I've been googling IMS failure and it seems like there are a lot of people on renntech writing about the IMS failure, and their engines blowing up at as little as 37k miles.

The car I plan on buying had it's rms and clutch replaced at 78k miles. It has 95k miles on it now and the ppi went good. Getting a copy of it later this week.

I was looking into extended warranties, fidelity being one of them, unsure if they will with an 11 year old car. I have sent an email in, and will hear back tomorrow. Any others you guys might recommend?

Will they cover engine replacement?

Sounds like a 6 hour job to do the IMS as preventative maintenance is this a reasonable amount of time?

I would have a 2000 mile journey home, the seller thinks I could make it back fine, I kind of want a warranty or the IMS replaced before I make the trek.

 

I'll pre-qualify my post by saying I'm new to the Porsche family with an '02 996 C4S, but I'll relay a story that has relevance.

I think it's a legitimate concern without a warranty on the car. I have a friend that just bought a 99 C2 Cab with 80K+ on the ODO and it started leaking oil within a week. Thought it was an RMS leak. Took it back to the dealer and they found it was the IMS. Luckily he bought a warranty and no damage was done before bringing it in so it's being handled. Depending on the price of the car and how long you plan to keep it I'd think the preventive maintenance would be worth the peace of mind, but then again you could put that money towards a warranty. If it goes bang you get a new motor... in theory. I hear two year coverage should run around $3K. Not sure what your IMS update is quoted, but if you are worried about anything else in the car the warranty is probably the way to go.

Something else to think about.... The only people posting on the forums are the guys who unfortunately had a problem. This is most likely a small minority compared to the tens of thousands of other owners who had no issues.

If it were me I'd get the warranty, keep the car maintained and drive it! My $0.02

PS. I'll get you the name of the warranty company my buddy is using. So far they are coming through.

 

You can get an updated IMS part from LN engineering for $600. Cost of installing is same as replacing clutch. I would advise doing it at the same time.

If the engine is dry, I would not worry about it. I have a bone dry engine and don't want to open it up just for an updated IMS. Its got 91K miles on the OD. my miles from 66K

 

Can you explain this a little bit more? I'm very close to buying, and would much rather spend 2k to prevent IMS. How effective is it? and can it be done once the engine starts to leak?

 

Contact Jake and LN eng. I don't think there has been any IMS failures after the LN IMS. You can install the LN IMS even after it leaks as long as it's not "too late". Do it while you have the tranny out for clutch.

 

I would just go with a warranty that covers the entire motor, that way you're preventing the amount of money being spent on the issue if it occurs, not decreasing the possibility of it happening and then ending up having to pay out of pocket for the engine

 

you guys have any recommendations for aftermarket warranties?

Looking at easy care and have read some good things on the forum about them too.

 

my porsche dealership offers easy care and fidelity. i will probably get fidelity for the price. i would consider getting what ever warranty your porsche dealership works with since they can fight for you if the warranty company gets finicky.

 

i did the LN upgrade if you saw the difference between their part and stock you would not hesitate for a second Ive posted on this site and renntech what I did and what I paid.

 

I'd be interested to know what you paid for this (PM me if necessary).

I am seriously considering a 99 C2 with 95k miles with the original clutch and no IMS updates. Is this a part that is GUARANTEED to fail at some point or another? I'd rather spend the money to have it upgraded before a catastrophic failure.

 

I can't reply to PM's because I don't have 15 posts yet, but:

I checked around and it doesn't look like many places are willing to offer an extended warranty on an 11 year old 911. Did you find a place that would?

Also, roughly how much would it cost to do the gt3 transplant vs. the preventative IMS replacement?

I haven't decided if I want to do the 996, or an older 930 for around $10k, then put another $10k into it to make it a pretty potent track/road car.

 

I saw a gt3 motor and transmission freshly rebuilt on renntech, or rennlist for 25,000. Preventative IMS replacement $2000.

 

You're going to want a warranty if you can get a good one. Just not sure they sell them for cars with 95 K miles and are more than 10 yrs old. Good news is every car from that era didn't have IMS problems and the RMS was not that big a deal but if found leaking was always replaced when they had the engine out of the car.

 

Is this the car that has a lien on it? Get your deposit back. Find another car. Too much of a story on this one.

 

Just got done checking around with warranty providers. The only place I found who would even cover a 1999 911 C2 was EasyCare, but the car had to have less than $80k miles on it. For ONLY the powertrain coverage for 2 years/24k miles (max they offer for this year), it would cost $3,166 with a $500 deductable ($4,190 w/$100 ded). The limit of coverage was determined by the KBB value of the car at the time of the claim.

Sounds like it might be worth it to spend $2-3k on preventative maintenance and bulk up the IMS/replace the RMS with the updated seal and be good to go for more than 2 years/24k miles.