Extended Warranty - A Wise Buy?

Hi everyone, As a new member I am seeking some advice from all you experienced 996 owners out there! I own a 2003 996 4S, full OPC service history, done 32K miles, just had the 4 year service which it sailed through with no problems reported. I was asked by the OPC whether I would be interested in taking out the Porsche extended warranty at a cost of £895 per year. Three questions: 1. Does it represnt good value for money? I can hear you say that like any insurance, if you make a claim it is worth every penny, if not it was a waste of money. But in general what would be your advice? 2. For those that have made a claim, was it starightforward or do Porsche look for a "get out" where every possible? 3. Are there any restrictions on the warranty that I should be made aware of? I will be interested to hear your view. Regards, Steve

I have had a couple of claims and it was very straight forward, no quibbles at all, but others have had different experiences

I would say an emphatic yes. At the outside, it's insurance against the gearbox and engine where they ever to give up the ghost. £895 plays upto £12k for engine replacement. for me, that was a lot of piece of mind and a no brainer when you think of how much is tied up in the car (financially and otherwise) I have had no problems on those parts covered by the warranty.

My old GT3 developed an engine rattle that required an engine re-build, Not what you expect on a 3 year old 11k car, but was delt with on the Porsche extended warranty. I was most impressed, no problems at all other than some parts took a few weeks to arrive. When you see the price of the parts alone ( about £4k ) It was well worth the money. I also had a new steering rack a few months later, again delt with on the warranty, again no problems encountered. My personel views are, When you buy a second hand 996, Get the warranty for at least the first year, until you get to know the car. Hopefully you will never have a claim, but if something big goes wrong, you will be glad you did.

Steve This is a very common question and a search on the topic will provide you with plenty to trawl through; although as someone once said before, it may leave you feeling more indecisive! The warranty does not cover everything, for example the cooling system expansion tank (for some unfathomable reason). However, it does now cover RMS failures and other common oil leaks, which it didn't previously. There is also comprehensive roadside recovery assistance included with the warranty although I'm not sure how much this is actually worth. I had asked the same question, and ultimately made the decision to buy the extended warranty, the principal reason being to cover the cost of an engine failure, the cause of which can be varied on the M96 engine; but that's another subject. Now this bit may raise a few eyebrows. When I was enquiring at my OPC about warranty coverage etc and seeking advice on 'whether or not to buy', I was told that if my 996 suffered an engine failure for example, and I had declined the offer of extending the warranty, Porsche would take this into consideration prior to making any 'goodwill' contributions to the cost of repairs! [&:] (Interpret that as you wish!)

No pressure there then. Blackmail is the term that springs to my mind. Interesting piece about the warranty in Peter Morgan's column in 911 & PW this month. Seems like passing a 111-point check is no guarantee that the car is a good one.

Firstly, thank you to everyone that posted a reply to my questions regarding the extended warranty. My conclusion is that for peace of mind it is probably worth the outlay. If I did have a problem with the car, without the warranty, £895 could be very quickly spent at an OPC! One further question, a lot of threads refer to the RMS, what does RMS stand for? Regards

I'm not going to renew mine when it runs out. I have never renewed warranty on my less superior cars such as Saabs etc, why should I have to on a high quality product like this. If engine relacement stats are that bad, then there is a big problem. An amount like £895 pa can buy alot towards normal wear and tear in my mind! My view anyway![ ]

RMS is Rear Main Seal, where the crank exits the case.

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Hi Dylan, I guess it's like any insurance, you pay your money or take your chances! Everyone has their own view, but how many of us would pay for a warranty extension on normal cars? I nearly bought a yacht instead of the car and I wouldn,t extend the warranty on that either!

Agree totally. I took the warrantee on mine primarily for peach of mind re engine issues, so was well chuffed when mine went in for a service the other week and the OPC service manager phoned me up sayig they'd detected a leak on the front nearside radiator and were going to replace it under warrantee.

