Poll - 981 reliability thread

[Stuno1]

I thought this would be a useful thread for folks like me looking at these cars. It may also help people make their mind up on whether to buy a warranty or not. 

[Stuno1]

I can’t edit my post above.

It would be good if any issues are documented in this thread with associated cost. That might bring out some themes. 

[CMA]

How do I vote for one issue of £900? (PADM)

 

[Tony Daniel]

One issue. £3000 repair new PSE

[Stuno1]

5 hours ago, CMA said:

How do I vote for one issue of £900? (PADM)

 

I would select ‘a mix of minor and major’. 

[daz05]

On the whole these are reliable and they are designed to be used and enjoyed, I haven't run warranty now for 3 yrs, it's likely, unless protected that the air con rads will leak at some point, maybe a PSE valve will seize but you can prevent that and a decent shop can repair these for far less than the cost of replacement. We've seen solenoids go too which aren't costly either.

The scary ones you'd like warranty for are the transmission mounts on sports chrono cars, we've seen a very small number of pdk sensor failures and repairing them is not made easy. More recently we've seen some steering racks fail with no obvious refurbishment route.

There are some cars, where warranty is essential I personally don't think the 981 is one of them but I now have a significant sum saved in my slush fund to cover any of the above issues, I hope I never have to deal with any of them. Touch wood.

 

 

Edited December 5, 2021 by daz05
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[Stuno1]

32 minutes ago, daz05 said:

On the whole these are reliable and they are designed to be used and enjoyed, I haven't run warranty now for 3 yrs, it's likely, unless protected that the air con rads will leak at some point, maybe a PSE valve will seize but you can prevent that and a decent shop can repair these for far less than the cost of replacement. We've seen solenoids go too which aren't costly either.

The scary ones you'd like warranty for are the transmission mounts on sports chrono cars, we've seen a very small number of pdk sensor failures and repairing them is not made easy. More recently we've seen some steering racks fail with no obvious refurbishment route.

There are some cars, where warranty is essential I personally don't think the 981 is one of them but I now have a significant sum saved in my slush fund to cover any of the above issues, I hope I never have to deal with any of them. Touch wood.

 

 

I was going to go the warranty route but I think on Monday when I hear from Porsche Colchester I’ll be told what others have said. I’ll need a Porsche service, 111 point check then warranty. That would cost around 1800. Then the 700 ish for every year. I think like you I’ll put the money aside each year instead. I will have Porsche maintain the car though. 
 

Thank you for your post. I have bought the rear quarter PPF parts and will buy the rear wheel arch strip protector. 
 

I’m expecting the engine mounts to fail at some stage. When the car is due a service in two years I’ll approach the warranty decision again. It would make more sense the. 

Edited December 5, 2021 by Stuno1

[ATM]

1 hour ago, daz05 said:

More recently we've seen some steering racks fail with no obvious refurbishment route.

 

 

 

Daz

 

What fails on the rack?

 

I thought the electric assistance is built into the steering column.

[Davey P]

No issues at all on my 981 Cayman since I bought it in March.  Mine had a short period of it's OPC warranty left, and I didn't feel the need to renew it when that ran out.

[GTSMarky]

It's a car made up a a zillion parts, but for me our BGTS has been and continues to be superb.  Driven 15k miles in mine, toured, commuted, gone shopping, a few track days & it does all of that just as you'd imagine a Porsche would.

Of course it can go wrong as my split windscreen washer tube recently proves, but so can anything. I'm out of warranty and don't have any concern over that as I can go where I want with the car.  

Every brand has it's lovers & haters, but you'll know if you want a Porsche & will manage everything that throws at you as you would any car really.

[Simo_UK]

All in all. Pretty good going for me. 

981 Bpxster has 2 x internal leaks due to the legendary blocked drains issue. (Mine was a 2012, likely wasn't a well known issue at the time).  Plus drivers window switch. Nothing mechanical. 

Cayman GTS. Nothing so far. Already had the dynamic mounts done with a previous owner. 

 

[Spinjim]

I’ve had blocked drainage channels which caused a very expensive bill as the ECU under the passenger seat was replaced. Covered under warranty. 
 

Roof jammed half way in Tesco’s car park 😳 new motor and mechanism which was covered under warranty. 
 

Drivers seat is broken, need to source parts 

Jim 

[in_dellible]

When I had mine, 2013 purchased in 2018, the PSE valves were seized on arrival from the OPC. Pretty common reliability issue. 

Edited December 6, 2021 by in_dellible

[smartin]

Mine had the alarm siren fail and needed replacing at the beginning of last year and on Friday, threw up a cooling system fault yellow warning 😞 Plus it is one of those affected by the recent recall. Car is not under warranty.

