997 engine - gearbox

[Hroussard]

Well folks, I just sold my 1999 Carrera with 77K miles on the odometer. It has been a wonderful car. Repair and maintenance has been minimum. As a matter of fact, I only replaced the waterpump at 42K miles and the front rotors / brake pads at 75K miles. Obviously, a new battery was needed every 4 years. The clutch was still working fine. After initially trying out all those wonderful expensive tires, I found the Fusion brand that gave me great drivebility, reasonable performance (California driving), compared with all other tires I tried, a very quiet ride and these suckers lasted over 35k in the rear. The expensive one lasted less than 10K miles. I do drive quite spirited and I have the speeding tickets to prove it.

So now I am checking out my next ride and have been looking at the 997. Aside from the horrendesly expensive pricing nowadays, and knowing about the engines durability or lack thereoff, combined with a never ending stream of complaints and worries by the users on the Porsche forums, I am wondering if the 997 is indeed a good choice for someone that is keeping cars for 10 years, drives the hell out of them on a daily basis and expects the car to be working all the time, every time. I think I dodged the bullet with my 1999 Carrera and frankly, the ONLY reason I sold that car is because I did not longer trust the engine / gearbox to stay in one piece and not to explode one of these days, ruining my day and my bank account to the tune of $15K or so, effectively rendering my car as useless as a flowerpot in the back yard.

I do not see the "Eureka" moments from forum drivers that say, the 3.6 / 3.8 engine no longer has issues, the gear box is rock solid and durable. I read about problems with the 996 / 997 models, even the Boxter has RMS problems so it seems, the Cayenne engine / cooling system and axles. It's like there is very little improvement to eliminate these major expenses in the Porsche Brand and I do not want to be their test driver with my personal bank account.. I am thinking about the 997 Carrera rear wheel drive only or perhaps a recent GT3. What do you'all think??

[CaptnCrash]

Well folks, I just sold my 1999 Carrera with 77K miles on the odometer. It has been a wonderful car. Repair and maintenance has been minimum. As a matter of fact, I only replaced the waterpump at 42K miles and the front rotors / brake pads at 75K miles. Obviously, a new battery was needed every 4 years. The clutch was still working fine. After initially trying out all those wonderful expensive tires, I found the Fusion brand that gave me great drivebility, reasonable performance (California driving), compared with all other tires I tried, a very quiet ride and these suckers lasted over 35k in the rear. The expensive one lasted less than 10K miles. I do drive quite spirited and I have the speeding tickets to prove it.

So now I am checking out my next ride and have been looking at the 997. Aside from the horrendesly expensive pricing nowadays, and knowing about the engines durability or lack thereoff, combined with a never ending stream of complaints and worries by the users on the Porsche forums, I am wondering if the 997 is indeed a good choice for someone that is keeping cars for 10 years, drives the hell out of them on a daily basis and expects the car to be working all the time, every time. I think I dodged the bullet with my 1999 Carrera and frankly, the ONLY reason I sold that car is because I did not longer trust the engine / gearbox to stay in one piece and not to explode one of these days, ruining my day and my bank account to the tune of $15K or so, effectively rendering my car as useless as a flowerpot in the back yard.

I do not see the "Eureka" moments from forum drivers that say, the 3.6 / 3.8 engine no longer has issues, the gear box is rock solid and durable. I read about problems with the 996 / 997 models, even the Boxter has RMS problems so it seems, the Cayenne engine / cooling system and axles. It's like there is very little improvement to eliminate these major expenses in the Porsche Brand and I do not want to be their test driver with my personal bank account.. I am thinking about the 997 Carrera rear wheel drive only or perhaps a recent GT3. What do you'all think??

The 3.8l [9A1] engine has no IMS so no issues there. The only problem I've heard of was a failure of the gear drive on the oil pump on a 3.8l [ 9A1 ] motor. And I don't think that's very common. I don't think the 9A1 is mod friendly so if you buy a turbo don't think you're going to crank in another 150hp real easy without breaking it, those types of upgrades will cost you. The 6spd manual they use is pretty solid as well as the clutch so no worries there. IMNSHO I'd stay away from TIP or PDK, it's just a whole lot more that does go wrong.

If you go with a 997.2 then you can probably get one that's CPO'd so if you do have an issue most likely it will be covered at least the first several years. I suspect the prices on the C2's and C4's will come down a lot once the 991 is released.

--CC

[997onthebrain]

Just sold my 997.1 (2008 Midnight Blue C2S) with 30K because I was afraid of the intermediate shaft issue. I am picking up my 2009 997.2 C2S on Thursday. Sold for 63000.00 - New car cost me 76000.00, not bad for a new engine, CPO to 100K on a CAR WITH 9761 miles. You may wish to consider a 997.2 with a CPO - fairly solid motor and a great vehicle. Happy hunting...

[phillipj]

Get a 997 Turbo, GT3 or a 997-2 Carrera and you won't have to worry about the engine. Oh yeah and a Porsche warranty is a big plus if not a "must". Just my 2 cents...