porsche reliability
Discussion
I cant be the only potential porsche owner trying to get a handle on reliability - how good or bad it really is. How likely am I to end up with scored bores and a mega bill etc. How frequent are the serious repair bills?
I read the forums but then you are much more likely to get a post from an unhappy owner than from a happy one - good job because the forums tell of bad unreliability. I talk to the salesmen at the dealers and they have never heard of any problem cars - every Porker is perfect or almost so. I read Harteck website and whilst they mention the problem areas, they repeat that the problems are few and far between. But then is Harteck trying to walk a reasonable line between selling repair services and guarantees on the one hand, and frightening people off buying a Porker altogether on the other hand. Understandable if they are
Has anyone got a real handle on the numbers? If I buy a new base level 911, how likely am I to end up with scored bores in the first 100k miles? Or any other serious problem? Is it 1 in 10 or 1 in 50 or 1 in 5? And if I do get them just how good or how bad are Porsche at dealing with out of guarantee repairs - in the past I have found BMW very reasonable ( head gasket failure at 50k miles and 5 years done FOC by dealer and BMW) whilst Ford have stuck to the legal letter of their guarantee and no more.
I guess I am trying to get a handle on the odds rather than a collection of good / bad stories. Plenty of those on the forum already.
I read the forums but then you are much more likely to get a post from an unhappy owner than from a happy one - good job because the forums tell of bad unreliability. I talk to the salesmen at the dealers and they have never heard of any problem cars - every Porker is perfect or almost so. I read Harteck website and whilst they mention the problem areas, they repeat that the problems are few and far between. But then is Harteck trying to walk a reasonable line between selling repair services and guarantees on the one hand, and frightening people off buying a Porker altogether on the other hand. Understandable if they are
Has anyone got a real handle on the numbers? If I buy a new base level 911, how likely am I to end up with scored bores in the first 100k miles? Or any other serious problem? Is it 1 in 10 or 1 in 50 or 1 in 5? And if I do get them just how good or how bad are Porsche at dealing with out of guarantee repairs - in the past I have found BMW very reasonable ( head gasket failure at 50k miles and 5 years done FOC by dealer and BMW) whilst Ford have stuck to the legal letter of their guarantee and no more.
I guess I am trying to get a handle on the odds rather than a collection of good / bad stories. Plenty of those on the forum already.
As MTR says, your looking for a 991 by looks of it so too soon to see problems within 100k miles and looking at 997.2 reliability i doubt they produced a less reliable car so would keep improving so you will be fine. Also with the Warranty which is very good with Porsche then buy, drive and enjoy.
Personally though i would go for a nice silver 996 C4S!!
Personally though i would go for a nice silver 996 C4S!!
mollytherocker said:
The bore scoring issues were a feature of the m97 engines and some m96 engines. The 991 has the later developed DFI engine which is proving to be reliable ....... So far.
That's a good point. While the 991 is new, the engine is basically a carryover from the 997 later models ( DFI) so any reliability issues are already known, I have not heard of anything significant going wrong with them.There are also people who have had problems who aren't venting their discontent on forums. I know two personally.
For the record ive had trouble free ownership of 2 986 boxsters, 2 996s, 1 996tt and a cayenne. However, would I now own a 997 or cayman? Not without warranty!
I hope the 991 is better.........
For the record ive had trouble free ownership of 2 986 boxsters, 2 996s, 1 996tt and a cayenne. However, would I now own a 997 or cayman? Not without warranty!
I hope the 991 is better.........
Edited by VonSenger on Thursday 30th May 21:55
bordseye said:
I cant be the only potential porsche owner trying to get a handle on reliability - how good or bad it really is. How likely am I to end up with scored bores and a mega bill etc. How frequent are the serious repair bills?
I read the forums but then you are much more likely to get a post from an unhappy owner than from a happy one - good job because the forums tell of bad unreliability. I talk to the salesmen at the dealers and they have never heard of any problem cars - every Porker is perfect or almost so. I read Harteck website and whilst they mention the problem areas, they repeat that the problems are few and far between. But then is Harteck trying to walk a reasonable line between selling repair services and guarantees on the one hand, and frightening people off buying a Porker altogether on the other hand. Understandable if they are
Has anyone got a real handle on the numbers? If I buy a new base level 911, how likely am I to end up with scored bores in the first 100k miles? Or any other serious problem? Is it 1 in 10 or 1 in 50 or 1 in 5? And if I do get them just how good or how bad are Porsche at dealing with out of guarantee repairs - in the past I have found BMW very reasonable ( head gasket failure at 50k miles and 5 years done FOC by dealer and BMW) whilst Ford have stuck to the legal letter of their guarantee and no more.
