RPOC7R

Thanks for correcting the error in Car & Drivers report about Porsche IMS problems.

That said, the intent of my comment was not to disparage Porsche, but to point out that Porsches, like Corvettes, are not perfect. I'm an admirer of 911's, and someday I'd like to own one as a stable mate for my Corvette.

T_B

build quality shouldn't even be uttered when talking about Corvette's. This car seems to be put together by a 15 year old. Panel gaps everywhere, weird plasticky creacking noises coming from the cabin, parts of the car falling off without even reaching 2k miles, etc. And these are just the smaller problems.

That's one area the germans clearly excel at, their cars are put together much better.

Hopper12

Wow. Really sorry that you've had that experience, and I mean that sincerely. We're on our 2nd C7 ('15 and '17), and we've had zero issues with either - solid as a rock, no squeaks, rattles, noises (other than the creaky top on the '15 that was 100% fixed with the warranty pins and strikers), mechanical issues, panel gaps are very good, paint decent on both, etc. We took the '15 on several road trips on lots of different types of roads, thru horrible storms, on and on, and it just kept on delivering so we didn't hesitate getting another.

And kindly don't take my 'decent paint' comment to mean I accept mediocrity. I used to belong to the ISCA and won multiple best paint awards. There is some OP in a few places on our personal C7s - - but my son and I went to the auto show last weekend and purposely checked for OP on several brands. The Italian cars were best - even the less expensive Fiats(!). Most of the GM were pretty good to very good. Jaguar was about equal to the GM cars. Porsche was really excellent on all of their cars except two of them had pretty bad OP - these two were much worse than either of our C7s. And Mercedes were almost as bad as the Jeep and Dodge vehicles at the show.

CloudLS9

No worries, no offense taken. I see this thread as more information sharing for those curious rather than a debate. Most here seem fairly open minded and share respect for both brands. Each have their pros and cons, but no wrong choice between the two so far as I'm concerned.

About the IMS, forget to mention Porsche also repeatedly re-designed the IMS multiple times over the years to make it progressively stronger before finally engineering it out of the design completely in 09, so I wasn't too worried about my 08. Sure, this doesn't help owners of early model years, but it's not uncommon for any auto manufacturer to quietly slip in design improvements throughout a designs life cycle. There are two lessons I've taken from this and other similar examples you can find with any brand.

1) Try to buy the latest model year you can find of a given design as it's likely the most refined and reliable from an engineering perspective.

2) Always get an extended warranty on used cars with very expensive engines then enjoy the car without loosing sleep. It's cheap and sensible piece of mind.

sunsalem

I never allow a dealer to wash one of my cars.
They can't do the job better than my detailer...or me, for that matter.

That's not a bad idea, but I've had problems with Caddy dealers too....particularly those that sell both brands.

Same for me with my current Z06 and my previous CTS-V.

I did the same when I went to a car show last year.
OP doesn't seem to care how much a car costs...

It's really dumb for any of the manufacturers to send their show cars out with OP.
If was a CEO of one of them, there would be some pink slips handed out...simply inexcusable IMO.

fsvoboda

They could just bite the bullet and drop in Recaro seats.

slingshot60

Don't get on here much anymore since I went over to the other side last year, but... Porsche builds a damn nice car.
I sold my '08 C6Z and was all set to get a 2015 C7 with A8 and Z-51 pkg. Had driven several and was really excited about it until my wife urged me to drive a 911.
Found a 2013 911S PDK with Sport Chrono and every Sports option (wheels, exhaust, steering wheel, seats, etc) in a beautiful Aqua Blue/Tan combo with 10K miles on the clock owned by a 76 y/o Porsche enthusiast that was MINT. Drove it and a C7 back to back. The C7 is a GREAT car for the money and nearly matches the Porsche in straight line speed and probably out handles it at 10/10's. Problem is the Porsche is just put together nicer. Incredible interior, near perfect fit and finish and has better visibility. Wonderful car to drive daily, on road trips or to the track... for an original list of $122K it damn well better be. Picked it up for $78K and have put 12K miles on it in less than a year. No regrets but still think I would have also been completely satisfied with a C7. Can't go wrong with either one!

OzarkCorvetteGuy

I had never owned neither until I bought my C7 and was like you thinking about Porsche and Corvette and I'm just a little old fashioned and decided I wanted to own a piece of American history before I became a part of American history.

Davids65

I have to admit the paint on the Porsche was always perfect and the dealer did a great job keeping it this way!

We I bought my C6 I spent months trying to correct the paint and I was convinced the dealer created most of the problems!

As for IMS issues I was under the impression that the issue was corrected in 06' while the part still existed it was no longer an issue. I sold my 01' out of fear of becoming a statistic. I would have bought an 06' if I could have afforded it a few years ago instead I chose the C6 and liked it so much I bought a C7 for the same price as I could have bought a newish Porsche but I this said I have not regrets. While I loved my Porsche I never felt it was an amazing quality car it was nice but not incredible!

jivor

I've never owned a Porsche, but my dad had two, a 928 that he bought in '82, and 996 that he bought in '04; he's got an '08 Aston Martin Vantage V8 now. I agree that the build quality is better (a bit difficult to compare with the 34 year old 928 though; the Aston is like sitting in an art gallery) than my C7, but why the apples and oranges?