After spending my hard earn't cash on an 03 C2 I wouldn't leave home without the warranty. 895 is a small percentage of the cars price for peace of mind Had two small claims so far. A switch failed so the alarm woudn't set properly and an electric windown switch problem. All sorted out under warrnaty no probs

You're right of course, but I think the main decider here is the risk of engine failure as these units are known to blow. Problem is, we don't know the actual extent of failures because we don't have any figures to go by to enable us to weigh up the risk; so it's a bit of a gamble. Nevertheless fail they do - and if they do, it's a lot of cash to stump up at one go. BTW, any reports of 997 unit failures at all or do all the M96 issues seem to have been sorted?

Yes, but you do get a Porsche chocolate biscuit with it as well, what more do you want? Sheesh, some people. [ ]

I guess another way to look at it is that its less than 9 hours labour at an OPC

The Porsche Extended Warranty is an insurance policy, and the premium will have actuarially calculated to meet the anticipated claims and provide the underwriter and retailer with a profit. The modest premium of £895 pa would indicate a relatively low claims expectation. However, being so inexpensive (less than £18 per week), it makes sense to renew and maintain it. It covers most eventualities, from a new RMS seal to a new engine. It also makes any Porsche much easier to sell privately.

Without shooting me guys, I really don't think these big ticket failures are common place, perhaps I've jinxed myself now[ ]. I am just so sick of the amount of insurance policies we have to take out on everything we own, sometimes you have to take risks. Don't you think if a 997 engine blew without missuse, Porsche would goodwill a repair? It wouldn't look good in the paper compared to a guy with a 25 year old Skoda who still on his original engine! I know the engine is less stressed but you can see my point.

Wow - you've found a cheap OPC. Mine is 110 + VAT, so its less than 7 hours labour !!! Where do you go ?

Maybe its 110+VAT. Can't remember. But either way its not a lot of labour for a 895 peace of mind on cars that costs a small fortune to buy and run. I'll be renewing mine in September for sure

Hi Guys - I'm with JPBecker on this one, these cars are supposed to be at the pinnacle of engineering, they probably are never driven to their maximum performance in the UK I have been quoted £325 for what seems a better policy by "Car2Cover" they are registered with the FSA, a possible drawback is they cap the labour rates at £70 p/h but they reckon that they can make a deal with most main dealers. My car had a new gearbox after 5 months (1,500 miles) under Recall A212 - can anyone tell me what the problem was, I purchased the car in 2006.[ ]

Welcome to the forum Geoff! I haven't heard of any transmission recalls on the 996. Where did A212 come from?

Thank you I found out about the recall when I asked my OPC (Chapelgate Bournemouth) if they could provide me with any history of my car, they had supplied it new in June 2002 and had carried out all of its maintenance etc. they very kindly printed out the history and I found that in Jan 2003 there is an entry which says "carry out 6-speed manual transmission recall A212 scope 2, which was costed as £5110.90!! not bad for a 5 month old car - the gearbox does have a bit of a "whiney noise" which I accepted as being due to the cars performance, hence my interest in the extended warranty questions. 996 Carrera 2 Coupe 2002 face lift Lapis Blue 11k miles must get out more![ ] MX5 1.8i Merlot 1996 - something else for the weekend![8D]

Havent heard of that one before. There are a few on the VOSA and AA web sites, but nothing on transmissions. It might have been a "Workshop Campaign" rather than a recall for safety reasons.

Personally, and from bitter experience, I wouldn't touch a 3rd party warrantee company again. I don't know anything about the one you mentione, but my experience is 3rd party warrantee co's always try and wiggle out of every claim and make it as difficult as possible to claim. A quick look at the one you mentioned states that they require the car to have full service history with VAT receipts according to manufacturers spec which must be within 1,000 miles or 4 weeks (either way, whichever comes first) of the due date/mileage. So, for starters, if you don't have a service hisory with actual garage receipts, all of which are within those dates/mileages, i wouldn't bother taking it out - they'll likely use that as excuse no 1. Secondly, they won't cover any seals. So the RMS is not covered. 3rd; they won't cover 'inherent' design faults. Judging by the number of cases of 996 engine failures due to intermittent shaft failure and/or cylinder liner going oval and/or cracking, they'll use that as an excuse not to cover it. Finally, no corrosion is covered. So the replacement radiator I just had on the OPC warrantee would not be covered. Generally my view in life is you get what you pay for ... with the exception of 3rd party car warrantees, where most policies are not worth wiping your derrier on. .... just my opinion ...

