I heard '99 996 6spds had bearing issues? Is this true?

Will Porsche even attempt to help me with my transmission issues? This sucks. Anyone have Porsches Customer Service number?

1-800-PORSCHE

Keep us updated.........

Porsche said only if I was the original owner. Bunch of crap considering the car was a CPO Porsche and that warranty ended 7 months ago.

Nick, just playing devil's advocate here... How can one expect the manufacturer to cover a tranny on a 7 year old car with close to 70K miles??? After this much time it's clearly NOT a manufacturer's defect...

Sorry, Nick, but I'd have to agree wth Eli on this as well. I would not be surprised if you get the cold shoulder from the ol boys at Porsche North America. It is a 99, and with high miles... I doubt they can offer much assistance on this issue

To answer your orginal question. Don't believe everything you hear. There is not a problem with the bearings in the 99 transmission.

I called because Porsche admits that there is an issue and has been fixing the problem in the past. Plus the fact that the car was a CPO Porsche and that warranty JUST ran out. Did I really expect them to do anything, no. It was a shot in the dark. AND 68k miles IS NOT high mileage. Too many Porsche owners think that cars with more than 20k miles are high mileage. It's a car. A 1999 car that only has 68k miles on it. That LOW mileage... I don't care if it is a Porsche. And for a $70k+ car to have a transmission that goes out with less than 70k miles on it is ridiculous.

I agree 70K is low miles.... but i see no reason why Porsche should be held responsible... it was clearly not a manufacturers defect. If I were you I would go down the insurance alley... thats your best bet before biting the bullet.

A transmission bearing that goes out after 70K miles. That's wear and tear. No more, no less. Nothing, whether it costs $70K or $1M, lasts forever. To expect anything to do so, now THAT is ridiculous.

NICK, i whole heartedly agree with YOU! My bearing is bad at get this...47K miles. I really just dont think some people are willing to listen and believe that IT IS possible for a well known reputable company such as Porsche to make a crap engine/tranny/differential. After all, look at the demographic they cater to. People with enough money to **** in the wind and say at times like this, OH, my tranny went out? OK, put a new one and just send me the bill. Those are the fortunate ones. (when i win the lotto i'll be fortunate too!) but for some of us who grew up desiring a p-car throughout childhood and promised ourselves one after we made it in life, or to treat ourselves finally, are really let down by the CRAP quality of the vehicle overall. To think this vehicle is supposed to be designed and engineered to tolerate 10X the abuse level that most of us put it through...what a joke. Anyways, I got word finally from an inside source that the cars components were specifically designed not to be servicealbe, but to just be changed. such as the diff/tranny/engine. They are actually DISPOSABLE units. Can you believe that? Well my time and money are not disposable, and I suspect you feel the same. I am moving on to better quality cars and from this point forward would only lease a p-car. That way I can throw it back in the face of the dealer. It would actually be more cost effective in the long run to lease a Porsche for 2 years, than save money upfront and buy used. CPO or Not. I hope it works out for you. OK ALL YOU GUYS WHO WANT TO BASH BACK. GO FOR IT. ITS YOUR TURN.

Go buy a F.O.R.D. you'll be going through trannies like kid's diapers..

Hey. I think this thread is gonna be fun now ;-) Well - here's my 2c. They don't make Porsches the way the way they used to.. so what. I'd say around 1988 or so they woke up and realized that to survive they had to create a more consumer oriented product just like all the other car manufacturers.. and I don't think the modern cars will last the same way as those end of that era group of cars. It was time to realize that it wasn't cost justifiable to have the goal of making cars that last forever. Well guess what.. BMW and Mercedes did about the same thing at the same time. Mercs are not tanks anymore. In 2030 you won't be seeing 2005 Mercedes diesel taxi cabs going strong. Cars have changed. Now to imply that Porsches are crap.. well that's kinda weird.. and to say that a tranny should last for ever is a little bizzare too.. because trannies are like brakes. How long they last depends on how you (ab)use them. And other cars.. Jeez. I'm not American, but I live here.. and I look at cars like the new Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum and I like them.. but I've had them as rental cars and holy crap - these things are going to be in bits in 3 years. My 6 year old Porsche may not be in great shape in 25 years from now but it's in friggin good nick for a 6 year old.. My 3 year old Saab is doing OK. My parent-in-laws 1 year old Jeep is showing it's age! So. As far as the money goes.. I did my research. These cars are not cheap to own. I could have afforded to get one 5 years ago - but I couldnt' have afforded to own one carefree.. so I waited until a $10k garage bill is something that would make me mad, but at the end of the day is no big deal. If someone stretches to own the car and something goes wrong, well I feel for them.. that's hard - but come on.. own a pcar and expect it to dig into your pocket in terms of maintenance and depreciation.. that's just the way it is.. and if someone finds that to be a suprise AFTER buying one.. well then not enough homework was done upfront. Keith

Some have made some great points here,and I would agree that Porsche is not making cars as tough as they once did. Let's be honest here our cars are faster,brake better, handle better then most on the road, so yes its a sorry thing to hear you need a tranny but the car is 6 years old and it has some miles. I think you should do this, think back to why you bought the car ,once you remember why go to the dealer pay the pay , get back in the car and not worry about a tranny breaking for 6 more years and 70 more miles and enjoy the dam car. If you are not willing to pay the bill you shouldn't own a porsche.These cars are not cheap to buy and they are not cheap to own.

