Cylinder Sleeve Slip
 

1999 Boxster, 45k miles, engine blew due to cylinder liner slip. Out of warranty (we are 3rd owner, bought with 15k on clock (didn't even have 1st service done!).

I wrote a heart-wrenching letter to Porsche Customer Care - they settled for a 60/40 split, so we paid $4k for a new engine, with a 2 year warranty and fitted free. New engine in a car with 45k miles.......Score!

I can let fellow sufferers have a copy of the letter, if needed. Can't guarantee you will get same result as each case is treated individually - that's why letter is free!

ghha

EXCELLENT information. Thank you. A 9 yr old car with only 45K is a good example of a well cared for car (I assume that you do not race it) that went bad and your skills with writing reaped a fair reward. Now it's a keeper. Good luck and thanks again.
How long ago did this all happen???

18 months ago - had no problems since touch wood. I was very non-confrontational in my approach (after all, I had everything to gain and they had absolutely no obligation to me) and basically leaned on their desire to preserve their reputation....my wife wanted to kick butt but I persuaded her to let the letter do its work. I was told that my patient approach was what won them over.....unusual for me, as I am the proverbial bull in the china shop...

FYI - Consumer Reports Info, and Playing With Statistics
 

Take a look at Consumer Reports guide, "Best and Worst of 2009 Cars", now on newstands. They rate reliability of cars in numerous categories based on owner surveys of their membership. If they don't receive enough surveys, they simply won't give a rating. Their major engine repairs category is the one that would apply if there was a blown engine. The Boxster has ratings for almost all years from 1999 to 2008. It is rated "Much Better Than Average" reliability for major engine repairs for 1999 and 2001, and "Better Than Average" for 2000. I forgot the other years' ratings but none were worse than average. Overall the Boxster is rated as highly reliable across all categories in all years.

I do think that if the readers of Consumers Reports were having a statistically significant problem with blown engines, the magazine would be raising a huge outcry about it.

If I understand things right, there have been something like 200,000 Boxsters produced. If 3% of them had a blown engine, that would be 6000 blown engines. It seems like there are a lot of reports of blown engines in these pages and in other forums -- but nothing remotely approaching even a couple of hundred.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that there are 200 reports of blown engines on the various forums here and elsewhere (which is probably an exaggeration). Let's also assume that that number represents only 10% of the actual number of blown engines (which is also an exaggeration, because most likely anyone who has a Boxster is an enthusiast who reads these forums and will raise h3ll about it). Nevertheless, using those assumptions we can hazard a guess that there have been no more than about 2000 blown engines. That figure would then represent about 1% of the total production.

Most of us would be prepared to accept a 99% reliable car that is rated "Much Better Than Average" in the Major Engine category from Consumer Reports.

God, I hope I'm right . . .

But, as you and CU stated, these ratings are based on recent model years. Most of the major complaints are for late 90s and early 2000s cars.......which make up a lot of this forun's readership. And for those folks with a recent model failure, most have a warrantee........so they are inconvenienced but get a new engine paid for by Porsche.
I'm sure that Porsche has corrected the deficiencies that cause blown engines, but we'd like to have them accept responsibility for the massive failures that older Porsche owners are experiencing at almost any milage. We can't afford to spend $10K or so on the low milage creampuff that we have cared for that is now only worth $20-30K.

Consumer Reports' "Best and Worst" issue on the newstand included ratings of the 1999, 2000, 2001 etc. cars (they don't have ratings pre-1999). Similar ratings are included in the 2008 and 2009 Buying Guides. The two Guides don't go as far back as 1999, but the ratings on the Boxster that they DO contain are not the same as those in the "Best and Worst" issue. This could indicate a mistake, or it seems more likely that the "Best and Worst" issue is a compilation based on an average of all the annual reports (?) over a period of years. For example, the 2001 Boxster is rated "Better than Average" for Engine Major in the "Best and Worst" issue, but "Much Worse than Average" in the 2008 Buyer's Guide. Either the "Best and Worst" issue is outright wrong or it is based on a compilation of several years of better than average surveys. The latter seems more likely. If so, it's also statistically more significant than a one-year sample.