Each car has its own characteristics, so much so, that it's like choosing your favorite child over the other. Accept the 'Vette for the amazing value (and looks) that it has and the Porsche for its German engineering.

CloudLS9

^^^ Exactly. Good analogy.

1SG_Ret

Corvette build quality is good/very good. Porsche build quality is excellent. Engineering plays as big a role as build quality and Porsche has an edge there also IMO.

A comparably equipped Porsche will cost you quite a bit more initially and also down the road (w/ maintenance and out of warranty repairs).

Highly recommend you take a Cayman for a test drive.

Crunch527

Ok..I sold my 67 a year and a half ago and since then, I have been looking at either a new ZO6 or a new 991...and lurking here on the ZO6 forum. Love the old ones but don't have time to wrench.

Overall, I can get over the cost difference, the subjective build quality differences, and (minor) performance differences.

The one thing that gives me pause are the maintenance costs on the 911...routine and interval mnx costs seem "Porsche" expensive...also, it seems once the 911 is out of warranty they are hideously expensive to fix.

In either case, an extended warranty from Porsche or GM would be part of the deal for me.

HMMM...maybe I have made my decision...

Gearbox22

They are two very different cars. I have a 2008 Cayman S and 2003 Boxster S and outside of the normal consumable parts, I have yet to have any part of the car fail, squeak, or rattle. And for a 8-13 year old cars, the interior and exterior still looks new with no visible wear including the seats. But with this being said, I'm buying a new GS. My reasoning has to do with the new 718 models of the Cayman and Boxsters, it only comes in a 4 cylinder. Despite producing more HP and torque than the previous 6 cylinder, it isn't the same even with the $3K sports exhaust. So the dealer put me in a Carrera 4S for $136K and it was nice, but I liked the Cayman's size and style better. This got me looking at other cars like the AMG GTS, Jag F Type R, which only comes in a PDK and sells for $120-150K. Exceptional cars, and while the PDK's were the best ones I had ever driven, it was still an Auto. So I started to look at the Corvettes, and the GS really stood out for me. On my first test drive, I was up to 77 mph within 100 feet of the dealers driveway and I wasn't even driving it that hard. The noise it made was wonderful and much like the AMG GTS, with its exhaust rumbles and gurgles and the rev matching feature was awesome. As I started to drive a bit more aggressively, each throw of the 7M Shifter pinned you to the seat and all your senses were being assaulted at the same time, from the exhaust notes, vibrations, and g forces. And handling on the GS would rival any Porsche, although the Z06 tended to power oversteer a little too easily. But the GS had just the right balance for a street car. And with the deep discounts making a well equipped GS half the price of these other cars, it was a no brainer. Both cars are great for different reasons. And if I am lucky enough to get a problem free GS, I may even sell off the Cayman and use the GS as my primary sports car.

b4i4getit

The new Cayman S is a wonderful car. Those that say otherwise are not being honest with themselves.

patentcad

Sorry to hear that, my experience with the 2007 and now the 2017 has been really very good, and I've owned one high end German car after another (all the big brands) over the past 30 years. I sold Mercedes from 1983-1991 as well, so I am pretty familiar with that brand.

I'd agree. Porsche does have a ma$$ive option list: ) The base price of those cars (regular and S variant) are $55K and $65K respectively. I cautiously tried to 'build' an S on the Porsche website to match my $71K MSRP C7 and it was $80K. I didn't check a lot of boxes either. It would be very easy to option out a Cayman S to $90K.

It's a fantastic car with fantastic press, Porsche knows it and they are milking it for the dough. Gott in Himmel it's almost like they're Amerikan Kapitalists!

My pal has a Cayman S stick he loves WAY more than the cars that preceeded it: 911 convertible, M3 coupe. LOVES the car.

quick04Z06

I have not owned a C7, but I have owned four C5Z06s and a 2009 Porsche Cayman S. I think the difference in build quality was about 10% for the Porsche. I think Porsche interior materials look and feel better (although after sitting in a few C7s, I'd say the gap is much narrower now).

I just sold my fourth Z06 (an 04) I had owned for about 6 years. No squeaks or rattles when I sold it except the passenger's side seat belt tongue could rattle against the door if the belt was not fastened.

Porsches are fine cars, but no question the cost of purchase (apples to apples) for a Porsche is more than for a similar performing Corvette, and maintenance costs more. A brake bleed at the dealer costs twice as much for the P-car using the same brake fluid I supplied.

patentcad

I've only had two Corvettes, I was quite impressed with the build quality of my 2007 that I purchased as an 8 year old used car, the only squeak was occasionally on hot days from the smoked polycarb clear roof against the windshield on hot days, and that generally settled down and disappeared after you drove for 5 minutes. The build quality and fit and finish and materials of my new C7 is outstanding - world class.

OVR60

I would call it American class quality.

b4i4getit

After seeing those pictures of the parking brake and the door hinge it is pretty obvious where the engineering and cost is for the Porsche. The GM parts are just stamped pieces probably used on other cars as well. Yes that keeps the cost down but I wonder what other cost cutting went on that may ultimately affect the durability of the car.