Boxster 1999

Hello, my name is Juan Ignacio and I live in Costa Rica.

I decided to participate in this forum due to a problem a have with my car. Cylinder #6 had a problem due to a fatigue failure of even: valve collect or valve spring or hydraulic valve tappet.

The car is only 27.500 miles. I am the second owner and bought 4 years ago with 5.000 miles. All maintenance had been done in local dealer with manufacturer specs. The car is completely in mint conditions and no one had touched the motor in the past.

Local dealer position and Porsche Latin America position is that there is no responsability due to the fact that the car is 10 years old (sept 09).

For me, its impossible to imagine that this type of motor - brand can present this type of major problem with this mileage and I considerer that it is a fatigue problem of building materials of the manufacturer.

Does someone had a similar problem? Recomendations of how to handle this "unexpected/rare" situation with Porsche?

Attached a photo of the damaged components.

Regards

Why would you think Porsche had any responsibility for a 10 year old car?

Buying a used vehicle, you accept some risk. Buying a 6 year old car at least 2 years out of warranty you accept all of the risk.

And buying a little used car means it has been sitting around with the valve train at a certain point in its rotation for many months at a time. That can't be good.

I'm sorry for your problem and hope your dealer can get it fixed for you. And pray that is just going to be this one valve and its supporting components.

Agreed,

Porsche sticks to the letter of the law in their maintenance agreement.
So trying to get any goodwill out of Porsche for a 10 year old car is a waste of your time & money.
Look for a good mechanic who can fix the engine at a reasonable price.
You may want to look for a replacement engine, I'd be afraid that whatever happened to this cylinder might also be in store for the other cylinders.

I'm sorry for your problem

Juan's problem is made worse by the fact that he's in Costa Rica where the Porsche population is scarce and he's dealing with Porsche Latin America which is even more stingy than PCNA with their resources and goodwill.
I also agree that in this case Porsche owes no goodwill.
It's an old car with several owners waaaaaay out of warranty.
PCLA only offers 2 year warranties.
I hope that this one cylinder is the only one, but would highly doubt it.
The suggestion of looking for a used engine (here in the US) is good.
I think you should consider that, Juan.
Best of luck.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Mike, Cris, Pedro:

Thanks about your comments-recommendations. Highly appreciated.

Now I am more clear about how they handle warranties, about this problem origin - possible additional effects.

Why I was looking for the car warranty in this used car? Only 27.500 miles usage, attending all their recommendations, which seems not to be a good technical reason even considering this MOTOR BRAND. Just as a comment: My other car is a 99 Mitsubishi Sport 4x4 and I repaired complete its motor with 120.000 miles...

For what it is worth... I have a 1999 Boxster with about 32k miles on it now. I am the fourth owner and only know so much about the cars past. The car hasn't been driven much for its age and as a result certain parts that shouldn't have failed did (e.g. the fuel pump). So far the engine is running fine and I hope it stays that way.

What I have been told time and again is that Porsches are designed to be driven. Driven hard and driven often. They aren't made like some of the European sports cars that are intended to sit most months out of the year and then occasionally taken out for a summer fling. Buying a Porsche with extremely low mileage after sitting for a number of years is inviting risk. Things age. Rubber becomes brittle. Issues that you don't see in higher mileage cars of the same age start showing up.

That said the 1997-1999 years are known to have some serious engine problems. Porsche hasn't done much about that other than improve the design in more recent years. Don't expect them to suddenly change their tune after 10 years.

I feel your pain. Your best option is to save up some $$$ and either buy a factory crate motor or one from a wreck. Then get back on the road and back to enjoying the car for what it does best.

-Jeremy

If you drive them, they tend to last forever.
I have two Boxsters a '99 with 75,000 miles (which is for sale) and my daily driver, which I've owned since new, a '98 with 186,000 miles.
Generally people that don't drive their cars often have the most problems.
The engines that sit long periods of time suffer from higher start-up wear, dry seals, such as the Rear main Seal, etc.
I hope you can fix your engine and then enjoy it.
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro