New Owner & Questions

[Chris_911]

Hi

My wife bought an ex-demo 2.7 987 at the w/e from an OPC.

A couple of questions to the wise:
i) I have specified that the engine oil and filter be changed before delivery. Car has covered 3500 miles but I do not believe in the 20000 service interval and hold the firm belief (backed up by experience) of the effectiveness of an early oil and filter change. My dilemma is, having been bitten in the past, how do I check it has been done?? No dipstick and can't even see the engine! Not my natural position to trust the dealer.

ii) The car is described as having the factory-fit alarm system. It is a 2006 model, registered in March 06. Given that she is embarking on the rather distasteful task of sorting out her insurance can someone point me in the direction of details of the alarm system. Presumably it is Thatcham Cat 1?? (Car is additionally fitted with Porsche VTS - hoping this carries some weight with insurers, but probably not!) Will try to speak with the dealer later.

Thank you.

 

[gdavison]

welcome to the world of Boxtser ownership

Re the Oil .. Porsche set the 20K oil change after extensive testing, I'd not fret it .. 3500 is nothing to worry about.. if it was >> 10k or something then maybe push for a change get it changed..

Re porsche VTS its a Thatcham Cat 5 .. (tracking system,... most secure grade you can get) .. Assuming you take up the 97GBP a year subscription of course then yes you should get a Insurance reduction

http://www.thatcham.org/security/pdfs/categories/CAT5AfterTheft.pdf

Standard UK spec factory fit alarm is a Cat 1

 

[THX911]

Since it is an ex-demo, I think you have made the right decision to request an oil change but otherwise for the rest of the cars life I would agree with Graeme on sticking to the 20K or 2 years interval. Get them to give you an invoice or a note of the oil change (tell them you want to keep a record for the future). I would also request a wheel alignment, as I assume ex-demo means it would have been used as a service courtesy car too.

VTS as far as insurance companies goes is another tracker system; so you will only get the usual tracker discount if they offer discounts for trackers. Some insurance companies will not insure cars like Porsches without a tracker but they do not give additional reduction for having it...

 

[Black80XSA]

I'm changing th oil myself at 10k - since the oil used is still the one employed when servcie intervals were 10k i'd rather spend £75 and 30 minutes of my time for piece of mind. 20k intervals are merely a means of Porsche keeping their on paper maintenance costs favourable for contract hire companies.

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: Black80XSA
20k intervals are merely a means of Porsche keeping their on paper maintenance costs favourable for contract hire companies.

That may be true of Ford or Vauxhall but Porsche?

I'd rather think it was due to 21st century lubricant and manufacturing technology myself.

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: JCB..

That may be true of Ford or Vauxhall but Porsche?

I'd rather think it was due to 21st century lubricant and manufacturing technology myself.

Totally agree with JCB plus 100's of thousands of hard miles road testing often in extreme conditions. I am sure that Porsche's decision to service every 20K is well within the limits required to keep ones pride & joy alive and well for a long trouble free motoring life and nothing to do with keeping contract hire costs competitive [&o]

 

[THX911]

ORIGINAL: Black80XSA

I'm changing th oil myself at 10k - since the oil used is still the one employed when servcie intervals were 10k i'd rather spend £75 and 30 minutes of my time for piece of mind. 20k intervals are merely a means of Porsche keeping their on paper maintenance costs favourable for contract hire companies.

987 and 997 generation have never had a 10K service interval so do check your source of information. The start of which began in MY2004 models (986 & 996) where the service interval were move to 2 years but left to 12K miles assuming this was the test year to start 9*7s with 2years/20K miles...

 

[Black80XSA]

The oil , the engine and the filter is basically the same in the 987 as it was in the 986 - my argument is whats changed to double the life expectancy. What has changed is the number of cars sold year on year and the percentage that are sold to lease companies - service costs and resale value are key to competitive lease pricing. It also helps in the 'ownership costs over 3 years/36k miles' comparisons which most magazines seem to favour - heyho - one service versus three !

I saw the oil draining from my old 986 at 11.5k miles - i was glad to see it go, and kicking myself i didnt ask for it to be done earlier.

And for whats its worth i have very close links with one of the biggest automotive lubricant companies in the UK, and yes they run their HGVs on 100k service intervals. But their HGVs only do long runs on hot engines. Oil technology is very good, i've no doubt about that - my bone is that Porsche have doubled their intervals using the same lubricant. At least VW,Audi, BMW and Mercedes switched to 'long life' lubricants, purpose built to withstand the extended service intervals.

Show me two used cars, one serviced within a few miles of the service schedule and another that had had extra oil changes and i know which one i'd buy

 

[JCB..]

David

But surely the sort of market your talking of is the Ford and Vauxhall repmobile, the Mondeo/Focus range for middle management / field engineers cars where servicing costs are more apparent as they are going to come around that much sooner due to heavy use and high mileage. Most Porsches don't do anywhere near the sort of mileage that these cars rack up.

I've posted this previously but I can not believe that Porsche would promote a servicing schedule that they knew to be detrimental to the longevity of their engines.

 

[Black80XSA]

You'd be surprised how many Porsches are on lease contracts - there will not be many company cars that are not on some form of lease (although you are correct in that the level of 987/997 on company fleets is minimal cf Ford/Vauxhall)

At the end of the day its the users choice - if you keep your car 3 years then its probably not worth bothering, if you want to keep it longer then maybe its worth the additional expense of the odd extra oil change. What most OPCs don't have to worry about is the condition of the drivetrains on their used cars, mainly because they don;t carry cars old enough to show any signs.

Some of us can probably remember the original Mobil 1 adverts - the 100k mile BMW 325i with minimal engine wear. I can't remember the exact oil change regime they employed ( but 5k mile intervals spring to mind) even with the car running virtually non stop on a banked circuit.

IMO, and thats all it is, a change at 10k is worthwhile. Some motoring pundits still say 5k miles even on fully synthetics.

There is a lot of discussion on other forums, mainly from Cayman owners, about oil chnages at 2k miles - i'm no so sure there is much merit in one that eary but i know their line of thinking.

 

[Chris_911]

Crikey - didn't mean to start a heated discussion[8|]

For my own view I feel it is well worth changing the oil and filter more frequently on a car you are looking to keep for some time. Use will be a key influencer in determining your own change intervgal 20000 motorway miles is a hell of a lot different to 20000 urban miles.

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: Chris_911

Crikey - didn't mean to start a heated discussion[8|]

For my own view I feel it is well worth changing the oil and filter more frequently on a car you are looking to keep for some time. Use will be a key influencer in determining your own change intervgal 20000 motorway miles is a hell of a lot different to 20000 urban miles.

Chris it's a forum and we're debating. It's good thing too in my book and I welcome people airing their views.

My service manual tells me that I need to change the oil every 12,000 miles and that's what I've done for the last six years with no apparent side effects.

 

[JCB..]

There is a lot of discussion on other forums, mainly from Cayman owners, about oil changes at 2k miles - I'm not so sure there is much merit in one that early but I know their line of thinking.

The fact that the have bought a Cayman shows they have more money than sense! []

 

[THX911]

ORIGINAL: Black80XSA

The oil , the engine and the filter is basically the same in the 987 as it was in the 986 - my argument is whats changed to double the life expectancy. What has changed is the number of cars sold year on year and the percentage that are sold to lease companies - service costs and resale value are key to competitive lease pricing.

I read what you mean now; I had a discussion about service intervals with the Porsche engineer at Brands Hand PCGB Fest last year (the one who was demo-ing the Boxster underside at the end of the Porsche exhibition). I had asked why my MY03 Boxster S needs the 12K or annual services (whichever comes first) and why the exact same performance spec MY04 now gets away with 12K but 2 years? His answer was that Porsche constantly change components from year to year to improve the usage of consumables like oil, spark plugs, filters, etc. so although the MY03 and MY04 are identical 986 engines I cannot just simple changed the engine to MY04 to get away with the 2 years interval...

At the end of the day it is what you believe (with the backing of mechnical laws, of course) and are comfortable with and my mechanical knowledge is not good enough to argue with Porsche, so I will continue blindly following what they recommend...

I will ask this question again at the OPC West London, this Saturday, when my car is having the free health check organised by the PCGB London region.

 

[Black80XSA]

Car been into OPC today for some recall jobs - gave up asking for the price for an oil change (seems in these days of menu pricing you can't have anything that isn't on the menu [] ). So bought the filter, seal ring and new drain plug washer - grand total of £14 and the oils on its way from Opie. Will keep me quiet for an hour on Saturday [8|]

 

[jw2015]

Slightly off topic but this is another reason I'm glad I kept my 986 and resisted the temptation to upgrade. I can check the colour of my oil regularly as an indication of whether or not an oil change between services is required. Given I only do 5000 miles a year it tends to remain clear and clean, even between the two year servicing interval, which that mileage allows.

 

[THX911]

ORIGINAL: rampant

Does the 987 not have a dipstick in the boot like the 986???

Surprised and disappointed.

True, and no space saver wheel either; it is all about weight saving... [8|]

just kidding! LOL[]

Porsche feel the electronic gauge is far more accurate and gives a more precise reading (which it did on 986s too) given ideal conditions i.e. level surface and engine at optimal running temp with the oil given sufficient time to settle back. An auto check after filling up at a fuel pump seems to meet all these requirements.

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: rampant

Does the 987 not have a dipstick in the boot like the 986???

Surprised and disappointed.

If you want an oily rag why not buy a TVR? []