Problems to expect with high milage 996' s

Just wondering what problems have been known to occur with high milage examples.

you can allways buy mine with lower milage and manfactures warntee

Early cars had a problem with a few porous blocks, I thought all had been done but Chas McLaughlin had an overheating/water leak problem with an early 996 recently. Don' t know what the outcome was. Chas are you around? Can you tell us? I don' t think they have the same oil seal problems as the boxsters but I may be wrong. Regarding Brian' s comments my first Porsche was a Boxster S and it was fantastic but after 4,000 odd miles and a bunch of track days I have to say I do prefer the 996. Happy hunting

996' s are generally reliable, but remember that Porkers aren' t cheap to repair if something does crop up!!! The most IMPORTANT thing to do is ensure (if you buy privately) that you a/ get the car checked out by an OPC (only about £125) & b/ get it valued by an OPC buyer so you know what the cars trade value is.Then c/ check out some earlier posts about best choice of extra' s needed !! Also there are wise words about going for a Boxter S first after your TT, although the Audi TT is great car the Boxter S is faster & a better drivers car, plus you wll have a drop top...have a test drive, but ask for an overnighter if possible, to give you more chance to get to know the car .Best of luck.

Hi Kevin, I was just being politically incorrect..... as per normal. The 996 is a fine looking car and I dare say I will have one at some point. Vorland, I see you have an Audi TT. I have a turbo quattro on the drive at the moment as a buddy of mine smashed his leg this afternoon. He went off in a helicopter doped up to the eyeballs and I' m taking his TT over to his place tonight. My first impressions of the TT compared to the Boxster are that the driving experience is a bit unusual. You don' t " wear" the car as you do with the Boxster but there are a few toys I have found such as the electric wind deflector and easy to close boot. (try a TT guys and you' ll soon know what I mean). My serious advice is to try both the Boxster S and the 996 before making your mind up. You will enjoy them both.

Although the " looking" part is important, I think it is the " going" and " stopping" parts that are the best, together with the " going around the corner" part. Having an OPC check it will show up normal wear and tear items as well, discs, pads, shock absorbers, etc. I don' t know if they can tell from the outside how much life there is left in the clutch. Do they do a compression test so you get an idea of the condition of the engine? You might like to consider how the miles were accumulated. Trundling around motorways puts the least stress on a car generally, since it is not working hard and is warm most of the time, frequent track use will be harder on it, but all bits are changeable and it is there to be used (and is designed for it). Have a look at what bits have been replaced.

This weeks Autocar seems to indicate that they might?

I saw the same thing. I' m not quite sure what to make of it, but it seemed a similar issue. However, were there to be an issue, then a high mileage example would have had this replaced already. If it is a generic issue that fails repeatedly, then mileage is largely irrelevant.

You are absolutely correct about the best bits. The Boxster has the engine mounted further forward so the weight distribution is pretty much optimal. The brakes on the S version are the same as the 996. With regard to handling, I don' t think it is possible to improve the going round corners part either, the Boxster is anchored to the road. Is another £20k for a 0.3 second improvement on the 0-62mph time and another 9mph at the top end worth it ? Plenty of people think so and I' ll admit that if I' d had the cash, I would have bought a new 996. You pays yer money..... (data taken for the Carrera 2 from GT mag so argue with them and not me !)

