richardew

I just hit a minor milestone, 285,000 miles. I expect that I'll be in the 290s by the end of fall and hit 300,000 next summer. My car was first sold to the Detroit Autoshow in 1996. After the show it was purchased by Holbert Porsche (now Thompson). In the spring of 1996 I decided to trade in my '95 Red/Tan C2 and my '89 silver anniversary cab for a C4 Cab. I instructed my salesman (Haywood/Clarke Porsche -> West Broad Porsche -> Euroclassics) to find a non red, non yellow car with a light colored interior. He called me with Iris Blue/Marble/Marble. I had never seen Iris Blue but I gave him the go ahead and he traded a Red/Tan C4S for my car. I picked it up in May 1996.

At the time I lived in southside Virginia and drove the car year round. It was maintained by the dealer and Wayne was its' only mechanic. In 11/2004 I moved back to the Phila area. The car has subsequently been maintained by Holbert Porsche (now Thompson). It has had only one mechanic work on it here also (Brian).

The car has been in two collisions. #1 was in 7/2000 when I experienced snap oversteer and backed into a light pole (going around the Art Museum in Phila). The car was in the shop for 7 months and got all new sheet metal in the rear (fenders on back) and a repaint. The second collision was last April when I was hit in the rear while stopped. That damaged the front and the back of the car and it received its' second repaint. In the fall of 2004 I moved back to Phila and the car was still a 4 seasons car, running on Blizzaks (OEM sizes) through the winter. In 2008 the car became a spring/summer/fall car and I parked the Blizzaks.

There has been no major engine work. I have had all of the service done by the dealer and it has been worked on by only two mechanics. The clutch was replaced at ~89,000 miles. Initially I was changing the oil every 5000 miles, but after 100,000 I've been doing it every 10-15,000 miles. I got the dreaded SAI CEL sometime around 100,000 miles. It didn't matter then because there was no emissions inspection where I was living. Once I moved back to the Phila area I needed to pass emissions. They tried to flush the ports and 5/6 opened up. Now if I reset the CEL I can drive a thousand miles or so before it comes back on, and it is able to pass the emissions test.

The top was replaced once and is ready to be replaced again. I have had all kinds of misery with the top - snapped cables and some other part that snapped when the a cable went and I didn't realize it until it was too late. The car has been at OEM SUV ride height, but that's necessary for an all seasons car. With the Blizzaks I was able to drive in a few inches of snow without difficulty, it's actually fun. My only mod was HIDs but I went back to Halogen lights last year after having a few ballasts go bad. You can't go to Pep Boys and get a new ballast and having only one light when on the road sucks. The engine tray is still on. I don't think it hurts the car at all and I love the various theories put forth on this board with regards to the tray. Here's a few pics of the car.

theporscheguy

Thanks for sharing your great story. Your car looks terrific. Let us know when you reach half a million.

flyingchappy

Cool story! Are you bringing it to Fleetwood Saturday?

Z-nomore

I'm sure you have had many enjoyable miles and memories. I'm looking forward to hitting 300,000 miles, only about 249,000 to go

ja78911sc

Quote from my respected mechanic and long time Porsche wrench: "the worst thing you can do to your Porsche is not drive it". This is an excellent example!

element

This is solid engineering + a great owner!!

phil.

Steve 96C4S

Very inspiring "story". I am thrilled to read it and now have more confidence that whatever happens to my car, I can keep it rolling down the road, as long as I can afford the repairs. And repairs ain't cheap when you have to go to an indie for everything.

Cheers,
Steve R

race911

Driven like they used to be! Amazing how many 911s I used to work on that were past 100K miles and about 7 years old. Wasn't uncommon to see an SC in the early 90's past 200K.

(And if the 964 engine tray never existed, there wouldn't bee much talk about the 993 version.)

600RR

That is just too cool! Reminds me of time long, long ago when a Vette was my only 4-season (incl snow) ride, with no garage. Yours is a great story and you should be super proud. Whenever I have seen your posts with pix, your car looks clean.

Opo

Wow! You could of fool me, the car does not look like it has close to 300,000 miles
Great story and thanks for sharing...

Quadcammer

a year old paint job probably has a lot to do with that.

car looks good, and good for you for enjoying the car

flyingchappy

Cool story! Are you bringing it to Fleetwood Saturday?

richardew

Saturday I'll be on the road going to Virginia.

jo-hans

Thats huge!!

Pags993

WOW! 285, impressive.

Any significant preventative maintenance tips re keeping our rides on the road for many many years to come?