Thanks for the info, I am also sceptical of these policies, hence my post seeking any feedback - as usual the devil is in the detail. Based on other members experience of the OPC warranty it seems that it is not without its caveats - I'll probably not renew the policy and put my hands in the " legendary build quality" of Porsche. I have taken the liberty of emailing your excellent points to the company concerned and I await their reply with interest.[X(]

Hi Steve, Definitely worth it. Here's why: - 1. Engine failure at 118,000 miles without Extended Warranty cost to me = £11,400 (currently in "negotiations" with Porsche GB for a contribution due to manufacturing defects i.e. cracks in one half of the crank cradle.) 2. Took out Extended Warranty on 1st May 2007 at 124,300 miles. Two weeks later gearbox developed a significant "whine" at 2,500-3,000 RPM. Result, new gearbox and propshaft, all covered and no cost to me. Would have cost £9,500 otherwise. £895? = no brainer Hope that helps. Rgds John

JC seems like you bought a dog - I would agree that for the first year of ownership you should get the Porsche warranty - if it breaks down in that year then sell it quickly while the warranty is still effective - could be a Friday car. Not very well made these cars? I was happy to pay the higher servicing costs, but since joining the forum it makes me wonder how long before I have an expensive breakdown. ps I have just renewed my policy!

That's the problem with forums. They can give you a very distorted view of the extent of the problem. I don't dispute that there are problems, but very few people join forums purely to say how wonderful and trouble-free their ownership has been. New contributors are either new to the brand/model and seek advice and a sense of camaraderie, or have something to complain about.

My ownership has been wonderful and trouble-free .... !!! (apart from the leaking radiator that was fixed under warrantee, but then I didn't even know about that until the service)

I think John had his from new and had it fully serviced, so a random failure (albeit a catstophic one) at 118,000 miles is probably just one of those things, rather than the car being a dog. The problem with 996's is - if an engine fails - it costs so much to fix or replace. Which is why I went for the warrantee - piece of mind and all that. John ... haven't heard from you in a while - was following your saga over on PH - and wondered what the outcome was. Just got the warrantee in, with 700 miles to spare then !

Richard (Tech Guru) you are probably right for assuming the reason people join Forums, but I cannot think of a better way to collate and share info. on problems, at least we get to know that our problem is not unique and at best the gathered info. can be used to apply pressure on Porsche or a misbehaving OPC. I'm still puzzled by my gearbox failure - unfortunately no one at my OPC know why it was changed. Another reason I renewed my warranty was to use as a selling tool which it's time for a change.

Geoff "" I hope I didn't give you the impression I was having a pop at you "" that certainly wasn't the intention. My concern is that people can be frightened into buying a warranty after reading some of the posts here. I don't deny that there are issues with the 996 engine, but these are with a small minority of cars. I think that reflects in the price that Porsche charge for their insurance warranty. It is an insurance policy, and the premium must be calculated on the number and size of claims in order to return them a profit on the scheme. I understand that other companies like Mercedes and BMW charge more for their policies - which also have excesses. To me, this implies that Porsche are statistically less costly to the insurance companies than MB or BMW. Of course, there are other factors that have to be taken into account, like the benefit of being able to offer a warranty on a car you are selling privately, the value of the car you are insuring, the time you expect to keep the car, the use and mileage etc. etc. My circumstances, vehicle, and use are such that I decided to self-insure, and it has worked out well for me so far. In the event of an engine disaster I would use the £3500 I have (so far) saved in premiums towards buying a used engine, or have it repaired by an independent if that is a viable option. Whilst that might be acceptable to me, I can appreciate that others may not feel the same way. I never buy extended warranty on anything "" I usually buy quality products and expect them to last. Each to his own - you pay your money and take your choice. I expect that I am in the minority on this forum as far as Porsche warranty goes, but maybe that's because I try not to be fazed too much by the problem posts.

