What are peoples' opinion on preventative maintenance? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Jake Raby · 02-25-2010, 06:32 AM

Fixing something before it breaks is key...

Imagine if the FAA didn't require specialized PMs on aircraft and people treated them like their Porsches... I'd say we'd be losing planes on a daily basis.

It never ceases to amaze me how much people neglect these later Porsches, I never saw that with the aircooled cars.

We are doing an IMS Retrofit downstairs right now.. Two days ago when the owner dropped the car off and waited to see the "before" dyno evaluations I heard some horrible sounding chain tensioners and lifters when I fired the engine up. That prompted me to ask him how often he serviced the car, he said every 15K miles...

Those extended oil service intervals will cost him 7,000.00 in worn parts and labor, the bill is due tomorrow.

landrovered · 02-25-2010, 06:41 AM

IMHO...

Proactive owners with dirt under their fingernails do not service their cars every X number of miles. They never stop servicing their vehicles.

mikefocke · 02-25-2010, 07:15 AM

Sometime in 2007, they issued a recommended service interval chart that now recommends 12k oil changes.

I wonder how many of us knew that? I didn't until yesterday.

Boxtaboy · 02-25-2010, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikefocke

Sometime in 2007, they issued a recommended service interval chart that now recommends 12k oil changes.

I wonder how many of us knew that? I didn't until yesterday.

I did, because I posted that link on PPBB.

It is kinda interesting that they originally suggested 15k intervals between oil changes on the early models, and then later retroactively recommended that interval go down to 12k (they did the same kind of back peddling on other items for the car too, if you look at the chart). Same car, but all of a sudden, they tell you it needs more servicing than they originally thought.

landrovered · 02-25-2010, 07:27 AM

It is not just Porsche doing this. Many other makes are reducing their service intervals as well.

Jake Raby · 02-25-2010, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by landrovered

It is not just Porsche doing this. Many other makes are reducing their service intervals as well.

Because the people buying the cars are too damn lazy to service them... The manufacturers are now in a battle to brag about service intervals and who can go the longest, all while they are using crappy parts to comprise their engines..

The more it appears to cost to maintain these cars the fewer people will buy them... Since no one cares about the 2nd, 3rd or 4th owner it all comes out in the wash later..

landrovered · 02-25-2010, 07:49 AM

The manufacturers don't want to talk about "cost of ownership" because the high end cars would suck wind just on depreciation alone. When they are forced to talk about it they come up with free service plans and warranties and then try to change the subject to things like "quality and value".

The Pacific rim manufacturers raised the warranty anti to crazy levels and the other companies had to match them, why do you think the fight warranty claims tooth and nail.

Boxtaboy · 02-25-2010, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by landrovered

It is not just Porsche doing this. Many other makes are reducing their service intervals as well.

I can understand them reducing service intervals as they introduce new cars, but retroactively recommend shorter intervals on their older cars? I wonder what prompted them to do that? My car hasn't changed since 2001...why is it that at first my owner's manual said I could wait till 15k before I change my oil, but now, I should do it at 12k intervals? Or fuel filter and plugs changed they say I should change at 60k miles, but now they say it should be done at 48k intervals.

landrovered · 02-25-2010, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

I can understand them reducing service intervals as they introduce new cars, but retroactively recommend shorter intervals on their older cars? I wonder what prompted them to do that? My car hasn't changed since 2001...why is it that at first my owner's manual said I could wait till 15k before I change my oil, but now, I should do it at 12k intervals? Or fuel filter and plugs changed they say I should change at 60k miles, but now they say it should be done at 48k intervals.

Corporate speak for "we were wrong".

dallison · 02-25-2010, 08:01 AM

i replace the fluids, belt, pads and any other normal wear items regularly. Things like a water pump, alternator, etc i won't touch until they fail. Sometimes they can last the life of the car and sometimes not.

Normally 2x a year i will remove all tires and inspect the car. Usually in the spring and then in the fall.

The one thing that i have done as preventive maint was the aos. It is still in the box but i'll be changing it. I have seen the stories and it wasn't that much so i'll change it.

jmatta · 02-25-2010, 08:08 AM

Changing oil at 12,000 mile intervals is over twice as long as any of the knowledgeable folks on this board would recommend.

I find all of this very interesting since I plan maintenance every spring and fall on my '02 S. My car now shows just about 17k miles, but I'm already thinking what could be replaced due to age, not wear. I've also updated the car with the LN products that I could easily install and am highly considering the IMS update, though my clutch is just fine. My friend is a wizz mechanic (Porsche owner) and this is something he may attempt to do to my car in our free time. His 996 had RMS issues, but that was replaced with a 997 CS...all his other P-Cars are air-cooled.