blinkwatt - Yes, the original Porsche Emissions Warranty covers the cats for 8 years / 80,000 miles. Interestingly enough, I had to take it in like 3 or 4 times to get it done. The exhaust would rattle about 80% of the time (did not seem to hamper performance) but everytime I took it in, they either said "I can't hear it" or "I think it's a heat shield." Finally, I made them put the car up while it was running, and we stood and waited until the noise kicked in (took about 5 minutes.) FINALLY, the dealership admitted that it was a covered item. I guess the cats on these cars are about $1500 each (would hate to lose more than 1 at once!!!) Anyway Porsche only charges for the gasket (about $13 - so I wasn't complaining.)
I guess I
knew it was going to be more maint. than an MR2 or an S2000 but some of these issues either make you put the car up (failing wheel bearing) or leave you stranded at a gas station (alternator). Luckily I live in a big enough city with public transportaion, so I can get to work easily & still go out / run errands while it's being fixed. I guess I should be thankful there have not been any major catastrophic failures. Thanks for all your advice & opinions. Hopefully, we'll get this puppy relatively trouble free - it just looks like I'll be the one tasked with fixing everything!
John
(PS - I was never really sold on De-Ambering, but damn - some of your rides look nice! I may do it in the forseeable future.)