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Replacing plugs at the service interval is not a gimmick. Especially turbocharged GDI but even NA GDI engines are very hard on plugs. Following service schedules is good practice.
I would just buy the parts from Sunset. Especially on something like plugs. While not commonplace, I have seen on more than one occasion where the plug's electrode broke off and bounced around in the cylinder walls trashing it. I have no way to prove it but I bet it was not a genuine OE plug that was sourced safely through a vendor in a controlled supply chain.
silly anecdote. Sure, GDI cars are harder on plugs. Yet somehow other cars with GDI and high levels of performance go 40k miles no sweat. My v8 Cayenne has direct injection and it goes 40k between plugs, where as turbos go 30k. 11k is totally unnecessary.
As to the anecdote with further unsupported hypotheses about the source of the plug, come on...There are legitimately millions of cars out there running bosch, ngk, denso plugs that were not purchased from the dealer and they go 100k miles in cars not treated with kid gloves. When considering one offs, anything can happen.
Originally Posted by asellus
Okay. Deliver the cars, I'll provide the instrumentation. PM me when you need the address to deliver to.
Oh please. You made the statement. It seems you have absolutely no evidence to support it.
Seems you're the one with no evidence to support your statements. No one ever said to do the plugs every 11K miles. I said follow the service schedule -- I don't own a GTS but I believe that's every 40K miles or thereabouts which is totally within the range for a turbocharged GDI engine. At this point you're just trolling............
For reference here is the bill from my 991.2 4/40 repairs for Porsche Certification. This is what the dealer paid. Labor is more than 2x the parts cost. Plugs were only $162. But 9.50 hours? Seems like they work very slow.
My brother with a small shop in NH, (who has never worked on a Porsche other than mine), did the plugs at 29K miles on my 991.2 Targa GTS in March 2021.
We never had to remove any turbo piping or anything and on the driver side, didn't even remove wheel well liner. Although we just did plugs w/o coils, wobble extensions, a lift, and one hour of labor was all.
I’m not even going to say what I pay for maintenance (way cheaper that what’s mentioned here) but I’m lucky enough to have a great Indy that’s walking distance from work… and that lets me bring my own parts! Been using fcp euro for all maintenance items and they’ve been great. If you can find a great Indy that you trust, they are worth their weight in gold.
Also, I did plugs/coils on my 991.1 based on year (not miles) and could noticeably feel a big difference. Idle was smoother, in gear hesitation on acceleration was gone. It even sounded better, as crazy as that sounds.
Oh please. You made the statement. It seems you have absolutely no evidence to support it.
Your anecdotal evidence is no better than mine or anyone else's, and it disagrees with the published recommended service intervals from a multi-billion dollar company's subsidiary who, for quite some time, did nothing but design and service these cars.
Offer still stands. Deliver some cars here, I'll test and measure, documenting everything for you to dissect and disprove. Tick tock, though -- winter's almost over, and I'd like to get a battery of cold weather tests done before moving on to summer tests.
A friend of a friend was just quoted $11k in repairs for a 3 year old Macan Turbo with 40k miles. Nearly $3k for spark plugs and air filters. $2700 for a passenger seat occupancy sensor that had “water damage.” Nearly $4k for brakes. Another few k for a leaking gas line. On a CPO car too.
Porsche dealers don’t even have to try to make a fortune. Plenty of fools willing to pay their ransom. It’s sad but as our dealer told me “Sir, it’s an expensive car - if you can’t afford the maintenance you shouldn’t have purchased the car” (his response to my questioning why I was charged above MSRP for parts!).
Your anecdotal evidence is no better than mine or anyone else's, and it disagrees with the published recommended service intervals from a multi-billion dollar company's subsidiary who, for quite some time, did nothing but design and service these cars.
Offer still stands. Deliver some cars here, I'll test and measure, documenting everything for you to dissect and disprove. Tick tock, though -- winter's almost over, and I'd like to get a battery of cold weather tests done before moving on to summer tests.
Wow. You made a definitive statement claiming that extra heat was the reason for the shortened interval. I did not provide any anecdotes at all.
Lets just go with you made an off the cuff comment that has no basis in fact and that you cannot support in any way and now youre making silly comments about bringing in cars for testing because youre embarrassed.
I second buying your plugs from FCP-mine were less than $100 for the set if I remember correctly and has a lifetime replacement for when I do it again in 4 years. I would probably pass on the coils unless there are signs of them going…
That was my thought as well, but in between my first and second plug change I had a coil go bad.
It's $280 for plugs and coils from FCP Euro and with their lifetime warranty replacement program (even due to scheduled interval/wear) it's def worth just buying the kit and replacing the coils at the same time as the plugs IMO. That way, you're never going to be stranded with a coil going bad like I was (I limped my car home, but then couldn't drive until parts came in).
It's a one-time cost and free for however much longer you own the car.
That was my thought as well, but in between my first and second plug change I had a coil go bad.
It's $280 for plugs and coils from FCP Euro and with their lifetime warranty replacement program (even due to scheduled interval/wear) it's def worth just buying the kit and replacing the coils at the same time as the plugs IMO. That way, you're never going to be stranded with a coil going bad like I was (I limped my car home, but then couldn't drive until parts came in).
It's a one-time cost and free for however much longer you own the car.
$280, damn. That 991.1 life, I suppose. It's over $500 here on the .2 side
$280, damn. That 991.1 life, I suppose. It's over $500 here on the .2 side
I just checked and you're correct. That's crazy on the price difference!
Yeah, I'd probably just replace plugs and hold off on coils until one failed. Maybe order one coil to keep on hand for if/when if fails. Cylinders 1 & 4 tend to be the ones that go bad on the 911 (3 & 6 on Cayman/Boxster) due to how close they are to the cats.