Don't misunderstand me -- I do think ANY engine failure more than a tiny, tiny fraction (i.e. a lot less than my speculative failure rate of 1%) is unacceptable and I completely support efforts to make Porsche take care of the problem. Just two weeks ago, I bought a 1999 with under 15K miles, then I read these forums and scared myself silly. I was ready to resell the car and get an S2000, but since then I have calmed myself down. The odds seem to favor me and so I'm learning to live with that 1% risk. However, I'm already planning for the worst: Raising heck with Porsche and trying to save for the 350 HP Raby engine if and when my engine does blow. "Well, honey, I have to replace the engine and this was all they have available." Hehehe

Thank you....I stand partly corrected!! The 4/08 CR issue rated the 911 and Boxster back to '02. WE know that there isn't much difference between the engines in the two cars except liters and HP. The Porsche earned "worse than average" marks in '02 through '05 when both cars are viewed together. But we don't know the sample sizes or enough to comment much more than that. So, like I said above, the newer cars are improved. On the next page is the data for Toyota.....I wish that Porsche had Toyota making their engines!!!!!!! And a few pages away is that other Boxer style engine car, the Subaru. They have a substantially better record than Porsche and you don't need a fortune to maintain them.
I love my Boxster, but there is no good reason that an engine that expensive should have a major failure when cared for and driven reasonably.

Bob

I broke down and bought an extended warranty. 3 yrs coverage for$1600 or $1800 (I forget!), but it will let me sleep at night......

I'm retired and simply could not afford to replace an engine if I suffered a catistrophic engine failure such as discussed in this thread.

This goes against my usual car care principles and prevents me form doing my own maint, such as oil changes, to honor the warranty, but I feel safer now.

Much thanks to all that have contributed to this thread.

This sounds like a wise move for you.

Best of luck with the car!

:D

Hmmm... Wonder how many times I've written this out here?

Bought my '99 Boxster in May of 2005 with around 12,000 miles on it. Less than a month later it just died at a light. Towed to the dealer and waited for the bad news.

Complete engine failure. As with most, there was no telling what the actual problem was since I'd have to pay to find that out for sure. But the guess, of course, was the intermediate shaft.

Luckily for me, the car was covered by a 90 day warranty from the dealer. So, they were forced to front the $10-12k required for a new engine.

For the first year or so I still lived in a bit of fear though that grew less and less. Still, that fear never erased the joy I felt in firing it up, dropping the top, and just driving.

Then little oil drops started appearing right where an RMS leak should be...

Sold it a few weeks ago for a certified '06 Cayenne Turbo S. It doesn't have nearly the same sound or sportyness of the Boxster. But it fits where my life is now and gets the kiddos to basketball practice in stupid fast fashion.

My 2002 S
 

I purchased my 02 Boxster S from my boss! Everyone thought it was brand new because he had taken such good care of the car, even my mechanic wondered about the cleanliness under the convertible cover and how well the engine and all other mechanicals had been maintained.

I started with 32K miles, and now after about a year at about 42K; the car just stopped on a neighborhood street with the check engine light on. Mechanic says error codes indicate 3 cylinders on passenger side not functioning; likely needs new engine. Total expected damage is $10K for engine and $2K for labor. No indication of problem with intermediate shaft or RMS, exterior is free of oil. Could it be the vario-timing cam?

I love my new baby, but it is costing way too much.

2000 S
 

I just bought my first Boxster, a 2000 S. Grey metallic with red leather, carbon package, 18" turbo wheels. A one owner with 67,000 miles. I read about the engine problems, but heck, I never would buy a first year production model or second year. Usually the third year they have everything under control. Any way, it's a one owner and well maintained. Love it.

Add me to the list of early blown engines. 1998 Boxster with just 16,500 miles engine went dead over a year ago. Sent to Todd and he put a 3.4L 996.

What was the specific failure and cause of your misfortune? And, if you don't mind, to be curious, what did that great upgrade to 3.4 cost you?

Porsche's new design of our motors has no liners, no IMS, and no crank carrier; very much like a 944 motor. (From a tech session at this year's Parade.)

I know I should know the answer to this question but what year did they redesign the Boxster engine to remove the IMS etc., 2005?

-Steve

2009 as far as I know.

