C.A.R.

The Germans can build fantastic mechanical creations.

Look at the old VW's. Even the oldest are still mechanically sound. Electronics have never been too much of a downfall for the Germans, more for the French, but nevertheless I think the mechanical 'greatness' here is probably eclipsing the not-so-great electronics. To be honest, as long as a Porsche ticks over, you don't need electronics!

It's not a problem I've come accross before that's for certain. Maybe your friend was just unlucky.

Chris.

S-Tune_S1

My dad has owned several Porsche's (inlcuding a 1st gen Boxter S) over the past decade and currentley drives a cobalt blue Cayman S . The previous porsche's had never had any sort of problems , driven every 2 - 4 days in the week , seviced whenever needed . The Cayman has had, up until now, only two small faults (factory faults).

The first, happened while I was driving the car . I was cruisng in normal 100 km/h speed then suddenley the traction control (yellow triangle was lit no dashboard) got switched off and got a notice on the on-board computer that the traction control has failed . rang up the dealer and they said its smple 15 minute ecu reflash.

The second problem happened recentley (back in december) and the car was giving out white smoke which was unusual, so dad told me to take it to the dealer. I noticed the throttle response wasnt as sharp as before , so i had to drive it slowly . Dealer said it's a fault with the oil sump (or something similiar) so they fixed it and all under dealers warranty .

Apart from that , nothing (including the previous owned porsche's) had any problems with the audio/interior electronics . hope that helped.

Porscheboy

We have a few Porsche's in my family. (Not direct, but my dad, aunt, uncle, and grandpa have had them) And have never had a single fault. Of course their's little things the dealers fix, but nothing we've been mad at.

they're the best cars out there!!!! imo...

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porsche911

My 996 had 32,000 miles on it when I bought it. I just sold it with 93,000 miles on it. Nothing ever broke. Just routine maintenance. It was the most reliable car I ever owned!! It was a 99 by the way. The year everyone says is the least reliable. No RMS problems, nothing.

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RIP Monkey. Thanks for all you've done....

miniwisejosh

Ah. Great question. I'm not an expert on reliabilities, but I have made some observations. Most reliability problems I've heard about are in some way related to electronic glitches. That's is why I would only get an expensive, gizmo-laden car (i.e. a modern Benz, or BMW) new with a nice warantee. All those gadgets translate to a very high chance of something going wrong. Like the SL-class owner who found his car dragging on the floor because his suspension electronics got confused about something or other.

Even my mom's Mini Cooper, which doesn't have THAT many electronics compared to other modern cars, has suffered quite a few problems. The moonroof rattled, a few steering wheel audio buttons failed, the whole diagnostic system went haywire, the circuit controlling the reverse light quit etc. Problems with the mechanicals...none.

As far as I can tell, modern cars just don't give that many purely mechanical problems. At least not the ones that are built reasonably well and treated properly. Most reliability issues seem to be related in some way to electronics. If something vital in a car relies on gizmos (i.e those auto-leveling suspensions)...well that increases the chances of that system giving problems and rendering the vehicle undriveable until its fixed. If not, any problems may be annoying but probably won't cripple the car.

I don't think Porsche uses too many fancy electronics in the engine and suspension. If they do, then they must be doing an exceptionally fine job with programming because I don't hear about busted Porsches very often.

monkeyfkker

I've owned more Porsches than I talk about. In fact, I've owned more Porsches than any other make. The only problems I've ever had with my Porsches were caused by me. I did have a faulty alternator on a 993 I had but that's not much of a big deal.

That guy who had every part break on his Boxster is either full of shiit or treats his cars like crap. Simple as that. Porsche leads the market in reliablity and construction quality. I've had 35+ year old Porsches that were in factory condition and had never been restored. The fit and finish was like new. They are amazingly well built cars.

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!ChEeKy GiRl!

Had the 944 for over 21 years now, I don't it's had any particularly massive problems, and I don't recall it ever breaking down..hmmm..

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Ems&&Kaz..Seksy seksy;

RIP Monkey :(

monkeyfkker

KAZ!!!! How the heck have you been? I don't see you here much anymore...

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S-Tune_S1

She's probably havin alot of fun in the 944