Richard, I am completely with you on this. People offering warranties never lose out, it is all statistically calculated like any business proposition. I think even on a private sale, a car with a full service history in top condition should sell itself. Even if a warranty is a condition by a potential private buyer it is a small price relatively (even with the inspection) compared to the overall purchase price of the car and is a small negotiation point. The fact is that some people take risks and are lucky/unlucky and others don't. There is no right or wrong![ ]

Hi, just a quick question - I thought the warranty only covered up to 120,000 miles? I have a Jan 2001 996 with 94k, so I'm a bit concerned. Many thanks Sue

PS - i bought it second hand at 68k. It had a new engine fitted at 64K but the previous owner had to stump up the £9k cost himself as he didnt have the warranty! Sue

You can take out the warranty up until the car's 9th birthday or until it reaches 125000 miles. Therefore, you can get cover for 10 years if it hasn't reached 125000 miles before its 9th birthday. If the car is less than 9 years old you take it out before the car reaches 125000miles and you will get 12 months cover from that date. Hence, John Colbourne was able to get a year's cover at 124700.

I put the warranty on my 03 Targa before I sold it to a colleague recently, so about £1,100 with the 111 point check, considering the number of people I know who have claimed on their extended warranties, I think it is a worthwhile expenditure for the peace of mind. Unfortunately, the design/build quality of a Porsche is not as good as it used to be since they became a (relatively) volume manufacturer. Such is progress, but then you can put youself in a new 911 for the same money as it would have cost 10 years ago and high £50k's was worth a lot more then than it is now. I have now donned my flameproof suit[ ]

Stewart - think you're right there. But the point is if Porsche had continued to 'over-engineer' their cars they would be so expensive, no one would have bought many and Porsche would have gone bankrupt. Hence the new manufactuing techniques introduced for the Boxster and 996. Fortuantely the cars were very popular - Porsche has prospered and we can all drive amazing cars for the money, even if the odd one goes kaputt now and then ! 996's will continue to be good value compated to 993 due to the quantities made and the 'supply-and-demand' factor. Sue ... sounds you got a good deal there - the previous owner must have been crazy to sell 4K after that expense ! Richard ... talking of warrantees and mileages ... your signature has said 78,000 and counting for ages now .... how many has yours got on it now ? Mine's about to tick over 50,000 very soon.

Martin - just coming up to 79000, as I wasn't able to drive between the middle of May until the beginning of July with my eye problem. (BTW, Porsche went to Toyota for the new manufacturing techniques, and their reputation for reliability is legendary.)

Shame they didn't get Toyota to design the crankcase/RMS

Of course! I forgot that. (applies to eye as well as toyota comment). And I've had a couple of Toyota's. A hotish 1980's Corrola GT (1600cm quad cam thing that revved to goodness knows what) and, a few years back a Celica GT4 (carlos sainz 4WD turbo rally machine, from the early 1990's). Both were great and clocked over 150,000 before I moved them on. 79,000 miles - did you have it from new ? Last year i only did about 4,000 miles in my Fiat. Determined to make better use of the 996, hence the trip to Norway coming up soon (but not soon enough!). Martin.

As a new member I just wanted to thank all those who replied to my question regarding an extended warranty. I had no idea it would generate so much interest or debate! It certainly demonstrates the benefit of Porsche forums. So the big question is do I play safe and take out an extended warranty or put my faith in the Porsche build quality? I am sure everyone has a firm view and would probably work out at 50/50! I expect to travel about 5,000 miles per year in the car and I am unlikely to use it on track days, so the car will not be highly stressed. I look after my cars so it will be well maintained and regularly serviced. All this leads me to consider not taking out the extended warranty except for one important point which has so far not been debated, as far as I can see. Afordability. I stretched my finances to purchase the car of my dreams, with no regrets, I love it. But, could I afford an engine or gearbox replacement? No! Can I afford the yearly extended warranty, Yes! So on that basis, for me, it is a no brainer. Only time will tell if my decision was a wise one, I will keep you informed. Regards,