Warranty peace of mkind
 

I bought my first Porsche - 2004 Boxster with 35000km - a couple of months ago. Local one owner car bought and serviced at the dealership I purchased from. Love the car but concerned about the potential for total engine destruction. If it did not have the 2 year cpo warranty I probably would not have bought it. When the cpo warranty has run its course I'll have to think long and hard whether I want to keep it. Dave

How about that letter?
 

Hi There...

If you wouldn't mind sharing a draft of your letter to Porsche, it would be wonderful. No panic, but I just would like to be prepared if anything untoward happens.

Thanks very much for your generous offer!

Rover

Redesign to remove IMS
 

THe IMS went away with the 2009 MY

Blown Engine
 

Add me to the list. 2005 with 31,000 miles and just out of warantee. Porsche came through though and put a new engine in it. I had $850 out of pocket to diassemble the dead engine to make sure it was in fact, dead. Which it was. New engine purrs and pulls harder than the original.

Death was caused by intermediate shaft failure.

Exactly why my Porsche mechanic buddy told me if I didn't buy a certified Box from my local dealer, he'd come to Jax and kick my ass!! Mine is covered until 4/2012 and/or another 69k miles.

how does one get to the coolant reservoir on a Boxster?

does someone have the letter?

where did you buy the insurance from? Your Porsche dealer? So, they still sell warranties for let's say a 2002 Boxster? What does the warranty cover?

That would be something to consider.
At the same time, this should give us the worst scenario odds of an engine failure, assuming that Porsche doesn't lose money on those plans.

Quote:

"I broke down and bought an extended warranty. 3 yrs coverage for$1600 or $1800 (I forget!), but it will let me sleep at night......
"

Originally Posted by Bobiam

"where did you buy the insurance from? Your Porsche dealer? So, they still sell warranties for let's say a 2002 Boxster? What does the warranty cover?

That would be something to consider.
At the same time, this should give us the worst scenario odds of an engine failure, assuming that Porsche doesn't lose money on those plans."
.................................................. .................................................. ......
My warranty is with Consumer Direct Warranty Services. Found them on a google search through agent AAAutoWarranty.com, WHO I RECOMMEND THAT YOU STAY AWAY FROM. THEY BADLY MISREPRESENTED THE PRODUCT. Warranty good...Agent bad.

Coverage is 3 yrs, unlimited miles, covers engine, trans, drive train, cooling system, fuel system, electrical, related gaskets except head gaskets. The important thing is it covers most everything that's lubricated, and that includes the major causes of massive engine failures. Transferable with a $75 fee to the new owner. Maintence is critical to have warranty pay related claims and you cannot do your own oil changes and the like. I just paid $100 for an oil change than it would have cost me to do it!!! Oh, well!

Bob

FYI:
There are three companies involve in the whole process; Consumer Direct Warranty Services (who is in charge of the warranty), Great Atlantic Warranty (who is the seller) and Mepco (who is in charge of the billing) I'm pretty sure they do this because they want to forward each other the responsibility of your complaint until you give up.

Dead Boxster
 

Well, you can add me to the list. My '04 2.7 purchased 18months ago with 13k miles died 6 months in amid a welter of unpleasant metallic clicking noises with just less than 20k on the clock. Porsche GB met most of the cost of a new - actually Porsche re-conditioned (not what I was told originally by the dealer) unit, which seems to be OK so far. Has a 2 year unconditional warranty, so time to sell on is ......

Early blown engine
 

It seems like I have a unusual 1998 Boxster. It has 220,000 miles and going strong. , One clutch, oil seperator replaced and regular maintaince. Driven on highway mostly.IT SCARES ME TO READ OF EARLY FAILURES.

Engine replacement
 

4 banger w/ forced induction from Audi on a 2011 Boxster. Would this be a cheaper and more reliable replacement on a blown engine, what do you think?

I'm sure you never floor it, or red line it, or have any fun at all, or change the oil after a year or so...... :D

This is a very scary thread for someone looking to buy an older boxster. anyone have any conclusions about the 2000 model boxster and it's failure rate?

No one has a definitive conclusion or percentage of failures for any year.
But I will remind you that for every post here about an engine failure there are probably a few thousand Boxster owners that never had a problem and therefore never sought a solution on the internet, and posted here about how few problems they have.