Car was booked in to have the recall work done this Wednesday but that is now not happening as when I rang them up on Saturday morning to check everything was still going ahead, they told me that, as the parts needed for the recall had not yet arrived (and they had no idea when they would turn up), that repair wouldn't be going ahead. As I had a loan car booked for the day, anyway, they are now going to diagnose the cooling system fault instead.

So, what was going to be a no cost recall repair has now turned into at least £192 for the diagnosis, plus whatever they find needs replacing 😟

[Menoporsche]

What's the price for changing the transmission mounts? Vaguely 1500-2000 if you do both sides at the same time?

That's about 3 years' warranty cost, on an 8 year old car?

Not terrible in the grand scheme of things.

The PDK is scary but let's face it there are extremely few of those with problems, it seems to be rarer than (sharp intake of breath) the old IMS failures.

[CMA]

4 minutes ago, Menoporsche said:

What's the price for changing the transmission mounts? Vaguely 1500-2000 if you do both sides at the same time?

Part alone is about £900 so you're £1800 for both sides before labour. Doing the left on it's own is in the region of £1400 for parts and labour. Doing the right needs the left removing first so maybe more labour.

[Stuno1]

26 minutes ago, Menoporsche said:

What's the price for changing the transmission mounts? Vaguely 1500-2000 if you do both sides at the same time?

That's about 3 years' warranty cost, on an 8 year old car?

Not terrible in the grand scheme of things.

The PDK is scary but let's face it there are extremely few of those with problems, it seems to be rarer than (sharp intake of breath) the old IMS failures.

Indeed if I could have got warranty now I would have. I will be taking a punt with no warranty until next service in 2 years. That gives me 1700 ish for any failures until then. 

[Stuno1]

@daz05 out of interest how much is it to replace the steering rack and would you say it’s that common? 
 

If the potential likely issues I have are the engine mounts, exhaust valve actuators and steering rack (maybe other stuff that isn’t expected/known issue) then than helps with the warranty decision making process. 

[T24RES]

Mine is a july 2012 car with 40k showing. Owned for 5years, 17k.

- Alarm siren

- solenoid for cam x 1 (both      replaced)

- Exhaust manifold bolts

- Brake pedal bush

- Drivers window switch

Some might say other parts have been replaced, it's a lie 😁

Edited December 9, 2021 by T24RES

[daz05]

10 hours ago, Stuno1 said:

@daz05 out of interest how much is it to replace the steering rack and would you say it’s that common? 
 

If the potential likely issues I have are the engine mounts, exhaust valve actuators and steering rack (maybe other stuff that isn’t expected/known issue) then than helps with the warranty decision making process. 

No idea, but you'll see crazy prices for fixes when people quote the dealer replacement charges rather than repair and refurbishment of parts.  None of the above are issues, they've just been known to occur. The 981 is probably one of the safest Porsches to own.

[Stuno1]

18 minutes ago, daz05 said:

No idea, but you'll see crazy prices for fixes when people quote the dealer replacement charges rather than repair and refurbishment of parts.  None of the above are issues, they've just been known to occur. The 981 is probably one of the safest Porsches to own.

Cheers chap. I am coming to the conclusion I will service the car at Porsche and hold off on any warranty. 

[Rob™]

Not voted, but a small handful of occasional niggles - squeaky steering for the first few months of ownership, an occasional ABS warning (possibly due to the bush on the brake pedal) and a temperamental heater (known to occasionally blow only cold during winter until the car is turned off and back on again). None of these have been repaired and only the heater might be an issue if I was to use it every day (working from home at the mo). I've also had a small handful of normal maintenance expenses - major service type and all that. Throw in an apple play radio widget and 9 new tyres (full set of summers, a blow out on a summer and a set of winters and wheels from eBay) and  I've probably spent about £3500 or so since I bought it in February 20 - I've only done about 5000 miles though, even though it is my "daily".  I spent quite a bit more on the 987 I had before it, including replacing all the cooling pipework, condensers, coils, etc.

[iborguk]

On 12/6/2021 at 12:41 PM, Menoporsche said:

 

The PDK is scary but let's face it there are extremely few of those with problems, it seems to be rarer than (sharp intake of breath) the old IMS failures.

You just want to be that owner who has one let go mind , fortunately this guy has warranty

 

[BrianJ]

On 12/7/2021 at 9:53 AM, Stuno1 said:

@daz05 out of interest how much is it to replace the steering rack and would you say it’s that common? 

Best part of £3k. I know. Not common but also affects 991 and apparently other non-Porsches that use this rack.

[RickLS7]

Nothing at all for me,everything works and no issues at all. 

Car came with a 2 year Porsche warranty and got zero use from it.