Faults:

NONE - Perfect! We bought our 2003, Porsche CS4 with low miles. The IMS, RMS, and clutch were replaced. The car drives like a dream and is built like a BEAST! Well-made and I've never had a car built like this Porsche. BMWs have peeling plastic, windows that fall down, and the windshield wiper fluid holder cracked! None of those problems with Porsche!!!

General Comments:

The car is Power Plus! Love the manual and won't ever go with an automatic! A car this old and it looks and drives brand new!!! Perfect condition! The previous owner babied and housed this BEAST in the garage. The outside looks brand new and shiny!! I love the egg lights, the all leather inside, and the car is itching to be driven like a DEMON!

Get the IMS, RMS, and clutch fixed, not replaced... and enjoy driving a wonderful machine. Quit griping about these problems and get a car much cheaper than a Porsche anywhere... and this car will increase in value. Trust me.

Faults:

All the below issues occurred with 6 months of owning the car:

1) Mysterious clanking noise accompanied by engine failure light - cost me 3K to diagnose and fix (including compression tests). Further research online pointed to an impending RMS issue.

2) Gearbox/synchro transmission problems. Popping out of 4th gear. Estimated to cost $8K-$12K to repair.

3) Alternator went bad.

4) Fan belt went bad.

5) As part of general maintenance, I replaced the oil and filter, front/rear brake pads, shocks and tires.

General Comments:

I bought the car off lease and it had all the records. Unfortunately I ended up paying approximately $7,000 in repairs in 7 months.

I thought I was done when the shifter started popping out of fourth gear. I had a 997 shifter installed, along with having the gear oil changed in hopes of solving the problem. Unfortunately it ended up being a gear box, and/or transmission issue. I later found out from numerous blogs and forums online that this issue is very common with the 996. I was quoted $8,000 to replace and install a new gearbox and $12,000 to fix worn synchros in the engine/transmission. That would have made my total repairs $16,000-$20,000 for less than 7 months of ownership. No thanks.

I unloaded the car. What a waste. Stay away from all 996. I heard that the 993 and all previous iterations of the car are great. Unfortunately this was my third Porsche (1984 944, 2000 Boxster, 2003 911) and once you drive a Porsche you are hooked. I am now looking at purchasing a 1985 911. The 3.2 911 Carrera series from 1983-89 are supposed to be the most reliable Porsche series ever. Wish me luck.