There have been over 200,000 Boxsters sold and this entire forum maybe mentions about 100 individual engine failures. I'm not saying it can't happen, but it doesn't happen that often (knock on wood). :cheers:

My problem is I'm one of those people that when I try to go out on a limb and do something I probably shouldn't ie. buy a Porsche, Murphy's law kicks in and I get screwed. :rolleyes:

If you're making such a big financial stretch just to buy the car, then you probably shouldn't buy. Spend a lot of time reading this forum. This site is also very helpful if you're in the market: http://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/mikesporscheboxsterwebpages

Take time to educate yourself and go in with your eyes wide open. I did and my ownership experience has been great. I can't think of any car I'd rather have for the $; the Boxster's a phenomenal value. The IMS bearing failure issue made me nervous too, so when my car was ready for a clutch I got the bearing retrofit at the same time. I agree the problem is totally over-hyped, but now I sleep a lot better.

If you have some basic mechanical skills and are willing to learn, you'll be amazed at how much you can do yourself - and how much of a dent that will make in your maintenance costs. Being able to work on the car and solve problems gives me a lot of satisfaction, enhancing my ownership experience. If you've got to run to a dealer or mechanic every time you have a little problem or require maintenance, it's going to get pricey. I leave only the hard jobs for the pros.

I don't disagree that this thread makes it seem like every other person has had an IMS failure. On the other hand, I don't think you can ratio based on forum posts. I have been on lots of other forums (other makes) and it is very unusual to see this volume of engine failures. It's probably safe to agree that IMS failures are a real problem for Porsche. There was a great article in Excellence on the M96 engine listing it's strengths and weaknesses.

I would suggest to current and potential owners of M96 engine (2000+) who are concerned to just install the upgraded bearing from Raby on LN, then you're risk of an catastrophic engine failure probably isn't much greater than a Honda or Toyota. RMS can still be a problem.

Great advice. I spent alot of time on here and Rennsport's site, just lurking reading and studying and decided to take another friend's advice and use the cash I was going to use to buy an 03 or 04 S and used it down (55%) to buy an 06 S with certification from Porsche. It was more expensive than an extended warranty, but I have a much newer and nicer car, IMO, and no worries of an aftermarket warranty actually coming thru if really needed. I may end up being wrong (if it could only be the first time! :D ), but I think 987s are having fewer issues, also.

Lots of people can afford to buy a Boxster and even a 911 these days... But many of those can't afford to properly maintain or repair it.

Always think about that...

I tend to think the Porsche owners
 

may be a bit more involved with their cars than the average brand owners. So they tend to be connected to each other and the way we do that these days is on the net.

You also see lots of postings about other problems. How many times has the ignition switch come up? Or rear tire wear? RMS? But it is the last 18 months when the IMS failures suddenly became identified and we started talking about them. It helped to have an article in Excellence. And a rebuilder willing to talk in some of the forums.

I bought my car third hand, paid less than 40% of the original cost, its 8 years old and 56k miles. Why does Porsche owe me anything?

Stuff happens. Deal with it. If you can solve the problem with money, on the scale of things it isn't such a big problem, is it? It is only a car, not a family member.

And if you bought it not knowing stuff happens to any brand of car...well then just shame on you. It isn't like info on possible failures isn't publicly available for the price of a search.

Only thing wrong about my Boxster is there is a half inch of ice on the roads and I have summer tires.

use it or loose it
 

We own performance cars thats part of the fun (And you get nothin for nothing).I have had my 97 for two years drive it every day the only cost is fuel/service front engine mont and what i have chosen to spend.I would have to say from my experiance a reliable car.
One problem i see here some of these cars are doing only 5000 miles per year average.I have a motorcycle it has seal problems and brake failier every year after winter storage guess what the vtx1800 is a reliable bike so they say.

My first boxster
 

Well I don't know too much about Porsche's but I'm learning as I go. My Boxster is a 1998 have a few issues but still not a big deal as you can see in thr threads I posted. I bought it last Sept used and it is a great car, I guess nothing it perfect but someday I'll buy a newer one that's for sure!!

What extended warranties, if any, will pay to fix the said problems addressed in this thread?

Are there any available 2nd hand from Porsche USA through a dealership?