I guess I am trying to get a handle on the odds rather than a collection of good / bad stories. Plenty of those on the forum already.
Really only Porsche is in the position to know the reliability rate of its vehicles. And it is not sharing this with anyone. As is true for M-B, BMW, VW, Ford, Fiat, Seat, MINI, Bentley, Zonda, and so on.I read the forums but then you are much more likely to get a post from an unhappy owner than from a happy one - good job because the forums tell of bad unreliability. I talk to the salesmen at the dealers and they have never heard of any problem cars - every Porker is perfect or almost so. I read Harteck website and whilst they mention the problem areas, they repeat that the problems are few and far between. But then is Harteck trying to walk a reasonable line between selling repair services and guarantees on the one hand, and frightening people off buying a Porker altogether on the other hand. Understandable if they are
Has anyone got a real handle on the numbers? If I buy a new base level 911, how likely am I to end up with scored bores in the first 100k miles? Or any other serious problem? Is it 1 in 10 or 1 in 50 or 1 in 5? And if I do get them just how good or how bad are Porsche at dealing with out of guarantee repairs - in the past I have found BMW very reasonable ( head gasket failure at 50k miles and 5 years done FOC by dealer and BMW) whilst Ford have stuck to the legal letter of their guarantee and no more.
I guess I am trying to get a handle on the odds rather than a collection of good / bad stories. Plenty of those on the forum already.
Problems and the rate problems appear gets magnified online. Most here are here because of problems and thus it seems like these cars are crap.
But I can recall my participation on forums for other brands of cars I've owned and it the same then. Lots of problems.
No promises, but the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of you getting a good car. There is the rare lemon. But what is more often the case someone buys a new car, drives it hardly ever, then something goes wrong.
The problem is a new car problem based on miles. Time -- except a lot of time -- doesn't bring with it any real problems. A wheel bearing won't wear out, a lifter won't fail to pump up, a clutch won't slip, a water pump won't leak, if all the car does is spend its time sitting around.
You have to make up your own mind.
If you are "afraid" of a Porsche due to its rumored plethora of issues, then give Porsche a miss and try a BMW, M-B, or whatever other car you feel comfortable with owning.
There is no sense in buying a car you are afraid of. Owning a car should be a fun experience, overall. But to live in day to day fear of the car going tits up... Not worth it.
mm450exc said:
Get a GT2/3 or Turbo. Or just run the car with warranty.
No problems with my 997 turbo.
but even gt3/turbos have had failures due to hose and sealant failure!but yet again very rare which can be said for porsches with the new engine(dfi) since 2008 onwards.the fact you are looking at a 991 i would not worry and enjoyNo problems with my 997 turbo.
Oi U said:
Is the cost high of a Porsche extended warranty an indication of perceived reliability by the company themselves? I presume that income from premiums are to cover the risk and the cost of claims.
Nope....just that paying an OPC to repair your car ain't cheap ;-)As said, don't believe the hype. Yes they can go wrong, as can any man made machine (planes, computers, space shuttles etc). With the best engineering in the world....things can still go wrong.
I've had Porsches on and off for 15 years....always driven them hard....and apart from the odd water leak / dodgy starter motor / coil packs...no problems at all
If buying new...no worries IMO.
If buying used, make sure you buy wisely (you normally only get what you pay for) and just in case.....get a warranty (but I would say that for any expensive car, purely because of cost to repair it should anything go wrong).
Don't let T'internet put you off !
itsybitsy said:
mm450exc said:
Get a GT2/3 or Turbo. Or just run the car with warranty.
No problems with my 997 turbo.
but even gt3/turbos have had failures due to hose and sealant failure!but yet again very rare which can be said for porsches with the new engine(dfi) since 2008 onwards.the fact you are looking at a 991 i would not worry and enjoyNo problems with my 997 turbo.
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