hundreds of owners? I like a link to your Porsche forum, otherwise I call bs. I'm part of the two biggest Porsche forums and I could almost name all of the guys with IMS issues. Considering how many 997 were sold. You have a better chance of getting hit by a car. 996 more reliable lol. The 2005 997 with IMS issues has the same engine (M96) as the 996. The newer M97 has an upgraded IMS and less prone to issues. If you are afraid of IMS issues, then save your pennies for an 09 and newer, it does not have IMS. Personally I am not a fan of the 996 unless it is a GT2.

 

Buy another Lexus...

 

I will have had my 997 Turbo for 4 years in November. That is hard to believe.

It has been nothing short of a dream. I have spent a grand total of about $2,000 on maintenance - including bi-annual oil changes and a scheduled, full OEM brake job.

The car now has a little over 18,000 miles on it and has never given me a minute's trouble.

I should add that I have a TON of mods on the car including race exhaust and a methanol injection kit.

I have no idea where you are getting your whacky information, but my experience has been that these cars are basically bulletproof.

 

The issue that you are referring to is mainly an issue only on the earlier 996 N/A versions. The IMS issue is still pretty rare, even on the most affected early 996 N/A cars. This problem has also been brought up on the 986 and 987 platform-also which is on the rarer side of occurrence.

Both the 996 and 997tt with their metzger engine's have very little issues but there are rare cases as always. The 996/997 gt3's have issues with their RMS leaking but that is usually only if they are tracked heavily and even if so is not really a big issue.

 

I have a 2006 911c2 Cab, manual and use it daily. It's my only car and have never had a major problem! Flat tire once and worn tire replacement that's it. 37,000 miles. it's just like every other car. You have to maintain it properly. Enjoy life!

 

Dana love you're Turbo red is the sexiest color.

 

Thanks for the input guys!
I went down to a local euro garage and the manager informed me that about 5% of 996/997/Boxsters suffered intermediate shaft failure, resulting in engine destruction. It isn't actually the shaft that fails, but a round bearing that houses the shaft. Porsche apparently made the bearing sealed with grease for life, but it apparently wasn't made well enough. Although this was actually a huge issue, Porsche never formally issued a recall or addressed the issue. Turbo 996/997s are not affected as they have a different bearing that houses this shaft, while early model (97-200x)Boxsters have highest frequency of this problem.

The manager told me that the best option is to have the IMS bearing replaced or upgraded to stronger aftermarket ones when the clutch is being replaced.

 

my car's year model is 2001 - but if i averaged out all of the replacement parts, i think i'm driving around in a 2009-2010.

do your homework, be prepared for the worst, & you'll be fine.

- chuck

 

2006 997 S Cab. No problems. Great cars.

I used to have a Mustang GT in Torch Red and thought (at the time) that only Mustangs and Ferraris looked good in this tone of red. I was wrong, this is gorgeous.