Care and feeding of Newbies

WOW! I was sitting and jawwing today with the Service Writer at my local dealership and the topic of XXX came up. He said he got a call a couple weeks ago from a guy who had just bought a 2003(?) C2 and had it on a flat bed headed to them for a complete engine repair. Seems the guy had introduced himself on an internet forum and in the initial hazing process one of the responders (in jest) remarked that the newbies engine was about to blow up because of the IMS problem and that he should have it flatbedded for immediate surgery. The newbie, not knowing any better, and not the least bit familiar with the XXX and its history, thence upon shipped his car. That forum was US. Guys and Gals, I enjoy a light hazing for the newbies (post pix or it doesn't exist) but if we jump out there with stuff these folks don't know, we are really going to send them away mad forever. If you can't say something nice, PLEASE be very careful what you do say to newbies. The poster cost the newbie a bunch of money for nothing. Newbies really DON'T KNOW everything you believe you do and are here for guidance and hopefully some comraderie. If YOU have a bone to pick, don't pick that fight with a newbie. Thanks. P.S. To that poster who thoughtlessly caused this, I hope you think about it for a while before you post back here on this thread. Flame away. I'm not a newbie.

Well said

Proof of the posting Mark. Link us to the Newbie posting and the response page. This seems so unbelievable that it just could be TRUE lol.

Hurdi, I am not going to search. Feel free to do so yourself. However, I distinctly remember reading that very thread and post MYSELF a couple weeks back and thinking the specific post was a little strong, and not "supported" with laughing emoticons or smileys. That is what caught my attention to the story today.

Im sorry Thunder dude but that story seems a little out there. #1, nobody is that f-ing stupid or he couldnt tie his shoes or feed himself. More IMS BS. Please link to the post, otherwise that was just nonsense. Or,,,, are you just messing with Gator???

I just erased a good size blah blah blah rant......I realized I was saying walk don't run. Newb this means you.

Nope, not messing with Gator. He and I are close buds.

If the story is true, I dont think thats helping him.

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Too late for him but not for the next guy / gal.

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Very hard to believe without seeing the post in question. I read most of what flows through here and I do not recall anyone ever giving such specific advice. That said, your thought that we need to be a more welcoming and tolerant place is on the mark. Unfortunately some recent strange troll posts have got regular users now looking for trouble. Everyone should really think twice before throwing rocks. This is supposed to be fun and enjoyable.

There have been so many jokes and funny things said about the 996 engines blowing up I find it very hard to believe this so called "n00b" came here, read the one post, panicked, then flatbedded his Porsche away for service. If indeed this "n00b" is this mentally challenged, he needs his DL status reviewed by the MAB immediately. Maybe theres a contest to how many IMSB threads can be started in a week. This reeks of some stupid urban legend or Thunder is just messing with everyone. I did read somewhere that the IMSB issue is related to build date and serial number of engines, so who knows.

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You got that right!

Wow....when I first started reading the Rennlist posts, I must say as a new person, I was a bit intimidated by some of the responses to simple questions and therefore just read. Yes, a person should search before asking questions on widely publicized topics like IMS but IMHO we should all be more welcoming to the new folks....remember, we were ALL new at one point.

i like boobies what were we talking about? right - rules for newb's I dont feel it is appropriate to comment on a car with regards to condition or service or mods until after all the hello's, welcomes, and congrats on making the choice to buy one of these piece of craps are all done --- in fact I cringe every time someone says to a newb - these damn acronyms - let them bask in their ignorance for a while and for sure if they post - just bought this, never had one, dont know anything, love it!!! - let them if they post, researched, ppi's found car 2000 miles away, flew over, had the IMS replaced before i took delivery --- total different guy...haze that dude!

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YES!!!! Me too!

With all the info and misinfo being generated on any Porsche forum, don't you think it's everyones responsibility to search and read "before" a knee jerk repair is elected?

hey Steve, how about you --- you like them Gator's

I'm all for being nice to newbies. But, If someone accepted an engine diagnosis from a random person on the internet who had NEVER seen their car, I'm guessing they have bigger issues than flatbedding expenses. For example, they are probably mailing frequent checks to Nigerian princes. Oh, and stay away from WebMD. You are likely to self-diagnose and mail your spleen across the country.

^^^

Sounds to me like a bunch of BS. If the guy posted here about a problem and the advice he was given was to flat bed it to a dealer or an indy as to prevent any damage. That is sound advice and not a waste of money.

I dont think he was posting about a problem but found someone who implied all cars have a problem and run to fix it before you regret not running not a waste of money - maybe poor form - maybe dumb response to internet advice - oh yea

OH , and no one implied it was this forum feeling guilty are we?

Exactly, which is why I doubt this entire stupid story unless we see the post, pics, flatbed bill, and sworn affidavit from victim.

yea, I want sworn affidavits from ALL YA ALL's

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Not I. But the original poster did post I would never recommend to flat bed it when it has no issues. Fact is I would only recommend replacing the IMS when your all ready doing the clutch. It's a wear item and even replacing it with the stock IMS bearing is fine.

I'm still stuck on boobies.......what is this post about?

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who died and made you a moderator? If someone is dumb enough to take one person's comments on a message board as fact, they get what they deserve. Not to mention, while his IMS may not have been bad, the repair is always a good idea.

He should have flat bedded the car to Japan.

Thats what I said! But it would be cheaper to ship it than to haul on carrier. To have it flatbedded, he would have to use the ice bridge from Alaska to Russia then to China.

