911: unreliable or just special?

Having owned and repaired my 996 for six years, it occurred to me to evaluate how reliable a 911 really is. I rebuilt the engine at 96,000 miles due to bore scoring and have since, over the past three years, had to replace all the brake lines, the solenoid valves, the coils, the ignition barrel, the O/S door handle mechanism (twice), the O/S radiator, the water pump, the engine mounts, the bonnet and boot lid struts. I’ve repaired the oil pressure sender, the Targa roof mechanism, the reverse gear linkage and some internal trim. Being an automotive engineer, I’m able to do all the work on my 911 and thanks to the huge number of aftermarket suppliers, I’ve never had to buy anything from Porsche. If this were not the case and I had to pay for labour and Porsche parts, I’d be wondering why I’d bought such an unreliable money pit. If this is compared to my 2004 VW Polo with 180,000 miles on it, nothing has ever broken and all I’ve replaced on that car are consumable items. It’s even still on the original clutch and exhaust. Considering that the Polo was around £70k cheaper than the 996 when both cars were new, surely a 911 has to have something special. I am, however, not 911 bashing because, despite all of the above issues and Polo comparison, my 911 is just special. It’s addictive, appealing, thrilling, enjoyable, charming, fun, handles and drives in that unique 911 way, always entertains and makes me smile. It really can go racing in the morning, do the shopping in the afternoon and the school run later on. It looks good all the time, it looks stunning when it’s clean and it looks cool when it’s dirty. It’s also very easy to work on – something perhaps learnt from all of the 911’s racing successes. The 911 is just so good. I never take it for granted and despite having to expand my tool kit, feel very lucky, privileged and pleased to own one.