OK - here it is.
996c2 facelift 2002 36k miles
19 months ownership
3 RMS replacements
1 engine rebuild - intermediate shaft bearing failure - new blocks, piston rings, int shaft & bearings, and RMS. Otherwise original components re-installed.
All the above done foc under warranty.
No real complaints there except that I switched to Porsche in the first place because of their famed reliability

do you think this will give a representative sample of problems with 996 engines?

Excellent...good job she wasnt a bareback girl!!

Something like this?

HTH.

2001 C2 3.612 months ownership. 30k start. 55k finish.
1xRMS
No other issues

minuet

noun 1 a slow formal dance with short steps in triple time, popular in the 17c and 18c. 2 a piece of music for this dance.
ETYMOLOGY: 17c: from French menuet, from menu small.

This is what this forum has done to me too, but where I live, warranty is not an option, and plenty of 996s are wandering around getting sold and resold without one, it's strange. OPC can't reinstate expired warrantees, no 111point check around here.

Kay

I ran a fleet of Porsches in Minehead (pardon the anglo-german)

Well, out of 12 cars and a combined mileage of over 500,000 miles we did not have any engine failures, nor any warranty work.

sorry tonikaram

I was bullshitting

Good idea to try and establish numbers or percentages but I don't think it will mean a lot for all the reasons stated.

Previously, despite both the 911 and 944/968 range being gradually developed and modified over many years - there were still failures - but no Internet then when they were relatively new - so we didn't find out much about frequency. If we had there would have been outcries about 944 16 valve top ends, 944 big ends etc - but these are now regarded as very reliable bullet proof cars!

Now the 996/Boxster is not a gradual development but whole new car and concept yet many (most) are running well right up to and over 100K - perhaps with better cylinder compressions, bore condition and valve condition than anything that preceeded it.

Whether the few that fail are actually any more in number than previously we may never know - but the combination of the Internet forums and the engines being different with less people able or comfortable working on them - seems to have resulted in more focus on the problems than they deserve (in comparison to the older models).

With a Porsche warranty available up to 10 years old (and plenty taking it up - to pay for the few failures anyway) solutions are availble.

We have not yet come accross an engine we could not rebuild and are now doing so in whole or part for others - so if a serious problem does occurr fixing it is becoming easier.

Our own warranty/maintenance plan covers the labour to repair such faults and we even offer 12 months/12K cover with the 996's we currently have for sale (and a free service at the end of it), so there seems little reason to be too concerned about running one of these superb cars especially as we have no age or upper mileage limit.

It does seem to me a shame that some weak spots seem to be turning up on newer models again and again and never getting sorted but then again it is a very high performance sports car and not a family run about.

I guess we will eventually be able to suggest mileage limits to replace some weak and vulnerable internal items too avoid premature failures altogether - as all specialists now do for cam belts, rollers, cam chains etc.

They are great cars - enjoy and try to stop worrying too much!!!!!!!!

Baz