17 replies to this topic

[StephenHallman]

Just curious what other unexpected repairs people have had. Besides from preventative maintenance what have you had to fix? And how many miles have you put on your car

I've had mine since 88k miles, 112k now. Only had the clutch hose obliterate on me.(knock on wood)

+ a pinion bearing if that counts. Mechanic said mine was toast and wouldn't have lasted much longer. Luckily I got it done right in time.

Let's stick to stock parts that break(no interior parts). I'm just trying to get some feel for reliability. From my experience, my car has been more reliable than my parents 05 Chrysler Minivan.

[flash]

wallet

[DaveN]

Clutch hose, clutch and water pump all went south at approx 75K (miles). Other than that can't complain much.

[Chris Vais]

I've owned mine for 15 years and I've put about 130,000 miles on it in that time. Major repair items:
Clutch - 1 time
pinion bearing 1 time
water pump - 3 times
alternator - 1 time
heater core - 1 time
clutch hose - 1 time

The next major cost items will be to have the rear hatch glass removed and resealed. The material cost is pretty low, it is mostly labor, unless somebody drops the glass, which is exactly why I'm not going to do this myself. I'll let somebody else assume the liability for breaking the glass. When the cars is ready for new belts I will also have some engine seal work done.

The rest: belts, brakes, coolant hoses, shocks, caster blocks, battery, tires, etc. are just routine maintenance items that were anticipated and I guess that would also be true of the clutch. I think three water pumps is excessive.

This car has s to be one of the most reliable I've ever owned. It has been a daily driver for 15 years. It has left me stranded one time when I had a coolant hose failure and the car dumped it's coolant in a parking lot.

[968Z]

My current '68 was bought with 127,000 miles on the clock 5 years ago. I have a little over 141,000 now (Yeah, I know, I don't drive it near enough). That being said, I had the original sales and service records from when the car was sold new at the Porsche dealership (I'm the third owner). Everything was up to date and then some, so it was a no-brainer for me. I knew the clutch was a little iffy, so I had that factored in. Since I've had it, I replaced the clutch and rear seal, and the plastic draincock on the radiator. And oh yeah, the battery! I won't go into what I've done to my Saab over the same period. Of course, I've racked up 100,000+ in the same time period.

[rhudeboye]

wallet

That freakin clutch line failed after about 3 years of ownership. - Replaced w SS line.

An odd tranny problem that lead to a 3rd gear replacement. Which broke my wallet. !st year of ownership. Still hurts!

Lower radiator hose. Never split or burst but was swollen. replaced after 2 years of ownership.

[ds968]

had the car from 60k miles, 110 k now.

( p.o.'s only repair = new clutch )

pinion bearing

starter

clutch hose


not considering the timing belt failure as part of this, a lot of the blame goes to my delay in replacing that one when I really should have

[StephenHallman]

That's actually quite a bit less than what I had expected. I'm surprised(?) at how reliable they are. I was thinking about this the other day during one of my hour long drives home; There sure are a lot of old Porsche's on the road. More so than any other old car.

Required maintenance on our cars is rather high but there something really nice about not having other things break in the mean time. Knock on wood again.

[Cloud9...68]

Just a bunch of little stuff: Sunroof (works, but in a weird way), driver door lock actuator, hood struts are getting tired, 3rd brake light just went out, and a bunch of leaks (all pretty small, but cumulatively, they need to be attended to, which I'm in the process of doing). Oh, and one big problem - cracked firewall!

[DayDreamer]

Bought at 181000 kms 3 years ago after the previous owner had the bottom redone and new clutch fitted after an oil pick up failure.

Me:
Currently at 231 000. Daily driver

Starter motor conditioned
AC Mounting broke. Had the gas converted at the same time.

Hmm... I thought I did more! Apparently not.

