Feeling thoroughly deflated, dejected and depressed.
For the second time since owning my 996 Carrera 4, I've suffered a catastrophic engine failure. I've owned this car for under 5 years.
The first one (2 years ago) was the infamous IMS bearing. I wasn't even tracking it. Just putt-putting down Miramar Road. I was thankfully able to find a mechanic to repair the engine rather than replace the whole thing -- but it still cost me $8,500. The class action lawsuit that was supposed to get payments for these types of failures had sun-setted for my model year, so no love there.
This time around, it was a big cloud of smoke at AX a couple months ago (some of you may have seen it -- others helped me get the car off the track, so thanks for that). And this was on Lap 1 of the day.
That "smoke" turned out to be water vapor as a "freeze" plug popped out, dumped coolant into the engine and proceeded to torch a connecting rod. The resulting piston flopping around did some pretty significant damage and so now this time I really do need a new engine.
My question is, why would I bother sticking with this brand that has so thoroughly screwed me? I honestly thought that I was a Porsche guy for life. I really couldn't see myself driving anything else. I absolutely loved my car and spent a lot of time reading about Porsche and gawking at various new and vintage models. I think you're all wonderful people and would hate to leave the fold, but I'm having trouble justifying it...
Thanks for listening.
Brett Goldstock