[racer]

RMS was the first issue - Rear Main Seal. Caused a leak of oil. Sometimes small drops, other times complete failures that cause huge leaks. Annoying more than anything, but if left unchecked, could cause serious damage.

IMS is the real issue.. InterMediate Shaft. When it fails it eats the motor. Done. Game over.

Much like the maligned slipped sleeved Boxster engines (also M96 based - Porsches internal code) these motors were made to a price. This is in direct contrast to the 993 and older aircooled motors that, while certain years had issues, were considerably more robust in their design.

993 (the previous model) were the last of the aircooled models and will be saught after because of it and that is reflected in their price.

Later models (2002+, or 997s) are more desireable becase of improvements (hp, displacement, etc) than made them more reliable.

IMHO, its not until the 997.2 that I think the motor is truly better. To me anything from 1999-2008 should be considered suspicious and either be "self insured" or warrantied.