[Scott Collins]

owned from 44k-present/87k miles

Clutch line - replaced with ss line.
Motor mounts - replaced with OEM.
Flywheel - replaced with OEM
Variocam soleniod - (leaking oil through unit - annoying) to be replaced with OEM
Front wheel bearings - replaced with OEM

Plenty of maintainance and upgrades, any many items swapped before they had a chance to leave me in the lurch. I am not including trim, batwing (front apron), rocker panels, etc. That stuff is in a category all by itself, and expected to be shredded. My binders of receipts are no joke. But the above are parts that actually failed. I seem to remember more actual failures on my '87 944. Knock on wood...

Car is paid for, in the traditional sense, but in a more real sense, it is "The Neverdone".

[Langley968]

I have had my 968 for a little over a year now. Got it with 80K miles, it now has ~87K.
Here are a few items that I have had to replace:
* clutch hose - replaced with S.S. as well as new "master" & "slave"
* starter - could be considered a "routine maintenance item" due to age and mileage
* parking brake retention spring inside rear drum snapped at highway speed, causing all parts in the passenger side drum to fail (melt down) - bought new parts for both sides

Items that need attention soon:
* brakes line hoses - replace with S.S.
* inspect vario-cam pads, chain and sprokets - replace if necessary
* change timing belt - regular maintenance item

I took a "day permit" out this past Tuesday because it was soooooo nice out!
I put 170+ miles on. For those who know the area, I drove up the "Sea to Sky" highway - what a wonderful piece of road. Car ran great after sitting in storage for a few months.

[astroede]

This is a very interesting thread! I've attached a pdf file that you guys might find interesting and perhaps useful. When I bought my 968 I received a nice pile of all the service receipts since the day the car was driven off the lot. I transferred most of these records to an Excel spreadsheet, and included the parts and labor costs (please take these costs with a grain of salt...some jobs were warranty, some combined in creative ways, and many recent jobs were my (free) labor).

I thought those of you with lower mileage cars might get some value from this compilation. I think most of the maintenance and repairs are very common to our cars (timing belt, starter, clutch hose...). I purchased the car at 75000 miles, so I can't explain any unusual line items before that time. However, I did deduce from the records that the first owner brought the car back to the dealership A LOT...'nuff said.

Attached Files

•  Porsche 968 Service Record.pdf   153.28KB   38 downloads

[Scott Collins]

astroede,

cool record. thanks for including that. now go and destroy it before your significant other (or any of ours) ever sees it!

[astroede]

It is a bit shocking, but as a friend and fellow Porsche owner told me, "That's the price of admission!"

[Scott Collins]

I must admit, it lifted my spirits to see that the pinion bearings were replaced under warranty.

[StephenHallman]

I was surprised the pinion bearings were replaced at such a low mileage. My car made it to 90k before showing any signs. But that is a great list and very informative. It's nice to see an "estimate" of repair costs and also the price gouging of some of them. The records from my previous owners were quite a bit less extensive other than the recommended and usual.

[TonD]

Of the 4600 euro (~ 6200 USD) spent last year on maintenance (I won't include upgrades and body stuff like side cladding rubbers etc, but that does add up too!) I'd say the only things that wouldn't/shouldn't be normal routine stuff:

- 2 brand new cams at 1100 euro parts, 500 euro install (might have overdone this one as I was missing but one tooth, but wanted to do it right for peace of mind!)
- heater control valve ~ 150 parts + install
- clutch hose and various small parts related to clutch - replaced with SS one along with master and slave : 750 euro (this price included a non-pressure power steering hose).

And right now the car is at the shop for high pressure power steering hose and new seals in the pump, which should end up in the 500 range.

I have to add, that I bought the car unseen and without much records, because the price was right and allowed for such (preventive/corrective) maintenance.

Bought at 135k KMs now at 143k KMs (84k - 89k miles). So thats about 4k USD on stuff that should'nt break at 85k. My 944 was 100 times more reliable, as it had nothing to break anyway as it was an early '84 with manual everything and no complicated camshaft trickery.

Edited by TonD, 15 February 2011 - 03:30 AM.