i find all of this to be more entertainment than building some sort of real legal case against porsche, but then you get some people who take it more seriously than others who aren't even lawyers in the first place making comments thus making it bigger than what it is (entertainment).

s54 bmw, f20c honda... high revving low production volume engines.... engine failure reports MUCH less common than the M96.. significantly less that when someone posts their failure story... it's a complete surprise whereas in porsche land... there's a business process/framework for remediation.

something's up, but i'm afraid we'll never ever get to the bottom of it all.

that's why i tell people yo, get yourself a 996 carrera with a reman engine if possible, but if a $14K+ time expenditure to get your car where it should've always been is something that keeps u up at nite, by all means get yourself a $3k insurance policy (i.e. warranty). $14K + TIME is a lot of money to sink into a car that's probably worth $40K on avg or less nowadays. $14K + your time is a lot of nice meals for the kids, a nice vaca, a nice a lot of things... v. spending it on an engine where it's COMMON to have it operate for the life of the car without fail in these beautiful modern times.

and i've been reading up on the 997 GT3s... RMS is QUITE common. Porsche, wtf are you doing?

that's my $.50.

 

Personally, I could care less about the money. I'd like Porsche step up and cover engine replacement. Hell, I'd be ok if they subsidize a fraction of the cost.

Good luck on your endeavor, Mark.

///Michael

 

+1.

I'm not trying to get rich off this site so I'm apologize to anyone who thinks this is about me making money. It's not. And if you know me you'd know this isn't why I started this. I don't need to be in class action suits or chase ambulances or whatever. I started the site EXACTLY for the reasons above - and honestly to think my site will get Porsche to admit something they did is wrong is insane so at the end of the day I hope I've created a forum for people that have gone through this to come together and discuss the issue and options available.

 

Bang on..this was on your site.

Seriously what do you expect from a second hand Porsche with 70 K on it??? You have no idea of the service history and you don’t know how hard the car was driven. I have owned 4 996 models and this includes my current TT, yes I have had my issues but its a car and it breaks. Don’t get me wrong I feel for you, but what do you expect PCNA to do for you with an 8-year-old car and out of warranty? The problem with forums is most people just recycle the same old garbage they heard from a guy that heard from a guy that heard it from some other guy. You will NEVER get Porsche to admit they have known issue. Look at the production numbers of the 996, of course your going to have engine failures please give your head a shake. Fix the car and enjoy it, The Porsche ownership should be more then just the repair cost you.

 

Bottom line....there is no car company out there that produces 100% perfect engines. there is alway a case of a lemon car or driving abuse. Sorry to hear that you may be one of the unlucky ones.

 

Coming from the BMW community there's nothing like this in the BMW world. Every model has it's own "stuff to look out for" but at worst the fix is under $3000 (look at the e46M3's and the e39 5-series or the M5's Vanos). Maybe I am wrong but I've never heard of a whole series of engines with multiple cases like the M96 to where it's even developed it's own cottage industry

 

Check out the BMW forum or the Honda forum....you will read about engine failure there too. I'm not an expert but am a car enthusiast, there were many problems with the E46 M3 engine when it first came out. http://www.yoy.com/yoy/auto/m3_failure_index.html
Read the acticle, some pointers that may be helpful in your quest like writing to a major car magazine to get some attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md5HrzQIcLc this may make you feel a little better.

 

BMW eventually issued a service action and extended the engine warranty on 2001-2003 M3's.

///Michael

 

i come from the e46 m3 world. it's a tired comparison because there's no comparison. our expectation is not that porsche products are impervious to failures - that wouldn't be fair or real as porsche has had many failures in the past just like any other manufacturer... our expectation is that if there is a clear pattern of failures (and there IS with the m96), then tell us why it happened and what the fix is.

instead we're left in the dark:

-no explanation/study as to why the IMS failure is occuring, inter-mix etc
-how to take preventative steps to reduce or eliminate the possibily of existing original engines grenading (should it even exist)

S54-wise, bmw stepped up to the plate by clearly communicating to all its service shops that ther eis a fix and if fixed covered under a generous extended factory warranty on that engine. for the m96, all we have is an on-off switch while we are forced to sit in the dark. your engine continues to hum along as it should or it fails and you get a reman engine. the fix is an outright transplant of the very beating heart of your beloved 911. given that we have maybe one story here of a reman engine failing, obviously something's being addressed at the factory to minimize/eliminate risk for a another failure.

there is a problem, but let's not go down alone... the 997 GT3s have the RMS issue where it's not if... it's when. porsche, what's really going down?

let's ask questions. mcm's site is asking the question just as many of us have and are curious to know. there's clearly no $ in it... if not $, i'll certainly take the entertainment value which is why i'm here "bloggin" away.

