'09 C4S ... School me please!

[ianacole]

Considering this as a replacement for the '14 Challenger SRT8: 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Greenwood Village, Colorado | Greenwood Automotive

Anything I should consider?

• Low miles (33K)... less than 5K per year. Is this a concern or a bonus?
• What maintenance items should I look for? Anything specific I should focus on or specifically look for during a PPI?
• Long term maintenance costs?
• I'm a stick fanatic ... how's PDK for those who have converted? Any wish in going back? Should I hold out for a manual?
• 2009 a decent year, or should I look for something newer?
• Cargurus shows that this is about $4K under expected price, so a good deal according to them. What say you?
• Wife is not a fan of the tan interior, things it may be impossible to keep clean and fresh. Anyone with tan that can weigh in on this?

Thanks in advance!

Ian

[RandallNeighbour]

The 2009.5's came with PDK and if I'm not mistaken, they changed the motor design to remove the intermediate shaft and add direct injection in mid 2009. I cannot speak to the reliability of the new motor in the first cars in which they installed it but I'm guessing others here will. It was a very welcomed thing in my opinion and I will not own another Pcar with an IMS that can go out.

This car has PASM and depending on how long you plan to keep the car, this could get expensive at some point in the future. Active suspension parts ain't cheap in any flavor, but they gotta be extra spendy in a Pcar.

Don't worry about that tan interior. My wife's lexus has an even lighter tan interior and as long as you keep up with the leather cleaner and don't drag mud into the car you'll be fine. It has those nice color-coordinated rubber mats in it for that very reason. That's smart.

You would do well to get on a 911 forum and ask about this car's general reliability issues....

[ChrisZang]

Ok,

I went from a 2002 986S to a 2009 C4S 4 years ago.
I love PDK, it's the best of both worlds, I never would go back to manual.
However I am on my 2nd PDK. W/o my extended warranty this would have been $12k. Porsche does not repair PDK they only replace, so it really doesn't matter what fails you'll be in for a new one. The 2009 has the 9A1 engine: DFI, no IMS, variable oil pump. Generally very good. Early examples of this engine have been reported to use a lot of oil (mine uses 1 qt every 800 miles, which is "within Porsche tolerance". So try to find out how much oil this one uses.
Besides that I absolutely love the car. I do only yeh normal regular maintenance, and besides the PDK no other repairs. I got the car with 30k miles and I am now at 55k. 5 - 10k are track miles, so much higher wear and tear here.
Hey any more questions shoot me a PM
You can also post in the 997 section of reenlist, really good crowd there, not as good as on 986forum, but good. I go by the handle "Hatzenbach " there.

Cheers
Chris

[thstone]

The 9A1 is the engine to get - no IMS worries.

On the other side, the PDK has proven to be generally very reliable but if something does go wrong, it can cost almost as much as an engine replacement since there are very few used units floating around. Expect $10K and up. Again, its not a likely problem but compared to the cost of replacing a manual transmission, its quite expensive if needed.

In regards to a light tan interior, my 996 had a Savannah Beige interior and I found it nearly impossible to keep clean and it didn't wear well over the years as each individual material (leather, cloth, carpet) faded at a different rate so eventually I had a three-tone beige interior. Darker colors won't show this aging effect quite as badly. For me, I'd never get a car with a tan interior again.

Good luck and keep us posted!