Come on folks. Porsches have never been cars that you drive, put oil and gas in it and expect nothing to brake. Every model line has issues that need to be watched or upgraded or fixed. That's what Porsche has been from the beginning. Their reliability has probably improved from the numbers standpoint. It took a brush with a buy out from a fellow German brand to get them to rethink how they built cars. With help from a group of retired Toyota executives, the 993 was born. It came out of the factory with fewer problems than the previous models. The early 996 clearly continues this trend of successive models improving upon their older siblings. Yes, the cars are expensive. They have always been expensive. Are they worth it. Well, that's a value judgement and I'm not about to try argue with anyone about this. I just spent two days at Laguna Seca and there were two F430's at the event. Yes, Porsche has shown some arrogance with its customers. This is especially telling in their lack of admission of problems with the RMS and ceramic brakes. They have continued to try to find fixes for these problems however. Nick, are you having transmission problems? There are a lot of rumors out there. I have yet to read that transmission bearings were an issue with the 99 996.

I've owned my car for 3 years and I have LITERALLY spent less than $200 on a "repair". It was the reverse light switch that needed to be reaplaced. Everything else was regular maintanence. I've changed the gear oil twice since I've owned it and change the oil every 10k miles. I perormed the 60k mile service myself for $220 and have been working on cars for some 20 odd years. This has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. I tell people that and they all say the same thing. They all thought that Porsche's were expensive to maintain. This has been my first experience with any sort of failure on my car. So yeah, it sucks and I don't and can't look at it as if it doesn't bother me. I've never heard of any transmission problems associated with my model year until yesterday and that even seems to be a hit or miss sort of thing.

Exactly what gear oil did you use?

Mobil-1 LS 75W-90. Porsche shop's been using it for years. http://www.mobil.com/USA-English/Lub..._ls_75w-90.pdf

Since that lube is not what is recommended for both transmission syncro's ANY LSD, I would suggest that you first try refilling your transmission with the Shell Transaxle lube from Porsche. It will cost you no more than $90 for 3 litres at the dealer.What is in there now is not a trasnaxle lube.

Hey Nick I have had a tranny put in my car, It was broken the first day I picked it up new from the dealer, OK i understand mine was a warranty, but I gotta say you have done well by doing all the service your self. Enjoy the car even if it did break you have an awsome ride that i am sure 99.9% out there would love to own your car.even with the broken tranny. Try e-bay for trannys I see them on there allot. Cheers Paul

Thanks. Currently I am waiting on the insurance adjuster to look at my car at the shop. Hopefully it will be repaired/replaced that way.

Lot of good points on this thread. What bugs me about Nick's situation (and I'm sure many others) is that the transmission is only sold as a unit thereby ensuring a large replacement cost. Why can't Porsche sell the components so that a rebuild can take place? I can understand the former policy early in a model's lifecycle when most transmission problems would be handled under warranty but as the cars age you've just got to expect that components are going to wear out. Good luck with the insurance adjustor.

Problem solved! Bye Bye P-car (minimal $$ loss ) hello #$%#$@!? P.S. Went to toys for tots off reyes adobe. Saw Rennlisters there. nice to put names with faces. and some future acquisitions!! good luck everyone, Peter

That's what will happen to mine if the insurance company doesn't repair my car.

A few years ago I had a problem in the transmission of my 993 C4S. A small dowel pin had become dislodged in the "reversing lever" of the internal shift linkage. I sent the transaxle to Brian Copans, the leading Porsche transmission expert for Porsche racing teams in North America. He new exactly from my symptoms what the problem was. The cost to remove and reinstall the transmission, freight to and from his shop, the parts to repair, plus his flat rate labor was just over $2000. While "we were in there". I upgraded to different gearing and steel synchros, but that's a whole other story. I asked him about the reliability of Porsche transmissions and he pointed out that the pre 986/996 boxes were quite stout except for the LSD. He described the newer boxes as "disposable Toyota transmissions" and he didn't bother to work on them at that time despite his knowledge, tools, and available parts. He told me that weren't designed for rebuilds. The labor alone was far too expensive to make an economical repair. His advice then was to replace the transmission with a salvage yard item or a Porsche factory remanufactured transmission when they became available. I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but I trust the source. Cheers,

Nick - What happened with insurance? Did you resolve the transmission problem? Ross

I spoke with the adjuster on Friday and called yesterday for an update as to WHEN someone will be coming out to inspect my car. Not a returned phone call as of yet.

Did you try changing the tranny fluid?

I did that the day of. No difference.

What kind did you put in? Not the same as you stated above, did you? You have to use a transaxle gear lube an it may take a few trips to get it to dillute the wrong stuff.

People will lash out at me for saying this but... SELL IT and move on! Its not the last P-car on earth. If you really like them, like I still do. Then lease one and get rid of the headache after 2-3 years. JMHO.