Back to the thread..... Have you decided on a C2 or a C4?. From personal experience with my C4 - 49,000 miles at purchase (not sure how or where the car did its miles) the pre purchase inspection found 2 serious (quite expensive) items. The rear main oil and inter seals were leaking badly and a nasty squeak from the NSF showed a worn lower arm ball joint (front diff seals were also leaking btw). When replacing the rear seals the clutch was also found to be worn as the C4 tends to be a bit clutch heavy I was told. As it was in bits the new clutch was a no brainer. The car was sorted and has exceeded my wildest dreams (apart from that dream about Kylie Minogue, the policewoman and the sheep of course) and has not used 1 drop of oil in a year/10,000 miles. Only snag is the OSF is making a similar squeak so new ball joints for the other side looks on the cards. 996 or a Boxster??. Who raised that issue??? No question for myself... I' ve always wanted one. When I bought my 944S2 the salesman said that I was now on a road that had but one direction and it ends here he said pointing at all the gleaming 911' s.... He was dead right!!! Ah of course I might have guessed... [8D] Brian (I drool over my Boxster S) Fraser summed it up - If he had the money he would have bought the 996!! [ ] Sounds like the thoughts have already been circling your head Brian...[ ][ ] Now, where' s that article on the new GT3RS.........

Interesting that the subject of rear main oil seals leaking, is still coming up. I thought this was an early design fault that would have been sorted under warranty on older cars, but clearly not always as in Tim' s case !! In 98 I had my first 996 & I suppose (as they were only launched in 97) this would be classed as an " early" car. I had three main oil seal failures, untill the OPC fitted a new " modified" design & then all was well. It also suffered clutch problems, luckily all this was done under warranty. I would have thought most 97/98 cars would have had any faults corrected by now, but just in case it re-emphasisie the point I was making about an OPC check, which should include diagnostics as well as a test drive to highlight likely problems including the clutch that was mentioned earlier, the OPC' s do try to find fault' s, lets face it that means extra revenue for them.

Thanks for all the replys.... I think that I will go for a lower milage example even if it costs a bit more. The saving made on a higher milage example can be wiped out by a problem or problems that can occur during ownership. I know some of the bills can be very high.... by looking at many 996' s for sale.

Even if you go for a lower mileage model you may still have to sort the crankshaft rear oil seal -- I did on a ' 97 with quite low mileage (36,000). I also had a problem with the alarm in that the siren came on and wouldn' t go off. This required a new tilt sensor (the old one had dried up) and a new control unit. The latter they repositioned under the passenger seat as it had rusted in the original position. Expensive (£550) repair... The discs are also prone to rusting round the rear side so check those as well. I' ve been more unfortunate with this car than the Boxster I have. I' d test drive one of those as well. I like them both, but in different ways.

As someone who accessed the 996 Forum recently in order to gain an insight into 996 ownership ( I plan to buy one next Spring ) I am not at all sure that I haven' t been put off altogether from the idea of replacing my 964 with a 996 ! I say this knowing that in over 20 years of 911 ownership from a 911 E upwards, I haven' t had anywhere near the number and type of problems spoken of by 996 owners ! Perhaps I' d better make my next car a DB7 after all ! Steve.

steve lyden brown I think the best comparison on reliability between a 996 is not previous 911' s but with other new high performance cars of a similiar age. Whats to say the DB7 is not plagued by more problems. I remember that Jeremy Clarkson remarked that early DB7' s were put together like Mr. Potatohead. While that maybe overly harsh you have to acknowledge that new modern cars have much more complicated designs and options available that mean the liklihood of things going wrong will increase. Even in an age of mass production you will still get cars that cause more problems then others.... just a matter of doing your best to make sure that the car you purchase next is in good form. Good luck with your choice....

Don' t be.... After all the pre purchase issues were sorted out I have just completed my first year and a service - a ' minor' one at that - Rear number plate light bulb and lower arm ball joint. Fairly minor stuff.... Major sevice due at 24k/2years can' t be all bad. I haven' t put a drop of oil in it in 12k miles, it drives beautifully, including LeMans at a stupid rate of knots there and back.... and I normally drive it " briskly" !!!

Steve, according to the " specialist press" the 964 has a reputation of being one of the least reliable Porkers. I am not saying this to knock your choice, they are great cars, simply to illustrate that ALL Porker models have had their design faults & it' s luck/careful selection that will also influence the reliability of a 996 model as with your current 964.

