How Many Times Has Your 986 Left You Stranded On the Road?
 

For me, it's five times due to a failed:

1. Clutch master cylinder (about 20K)
2. AOS (about 60K)
3. Clutch line fitting (about 85K)
4. Fuel pump (about 87K)
5. Water pump (about 105K)

In the 11k miles I have had my 2001 Box zero breakdowns or stranded. In your case preventative maintenance would have helped - now I am mondaymorningquarterbacking....sorry to hear that. Do you still love it?

Still love it...none of the failures provided any forewarning other than a 10 mile notice of what turned out to be a seizing water pump bearing. I suppose I could have replaced the AOS and water pump preventively, but I would have expected the other items to last far longer than they did.

Just once, when the two shift cables popped out of their brackets coming back from another member's garage.

Only once in the first 10 years and 70K miles.

after 70K miles

coolant tank split open
water pump let go
alternator/starter forget which they both went nearly at once.
AOS went

Once. But...

I was at the racetrack and the clutch, flywheel, and throw out bearing all blew to bits when I down shifted going into Turn 3 at AutoClub Speedway where you brake from 110 to about 45 for a hard left. I pushed in the clutch, downshifted, blipped the throttle, let out the clutch and .... nothing. The clutch pedal stayed stuck on the floor with the trans in neutral.

126K miles and 70+ track days and this was the only time I had to get a tow. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Once - ruptured clutch line.

Never in 15k miles.

Stiffed me at the track though, AOS,

Once. IMS.

Three and a bit years. From 76k miles at purachase to 117k miles today.

Never.

Then again, a bit of preventative maintenance and not driving it when it there are signs it might break down certainly help!

Once in 8 years. I took a little side trip off track... backwards at 80mph and tapped the nose of the car on a gator going off. It was just enough to crack the radiator on that side so I towed her home. Totally my fault.

Twice Ignition switch and alternator. The ignition switch failed in a service station parking lot. So, it was no biggie. The alternator went out on the interstate. A passing State Trooper called me a hook.

Once, and it was my fault.

2 yrs, 20k miles, '01S, no strandings, lots of fun, at least one accident avoided due to car's phenomenal handling.

Never in 7 years and 115k

Has never left me stranded... The only car I have owned that I can say that.

Zero times. It was my daily driver, and took it on many road trips, and never once worried about it breaking down.

never in the 3 months I've owned it
:dance:

(in 15 years of driving I have NEVER been stranded. I've had about 10 different cars. yes, I've had problems, but I've always limped home!)

Once.

2nd ignition switch failure (The ignition switch had already been replaced). Drained battery in the airport parking lot. I couldn't even open the trunk to jump start the car. (spectacular car design flaw).

So I had to do the whole plug a portable battery into the cigarette lighter dance... The problem is my portable battery is at my house (not at the airport after flight).




/

Never.
 

In four years and over 30,000 miles my '98 hasn't abandoned me once.

*knock on wood* so far, the car has 105k miles and is 12 years old.

it has never actually left me stranded on the side of the road. it's always made it "somewhere" that i can repair or replace a broken part. most were at home.

the alternator failed on the way from nowhere texas to nothing texas on the highway, but the car kept going to a small town with a parts store. the water pump started failing in nebraska, but made it to denver without a complete failure. ignition switch had issues for a while before i finally replaced it. those were the closest to stranded. cracked coolant tank was replaced at home.

Wow, it's looking like I may be the record holder on this one....and that's not a good thing. Thank goodness for AAA.

Small sampling size, so the numbers won't mean too much. However, I do believe the data will be skewed just a bit, as appears most folks here are enthusiasts who mostly DIY and perform routine maintenance. They're less likely to "break down" as compared to someone who just owns a Boxster and only puts gas in it.

It's still cool to see the common failures that'll leave one stranded somewhere. Good thread!

The dead battery procedure in the owner's manual didn't help you figure out how to open the hood?

Ignition switch drained battery. Alarm left on. Manually (physically) opened car with key which sets off a dying car alarm sounds. Jump start procedure (touch to frame and special spot to open hood) would not work when alarm is going off. BTW - you can't open the trunk either when the alarm is going off.

This is the Porsche circle of stupidity. Can't get to battery, I am stranded...

Just give me a manual frunk release and none of this would ever happen.



/

Not yet a few mile off 30,000 for me, and the car has 56500

Never
 

Never in the 4+ years of owning my '98 986 and never in my 3 months of owning my 981 S.

I did have a 944 blow its timing belt and break some valves around 12 years ago. That was my only Porsche let down. And it was my fault as I put off replacing the timing belt by 6 months.

Lesson learned on Porsches: always be preventative and they are solid. Ignore servicing them at your peril.

Never since I bought my 2000 at 76K km and now at 198k km. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Once. And if I had half a brain I would have paid attention to the warning signs.

The car wouldn't start - dead battery - due to the voltage regulator being shot.

The warning signs were slow top operation with the engine off and slow window action.

Once I ran out of gas. My gauge was a bit off and I was pushing her on third gear for a while. It was the weirdest feeling, first off never felt a car run out of gas before and secondly i was just downshifting thinking that I was losing power but then I realized that it was a gas shortage. So I lost a good amount of roll time meaning more pushing. Luckily my friends were behind me so they pushed me to an empty lot and we went to get some gas.

The one positive thing that came out of this is that my friend quit smoking cigarets after feeling like S*** after pushing my car. A negative for a positive.

Never once.

Once. Dead battery, due to age. I don't really consider it a Porsche failure. A dead battery will kill any car.

Neither my Cayman, nor my Boxster, have left me stranded...

I've owned mine for 2 1/2 years. Started at 66k, now has 88k. has not left me stranded. Even when a deer hit me in 2011.