Engine failure

I need some real help here if I am to avoid a large bill for a new engine and/or a protracted legal case and/or a big loss of goodwill towards Porsche, none of which I really want. What is the likelihood of a crank casing on a 4 year old 996 cracking? Full OPC service history, 42,000 miles, one previous owner from whom the OPC was happy to take the car back after 3 years, and one careful owner since. Used daily. I have spoken to two Porsche engineers and both say they have no idea what could cause this, and only one of them had ever seen it happen before on a 996. Is it fair for me to infer from this that it is component failure rather than "breakdown"? People keep muttering about the fact it is out of warranty, but as far as I am concerned, a warranty is just an insurance product and has no bearing on the quality/reliability of major engine components. I think these should last longer than 4 years/42,000 miles on a £85,000 car. Should I be grateful for the discount on the new engine that Porsche is offering me or should I be insisting on a replacement engine or repair at Porsche's cost? Please note there has been a little previous discussion of this under another topic but I have started a new thread to save hijacking the other topic.

Sale of Goods Act 1979 ""¢ For up to six years after purchase (five years from discovery in Scotland) consumers can demand damages (which a court would equate to the cost of a repair or replacement)."

Sorry to hear about your problems. Unless it could be proved that this was caused by some form of abuse, I think Porsche (if they are being honourable!) should cover most of the cost's as a goodwill claim. I have had to claim out of warranty on a few different cars (including a clutch on a previous Porker) & even Ford (on a Cosworth) were ok in asking me to pay what I thought was a fair proportion, whilst they paid the lions share. I thought the standard procedure was to have a warranty inspection of the component by a representative of Porsche Germany, who then produced a report. Has this been done & how much are they asking you for ?

Shouldn't all used Porsches from OPC should come with full Porsche warranty, renewable annually (at your cost after 1st 12 months)

To reply to Grant and Gary at the same time... No, the OPC has not mentioned getting Porsche in to do a report. I'll take this up with them. They have offered me a substantial discount, however, on the cost of the new engine and labour (1/3 of original quote). The car did come with a warranty when I bought it from the OPC last year. It expired this summer and after due deliberation I decided not to renew it. I set myself a servicing and repairs budget of less than the price of a new warranty and frankly did not expect any major repairs such as this in a 4 year old car with less than (at the time) 40,000 miles on the clock. Sadly the car's spec did not include a hindsight package!

Higgy, I don't think a third off list sounds very fair, unless they can prove that it was caused by some form of abuse, their diagnostic machine can tell them if it has ever been over revved etc. If I was you I would take advice from the citizens advice & strongly pursue the OPC for a goodwill claim replacement due to original engine having a manufacturing fault, why else would it fail at 40 K. They have a reputation for reliability & quality to uphold !!

This was exactly my thought a few hours ago, but then I started thinking, well, do I want a protracted legal battle and the car off the road for months while it is resolved? If I go with the offer I spend not much more than what I would have spent on a new head gasket had there been no underlying fault, and I get a two year warranty thrown in. If you think that is heart ruling head (the car is used daily and we have a strong emotional attachment to it) then please scream at me louder. Everybody's thoughts are welcome - they are bound to be more rational than my own.

Definitely sounds like heart ruling head to me; at the very least you should speak to a Citizen's Advice Bureau or a solictor and get some advise with respect to the Sale of Goods Act. I'm no lawyer but I would argue that this car falls under the category of being "not fit for purpose" and hence Porsche should offer you more than a third off. Altimately if, after taking legal advise, you decided to go along with their offer and not take the matter further, at least you know in your own mind that you have explored all the options and will not be kicking yourself in a few months time for not getting legal advise. If it were me, I would take this further. As Grant said, they have a reputation for reliability & quality to uphold and it concerns me that a Porsche of this age and mileage can fail. Good Luck!

Barry, many thanks for the impartial advice. Just a note to anyone else who wants to join in, the offer is 2/3 off, ie I pay 1/3. PS Yours looks nice, do you want to swap?

Two thirds off is more like it but maybe with the threat of legal action you can push them to a little more. Thanks for the offer to swap - I'll have to get back to you ...not!

Engine failure is one of the worst things that I have been through in car ownership. I had by TT chipped by a well known group which I cant say ( begins with 'S' ) cos they will lauch their solicitors on me again. To cut a long story short a lean mixture caused bad detonation. This was after 3 remaps to get higher power figures. It took about a year to resolve and I ended up 4 grand out of pocket for a new engine, turbo, manifold and fitting. But in life you take your hits and this was one hell of a hit. Personally I would rather get the car on the road as quick as possible and concentrate on more positive things. Thats what the experience taught me. I am very sorry to hear what has happened.

I am going to bring this thread to a close as the new engine is on its way from Germany and I am still good friends with my OPC. For future reference, I took legal advice on this. As (a) it was highly unlikely that the crank case was cracked when it left the factory 4.5 years ago (or else our little ride on the back of a tow truck would have happened before now), and (b) the car is out of warranty, apparently I have no claim against Porsche as the manufacturer. The Sale of Goods Act talks about 'fit for purpose' and even about 'reasonable durability' but it applies to the new product, not after you have used it for several years. BUT, I do have a claim, I am told, against Porsche Finance as it is with them that the contract is held. And they sold it to me only 1.5 years ago which certainly calls into play the 'reasonable durability' question. The equivalent is buying something from a shop and it stops working after a while - the shop is liable, not the manufacturer. As I bought it on finance, the contract is with the finance company, not Porsche itself. Regards and thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. It has been a great help at a very stressful time.