Rather than limiting what people say, I have seen some other car forums where you can agree/disagree with a post. I have seen some horrible crap posted as experienced advice. Some of it would damage your car if you followed it. It would be nice to be able to flag some of that. At times I've wondered about some posters' sobriety at the time of their posts. Forcing them to blow in a tube before they can click [submit] seems a bit extreme. (....finding that they were sober when they posted it might be even scarier....) I try to couch advice on a forum as, "Last night a guy at a bar said......." At that point, I can decide whether to take it at face value or seek more info before acting.

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+996 Just for fun everyone should do a search under their name and see their very first post. It would be interesting to see how many people's first post was met with hostility and such. I'm guessing not for most. IMO, I think it helps to be a lurker and soak in various info first so that you're questions will be better structured when asked and you'll minimize the chances to introduce the types of drama we've had here lately.

FWIW, we have lost or not properely articulated the perspective of the engine issues. as it seems only the problem cases make it to the forum.. We all know there are a much greater number of 996's running without engine issues, but no one seems to grasp its the minority and not the majority of these wonderful cars incur problems. As the more expereinced group we must help newbies understand the merits of the cars instead of the low likelihood of engine failures. We can influence positive change...

I'm betting the service writer was playing with Thundertub. Or a guy that flatbedded his car was playing with the service writer. Any wild story is believable as far as being sourced from the internet.

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I don't believe that. This forum is a very small percentage of people who own 996's. A few facts World wide there where 175,262 built, minus the models who do not share the same engine. Lets say 1100 GT3's and 16,965 Turbos, GT-2 1,287, turbo cabriolet 3,534, turbo s coupe 600, turbo s cabriolet 960 To me the 996 production seems like a small number. When talking to many different independent Porsche mechanics. I hear about these engine going all the time. These ones are never reported on our forum. The forum doesn't even come close to the total number of owners and many owners who own a 996 don't even know it's a 996. Considering the amount of posts that do pop up here. I feel to me it is an alarming rate.

I heard there would be boobies.

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And if that is the collective attitude of this community, pretty soon nobody with any sense will come here and it will just be a bunch of crazies circle jerking themselves. I'd rather not lose this forum.

And we go from one extreme to the other. Are people here having that much trouble getting the humor and inside jokes? Man, lighten up. The OP was a joke from the start. You have not seen the link yet, right?

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All due respect, neighbour, I don't think "feel" is a useful contribution to the knowledge base on this topic. In fact, there has hardly been a useful contribution to it in years, AFAIK. All we get is the same complaints and fears, over and over, ad nauseam, all absent data, none illuminating. Here is what we actually know : 1. It happens. 2. Preventing it is relatively inexpensive. 3. For some mysterious reason, it hasn't happened enough to land Porsche in court, despite the wealth and personality of typical Porsche owners, and now that the cars are officially old, it never will. Thus, we can conclude that Porsche will never help, but the odds against us are still slight and, for those who need their odds to be even more favourable, a few hundred bucks will do it. Otherwise, I just can't see what we get out of flogging this horse, turning owners into anxiety ridden basket cases, beating resale values to a pulp and inviting trolls. I'd love to read something new and useful on the subject. Failing that, I'd love to read about how everybody is enjoying their cars. Seriously.

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Interesting. My first post was showing off the *** of my C4S. My 8th post was complaining about the 997 rumored to have the same engine design as the 996. 04-14-2004, 04:27 PM 04-14-2004, 07:55 PM And just this Nov, pretty much did what I said back I'd do back in 04. Though I didn't trade but added and to be honest totally surprised I said it so long ago but I have been disappointed in every newer model since. Here is the new DD while the m96 waits to be dealt with one day. Rebuild or find a donor, decisions decisions.

more boobies. less sobriety checks! this is a funny group - and BTW the forum rules state none of my early posts be available for viewing as I was a real moron --- wait, what??? WAS?!?!?!?!?!

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There are other ways for these engines to die. IMS is only one of them. Do so if you like but I'd rather hear the truth up front and I don't believe in Santa Clause.

I think my first post was about boobies........otherwise known as sweater puppies, jugs, mams...and to add to this nutty thread a music interlude.......www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzsjUI754Yo

You ask for boobies? There are many types of cleavage!

^^^^Well uh........geebus......holy clap.........me want!

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+996

AWE - NOW THAT's SOME GOOD TECH FORUM MATERIAL - hmmmm me remembers them good ole days Marc's hair falling out you know the ones

This thread reminds me of the Unicorn and Dolphin lovefest.

FWIW, boobies would always make a great first post and have most in agreement rather than disagreement. Just wished there was a heads up or something for the people at work. NWS material link would be better. Maybe we make an informal rule where you must present some boobies along with the mandatory car pic? j/k

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If you feel that strongly, then maybe you're not a candidate for Porsche ownership. To me, the possibility of engine failure is a concern and worth trying to prevent. The rest of the stuff that people fallaciously try to lump in as "ways for these engines to die" just goes with the territory of owning what you have already pointed out is a low volume sports car. Anyway, it's all going to be moot next week, after the Mayan apocalypse causes every engine in the whole world to blow up.

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I would lie a signed afidavit showing your report card as a child - my thought is that in the "notes" section yours said does not play well with others come on - we are here to help you.....fess up

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Exactly. I can relate....

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dude - unnecessarily posting this. I clicked to see boobies and all i saw was a freakin' accordian covering her t!ts. i left disappointed.

-be nice to newbs -ims -engine damage -risks -unicorn and dolphins -boobies -disgruntled guy that didn't meet his expecations What? Seems like Deja vu once again.

I'm not a 996 newbie yet, I'm still searching. But I like boobies, just as long as they aren't saggy or manly.

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if those were the only ones being shown in a room - they'd be looking OK

I bet KK has boobies.......

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LOL didnt know i'd get labeled as that guy

hahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa @ Pete

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I am SO in love at the moment...

Sooooooooo glad I am not a newbie