How Worried Are You About IMS?

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by DenverSteve

There seems to be a disproportionate number of "failures" on forums than in "the real world". Most of the catastrophic or major failures I have seen are from people who bought those vehicles used. Forums, frequently, are the breeding grounds for not only good information but misinformation and scare mongers. I'm not saying there's not a good reason to inspect the IMS when a clutch job is done, I just don't think it's a sky-is-falling situation.

Largely the fault of the manufacturer for not putting out the "true numbers".
Well obviously they would have to be in a position to even report said numbers by actually acknowledging it. No such humanitarianism and philanthropy coming out of Porsche. I guess they didn't want to go there for good reason. If a well-known shop is claiming four reported IMS failures a week then I'm really mystified why the manufacturer wouldn't make an effort to reach out to that shop and its affiliates. I'm more than sure that they already have these numbers for the out of warranty rollers that were brought into their dealerships but those must be minor since the car is a total wash at that point.
Since this the age of the internet you can't keep a lid on something forever. Sooner or later those reported numbers leak out and people start to see (possibly) that the number of catastrophic failures, although still "lottery ticket" minor, are well above industry average.

[DenverSteve]

Then the onus would be on the owners of cars who have experienced the same catastrophic failure to contact Porsche and file a class-action suit on behalf of all Porsche owners and force a recall/inspection. It has to be the group who has been damaged by such a loss. With all the lawyer's who are Porsche owners one would certainly take the case Pro Bono for his/her own assurance & protection if nothing else. If it has merrit. I would think a national Porsche Owner's Group would also step up of there was a need.

[Perfectlap]

Well suing a deep-pocketed manufacturer without some deep pockets of your own can be hazardous if they shoot back. The number of those types of cases that even get to a jury, at which point millions would have been spent to survive that long, are tiny and those that get past high-priced 'experts' witnesses testifying that the manufacturer didn't do anything wrong are miniscule. Most lawyers won't pony up that kind of risk.

[Topless]

My car was not in the "higher probability of failure" group due to it's history: Daily driven with frequent oil changes and meticulous maintenance for the first 5 years, Calif. car.
I replaced the IMS while doing other clutch/trans work at 98k miles. The original bearing looked to be in very good condition.

If I had a 10 yr old garage queen with very low miles and long oil change intervals I would be more concerned.

[1olddude]

So your saying I should really be concerned with my 2002 S with only 9000 miles? It gets frequent oil changes but I guess I better get the upgrade sooner than later. Interesting thread.