Shortlived Boxster engines survey

[Boxster_986]

Well, cost me about 3K in total for the L&N upgrade on my 2001 Boxster with 35K. The upgrade also included upgraded RMS and new clutch disk/bearing and some new cam seals (small leak). After buying the car about three months ago the lady that sold me mine had a catastrophic IMS failure on her newer model 2005 with only 23K miles..... I decided that the pain of looking for replacement engine (that could also fail) was not worth the worry and potential expense.

The mechanic said my bearing was good; and I only found small amounts of play if I really pushed hard from side to side or in and out, probably normal condition. I was unimpressed with how easily the seals can be popped off with a screwdriver and don't believe there was much grease in there after I did. All said the theory holds water with me that grease is leaking out in a hot environment the bearing was not designed for...although the inside of the bearing was lubricated it was more a mixture of some oil and residual grease (but I don't know about this particular grease viscosity)... I would be guessing, but could see the bearing failing at some point down the road...feel much better with ceramic balls, better race, and no seals in that each time I'm changing the oil it "REALLY" is doing some good! Now I will DRIVE is like it's REALLY stolen!!! :dance:

[derf]

June 22, 2011

I went to Rector Porsche in Burlingame, California. I talked to the service manager told them the intermediate shaft bearing went out and the engine is dead on my 2003 Boxster at 74,000 miles. He asked, “How do you know that the intermediate shaft went out?” I told him the car was making a strange sound and I took it to an independent shop. The mechanic observed a lot of metal in the oil, showing that the engine was ruined. He listened to the engine with a stethoscope and determined that the sound he was hearing was the intermediate shaft bearing going out. Then I said to the service manager, “What should I do? I understand a new engine is quite expensive.” He wrote a number down on a Post-it note and handed it to me. He said, “I’ve heard good things from customers about this company.” He gave me the name and phone number of an auto dismantler.

http://www.ladismantler.com/

I called the auto dismantler. He told me to take pictures of the car and email them to him. He would give me a price for which he would buy the car. He said the typical range was between $1,000 and $5,000 depending on the number of options the car had.


In summary:

• When discussing my options with the service manager, I was never encouraged to invest money in the car and was given a clear indication that the car wasn’t worth fixing and should be junked.

Porsche does not stand behind the quality of its products, although it claims to be a maker of high-end, high-quality vehicles. I had planned to keep my car for many more years. I would never have purchased it if I had known the engine contained a ticking time bomb that is essentially, a defect. This is a $40,000 car that is built to expire at 70,000 miles and become an instant candidate for the junkyard. The dealership itself acknowledged this fact. On one visit, I asked the service manager and another service employee at what point they would advise I sell the car. They both said 70,000 miles. My engine blew up at 74,000 miles.

[blue2000s]

Originally Posted by derf

June 22, 2011

I went to Rector Porsche in Burlingame, California. I talked to the service manager told them the intermediate shaft bearing went out and the engine is dead on my 2003 Boxster at 74,000 miles. He asked, “How do you know that the intermediate shaft went out?” I told him the car was making a strange sound and I took it to an independent shop. The mechanic observed a lot of metal in the oil, showing that the engine was ruined. He listened to the engine with a stethoscope and determined that the sound he was hearing was the intermediate shaft bearing going out. Then I said to the service manager, “What should I do? I understand a new engine is quite expensive.” He wrote a number down on a Post-it note and handed it to me. He said, “I’ve heard good things from customers about this company.” He gave me the name and phone number of an auto dismantler.

http://www.ladismantler.com/

I called the auto dismantler. He told me to take pictures of the car and email them to him. He would give me a price for which he would buy the car. He said the typical range was between $1,000 and $5,000 depending on the number of options the car had.


In summary:

• When discussing my options with the service manager, I was never encouraged to invest money in the car and was given a clear indication that the car wasn’t worth fixing and should be junked.

