax/excise tax, and play with it on the balance of the factory warrenty. Perhaps, as stated above, you have a low financial threshold for repairs, get an extended warrenty for a few years. The warrenty may even help you sell it in the future if you want to change

I had 160,000 miles on my '91 C2. With enough items needing repair I decided to take it off the road for a ground up rebuild (it will become my track car), and after some patient searching bought an '03 C2. I will drive the '03 until it reaches the point of the '91. It will then give up its position as daily driver to another P-car, and the cycle will start over again. I will probably never buy brand new (let the other sucker absorb all of the initial depreciation), and will hopefully never have to sell one of the P-cars. Of course at some point I will need more garage space.

My 2000 C4 TIP has 93,000 miles on it, but just 1,000 miles on the rebuilt ZF Tip S tranny. I still love the car and plan on driving it for several more years. I was a lot happier with it 2 months ago, when it was the most reliable car I had ever had. But I cannot really complain. Over a 7 year period and 92,000 miles, the only money I put into that car was oil, filters, one set of plugs, one set of front brake pads, several sets of tires and gasoline. My 928 has 101,000 miles on it, and I put over 90,000 of them on it. It has its 4th clutch in it, its third water pump and timing belt rebuild. All in all I probably spent the same maintenance money for the same miles, on both cars. I like the C4 a lot. But I an disappointed that the tranny only lasted 92,000 miles. Just one person's experience......

I'm at 58K Miles.

I've been reading your post lately and I pretty much agree with you 100%, yet I ended up purchasing a 996 and love it, 2 RMS's and 1 coolant tank later.