VVG

In a few weeks, I will be at 4 years of ownership with my Spyder. It is time for a major service. I am wondering what other owners consider as essential for a 4 year service vs optional. My car has just under 14000 miles. For instance, do I need to really need to change spark plugs at 4 years if only 14000 miles? Does brake fluid really need to be changed if it is reading low moisture with a brake fluid tester, etc, etc.

Thanks.

subwoofer

I am sure that you know that service intervals are determined by time or mileage as stipulated in the owner's manual. In your shoes, I would fork over the money for the spark plugs, brake flush, filters and oil change. Perhaps at an independent garage rather than at an expensive dealer.

Westcoast

I will be celebrating 4 years of ownership early next month, and will notch 40,000km or 25,000 miles soon, the major service will be performed as scheduled... not sure about the spark plugs though because they were replaced July 2023 at 27,250km or 17,000 miles.

85Gold

Spark plugs are a change item. They might be fine but part of the reason for changing is to keep them from freezing to the heads. Engine air cleaners, brake fluid because it is hydroscopic, and of course engine oil. I know in my case when I changed tx oil at ~11k miles it helped the shift feel but that was with a fair amount of track miles.

Peter

VVG

Oh I do know the whole time/miles concept. I was hoping to get some more insight as to what really matters vs what the manual says or what is only in theory.

Bents

It depends. A lot of the items, in my view, can be easily done at home with minimal mechanical ability but it depends on your desire to do that sort of thing. I can only give you my opinion which is pay for the sparks and DIY the rest. For example, the dealer wanted something like $800 to change the engine air filters and it took me maybe 90 mins with a couple of cold ones. Brake fluid is always a contentious issue but if you’re not tracking and the pedal feels fine to you when the brakes are hot, you can probably put it off for a bit. Just my two cents, ymmv.

MEM82

1. Congrats vvg, my 4 years of ownership is just about here and I just completed my 4 year service. I am embarrassed to say that my mileage is way under yours at 4k. I did brake fluid as well as spark plugs and all the recommended items. It was a 4 hour job to do everything and I believe the total was 2200+tax. I knew most of it was time related as opposed to mileage.

Gabriel@NutCracker

Not a good idea to skip the major service items because of mileage. Air filters get very dirty very quickly on these cars, plug change at 4 yrs regardless of mileage is also a preventative measure (as mentioned here earlier). Many people seem to care probably way too much about options good or bad for resale, yet this (skipping on scheduled maintenance) is much more important.

MOGI

I’m coming up on mine but I plan to do all of the recommended items. As with anything in life, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This is the mantra I tell myself when it comes to keeping my GT4 tip top. However, I do autoX and track my car a handful of times per year… YMMV

MOGI

was this price at a dealer or independent?

slilley

My opinion: some of the time-based service intervals are there to keep the service intervals easy to track while keeping Porsche dealers happy.

These are what I'd suggest. But the following ONLY applies to low-mileage garage queens, not daily-driven cars or cars that see the track:

• Brake fluid absorbs water even if the car is sitting in the garage, so definitely do that flush every 2 years.
• Oil changes every ~5K miles, or every 2 years - whichever comes first (it's proven that oil doesn't age-out; I think it was Blackstone that recently did a test proving this).
• Cabin Filter and Pre-Filter can probably go 2x longer than Porsche's recommended 2-year interval (so every 4 years) if you aren't hitting the 20K mileage in that time
• Spark plugs at 6 years if the car has less than 20K miles at that time (1.5x longer than Porsche recommends)
• Engine air filter at 6 years if the car has less than 20K miles at that time (1.5x longer than Porsche recommends)
• Drive belt at 9 years if the car has less than 30K miles

Again, these are just my opinions - and not what I'm following for my own car! I've already changed the engine air filters and flushed the brake fluid three times on my '22 CGTS with 12K miles. But my car is far from a garage queen, and sees 3-4 track days a year.

But, you also have to ask yourself: is it worth NOT following the Porsche recommended service at the dealership? While it's probably totally unnecessary to change your spark plugs already with only 14K miles on the engine - if you don't do it now, you've just postponed the job by what, a year or two? Is that worth the savings? And will the dealership reset the service warning if you don't do everything recommended? (mine does not) Also, if you want to sell the car, a future buyer will be happier if they see all the stamps in the service book.

I usually do all my own service, all at a much earlier intervals because of the track time. For me, the biggest question I still have is what mileage to get my PDK fluid changed. Porsche's recommendation of 120K miles would be ludicrous in my use case. So right now, I'm probably going to do it at around 20-25K miles. That'll be when the spark plug change time comes up too. Maybe I'll have both done at the dealership or a trusted independent.

worf928

Yes. Every two years. And that interval has nothing to do with whether or not you track it.

The additive package that prevents the moisture (always present in brake fluid to some extent) from rusting the hydraulic bits from the inside out lasts for two years more-or-less.

Bosch makes a DOT 4 fluid that lasts for 3 years but it’s not something you’ll find at PepBoys (etc.)

Don’t change your brake fluid for 10 years and you’ll be replacing calipers, hydraulic cylinders, ABS pump, and possibly hard lines in short order after a year or three.

Flush your brakes every two years and all those bits will very likely last 30+ years.

MEM82

Hey there! This was done at the Porsche dealer (northeast)

TRZ06

I just had my 30K service done (in 2.5 years time) spark plugs, filters, oil change, and PDK fluid flush & external filter. I skipped the brake stuff because I swapped all that out last year.

ldamelio

All the technical points of why to do the service have been made.

Just to add - if value is your concern (and that's valid), find a good independent mechanic to do the work for you.
You will save half to two thirds of the cost and get the same or better quality work and replacement parts/fluids.
The regional forums on RL are a good source.

The museum quality showrooms and latte machines at the dealership are nice, but that's a $1000 cup of coffee in your hand.