Porsche does not stand behind the quality of its products, although it claims to be a maker of high-end, high-quality vehicles. I had planned to keep my car for many more years. I would never have purchased it if I had known the engine contained a ticking time bomb that is essentially, a defect. This is a $40,000 car that is built to expire at 70,000 miles and become an instant candidate for the junkyard. The dealership itself acknowledged this fact. On one visit, I asked the service manager and another service employee at what point they would advise I sell the car. They both said 70,000 miles. My engine blew up at 74,000 miles.

I think what I'd take away from your conversation is that dealers want to sell new cars and will take every opportunity they can to try to get you to dump the old one. Also, never take advice from the dealer, their motivation probably doesn't align with yours.

[derf]

Originally Posted by blue2000s

I think what I'd take away from your conversation is that dealers want to sell new cars and will take every opportunity they can to try to get you to dump the old one. Also, never take advice from the dealer, their motivation probably doesn't align with yours.

When thinking of the thousands of dollars the dealership made from my warranty repairs, (some of which the car did not need). Now that the intermediate shaft went, the dealership tells me -- junk the car.

I've never lost an engine or the depreciation on any of my cars as I have on the 2003 Porsche Boxster witn tiptronic.

Unforgivable

Cars I’ve owned

1959 Jaguar XK 150 Drop Head Coup
1964 Jaguare XKE
Triumph TR3, TR4, Spitfire
Porsche 928
1988 BMW M5, 1997 BMW M3, 1980 BMW 323, 1991 BMW 325i,
1996 Toyota Tacoma
2009 VW TDI

And many more.

[J Tinsby]

Originally Posted by derf

When thinking of the thousands of dollars the dealership made from my warranty repairs, (some of which the car did not need). Now that the intermediate shaft went, the dealership tells me -- junk the car.

It's easy to see why you are upset, any right thinking person would feel the same way. I totally agree that you have every right to expect something exceptional from Porsche not substandard in it's design. It doesn't matter the frequency of the failures in the entire world, you are the the latest one to experience it and yours is the only opinion that matters.

There was a time when I bemoaned selling my 2004 550 Boxster Spyder Anniversary Edition, until I was made aware of the IMS trouble. Now I'm glad it's gone, someone got a beautiful car but they also got the IMS with it.

Between the "D" Chunk cylinder problem and the IMS it makes me wonder how Boxsters are so prevalent.

I have never experienced a catastrophic engine failure on any of the 40 cars I have previously owned. Granted they weren't all Porsches but still and all never a failure in even the most lowly of them, right up to the most expensive.

Just goes to show you don't always "get what you paid for."

I wish you well and maybe you can find a cheap solution to get out of the pit of despair you find yourself in currently.

Whoever at Porsche thought that sealing grease in a bearing and then immersing it in hot engine oil and expecting the grease to stay IN needs to seek help. Too bad no class action suit was ever started when the problem first appeared.

Good luck with it all

[Bobiam]

J. Tinsby said...."Whoever at Porsche thought that sealing grease in a bearing and then immersing it in hot engine oil and expecting the grease to stay IN needs to seek help. Too bad no class action suit was ever started when the problem first appeared."

Does sort of make me loose faith in their vast engineering knowledge and big R&D budget. Think about it.....They put a bearing inside of an engine that could easily deliver continuous lubrication to it, but choose to put seals on it and give it a few drops of grease to last it the car's lifetime. Yeah, ya can do this with a water pump.....but not an intermediate shaft that handles the timing chain!!!!!! The warrantee on this item should have been extended to 100,000 miles. Not all of their customers can afford to throw away a car worth $10,000-30,000. Porsche couldn't even create the fix that aftermarket shops did! But that would require admitting that they designed a time bomb defect into the motor.

[buckstr]

I don't know the cause yet, but my engine died last week after a bit over 25K miles of routine, occasionally sporty driving. The only warning was a loud ticking sound about 2 miles before it shut down entirely. It turned over once or twice after shutting down but never fired. I'm now also facing the "Do I replace the engine?" question. All of the comments on this forum don't give me a warm feeling about buying a remanufactured engine that's worth as much as the car.

[Rob175]

I wonder what percentage of Boxsters NEVER experience an IMS failure? Even if hundreds have experienced failure that might only be a very small percentage......just curious.