I think my engine just took a #$%!! - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

blue2000s · 10-13-2007, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hdpt73

Today's car manufacturers are pretty competitive about performance and bargain price. It's not wise to for Porsche to piss off so many people and expect them to buy another porsche or bring word of mouth customers to the door. If I had to do it over again, I'd have bought an M3 or a Corvette. Why gamble on the reliability of a car and then pay a premium for the name, then get treated like an idiot? Lol, imagine being a 911 ower, paying for the "heritage" and then having your engine take a dump.

It must not really be effecting too many people. Porsche's the most profitable auto company in the world and sales are at an all time high. You'd think if this engine's poor reputation were going to set in, it would have by now.

Tool Pants · 10-13-2007, 10:55 PM

Wendelin Wiedeking must be an amazing person.

In the mid-90s Porsche sold very few cars. In some of the books it is said the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, or being taken over. I would joke that Honda made more cars in 1 hour than Porsche sold for the entire year.

Porsche is still in small company, with lots of cash. It now owns 31% of VW.

The Boxster turned the company around. It was a big seller for such a little company. To keep up with demand production was out-sourced to Finland for model year 1998. Not that it matters, but that was the same year defective engine blocks were sleeved, to keep up with production of a fast selling product.

When I started Boxstering there was no truck. Now there is going to be a sedan. If you believe what you read, most of the profits these days come from the sale of the truck, the Cayenne.

Porsche is going to be the next BMW. Porsche does not care if you ever buy another car from them - there is someone standing in line behind you. In my mind this loyalty thing to the brand is a one way street.

Brucelee · 10-14-2007, 09:01 AM

It is a mistake to assume that the present extends in a straight line into the future.

Porsche is having a good run, hats off to them.

Never piss off the customer. It ALWAYS cost you something, even if you can't measure it.

IBM, GM, Motorola, Sears, should I go on? Arthur Anderson, Digital Computers etc etc.

smiledrs · 10-14-2007, 11:59 AM

Guess what I just read in my Nov 2007 issue of Road and Track. Starting on page 140 and a 5 page spread. They talk about the 1997-2004 Boxster engine failure.
Here is an excerpt:

"Then, beginning in late 1998, with model year 1999 cars, there was the dreaded cylinder liner failure. If a Boxster owner was lucky, the engine would merely blow a head gasket and dump it's coolant. For other owners, the engine would self-destruct in a catastrophic failure. It's rumored that as many as 50 percent of the 1999 Boxsters had liner failure."

"Boxster engine swaps became common enough that Porsche mechanics began referring to the CEL on the instrument panel not as the "Check Engine Light" but as the "Change Engine Light".

I'm taking this article straight to the service manager tomorrow and throwing this in his face about there is no proof of early engine failure on early gen Boxsters.

pinball22 · 10-14-2007, 12:44 PM

I drive a 99 and never had the engine light on once. 80k plus miles.
solid car

Tool Pants · 10-14-2007, 01:31 PM

With a 1998 PCNA in Atlanta is not going to do anything for you, and your dealership's hands are tied.

Just think, 1997 and 1998 only had a 2 year warranty. At least now it is 4 years.

1998 did not have sleeved engines.

I bought Road & Track so see what they had to say. If I had known they were doing a Boxster article I would have sent them pictures of a sleeved engine that went boom.

Or, better yet, I would have told Porsche that if they did not pay me big bucks for the pictures I would give them to Road & Track.

blue2000s · 10-14-2007, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucelee

It is a mistake to assume that the present extends in a straight line into the future.

Porsche is having a good run, hats off to them.

Never piss off the customer. It ALWAYS cost you something, even if you can't measure it.

IBM, GM, Motorola, Sears, should I go on? Arthur Anderson, Digital Computers etc etc.

This engine's been in production for over ten years now. These issues have been around since the beginning. If it was going to effect sales, it would have happened by now.

Brucelee · 10-14-2007, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blue2000s

This engine's been in production for over ten years now. These issues have been around since the beginning. If it was going to effect sales, it would have happened by now.

Why would you think it hasn't???

Boxster sales (excluding Cayman) are down sharply over previous years.

You can run, but you cannot hide.

blue2000s · 10-15-2007, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brucelee

Why would you think it hasn't???

Boxster sales (excluding Cayman) are down sharply over previous years.

You can run, but you cannot hide.

Because the Boxster, Cayman and Carrera all use the same engine and these are issues for the Carrera as well.

prOk · 10-15-2007, 06:45 AM

People honestly want porsche to warranty or throw a discount on a failure of a 10 year old engine? My god. The car itself is only worth 15k or so.