Buying guide · 2008–2012 · direct-injection flat six · 345–385 PS
Porsche 911 Carrera 997.2
Everything that decides whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
36-page guide, A4 and phone · 4-page inspection card · instant PDF · VAT included
In the guide
What the Porsche 911 Carrera 997.2 guide covers
- 01Every fault this engine has, and how much work it is
- 02What Porsche means when it says the intermediate shaft is "not needed", and how to read the over-rev log the engine keeps — Porsche's own six ranges, and what the gap to the hour meter tells you
- 03What the sources say about corrosion and water on these cars — evo in 2025: "rust is not an issue with these cars yet" — and where the paint, the nose and the exhaust still deserve a look
- 04What is simply fourteen to eighteen years old — and can be left alone
- 05The inspection card: the whole viewing on paper, in order, to take with you
- 06What to say to the seller, and what to keep to yourself
From the guide itself
This is how it reads
This is what one of the sixteen looks likeLast Real Engines
1 · The power distributor, and the corroded pin
An hour or two to diagnose and fit the new pin · Cheap part, easy access
Porsche bulletin TI 41/14 covers "All 911 Carrera models (997)", "Model Year: As of 2005 up to 2012". The complaint is a vague one, which is exactly why it is worth knowing: "various malfunctions in the vehicle electrics (fault in PCM, failure of power windows or similar problems) or various error messages displayed in the instrument cluster." If the workshop finds "a corroded pin in the power distributor" as the cause, the pin is replaced with a modified one from a repair kit — pin, sealing ring, shrink-fit hose and mounting parts — not the whole distributor. The bulletin gives no labour time.
Leave it when the electrics behave. Now, as a diagnosis, if several unrelated electrical complaints turn up together — and the pin is worth checking before anybody starts replacing control units one by one.
And this is how the card readsLast Real Engines
- 1 · Which car is it
- 2 · Round the outside, before anybody starts it
- 3 · The roof
- 4 · The engine lid, cold · engine off, key out
- 5 · The cold start · the seller starts it; nobody revs it
- 6 · The drive · gently until it is fully warm
Start with the free guide
The six questions that decide whether this car is a good buy
- Has anyone read the over-rev log — and will the seller let you see it?
- The recalls and campaigns — done, and can somebody show you?
- How was it driven — and how was it warmed up?
- What oil, how often — and is the engine dry?
- Manual or PDK — and what has the gearbox had?
- What is in front of the engine, and underneath it?
Start with the free guide: what this car is, and the questions that decide whether the one you are looking at is a good buy or an expensive one.
Before you buy
Questions
What exactly do I get?
The full guide as a PDF, 36 pages in A4, plus a phone edition to read at the car; and the inspection card, 4 pages to print and take to the viewing. €24, VAT included.
How is it delivered?
Straight after payment you get a download link for the guide, the phone edition and the card. No subscription, no account.
Can I get a refund?
EU consumer law gives you fourteen days to change your mind. For digital content that right ends the moment delivery starts, provided you agreed to that at the checkout. If the file will not open, or you were sent the wrong car, write to us and we will fix it or refund it.
Who handles the payment?
Lemon Squeezy, who sell the guide to you as merchant of record. They charge the VAT at the rate of your country, send the invoice, and email you the download link. We never see your card.
Why are there no prices in it?
Because a price we cannot verify is worse than no price, and because a price would be wrong for most of the people reading it: workshop rates across Europe differ by a factor of two or three. What does not change is how much work a job is, so every point says whether it is an hour, half a day, a day, or a week in the workshop. Ask your own workshop for its hourly rate, and every hour in the guide becomes your own number.
Is this advice about a specific car?
No. A guide tells you what to look at; it is general information about the model and not advice about a specific car. Have every car inspected before you buy by someone who knows the engine.
