My Porsche's engine needs replacing

BigT

BigT

BigT

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,518
Location
UK
So you may have seen another thread where I've replaced the Boxster S with a Z4M. Well I'd agreed a sale with a chap for the Porsche on the condition that I put 12 months MOT on it. So it sailed through last week without even so much as an advisroy.

Then on Friday the car came to a sudden halt on the motorway. It was recovered to a Porsche Service Centre where they believe the engine has "failed" requiring a replacement at a cost of £8,500. :eek:

Fortunately I purchased a 3rd party warranty (Motorcare) with the vehicle. Speaking to the dealers who sold me it, they have paid out on engines before but, in their words, "They'll be all over the claim like a rash". So I face the situation where the service centre have to remove and strip the engine to find the exact cause, confirm that it is covered by the warranty company and then supply and fit a new engine. If the warranty company don't agree to the claim then I face a £1,000 bill for the removal and stripping of the engine and a car that is scrap.

The car is inside its service interval in terms of time (< 1 year) and miles since last service (< 12K miles) so I've got my fingers crossed they don't find some other thing in the small print they can refuse to pay out on. Wish me luck with the claim. :(
 
SUch a pain in the backside when I get it washed regularly, only put V-Power in it, warm it up properly, check fluids routinely and generally do all the little things I can to keep it in tip top condition and then the engine dies of its own accord after only 55K miles and seven years.
 
Is that all they can tell you? That the engine has "failed" ? Surely without stripping it they can have a slightly better idea than that?

How old/how many miles has the car done?
 
You'd have thought some diagnostics would be helpful without having to strip the engine.. or have they said that nothing has shown up on the ECU diag?
 
i take it the prospective owner doesn't want it anymore? :p

unlucky dude, i thought you had got rid of it by now :(
 
This is exactly the same scenario I was in with my S2000, the dealer told me it was a catch 22 situation where they had to strip it down to find the cause, but only if I agreed to foot the bill if it was found that it was something I had done to cause the failure. So grudgingly said yes. Fortunately the garage fought my case being that I hadn't had the car for very long or done many miles, but was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions not knowing if I was about to be facing a big 4 figure bill for the rebuild.

The best of luck with your claim, you have a lot of sympathy from me and I really do hope the warranty company cover you :)
 
Matmulder said:
Is that all they can tell you? That the engine has "failed" ? Surely without stripping it they can have a slightly better idea than that?

How old/how many miles has the car done?
Click to expand...

Well they did tell me a little more than that, but I didn't pay understand all that much. Something about finding bits of metal where there shouldn't be. The engine removal is all about finding the exact fault to satisfy the warranty company about what went wrong and what needs to be fixed or is beyond repair.

Car had done 55K miles over seven years.

mjt said:
i take it the prospective owner doesn't want it anymore?

unlucky dude, i thought you had got rid of it by now
Click to expand...

Funnily enough he is still interested as a brand new engine supplied and fitted by Porsche is actually quite appealing to him. I think he knows a bit about cars and knows that the 986/996 are not immune to sudden failures.

Sadly the market for used cars is in the duldrums and everyone thought you could pick up a well looked after 2001 S for £8K. Took a while before I found someone who realised it was more like £9.5K Since the weather has picked up over the weekend I've had loads of interest. Just my luck. :(
 
spaz said:
The best of luck with your claim, you have a lot of sympathy from me and I really do hope the warranty company cover you :)
Click to expand...


Thanks Spaz, I really appreciate that. I'm hopeful because the dealer (Cridfords) know the repairer well (Porsche Centre Byfleet - formerely camtune) and both deal extensively with the warranty company (Motorcare).
 
Similar happened to me luckily I was covered by warranty with my 3 Series. 120MPH and the engine let go (7 ruined valves in the end) . The worst feeling in the world. I guess it's just the pick of the draw with used cars. I hope you get it sorted asap dude with minimal cost.
 
Good luck mate, i've had bad experiences with 3rd party warranties, they will do anything to wiggle out. Check your T&C's carefully.
 
How long have you had the porsche? isnt it for them to prove that the fault was not there when you bought the car, rather than you prove it was?
 
I would speak to your OPC about a fair claim as Porsche will often subsidise failiures on engines if they have been serviced within the perscribed intervals within the OPC network. Add this to the warranty you have and you should be ok I would suspect. If you missed a service or it was outside the OPC network when serviced they may have a different view.
 
Housey said:
I would speak to your OPC about a fair claim as Porsche will often subsidise failiures on engines if they have been serviced within the perscribed intervals within the OPC network. Add this to the warranty you have and you should be ok I would suspect. If you missed a service or it was outside the OPC network when serviced they may have a different view.
Click to expand...

This.

I'd be contacting Porsche. Wont cost you anything, and any contribution would be helpful. They can only say no....

55k/7 years when serviced correctly isn't too much to expect from an expensive prestige model.

Have you asked on the Porsche forums? They may have some information about who to contact.
 
Can you describe how it failed? Sudden loss of power, mechanical noises, dumped it's oil?

I'd put my money on a Intermediate Shaft Failure. Although this is rare at 55K. Contact Porsche when the cause is dertermined, if it's an IMS issue, they may offer some goodwill towards the cost of repair, but typically the car would need to be sub-6years old and have a full OPC history.
 
Last edited:
Solari said:
You'd have thought some diagnostics would be helpful without having to strip the engine.. or have they said that nothing has shown up on the ECU diag?
Click to expand...

will show nothing except for a load of implausible signal faults. at best you can use the knock sensor to check on little end or piston slap issues.
 
Those engines really don't seem reliable at all. Isn't it the intermediate shaft which is a particular problem on those?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom