Final comment on 1978-1983 SC reliability
 

My car has 224,000 miles on it...Besides normal items, "IE" breaks, tires, etc. The only major item replaced has been the clutch....Done at 185,000 miles by the PO.....I think a previous post was correct in saying that by '83 the "broken stud" problem had been addressed, along with additional sensors to minimize backfires. My studs have been "re-torqued" durring my last two PRO valve adjustments. How they "addressed that" I do not know. Just glad mine are still "hanging" in there.
I just get a bit tired of people questioning "Porsche 911" reliability in general. I look at the cars that my SC were compaired to in several articles durring it's period of sale. All 3 were truly considered "exotic" cars at the time. An F-car 308, Jaguar and a Mazzarate...........scuuuuse my "exotic car" spelling..... All in all.....I don't think there was a better, more reliable exotic car built in the '80's than the SC or Carrera.

What do you have to say???

Well, I agree with you, MY83SC. But the devil is in the details with these cars. I believe certain things, like window seals, body trim and other ancillary items, start to show their age after awhile. But anything mechanical, at least on my car, has weathered through four years, so far, of moderate to hard daily driving. Part of the plan is to be attentive to the car's maintenance. After that, it seems like smooth sailing.

I've never considered Porsche an exotic. Like a Mercedes or BMW, I think of the car as a workhorse. But in as far as the Porsche, a workhouse meant to be driven vigorously.

I really can't say that any one model is better than the other. Even the 2.7s were better than anything domestic in their day. They simply suffered from what the U.S. government and politicians (unwisely) deemed should be done to them. But the good news now is in two days, the beginning of the thermal reactor cars will be smog exempt (at least in California), and can live as they were meant to be. SmileWavy