Not impressed so far, Porsche!

[SD987]

The only issues on my 05 base (June purchase, 5000 miles) are:

Wind deflector rattle, it was initially tight but after about 3,000 miles has developed a minor rattle. Not surprising as I've never had a wind/deflector on a convertible (3) not make some sort of noise. Surprisingly I haven't heard the side-mirror whistling that others have complained about.

Right side squealing noise was experienced during breakin, then goes away (seems to be a common phenomenon)

Stereo, i get the 'Stop' message occasionally, just requires disc reinsertion. Burned CDs frequently don't sound as good or skip more than conventional CDs, but this too isn't specific to Porsche.

I did expect the shifter to be a bit better (5 speed). I was having trouble during break-in getting 'locked' out of first, but not anymore, and I stalled out on a 3-N shift once, when it went into fourth instead. One thing I've noted is that the car does not like sloppy pedal/shifter work, so I've had to pay more attention to driving mechanics than in other cars, but this is probably a good thing.

On the plus side, the car seems to drive better after break-in and keeps improving. Performance overall is superior and fuel economy took a dramatic jump for me after 4500 miles from nocticeably poor to acceptable.

I think the interior is nice, clearly just personal preference but I also think that some of the problems we see on on loaded porsches is similar to the issues that have plagued mercedes recently and cars like the new BMW 7 series: The more gizmos and functions you put in a car, the more reliability issues you're going to create.

I also don't think people factor their driving habits into the car reliability equation. For example, I notice a surprising number of stick drivers who don't let the engine wind down and push in the clutch as soon as they start braking or go clutch-move into first instead of move towards first - clutch. These are just a couple examples of the hundres of little things people do different that result in YMMV.