Hi Vorland, I dont know how high mileage you mean, but my Nov97 996C2 has done 54k with no problems. Annual service at OPC, new pads, new disks front (wear) and more recently rear (corrosion), a few sets of contisport tyres.... By coincidence my wife has a Mercedes C250TD made in same year and month, just a different suburb of Stuttgart, which has had more replacements / repair work...less tyres though. I guess like all mass manufactured items you can be unlucky and get a bad one with faults, and the few 996s that have problems get all the publicity. The good news for people buying secondhand is that there are lots of 996' s to choose from, and their prices are depressed compared to 993' s. The early 964 also got a less than fair reputation for problems that depressed prices even for ' sorted' later cars.

Hi Grant and others, You are right about the 964' s reputation, at one time I actually stopped reading messages posted in the 964 Forum because they worried me so much- how come everybody else' s 964' s were problematical, but my one never was ? All in all, I am very lucky with my cars ( I run quite a few, including a 308, and even that has been good to me----so far ! ). My everyday wheels are a 1989 Alfa Romeo 164 V6. It has notched up nearly 200,000 miles on the same mechanicals as it had when it rolled out of the factory, and it still drives like a dream. Even the tinworm is minimal ! What I am saying ( I suppose ? ) is that I take the most severe pains to get a good ' un when I buy my cars. I takes time and money to scour the market for the best one' s, but it saves grief in the long term. I also never EVER buy a new car. The last new car I bought was a " E" Type V12 Roadster that I bought in 1972, and I am still paying off the credit card bills for servicing and maintenance on it 30 years later ! ( or maybe it is it' s petrol bills I am still paying for ? ) Steve L-B.

I' m not to sure about the problems with high mileage 996' s, but here' s my experience in my C2 (MY2002). First Service at 10,000 miles - Sept 2002 Intermediate engine oil seal (I dont think it was the RMS) and clutch replaced under warranty. I thought that' s strange these cars are supposed to last forever perhaps I' m just unlucky. Second Service at 20,000 (yesterday) Rear Main Oil seal replaced under warranty (£800 if I had had to pay for it). I am also told by the OPC that clutch is 85% worn so I might as well put in a new one as the engine and gearbox is out. Err... but it was only replaced a year ago and has only 10K miles on it, I say to OPC so replace it under warranty. No its a wear and tear issue says the OPC and that will be £400!!! I am currently in discussion with Porsche Customer relations about this as I cant afford a new clutch every 10k miles, and I am a bit nervous about the oil seals (are they made of tissue?) PS. I ran Boxster for 20k miles and didnt use up 1 clutch let alone 2, so I dont think its me. I am dreading the next service bill. Mark

Mark, Can you keep us posted please on your dealings with Porsche Customer relations dept ? I am shocked at learning of the issues you refer to. Tending to give Porsche the benefit of the doubt, I feel that I must ask of you as to was your car brand new or just new to you ? The wording of your mail leaves me in some doubt as to which applies. Cheers, Steve.

Steve, I have had the car from new. It seems that the original clutch problem fixed under warranty was to replace the pressure plate. The current problem is that the friction plate has worn through 85%. This means the friction plate has lasted 2 yrs and 20k miles. I asked if the original problem with the pressure plate could have been causing premature wear on the friction plate, but Porsche say no. So I am stuck with a £400 bill. I wouldnt mind if I had used the car on a track or driven it particularly hard but this isnt the case. Still, its only money and I think you do need to accept that these cars may run up some big service bills, but perhaps not as quick as this. And after all it is a fantastic car. Mark

Hello Mark, Man Alive ! You' d have thought that if a customer was shelling out that amount of moolah on a car, then the maker wouldn' t quibble over such a pissant issue ! Especially when, if I read you aright, there were enough good reasons to give you the benefit of the doubt ! As a Tiptronic owner ( and planning to stay that way ) I am relieved to be able to avoid any future clutch issues ! Cheers, Steve.