[Jeff Higgins]

If it made it 80,000 miles without issues, it won't have any issues. The "window" is somewhere around half that mileage or less. This is one of the more overblown internet fueled issues that plague modern car ownership. One could be led to believe that this is a ticking time bomb in every single 996/986 ever made, and a lot of 997/987's as well. Last I saw, available data suggested that less than 10% of them ever had a "problem", with many of those likely just being "repaired" under an abundance of caution, before there was an issue.

I replaced the one in my 2003 Boxster at about 80,000 miles, but only because I was in there for the clutch anyway. The one that came out appeared brand new, with no discernible wear, much less any issues. Parts are cheap, and once you are in there deep enough to do the clutch, it's not a whole lot more work. Looks good in the stack of receipts should I ever want to sell it, though, since there is such a high level of internet fueled fear concerning these things.

I, personally, would not have brought it up. I feel you have needlessly instilled a bit of trepidation into what should be a pretty uplifting experience for the kid. Maybe at this point tell him that if it ever needs a clutch, go ahead and replace the IMS bearing as well, but not to worry about it otherwise.