[Jake Raby]

The 911 series that isn't a Turbo or GT series uses the same engine, just larger displacement, they share 90% of the same components and same modes of failure. I have more failed 996s here at the present than Boxsters.

The reason why people deal with the issues is the same reason why I opened my Flat 6 Division of my company; because the remainder of the car is so damn good. The cars could be like other eras of sports cars with horrible wiring issues, crappy brakes, bodies that rust in 3 years, trannys that grenade and injection systems that are junk.

With the Boxster thats just not the case and we saw that 8 years ago.. Provide a proper engine for the car, built with updated components and treat it to proper attention to detail, blueprint work, balance and assembly carried out by a single Human and you have a really damn good engine for an exceptional car.

Driving around worrying isn't safe. If you can't do the proactive upgrades then all you can do is drive the car with a smile on your face, worrying about it will do zero good.. If it fails you'll have to take it on the chin, but you could be one of the unlucky souls that knows nothing about these issues until the engine goes pop and you learn afterward.

Porsches have never been cheap, they cost more than a Cadillac in the 1950s. They have never been cheap to maintain, not even when they were as simple as a VW bug and shared common parts with them. IMHO Porsches have always made better 2nd, 3rd or 4th cars than primary vehicles and I got my first one at age 12 out of a junkyard. When the watercooled Porsche came along it attracted a group of new Porsche owners that could drive it like a Toyota or Honda due to creature comforts that Porsches never had before (and IMHO never should have had) like power brakes, power steering, real A/C and real heat.

Today half the cars we see here come in nasty with spilled drinks in the floor, grime build up on the steering wheel and general nastiness.. I have NEVER seen vintage Porsches treated like this, not even when they were new and daily drivers for some. Its clear that people expect the Porsche to be another commuter car, and thats what the factory wanted to do by putting a generic vehicle with a Porsche crest in every driveway all over the world via mass production. Thats what has bred these engine issues and put the cars in the hands of folks that like the curves of the car, but don't relate to it in the manner in which people like us do...

The cars aren't poor products, the engines have issues that must be addressed or the owner stands a fair chance at misfortune. Thats just a fact. If you are not enjoying the car and are worrying while driving, the car should be sold because when a failure does occur it will be too late.

Historically Porsche owners have spent more on engines than the cars are worth.. I supplied those to the 356 years ago, then the 914 (and still do today) and then the Boxster and 996 family.

I have 4 Boxsters here now awaiting full engine updates. Of these 4, 3 of them have engines planned that will cost more than the current value of the car, but they are all nice cars that are well loved by the owners. These owners won't be selling the car, so the cost isn't a concern, its considered a must if they intend to keep the car for the rest of their life, or a couple of decades.

To date the most expensive performance engine I've ever created was installed into a Vintage VW Beetle, not any Porsche.. Thats kind of an interesting bit of information that puts things into perspective about what really costs and why people really spend. That engine cost 3X more than my most expensive M96 engine and that was in 2001~