porsche 911 (996)

[CAP1]

The one I'm thinking of buying is barely used--only about 18k miles--which for a 911 is pretty low. The rear main seal defect is a problem that's plagued the 996 model since its introduction, however, and seems to affect brand new cars at a relatively high frequency. I've read about this defect, in extreme situations, leading to engine replacements--not my idea of fun.

Anyway, I think I'll get a pre-purchase inspection and be done with it... If I go through with it, that is.

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR .............take it to a shop that specializes in porsches. especially if this engine is thwe first of its kind..being water cooled that is.

 with only 18k on the odometer, you still have pretty much factory warranty left on her too, right>?

[katanaso]

Where are you located?  I'm in South Florida, and the mechanic/shop I started using two years ago was the first shop to completely fix the leaks from my 81 911.  If you're interested, I'll let you know via PM.

I always heard the adage that 911's all leak some oil, but there's a difference between a tiny leak or drip, and a quart leaking out every 3-4 weeks, which was I had until recently.

I only have 55k miles on the engine, which was blueprinted back in the mid 90's, so it's relatively new, but I had to replace all of the seals again, along with some other things.  I can look at the invoices to give you details.


mir
-Adam

The one I'm thinking of buying is barely used--only about 18k miles--which for a 911 is pretty low. The rear main seal defect is a problem that's plagued the 996 model since its introduction, however, and seems to affect brand new cars at a relatively high frequency. I've read about this defect, in extreme situations, leading to engine replacements--not my idea of fun.

Anyway, I think I'll get a pre-purchase inspection and be done with it... If I go through with it, that is.

[CAP1]

yaknow this strikes me as funny.........

american cars have this bad rap as being junk. yet here we war discussing constant oil leak problems in a euro-car, which everyone touts as being so much better than american cars.

[akusher]

Where are you located?  I'm in South Florida, and the mechanic/shop I started using two years ago was the first shop to completely fix the leaks from my 81 911.  If you're interested, I'll let you know via PM.

I always heard the adage that 911's all leak some oil, but there's a difference between a tiny leak or drip, and a quart leaking out every 3-4 weeks, which was I had until recently.

I only have 55k miles on the engine, which was blueprinted back in the mid 90's, so it's relatively new, but I had to replace all of the seals again, along with some other things.  I can look at the invoices to give you details.


mir
-Adam

God, I only wish I was in South Florida...

I'm way farther north, in VA.

The car's still got some warranty left on it, and supposedly has its entire service history documented and available. It's a 2002, so it's 3 years into the 996 generation and has the 3.6 liter engine, up from the original 3.4. I'm hoping that this little bit of evolution will do away with some of the problems, but I'm not going to take any chances.

I'll certainly let you know how it goes when I get closer to the moment. 911s are plentiful on the used car market around here, and in general, so even if the one i want goes away, there are others candidates.

[akusher]

yaknow this strikes me as funny.........

american cars have this bad rap as being junk. yet here we war discussing constant oil leak problems in a euro-car, which everyone touts as being so much better than american cars.

Few people have claimed that high-end European cars are low maintenance. BMWs and Mercedes are notoriously expensive to keep in good repair after the first few years. Porsches, considered by some to be the most reliable of the German brands, can last forever and maintain their performance and ride quality if given the proper care. This is a common drawback to investing in precision equipment of any kind.

For those who want their cars to last forever and invest next to nothing in them in the process, Japanese is still the way to go.

While I'm still young and my back hasn't started to go out, I'd rather go for small, fast and exciting--even if I have to budget a coupe hundred bucks a month to make sure it stays that way.

[RTHolmes]

if its still got warranty left why hasnt the current owner sorted the leaks? I'd be a little suspicious here, imo have them sort the leaks out before you buy. iirc the main culprits are the RMS (you dont want to pay for that) or various hoses (much cheaper )

[akusher]

if its still got warranty left why hasnt the current owner sorted the leaks? I'd be a little suspicious here, imo have them sort the leaks out before you buy. iirc the main culprits are the RMS (you dont want to pay for that) or various hoses (much cheaper )

Sorry for the misunderstanding... there are no leaks that I've been able to see, and none that have been reported. It's just that the model is known for sometimes having these leaks. About 5% of 1999-2001 996s had them. This is a 2002, so the problem may have been sorted out by now, but I'm still understandably concerned and unfortunately can't get enough time with the car to see if it's happening on my own. There may be nothing there at all... But I don't want to pay a lot later for what I can pay a little to find early on.

[CAP1]

Few people have claimed that high-end European cars are low maintenance. BMWs and Mercedes are notoriously expensive to keep in good repair after the first few years. Porsches, considered by some to be the most reliable of the German brands, can last forever and maintain their performance and ride quality if given the proper care. This is a common drawback to investing in precision equipment of any kind.

For those who want their cars to last forever and invest next to nothing in them in the process, Japanese is still the way to go.

While I'm still young and my back hasn't started to go out, I'd rather go for small, fast and exciting--even if I have to budget a coupe hundred bucks a month to make sure it stays that way.

well, i wasn't so much saying that people said they're low maintenance, but rather that they last longer, and have less problems like this.
 and please don't mis-interpret me....i'm not meaning to put down your choice.

 i think that 3 years into the production, you may be ok. ford had problems with the 4.6L engines when they first came out in the early 90's. the limo dealer i worked at back then, was doing a lot of them under warranty. ford used to send up complete engines, with EVERYTHING already installed. that was how we had to return the engine to them. it seemed that in about 3 or 4 years, they eliminated the problems, and that engine turned out to be an excellent engine.

 you should be ok....and although i'm older, and my back does hurt sometimes, i will in the near future, have a smaller somewhat fast car again. 

good luck dude....and keep up posted too....preferably with pics!