 

dumb question from someone who is interested in purchasing a 911 sometime in the future: am i to understand that catastrophic engine failure is more likely in a 3.4L engine vs a 3.6L engine?

been lurking and posting on here for the last 6 months and it seems that the failure rate (anecdotally speaking) is higher for the 1999-2001 3.4L engines than 2002 and newer.

 

Thumbs up to this post. I thought long and hard and did a ridiculous amount of research and reading for close to a year before finally deciding on getting my 996 over an e46 M3. One of the major sticking points for me was the risk of engine failure for both cars; however BMW had acknowledged/remedied the issues whereas Porsche seems to have not even acknowledged their issues at all. Had their been even some kind of support from Porsche, it would have made my decision a whole lot easier. Even though I did end up going for the 996, and I don't regret my decision, I think my life would have been a bit less stressful had I gone with the M3 and not had a small voice in the back of my head telling me that I could be out of an engine at any time.

 

good point, and btw, the S2k's F22C is a bulletproof, 8000rpm redline motor. have never heard of a single engine failure among the few thousand or so that are out there...

 

I believe that the issue here is about the engines that don't have a warranty.
Not that I am defending Porsche (I will surely be pissed if it had happen to me), but when your car runs out of warranty, there are options for extended and aftermarket warranties. In any case the blown up engine will be replace at no charge. Warranties are offer for precisely that purpose - there is not one brand of cars out there that is 100% break proof.

I'll play devil's advocate...let say if Porsche does offer an extended engine replacement warranty (particularly on the 3.4L). People who drive them will start hammering away on the track, neglect their oil changes, over revving their cars and drive it like they stole it. Then what happens?? Where is Porsche going to draw the line? Welcome to reality…they are in business to make money.

We can all stop the bleeding by telling ourselves “Porsche, there is a substitute”
I guess easier said than done for some of us. Passion & ego over sensibility.

 

I've posted before about how much more the 911 is than the M3 (i would still pick my dated c4s over the e92 m3 every day o' the week) and i'll venture out to say you and i would be able to have a good conversation over beers about how we both made the right decision in going with the rear engined frog lookalike car.

case in point, i actually bought my carrera without knowing about the m96's illustrious history. in fact, when i found out via ppi at an indy shop in burlingame that my car had its engine replaced at 13K miles at XXXX porsche dealer, i was like holy **** i don't want this car. blessing in disguise, no?

even with the reman 3.6 i decided to pucker up and spend $3750 to get an aftermarket warranty via barrier porsche here in seattle. peace of mind. whatever. and i've surfed enough 911 sites to tell people with no sleep sacrificed that...

-if you get an Mk1 carrera with an original engine and a $14K bill + time to get your car where it always should've remained doesn't sit well with you, then get an aftermarket warranty or don't buy it at all until u find one with a reman engine

-if you get an mk2 carrera with the 3.6 reman engine then the aftermarket warranty isn't as necessary regardless of how the above statement defines you as a buyer/owner

-if you get an mk2 carrera with an original engine, consider an aftermarket warranty

above and beyond the focus on the engine, and weighing the overall pros/cons of going with a 996 carrera v. an m3, S4, RS4 past and current... i can say without a doubt that the 911 ownership/driving experience is superior even comparing a car gen almost a decade old to germany's finest super-sedans of now.

the history, brand cache, "yea the engine's in the back", sound, look, and feel of the 996 carrera puts it in a very special space that $s and dyno graphs cannot begin to enumerate.

indeed, the 911 is a superb value; some great examples out there i would not hesitate to buy yet again even after having popped my reman cherry.

 

lazy ignorants clown on hondas aka rice rockets, but from an engineering standpoint, they make some of the finest pieces of automotive machinery on the roads today. the s2000 is an example.

it's the people that make it ugly. and hey i've seen some UGLY 911s on this very board