What are peoples' opinion on preventative maintenance?

[Boxtaboy]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[blinkwatt]

I just replace the parts listed on the regular interval list ahead of time or on time. Nothing else unless it's making a sound or is broken. IMO the car isn't worth much anymore and dumping parts into it(when they still could be functioning properly) is not worth it.

[landrovered]

I have had water pumps last 100k miles and some last 20k miles. How do you know you are not taking out the 100k and putting in the 20k one?

"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."

C'mon really...comparing a PM on a car to a PM on a jet carrying hunderds of people, a jet that is subjected to extreme weather conditions and metal fatigue, a jet that is in almost constant use. Are you joking?

[landrovered]

Pboxstercar,

A word of advice... I get that you are pissed off at Jake. I too have been offended in the past by his inflexibility and over the top declarations such as the one that offended you. BUT, using the fact that he makes a living by working on Porsche is a moot point and poor arguement. It is a well known fact what he does for a living and he is a sponsor of this website.

If you find fault with his logic then produce data that supports your point. Simply tagging any post of his with a snide comment makes you look bad.

My advice is free, take it for what it is worth.