The 'all Things Porsche' Thread...

andy9eleven

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@Eager It's nearly always chat online about IMS bearings. In basic terms a failed IMS bearing is statistically 8% likelihood. That said 996.1 typically had a dual row bearing that is accepted as more robust. The 996.2 had a single row bearing that is more likely to fail. Again plenty of high mileage examples out there to disprove the internet rumour mill. (The Turbos are a diff engine so not affected.)

That said, there is also a train of thought that those cars that are used are better. Those that sit about are more vulnerable. Then to put a cat among the pigeons last year my work colleague had a 24,000km 996 40 Jahre (996.2) which went bang. It wasn't the IMS bearing, but the crankshaft bearings. I organised everything to get it to Hartech and repaired etc. Talking the Grant at Hartech he said IMS problems are wildly overblown and you're far more likely to spin a crank bearing and potentially wreck a crank. So in my colleagues case, a 2nd hand crank was needed, and a Hartech rebuild, with a clutch, and the bill was £11k + VAT. Now in my view there's plenty of horrors with other cars out there too and people hit with big bills but it's a bitter pill to swallow if you have to hand over £13k to fix a car only worth let's say £10-20k.

Other than that a suspension refresh can be costly as there are a lot of arms and bushes. But again, take any 20 year old performance car and it's going to have its foibles, risks, and bills.

Another work colleague is footing a bill atm for £5k to put a new gearbox is a Volvo family saloon with 46k miles on it. And yet another, his wife's Juke needs an engine. I'd rather spend my money repairing a Porsche than a Volvo or Nissan.

I always come back to this post to prove that really with proper use and maintenance expenditure they should keep working fine: Knackered old Porsche with loads of miles - 996 content. - Page 1 - Readers' Cars - PistonHeads
 

Eager

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Thanks for that, he also mentioned piston slap after something wearing in the bores. Reckoned ya could get lucky and has one himself. But could go the other way too.
 

andy9eleven

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Yep, from bore-scoring. Again, it's not unique to Porsches. Certain engine models are viewed as more likely or not. But thing is, if you went and spoke to BMW specialist or a Corvette guy, or a... or a... or a... you'd get the bad stories too.
 

svensktoppen

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If the car is only worth 10-20k, then why on earth spend ten times that on repairs? Just buy another car, or another engine surely?
 

Eager

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Ye, I understand. My dad been using this specialist quite a few years now and I’d trust him enough too, I just didn’t leave the conversation feeling to confident, certainly less confident than the start of the chat.
My other concern would be I would likely miss the turbo power delivery of my usual jap cars,
 

svensktoppen

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All cars break and get hit with big bills. Bills on something like a Porsche will be bigger than on a VW or a Vauxhall. Just the way it is.

Whether the car you buy happens to break down or not really is random chance. Plus of course how it's been looked after and driven before and all that, which you never know.

It's the same with any car.
 

svensktoppen

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And never ask a mechanic about cars, lol - every single car they see is broken 😇

So out of the ones that actually break something or other might be more common.

Doesn't mean all cars break in the first place. The vast majority don't.
 

Eager

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Of course, anything can go wrong but you can avoid the alarm bell cars that have known issues. That’s what I’m trying to quantify, he told me one the last times he was in Porsche there was 8 engines in crates waiting to be fitted sitting, that’s quite a few year ago
 

andy9eleven

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If the car is only worth 10-20k, then why on earth spend ten times that on repairs? Just buy another car, or another engine surely?

You can buy a short engine from Porsche but the price there is something like 6 or 7k and availability is a bit hit and miss. Hartech are the go-to experts for 996 engines. Their rebuild also include upgrades to the cooling decks and other things. They now offer 3.9 and 4.0 upgrades. I think autofarm are offering similar.

Prior to this it was nikasil liners in engines or snapped head studs in air-cooled cars. 100/120k in an air-cooled and you were getting the cheque book out.

But yes you talking 50-75% say of the cars value for an engine rebuild. Or just part it out if you don't care.

Going back to guy in work Volvo. It's worth maybe £8/9k on a good day. Gearbox is toast. Same sort of proportions - £5k bill to sort. Warranty won't cover it.
 

andy9eleven

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Just thinking too, is it any different to say the notorious VW TFSI engine problems for example.

Here's a quote from Pistonheads on that subject "One of my neighbors has a 2.0 TFSI A5, it had the engine replaced under warranty about six months ago, due to the oil consumption issue. His was one of four having engines changed at the dealers that week."

Someone on this forum was paying out a big chunk for a new engine in a Mk6 Golf GTi not that long ago iirc.
 

Eager

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I had a 996 last year for a few months, loved it. Didn’t give any bother but in the end the fear of a massive bill put me off. Fantastic car though.

This. I don’t think I could drive it on and the niggle would be in your mind at every funny noise.
 

stevyg

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Well the Type 64 was a flop. Thought it would go for $20m+. Seems like most cars didn't hit their estimate...
 

Creaney

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in my opinion, living your life always thinking "what if" is madness. then again, financially its also crazy to buy something that can potentially loose you 10k. our heart wins over our head sometimes. The world would be a very boring place if we didn't take a chance on things.

my thinking on the whole thing is, yea a 996/997 might go bang, but the depreciation from a newer bmws merc audi will be similar over a 5 year period. I don't think these porsche's will loose as much.

thats how I sold it to the wife anyway......
 

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