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Coupes & Convertibles Porsche Boxster & Boxster-S Thinking of buying a Porsche? Read this and think again!
6 messages, Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 10:16 PM
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Here is a story that I need to share in hope I can spare someone else the same experience: My 1999 Boxster was recently diagnosed with the apparently very common intermediate shaft failure (IMS failure). The big surprise came when I heard the only way to fix this, is a complete engine replacement; $12000 for the part alone! Add the hours needed to put it in, and this is more then the cars current value. The car has 62000 miles on it and had every scheduled service, done by Porsche certified shops. When I approached Porsche to help me out, they had a good laugh and told me that the warranty expired 6 years ago. Even after I pointed to the "Implied Warranty of Merchantability and Fitness of Purpose" regulation in this country, and told them that nobody would buy a car knowing that it's engine will disintegrate after 62000 miles, they had nothing to say. I guess my fault for trying to keep the car in good shape and not driving it enough so that the failure would occur within the warranty period. On their website, Porsche boasts with statements like: “With the ‘Made in Germany’ cachet, and because of it” and “What counts here are quality, environmental protection, safety. And, naturally, fascination.” Needless to say that I was fascinated until this happened. I'm left with two options: donate the car, or get a lawyer. Neither is remotely what I'd like to do. It is beyond me how Porsche can act this way. They want to make a profit out of this and sell me a new engine. An engine that I need to replace due to a design flaw that they built into it. They didn't even offer to give me a new engine at their cost. I hope many people read this post and it shows them how Porsche treats its customers. I know, I'll never buy one again. And believe me, it hurts to say that: I loved to drive my Boxster. Read up on the IMS failure and think again if you think of buying a Porsche. The user forums are full of people with similar stories. Don't make the mistake I made. Don't buy a Porsche! |
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| looking at a 2001 Boxster S w/36K miles. warned about engine failures - oil mixing w/coolant. scared me off. anything to this? enough to not buy if everything cks out? | |
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This is a worthwhile forum for anyone wanting to purchase a Porsche built from 1997 through 2008 that contains the infamous M96 engine subject to IMS failure. I have read many such episodes as the one posted above. I have read two episodes where owners had this happen on two different cars that they owned. I have read an account of a failure as low as 6,000 miles. I have read another where the owner had the failure on a crowded high-speed freeway and was lucky to get the car to the side of the road without being killed. An owner in Toronto bought an '05 Boxster just out of warranty and had the problem soon after he bought the car. He's trying to pull together a class action suit against Porsche. I recall reading about an owner in Britain who won a case against Porsche. The judge said that Porsche should be building engines that go 200,000 miles, not the crap that ends up in an IMS failure. From the accounts I've read, Porsche replaces the defective engine with a rebuilt one if your car is still under warranty. If your car is slightly out of warranty and the dealer service manager likes the color of your tie that day, Porsche may throw in only a few thousand dollars and you're stuck with the rest. And if you're like the poster above, you're simply stuck. Boxsters have been subject to some real head-spinning depreciation already, so when you add on the bill for an engine replacement, it's a major financial hit. A lot of people will have to pay more for a new engine than their car is worth. Because Porsche has not addressed this issue publicly and will not grant potential victims an extended warranty or a free mechanical fix of the problem, many otherwise good used cars are now tainted. It is certainly affecting resale value. If you want to read more, just Google "Porsche" and "engine failure" or go to sites like rennlist.com or ppbb.com. After you do the free registration on the sites, you can search for engine failure information and find plenty of hair-raising stories. My advice to owners looking for a Porsche built with the M96 engine: buy a Corvette. The folks at Chevy look like customer service gurus compared to the people at Porsche, where the attitude is that -- for $50,000 or more -- you should consider yourself privileged just to own one of their defective products.
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Replying to: longislander1 (Oct 02, 2009 7:02 am) To top it off, get this: I had a Porsche staff member reply to one of my posts about this issue in another forum, basically telling me to suck it up. If I REALLY love the car, I shut up and pay. The reason I know it was a Porsche employee is, because the post had details about my claim that I never mentioned in the forum, so only I and the Porsche employees that worked on my claim had that knowledge. The person claimed to be a Willi x, but turned out to be lady with the name Heather. I was speechless when I read the post. |
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| About 1 1/2 years ago, my Boxster's engine had the same intermediate shaft problem other Boxsters have. I had my car towed to the local Porsche dealer and they agreed to replace the entire engine under warranty. Not only did they complete the job with $0 out of my pocket, but they gave me a 2 year warranty at no additional charge. My car had only 22K miles and I didn't drive her too hard. I have hit 155 mph and she felt good. I don't think I was abusing her, Porsches are suppose to go fast! If this would've happened out of warranty, my dealer told me that Porsche would've paid for 1/2 the repair $15K including labor or $7,500 out of pocket. That's a lot of money and I'm glad the engine blew while it was under warranty. The dealer told me the engine they put in had been upgraded and should not throw the shaft through the side of the block, like this one did. I love my Boxster and I'm glad the dealer took care of me, unlike Mitsubishi and their EVO problems. | |
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