I think I saw them on top of the reliability ratings on one of the magazines. Is this correct? How would a 911 Turbo with 10-20k miles be? Any thoughts on buying a used Porsche (specifically 911 Turbo)?

 

For the most part, they are reliable. Porsches are pretty much the most reliable German cars. Some model years and certain models have problem areas, so it's best to do research on a specific model that you want to get.

 

The coupes are pretty reliable.

The Cayenne is not.

 

In my experience (after owning 3) they have good reliability, not excellent like a Lexus/Toyota.

But all the water-cooled Porsche 986/987/996/997 (Boxster, Caymen, Carerra), 2000-2008 (including turbos) have experienced some complete engine failures due to intermediate shaft failures. Some experts estimate that this type of failure could potentially cause premature engine failure in 15-20% of the models mentioned. From what I've read this type of failure will happen in the first 45K miles or so. Short answer, a factory warranty (new or CPO) is a plus, because a rebuilt replacement engine costs over $13K. Check the Porsche forums for more info.

Note: The engines in the new latest versions of the engines (direct-injected) have been simplified with the elimination of the intermediate shaft, so that trouble area is gone now.

 

Make sure you have a Porsche mechanic check for a rear main seal leak, pretty common failure in the water cooled porsches.

 

996 or 997? Turbos are reliable, the rear seal issue was more so with earlier 996 cars. You really just have to be ready for $$$$$ maintenance.

 

Define "reliability"... outside the Cayenne, VERY good service records...

 

A Porsche technician once told me that, even with the warranty in force, if you own a Porsche, always keep a minimum of several thousand dollars in the bank to cover not just non-warranty repairs, but routine service as well. Even the more reliable Porsches can eat in hole in your wallet pretty quickly.

 

I have a couple friends with 996 turbos, and neither car is what I would call reliable. One with low 30k miles has had:

1) new engine from Porsche at 9k miles
2) clutch slave failure
3) coolant reserve tank replacement

There's more, but I don't recall off the top of my head. On the bright side, they're really fast.

The owner of one of these cars had a NA 996 prior, and that car had 2 separate RMS failures. This car had under 50k miles.

I also have a friend whose Cayenne S caught fire in his garage due to an electrical short. I was talking to him on the phone while he wandered out to his garage to have a cigarette. Lo and behold, his car is on fire. It was off and he hadn't driven it for hours, yet the fire started around his dash, burned the entire interior and part of his garage. Needless to say, the car was totaled.

After seeing the time and money these owners had to spend on their cars, it's causing me to rethink a future Porsche purchase.

 

Agreed, most Porsche owners are not poor. They generally don't have to take financial savings/investment advice from the tech, since the Porsche maintenance tab is a small portion of the household income. Routine service is similar to Lexus or Benz, not cheap. He also probably didn't mention the frequency of Porsche's assistance with out of warranty cars for owners.

Note: see my post above regarding IMS failure/engine failure, that's scary and not that uncommon.

 

that's JD power's 3month initial quality survey.
It has nothing to do with reliability.

 

I would agree that out of pocket maint/repair costs are probably not at the top of the financial list for the majority of Porsche owners.

 

This isn't exclusive to Porsche, any high end luxury/sports car is the same way. This is standard stuff.


JD Power ranks Porsche and Audi next to Honda for 3-Year dependability. I personally don't believe anything they put out.

 

the most common problem on a 986-996 is the RMS leak

 

That was pretty much gone by 2003. The 996 turbo which debuted in 2001 is built with a stronger engine crankcase and is fairly immune to most of the problems mentioned here. The 2001 Turbo base price around $130000 is an incredible bargain @ less than half original MSRP. Check for service records either paper or at the servicing dealer & have a PREpurchase inspection done & simply deduct the cost of rectifying any issues from the market value. There are many cars to choose from so be choosey.

I have put 70,000 miles on my 2000 Porsche, unscheduled maintenance 2 times: fuel level sensor replacement & last week @ 85,000 miles waterpump replacement. RMS was replaced during clutch replacement @ 50,000.