[akusher]

well, i wasn't so much saying that people said they're low maintenance, but rather that they last longer, and have less problems like this.
 and please don't mis-interpret me....i'm not meaning to put down your choice.

 i think that 3 years into the production, you may be ok. ford had problems with the 4.6L engines when they first came out in the early 90's. the limo dealer i worked at back then, was doing a lot of them under warranty. ford used to send up complete engines, with EVERYTHING already installed. that was how we had to return the engine to them. it seemed that in about 3 or 4 years, they eliminated the problems, and that engine turned out to be an excellent engine.

 you should be ok....and although i'm older, and my back does hurt sometimes, i will in the near future, have a smaller somewhat fast car again. 

good luck dude....and keep up posted too....preferably with pics!

It'll be some weeks yet, but as soon as the trigger is pulled, pics will be posted!

[Masherbrum]

Few people have claimed that high-end European cars are low maintenance. BMWs and Mercedes are notoriously expensive to keep in good repair after the first few years. Porsches, considered by some to be the most reliable of the German brands, can last forever and maintain their performance and ride quality if given the proper care. This is a common drawback to investing in precision equipment of any kind.

For those who want their cars to last forever and invest next to nothing in them in the process, Japanese is still the way to go.

While I'm still young and my back hasn't started to go out, I'd rather go for small, fast and exciting--even if I have to budget a coupe hundred bucks a month to make sure it stays that way.

Quite the opposite on this BBS.   

[akusher]

Quite the opposite on this BBS.   

Well, in my experience, both directly with the machines and indirectly, with the people who own them, the more expensive and technically complex it is off the production line, the more difficult it will be to keep at 100%. Seems natural.

Not talking about the Benzes and BMWs of old, perhaps, but certainly with the more modern generation. It's one of the reasons I don't want to deal with a 4 wheel drive version. More stuff to break.

[BigPlay]

Few people have claimed that high-end European cars are low maintenance. BMWs and Mercedes are notoriously expensive to keep in good repair after the first few years. Porsches, considered by some to be the most reliable of the German brands, can last forever and maintain their performance and ride quality if given the proper care. This is a common drawback to investing in precision equipment of any kind.

For those who want their cars to last forever and invest next to nothing in them in the process, Japanese is still the way to go.

While I'm still young and my back hasn't started to go out, I'd rather go for small, fast and exciting--even if I have to budget a coupe hundred bucks a month to make sure it stays that way.

Well stated, I have owned both Porsche and Bmw, AKA BMtroubleeew. The Porsche was a reliable car as was the BMW, except the BMW had way too many scheduled expensive maintenance's in comparison.

My father in law OWNS not leases 4 Mercedes of various models, 2 12 cyl and 2 8cyl. None are more then 2 years old. About every 3-4 years he buys a whole new fleet.  Purchasing a new Mercedes outright is about the dumbest move a person can make. One day he offered to sell me his 2004 600S. It had 38,000 miles on it and was as all his cars are , black and as close to new as a used car can get. He said he paid around $135,000 for it when he bought it and would let me have it for $25,000. I told him that I could not accept the car so cheap. He then told me he most likely wouldn't get much more for it. My jaw dropped...... in 5 years he lost over $100,000 on that stupid thing and it was mint !

I have to say that I considered purchasing the car but when I found out what it cost to maintain the thing I passed . It also gets about 8 mpg.

[KgB]

it's not an argument...it's a discussion.


i put 1/2 of the little 3 ounce bottles in a v8. the oil looks normal, except for around the filler cap, where you can see evidence of it.

 you haven;t been in it long enough to see some of the really fun oil leaks then at 10 years....and i'm not trying to be derogatory.
 i work on everything. if it is driven on the street, and can fit in my bay, i can fix it......diagnose it......make it work again.

 in all honesty, i pretty much despise most european manufacturers.....my preference is towards asian and american cars. volvos aren't too bad either....ugly, but not too bad.

 i was looking online at these engines......seems they have a fairly significant failure rate too.......

I work on specific car line, may be thats why i never had to use it. Didnt mean to be insulting.
Never liked to work on Americans tho, every time i do i have use the friggin torch, nothing comes appart.

[KgB]

CAP1, ignore KgB's "monthly pissing match".   He cowers for a month and crawls out, to only cower again.   He's never heard of UV dye.   

Shouldn't we be friends? I'm starting to like Poland.

[CAP1]

I work on specific car line, may be thats why i never had to use it. Didnt mean to be insulting.
Never liked to work on Americans tho, every time i do i have use the friggin torch, nothing comes appart.

ya.....if my responses to ya seemed harsh, i do apologize..........

where are you in the world? in the US?  either way, there's a product made by CRC......it's called freeze off. try it. it's frakkin awsome. it hasn't let me down yet.

 as for you working on one car line? i guess that means you work at a dealer? that's not bad, nor is it unusual for a dealer tech(and you/we ARE techs). sometimes i wish i had gone to work for a dealer, and other times i'm thankful i didn't.

 either way, don't ever take anything i say as an insult. it's not intended that way...if it is, you'll know, as i'll probably get myself skuzzinated in the process of trying to insult ya. 

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