1st time buyer - Insights needed
04-30-2019, 04:32 AM
#61
Sorry for the delay, it's been quite a weekend. Skip to the end for the short version.
On Thursday I drove from LA to Palm Springs (2.5 hours) to cut my total road time down a bit. After spending the night, on Friday morning I drove to Scottsdale (5 hours with traffic) and got to the dealership.
The sales guy said they had just received the car the day prior and they hadn't had the time to fully detail it. The windshield had two big chips in it and cracks were forming. It was missing a few caps on the cowl at the bottom of the windshield. The hood had some small rock chips (not horrible but more than I expected). The interior had a major layer of Arizona grit covering mostly every surface, and the leather had dark smudges everywhere. I also noticed a melted hole in the passenger airbag safety light. The "frunk" switch wasn't working (wasn't sure if it was the actuator or switch). The rear tires needed replacing. And when I sat in the car I got a strong smell of cigarette / weed smoke and the passenger side floor mat had a small cigarette burn in it.
They could tell I was pretty heavily disappointed, and told them as much.
I talked with a few guys up the ladder and they offered: a full detail w/ ozone treatment to remove the cigarette smell (I wasn't familiar with the process and was skeptical), two new rear tires, a new windshield, and $500 off the price to put towards the frunk switch, etc.
They insisted they had very little margin left in the car after all these things and that was the best deal they could offer. The salesman told me he had two other buyers willing to fly in to check out the car, and that they were getting lots of local call asking about it. I believed this since I hadn't been able to find a no-accident, low/medium-mileage car, for this price.
I suggested that they needed to do these things they offered, whether I or someone else was the buyer, so they should just go ahead and do them. I said if the PPI checks out I'd be more inclined to move forward.
I then drove the car to McIlvian Motors (per Mujeriega's suggestion, amongst others) and the tech went through the car as I watched. PPI was $200. I did not have him bore scope, leak down, or pull plugs. (I'm sure you will all flame me for this, but my research lead me to believe that the expense isn't worth it, for this particular motor. And I'm nothing if not an optimist.). The tech was also confident these motors are incredibly reliable and agreed that puling plugs on a 56k miles car would not reveal much, although he was happy to accommodate whatever I wanted. In this particular shop they weren't seeing any major A1 engine issues. Frankly I think some of my hesitation to spend more money on the PPI was a that moment I wasn't convinced I was going to buy the car, and I thought I might be throwing money away. I know there's some odd logic going on there, but time will tell if my instincts were correct.
Here are the highlights of the PPI:
-No apparent accidents or body work
-The transmission mount bushing had been replaced at some point (with Porsche parts). I've seen on the forums that this is not uncommon
-It turns out the frunk switch still worked but you had to finesse it a bit (he showed me the trick). Apparently this is a common problem you guys probably know about, but wasn't apparent for the unindoctrinated.
-Frunk struts work and hold lip open, but are going out
-Front right lower control arm has a leak in the fluid damper. Looks like an easy DIY job. He suggested I do both sides when I do it
-PDK 60k mile service is due soon. Based on my research that's going to cost a bit of $$, need the computer to properly service
-Front rotors and pads have some decent life on them but probably need replacing in the next year or so
-He also mentioned replacing the spark plugs
-Serpentine belt look good but was coming due
-Needs new cabin air filter
-Intake filters look ok-ish, I'll likely replace
-Computer scan didn't reveal anything, no codes, etc
-Road test was great
In all he said there was about $3,500 of work that needs to get done (assuming labor costs included) in the next 4,000 miles. I can easily do all of the above myself except for the PDK service, but the hard costs are what they are.
Overall he gave the car a clean bill of health and said he was confident it was well worthy of consideration.
I started driving back to the dealer, not sure what I was going to do, when I realized I hadn't driven the car in Sport Plus mode yet. After a few fantastic bursts of speed, I can seriously say if Sport or Sport Plus wasn't a feature on the PDK I would have passed on it. It's quite the game changer.
I got back to the dealer with a smile on my face and told them I was going to grab a long lunch and think about it. In the meantime they started to swap out the windshield, tires and detail the car.
When I got back from lunch and they had done an aerosol "ozone bomb" and the car was smelling and looking 1000% better. A coat of wax on the paint made it come to life. The interior cleaned up remarkably well. There are a few minor scuffs and chips as I would expect form a 10 year old car, but it's an incredibly nice interior. They had tinted the window, and added a anti-theft device (Kahu?). They told me that they typically leave an ozone machine in the car for 24 hours and that they guaranteed any smell would be 100% gone by then.
The car looked night and day different from what I saw that morning. With the new agreement the car was coming to $40,055 (with taxes, title, and dealer b.s.). I weighed all the pros (new tires, new windshield, $500 off asking) and cons (60k service due). We agreed that if I came back on Saturday morning and the smell was gone I'd buy the car.
By that time it was 4pm on Friday and I drove my car back (another 5 hrs) to Palm Springs to drop it off. I got there at 9pm, slept like the dead, and then on Saturday morning took a bus 5 hrs back to Scottsdale and arrived at 3pm.
The car looked great, and as promised it smelled great, and I bought the car. I left by 3:30pm and stuck it on cruise control the entire way back to Palm Springs; I averaged 24 mpg. Not bad.
On Sunday morning I took it up in the mountains above Palm Desert to stretch its legs. Sooo much grip and wow I love that transmission. I did notice that in mid-turn the front end would come up faster than I expected (sort of bobbing/ hunting around), so I think I need to add front dampners to the repair list. When I got back to the house I put the car in reverse and it felt like the clutch was slipping a bit. A quick google and I found this was pretty normal. There seems to be a lot of "it's not a flaw, it's a feature" threads on the PDK ;-)
Given that this is my first Porsche, admittedly, I was a bit surprised how raw the driver experience is in these cars. You feel the road, all of it. While the PDK transmission is fantastic, it has it's raw quirks. But I suppose all that will become the new normal soon enough.
In the end, given the current market, I think I got a very good deal on this car. I'll start another thread that tracks the maintenance and upgrade path of the car as I move forward, and may there be no great mechanical surprises to come.
Thanks for all the advice and interest in my journey to 911 ownership. I'm happy to be a member of a community of such generous and knowledgeable people.
On Thursday I drove from LA to Palm Springs (2.5 hours) to cut my total road time down a bit. After spending the night, on Friday morning I drove to Scottsdale (5 hours with traffic) and got to the dealership.
The sales guy said they had just received the car the day prior and they hadn't had the time to fully detail it. The windshield had two big chips in it and cracks were forming. It was missing a few caps on the cowl at the bottom of the windshield. The hood had some small rock chips (not horrible but more than I expected). The interior had a major layer of Arizona grit covering mostly every surface, and the leather had dark smudges everywhere. I also noticed a melted hole in the passenger airbag safety light. The "frunk" switch wasn't working (wasn't sure if it was the actuator or switch). The rear tires needed replacing. And when I sat in the car I got a strong smell of cigarette / weed smoke and the passenger side floor mat had a small cigarette burn in it.
They could tell I was pretty heavily disappointed, and told them as much.
I talked with a few guys up the ladder and they offered: a full detail w/ ozone treatment to remove the cigarette smell (I wasn't familiar with the process and was skeptical), two new rear tires, a new windshield, and $500 off the price to put towards the frunk switch, etc.
They insisted they had very little margin left in the car after all these things and that was the best deal they could offer. The salesman told me he had two other buyers willing to fly in to check out the car, and that they were getting lots of local call asking about it. I believed this since I hadn't been able to find a no-accident, low/medium-mileage car, for this price.
I suggested that they needed to do these things they offered, whether I or someone else was the buyer, so they should just go ahead and do them. I said if the PPI checks out I'd be more inclined to move forward.
I then drove the car to McIlvian Motors (per Mujeriega's suggestion, amongst others) and the tech went through the car as I watched. PPI was $200. I did not have him bore scope, leak down, or pull plugs. (I'm sure you will all flame me for this, but my research lead me to believe that the expense isn't worth it, for this particular motor. And I'm nothing if not an optimist.). The tech was also confident these motors are incredibly reliable and agreed that puling plugs on a 56k miles car would not reveal much, although he was happy to accommodate whatever I wanted. In this particular shop they weren't seeing any major A1 engine issues. Frankly I think some of my hesitation to spend more money on the PPI was a that moment I wasn't convinced I was going to buy the car, and I thought I might be throwing money away. I know there's some odd logic going on there, but time will tell if my instincts were correct.
Here are the highlights of the PPI:
-No apparent accidents or body work
-The transmission mount bushing had been replaced at some point (with Porsche parts). I've seen on the forums that this is not uncommon
-It turns out the frunk switch still worked but you had to finesse it a bit (he showed me the trick). Apparently this is a common problem you guys probably know about, but wasn't apparent for the unindoctrinated.
-Frunk struts work and hold lip open, but are going out
-Front right lower control arm has a leak in the fluid damper. Looks like an easy DIY job. He suggested I do both sides when I do it
-PDK 60k mile service is due soon. Based on my research that's going to cost a bit of $$, need the computer to properly service
-Front rotors and pads have some decent life on them but probably need replacing in the next year or so
-He also mentioned replacing the spark plugs
-Serpentine belt look good but was coming due
-Needs new cabin air filter
-Intake filters look ok-ish, I'll likely replace
-Computer scan didn't reveal anything, no codes, etc
-Road test was great
In all he said there was about $3,500 of work that needs to get done (assuming labor costs included) in the next 4,000 miles. I can easily do all of the above myself except for the PDK service, but the hard costs are what they are.
Overall he gave the car a clean bill of health and said he was confident it was well worthy of consideration.
I started driving back to the dealer, not sure what I was going to do, when I realized I hadn't driven the car in Sport Plus mode yet. After a few fantastic bursts of speed, I can seriously say if Sport or Sport Plus wasn't a feature on the PDK I would have passed on it. It's quite the game changer.
I got back to the dealer with a smile on my face and told them I was going to grab a long lunch and think about it. In the meantime they started to swap out the windshield, tires and detail the car.
When I got back from lunch and they had done an aerosol "ozone bomb" and the car was smelling and looking 1000% better. A coat of wax on the paint made it come to life. The interior cleaned up remarkably well. There are a few minor scuffs and chips as I would expect form a 10 year old car, but it's an incredibly nice interior. They had tinted the window, and added a anti-theft device (Kahu?). They told me that they typically leave an ozone machine in the car for 24 hours and that they guaranteed any smell would be 100% gone by then.
The car looked night and day different from what I saw that morning. With the new agreement the car was coming to $40,055 (with taxes, title, and dealer b.s.). I weighed all the pros (new tires, new windshield, $500 off asking) and cons (60k service due). We agreed that if I came back on Saturday morning and the smell was gone I'd buy the car.
By that time it was 4pm on Friday and I drove my car back (another 5 hrs) to Palm Springs to drop it off. I got there at 9pm, slept like the dead, and then on Saturday morning took a bus 5 hrs back to Scottsdale and arrived at 3pm.
The car looked great, and as promised it smelled great, and I bought the car. I left by 3:30pm and stuck it on cruise control the entire way back to Palm Springs; I averaged 24 mpg. Not bad.
On Sunday morning I took it up in the mountains above Palm Desert to stretch its legs. Sooo much grip and wow I love that transmission. I did notice that in mid-turn the front end would come up faster than I expected (sort of bobbing/ hunting around), so I think I need to add front dampners to the repair list. When I got back to the house I put the car in reverse and it felt like the clutch was slipping a bit. A quick google and I found this was pretty normal. There seems to be a lot of "it's not a flaw, it's a feature" threads on the PDK ;-)
Given that this is my first Porsche, admittedly, I was a bit surprised how raw the driver experience is in these cars. You feel the road, all of it. While the PDK transmission is fantastic, it has it's raw quirks. But I suppose all that will become the new normal soon enough.
In the end, given the current market, I think I got a very good deal on this car. I'll start another thread that tracks the maintenance and upgrade path of the car as I move forward, and may there be no great mechanical surprises to come.
Thanks for all the advice and interest in my journey to 911 ownership. I'm happy to be a member of a community of such generous and knowledgeable people.
04-30-2019, 05:11 PM
#62
Sorry for the delay, it's been quite a weekend. Skip to the end for the short version.
On Thursday I drove from LA to Palm Springs (2.5 hours) to cut my total road time down a bit. After spending the night, on Friday morning I drove to Scottsdale (5 hours with traffic) and got to the dealership.
The sales guy said they had just received the car the day prior and they hadn't had the time to fully detail it. The windshield had two big chips in it and cracks were forming. It was missing a few caps on the cowl at the bottom of the windshield. The hood had some small rock chips (not horrible but more than I expected). The interior had a major layer of Arizona grit covering mostly every surface, and the leather had dark smudges everywhere. I also noticed a melted hole in the passenger airbag safety light. The "frunk" switch wasn't working (wasn't sure if it was the actuator or switch). The rear tires needed replacing. And when I sat in the car I got a strong smell of cigarette / weed smoke and the passenger side floor mat had a small cigarette burn in it.
They could tell I was pretty heavily disappointed, and told them as much.
I talked with a few guys up the ladder and they offered: a full detail w/ ozone treatment to remove the cigarette smell (I wasn't familiar with the process and was skeptical), two new rear tires, a new windshield, and $500 off the price to put towards the frunk switch, etc.
They insisted they had very little margin left in the car after all these things and that was the best deal they could offer. The salesman told me he had two other buyers willing to fly in to check out the car, and that they were getting lots of local call asking about it. I believed this since I hadn't been able to find a no-accident, low/medium-mileage car, for this price.
I suggested that they needed to do these things they offered, whether I or someone else was the buyer, so they should just go ahead and do them. I said if the PPI checks out I'd be more inclined to move forward.
I then drove the car to McIlvian Motors (per Mujeriega's suggestion, amongst others) and the tech went through the car as I watched. PPI was $200. I did not have him bore scope, leak down, or pull plugs. (I'm sure you will all flame me for this, but my research lead me to believe that the expense isn't worth it, for this particular motor. And I'm nothing if not an optimist.). The tech was also confident these motors are incredibly reliable and agreed that puling plugs on a 56k miles car would not reveal much, although he was happy to accommodate whatever I wanted. In this particular shop they weren't seeing any major A1 engine issues. Frankly I think some of my hesitation to spend more money on the PPI was a that moment I wasn't convinced I was going to buy the car, and I thought I might be throwing money away. I know there's some odd logic going on there, but time will tell if my instincts were correct.
Here are the highlights of the PPI:
-No apparent accidents or body work
-The transmission mount bushing had been replaced at some point (with Porsche parts). I've seen on the forums that this is not uncommon
-It turns out the frunk switch still worked but you had to finesse it a bit (he showed me the trick). Apparently this is a common problem you guys probably know about, but wasn't apparent for the unindoctrinated.
-Frunk struts work and hold lip open, but are going out
-Front right lower control arm has a leak in the fluid damper. Looks like an easy DIY job. He suggested I do both sides when I do it
-PDK 60k mile service is due soon. Based on my research that's going to cost a bit of $$, need the computer to properly service
-Front rotors and pads have some decent life on them but probably need replacing in the next year or so
-He also mentioned replacing the spark plugs
-Serpentine belt look good but was coming due
-Needs new cabin air filter
-Intake filters look ok-ish, I'll likely replace
-Computer scan didn't reveal anything, no codes, etc
-Road test was great
In all he said there was about $3,500 of work that needs to get done (assuming labor costs included) in the next 4,000 miles. I can easily do all of the above myself except for the PDK service, but the hard costs are what they are.
Overall he gave the car a clean bill of health and said he was confident it was well worthy of consideration.
I started driving back to the dealer, not sure what I was going to do, when I realized I hadn't driven the car in Sport Plus mode yet. After a few fantastic bursts of speed, I can seriously say if Sport or Sport Plus wasn't a feature on the PDK I would have passed on it. It's quite the game changer.
I got back to the dealer with a smile on my face and told them I was going to grab a long lunch and think about it. In the meantime they started to swap out the windshield, tires and detail the car.
When I got back from lunch and they had done an aerosol "ozone bomb" and the car was smelling and looking 1000% better. A coat of wax on the paint made it come to life. The interior cleaned up remarkably well. There are a few minor scuffs and chips as I would expect form a 10 year old car, but it's an incredibly nice interior. They had tinted the window, and added a anti-theft device (Kahu?). They told me that they typically leave an ozone machine in the car for 24 hours and that they guaranteed any smell would be 100% gone by then.
The car looked night and day different from what I saw that morning. With the new agreement the car was coming to $40,055 (with taxes, title, and dealer b.s.). I weighed all the pros (new tires, new windshield, $500 off asking) and cons (60k service due). We agreed that if I came back on Saturday morning and the smell was gone I'd buy the car.
By that time it was 4pm on Friday and I drove my car back (another 5 hrs) to Palm Springs to drop it off. I got there at 9pm, slept like the dead, and then on Saturday morning took a bus 5 hrs back to Scottsdale and arrived at 3pm.
The car looked great, and as promised it smelled great, and I bought the car. I left by 3:30pm and stuck it on cruise control the entire way back to Palm Springs; I averaged 24 mpg. Not bad.
On Sunday morning I took it up in the mountains above Palm Desert to stretch its legs. Sooo much grip and wow I love that transmission. I did notice that in mid-turn the front end would come up faster than I expected (sort of bobbing/ hunting around), so I think I need to add front dampners to the repair list. When I got back to the house I put the car in reverse and it felt like the clutch was slipping a bit. A quick google and I found this was pretty normal. There seems to be a lot of "it's not a flaw, it's a feature" threads on the PDK ;-)
Given that this is my first Porsche, admittedly, I was a bit surprised how raw the driver experience is in these cars. You feel the road, all of it. While the PDK transmission is fantastic, it has it's raw quirks. But I suppose all that will become the new normal soon enough.
In the end, given the current market, I think I got a very good deal on this car. I'll start another thread that tracks the maintenance and upgrade path of the car as I move forward, and may there be no great mechanical surprises to come.
Thanks for all the advice and interest in my journey to 911 ownership. I'm happy to be a member of a community of such generous and knowledgeable people.
On Thursday I drove from LA to Palm Springs (2.5 hours) to cut my total road time down a bit. After spending the night, on Friday morning I drove to Scottsdale (5 hours with traffic) and got to the dealership.
The sales guy said they had just received the car the day prior and they hadn't had the time to fully detail it. The windshield had two big chips in it and cracks were forming. It was missing a few caps on the cowl at the bottom of the windshield. The hood had some small rock chips (not horrible but more than I expected). The interior had a major layer of Arizona grit covering mostly every surface, and the leather had dark smudges everywhere. I also noticed a melted hole in the passenger airbag safety light. The "frunk" switch wasn't working (wasn't sure if it was the actuator or switch). The rear tires needed replacing. And when I sat in the car I got a strong smell of cigarette / weed smoke and the passenger side floor mat had a small cigarette burn in it.
They could tell I was pretty heavily disappointed, and told them as much.
I talked with a few guys up the ladder and they offered: a full detail w/ ozone treatment to remove the cigarette smell (I wasn't familiar with the process and was skeptical), two new rear tires, a new windshield, and $500 off the price to put towards the frunk switch, etc.
They insisted they had very little margin left in the car after all these things and that was the best deal they could offer. The salesman told me he had two other buyers willing to fly in to check out the car, and that they were getting lots of local call asking about it. I believed this since I hadn't been able to find a no-accident, low/medium-mileage car, for this price.
I suggested that they needed to do these things they offered, whether I or someone else was the buyer, so they should just go ahead and do them. I said if the PPI checks out I'd be more inclined to move forward.
I then drove the car to McIlvian Motors (per Mujeriega's suggestion, amongst others) and the tech went through the car as I watched. PPI was $200. I did not have him bore scope, leak down, or pull plugs. (I'm sure you will all flame me for this, but my research lead me to believe that the expense isn't worth it, for this particular motor. And I'm nothing if not an optimist.). The tech was also confident these motors are incredibly reliable and agreed that puling plugs on a 56k miles car would not reveal much, although he was happy to accommodate whatever I wanted. In this particular shop they weren't seeing any major A1 engine issues. Frankly I think some of my hesitation to spend more money on the PPI was a that moment I wasn't convinced I was going to buy the car, and I thought I might be throwing money away. I know there's some odd logic going on there, but time will tell if my instincts were correct.
Here are the highlights of the PPI:
-No apparent accidents or body work
-The transmission mount bushing had been replaced at some point (with Porsche parts). I've seen on the forums that this is not uncommon
-It turns out the frunk switch still worked but you had to finesse it a bit (he showed me the trick). Apparently this is a common problem you guys probably know about, but wasn't apparent for the unindoctrinated.
-Frunk struts work and hold lip open, but are going out
-Front right lower control arm has a leak in the fluid damper. Looks like an easy DIY job. He suggested I do both sides when I do it
-PDK 60k mile service is due soon. Based on my research that's going to cost a bit of $$, need the computer to properly service
-Front rotors and pads have some decent life on them but probably need replacing in the next year or so
-He also mentioned replacing the spark plugs
-Serpentine belt look good but was coming due
-Needs new cabin air filter
-Intake filters look ok-ish, I'll likely replace
-Computer scan didn't reveal anything, no codes, etc
-Road test was great
In all he said there was about $3,500 of work that needs to get done (assuming labor costs included) in the next 4,000 miles. I can easily do all of the above myself except for the PDK service, but the hard costs are what they are.
Overall he gave the car a clean bill of health and said he was confident it was well worthy of consideration.
I started driving back to the dealer, not sure what I was going to do, when I realized I hadn't driven the car in Sport Plus mode yet. After a few fantastic bursts of speed, I can seriously say if Sport or Sport Plus wasn't a feature on the PDK I would have passed on it. It's quite the game changer.
I got back to the dealer with a smile on my face and told them I was going to grab a long lunch and think about it. In the meantime they started to swap out the windshield, tires and detail the car.
When I got back from lunch and they had done an aerosol "ozone bomb" and the car was smelling and looking 1000% better. A coat of wax on the paint made it come to life. The interior cleaned up remarkably well. There are a few minor scuffs and chips as I would expect form a 10 year old car, but it's an incredibly nice interior. They had tinted the window, and added a anti-theft device (Kahu?). They told me that they typically leave an ozone machine in the car for 24 hours and that they guaranteed any smell would be 100% gone by then.
The car looked night and day different from what I saw that morning. With the new agreement the car was coming to $40,055 (with taxes, title, and dealer b.s.). I weighed all the pros (new tires, new windshield, $500 off asking) and cons (60k service due). We agreed that if I came back on Saturday morning and the smell was gone I'd buy the car.
By that time it was 4pm on Friday and I drove my car back (another 5 hrs) to Palm Springs to drop it off. I got there at 9pm, slept like the dead, and then on Saturday morning took a bus 5 hrs back to Scottsdale and arrived at 3pm.
The car looked great, and as promised it smelled great, and I bought the car. I left by 3:30pm and stuck it on cruise control the entire way back to Palm Springs; I averaged 24 mpg. Not bad.
On Sunday morning I took it up in the mountains above Palm Desert to stretch its legs. Sooo much grip and wow I love that transmission. I did notice that in mid-turn the front end would come up faster than I expected (sort of bobbing/ hunting around), so I think I need to add front dampners to the repair list. When I got back to the house I put the car in reverse and it felt like the clutch was slipping a bit. A quick google and I found this was pretty normal. There seems to be a lot of "it's not a flaw, it's a feature" threads on the PDK ;-)
Given that this is my first Porsche, admittedly, I was a bit surprised how raw the driver experience is in these cars. You feel the road, all of it. While the PDK transmission is fantastic, it has it's raw quirks. But I suppose all that will become the new normal soon enough.
In the end, given the current market, I think I got a very good deal on this car. I'll start another thread that tracks the maintenance and upgrade path of the car as I move forward, and may there be no great mechanical surprises to come.
Thanks for all the advice and interest in my journey to 911 ownership. I'm happy to be a member of a community of such generous and knowledgeable people.
04-30-2019, 05:32 PM
#63
The car looked great, and as promised it smelled great, and I bought the car. I left by 3:30pm and stuck it on cruise control the entire way back to Palm Springs; I averaged 24 mpg. Not bad.
On Sunday morning I took it up in the mountains above Palm Desert to stretch its legs. Sooo much grip and wow I love that transmission. I did notice that in mid-turn the front end would come up faster than I expected (sort of bobbing/ hunting around), so I think I need to add front dampners to the repair list. When I got back to the house I put the car in reverse and it felt like the clutch was slipping a bit. A quick google and I found this was pretty normal. There seems to be a lot of "it's not a flaw, it's a feature" threads on the PDK ;-)
Given that this is my first Porsche, admittedly, I was a bit surprised how raw the driver experience is in these cars. You feel the road, all of it. While the PDK transmission is fantastic, it has it's raw quirks. But I suppose all that will become the new normal soon enough.
In the end, given the current market, I think I got a very good deal on this car. I'll start another thread that tracks the maintenance and upgrade path of the car as I move forward, and may there be no great mechanical surprises to come.
Thanks for all the advice and interest in my journey to 911 ownership. I'm happy to be a member of a community of such generous and knowledgeable people.
On Sunday morning I took it up in the mountains above Palm Desert to stretch its legs. Sooo much grip and wow I love that transmission. I did notice that in mid-turn the front end would come up faster than I expected (sort of bobbing/ hunting around), so I think I need to add front dampners to the repair list. When I got back to the house I put the car in reverse and it felt like the clutch was slipping a bit. A quick google and I found this was pretty normal. There seems to be a lot of "it's not a flaw, it's a feature" threads on the PDK ;-)
Given that this is my first Porsche, admittedly, I was a bit surprised how raw the driver experience is in these cars. You feel the road, all of it. While the PDK transmission is fantastic, it has it's raw quirks. But I suppose all that will become the new normal soon enough.
In the end, given the current market, I think I got a very good deal on this car. I'll start another thread that tracks the maintenance and upgrade path of the car as I move forward, and may there be no great mechanical surprises to come.
Thanks for all the advice and interest in my journey to 911 ownership. I'm happy to be a member of a community of such generous and knowledgeable people.
Enjoy!
05-01-2019, 02:33 AM
#66
Nordschleife Master
I started driving back to the dealer, not sure what I was going to do, when I realized I hadn't driven the car in Sport Plus mode yet. After a few fantastic bursts of speed, I can seriously say if Sport or Sport Plus wasn't a feature on the PDK I would have passed on it. It's quite the game changer.
I can think of a lot of people that would have passed on that car after the first impression. Sounds like it cleaned up nicely though and you ended up with a nice example at a good price thanks to some patience on your part. Did it come with any maint. records? Just asking since I get the impression the previous owner neglected a number of issues which may have included some regular maintenance. Like when was the last oil change done?
05-01-2019, 07:26 PM
#67
You only pay twice the taxes if you get the title in AZ and then retitle it in CA.
I'll be registering it this week so I'll update if I was told the wrong info...
05-01-2019, 11:50 PM
#68
Congratulations. Yes, the sport chrono with sport/sport plus is a must have with the PDK. Sport plus in auto mode is for the track only since it holds the gears to redline but I'm in sport plus manual mode 99% of the time which is the place to be for regular street use imo.
I can think of a lot of people that would have passed on that car after the first impression. Sounds like it cleaned up nicely though and you ended up with a nice example at a good price thanks to some patience on your part. Did it come with any maint. records? Just asking since I get the impression the previous owner neglected a number of issues which may have included some regular maintenance. Like when was the last oil change done?
I can think of a lot of people that would have passed on that car after the first impression. Sounds like it cleaned up nicely though and you ended up with a nice example at a good price thanks to some patience on your part. Did it come with any maint. records? Just asking since I get the impression the previous owner neglected a number of issues which may have included some regular maintenance. Like when was the last oil change done?
No maintenance records, aside from what's on Carfax. It shows oil changes at 14k, 22k, 24k, 32k miles. They also had the 40,000 Service at 45k miles, but that was in 2016. From 2016-2019 I'm not seeing any records, and only 11k miles were put on it during that time. So, I'll be flushing everything.
Here's the punch list thus far:
New motor oil, install magnetic oil plug. (might consider doing UOA moving forward)
New oil filter
New PDK gear oil and pan (60k service), check software version number, and have it recalibrated.
New brake fluid
New intake filters
New cabin air filter (charcoal version)
Inspect/ clean throttle body if necessary
New drive belt
New spark plugs
New front lower control arms
New front dampeners
Any other fluids/ wear items I'm missing? I think the trans and diff fluid are ok for now. I'm told by 2 different shops that the ignition coils should be fine.
For motor oil I'll be using Joe Gibbs BR30 for a 100 mile flush, then run DT40 at 5K mile intervals. Over the years I've had 3 different engine builders swear by JB oils and I tend to listen to the people that see wear first hand. (I know this has been spirited topic on this forum so we don't need to discuss it here :-) Summit Racing usually has a good price.
Any suggestions for brands for filters, spark plugs, dampeners, and control arms? Or are you using OEM for everything? I'll likely avoid the Porsche tax on plugs and go with Bosch branded ones (i'm assuming the OEM ones are Bosch anyway)
I'll use OEM parts for drive belt and obviously the PDK oil, but the OEM LCAs seem pricey compared to alternatives. Any have any experience with those? I don't think I'll be getting the adjustable ones.
Not sure to go with Cortecho or Mann on cabin air (never heard of either). K&N makes a decent products overall, but I may go with OEM here too.
Since I'll need to replace the front dampeners I might just put some inexpensive coilovers on car if the cost differential isn't too wide. Bringing the ride height down a touch wouldn't be terrible. BC Racing seems to have a lot of fans on here. Fortune Auto doesn't have much user experience here, but other fours seem to like them
Vendor wise, FCPEuro seem to have decent prices on things. Any other reccco's for parts suppliers?
Last edited by Westside997; 05-02-2019 at 05:08 AM.
05-02-2019, 10:03 AM
#69
It really cleaned up nicely. A cut and polish of the paint would really bring it to life. I'm considering ceramic coating as well (doing the research now).
No maintenance records, aside from what's on Carfax. It shows oil changes at 14k, 22k, 24k, 32k miles. They also had the 40,000 Service at 45k miles, but that was in 2016. From 2016-2019 I'm not seeing any records, and only 11k miles were put on it during that time. So, I'll be flushing everything.
Here's the punch list thus far:
New motor oil, install magnetic oil plug. (might consider doing UOA moving forward)
New oil filter
New PDK gear oil and pan (60k service), check software version number, and have it recalibrated.
New brake fluid
New intake filters
New cabin air filter (charcoal version)
Inspect/ clean throttle body if necessary
New drive belt
New spark plugs
New front lower control arms
New front dampeners
Any other fluids/ wear items I'm missing? I think the trans and diff fluid are ok for now. I'm told by 2 different shops that the ignition coils should be fine.
For motor oil I'll be using Joe Gibbs BR30 for a 100 mile flush, then run DT40 at 5K mile intervals. Over the years I've had 3 different engine builders swear by JB oils and I tend to listen to the people that see wear first hand. (I know this has been spirited topic on this forum so we don't need to discuss it here :-) Summit Racing usually has a good price.
Any suggestions for brands for filters, spark plugs, dampeners, and control arms? Or are you using OEM for everything? I'll likely avoid the Porsche tax on plugs and go with Bosch branded ones (i'm assuming the OEM ones are Bosch anyway)
I'll use OEM parts for drive belt and obviously the PDK oil, but the OEM LCAs seem pricey compared to alternatives. Any have any experience with those? I don't think I'll be getting the adjustable ones.
Not sure to go with Cortecho or Mann on cabin air (never heard of either). K&N makes a decent products overall, but I may go with OEM here too.
Since I'll need to replace the front dampeners I might just put some inexpensive coilovers on car if the cost differential isn't too wide. Bringing the ride height down a touch wouldn't be terrible. BC Racing seems to have a lot of fans on here. Fortune Auto doesn't have much user experience here, but other fours seem to like them
Vendor wise, FCPEuro seem to have decent prices on things. Any other reccco's for parts suppliers?
No maintenance records, aside from what's on Carfax. It shows oil changes at 14k, 22k, 24k, 32k miles. They also had the 40,000 Service at 45k miles, but that was in 2016. From 2016-2019 I'm not seeing any records, and only 11k miles were put on it during that time. So, I'll be flushing everything.
Here's the punch list thus far:
New motor oil, install magnetic oil plug. (might consider doing UOA moving forward)
New oil filter
New PDK gear oil and pan (60k service), check software version number, and have it recalibrated.
New brake fluid
New intake filters
New cabin air filter (charcoal version)
Inspect/ clean throttle body if necessary
New drive belt
New spark plugs
New front lower control arms
New front dampeners
Any other fluids/ wear items I'm missing? I think the trans and diff fluid are ok for now. I'm told by 2 different shops that the ignition coils should be fine.
For motor oil I'll be using Joe Gibbs BR30 for a 100 mile flush, then run DT40 at 5K mile intervals. Over the years I've had 3 different engine builders swear by JB oils and I tend to listen to the people that see wear first hand. (I know this has been spirited topic on this forum so we don't need to discuss it here :-) Summit Racing usually has a good price.
Any suggestions for brands for filters, spark plugs, dampeners, and control arms? Or are you using OEM for everything? I'll likely avoid the Porsche tax on plugs and go with Bosch branded ones (i'm assuming the OEM ones are Bosch anyway)
I'll use OEM parts for drive belt and obviously the PDK oil, but the OEM LCAs seem pricey compared to alternatives. Any have any experience with those? I don't think I'll be getting the adjustable ones.
Not sure to go with Cortecho or Mann on cabin air (never heard of either). K&N makes a decent products overall, but I may go with OEM here too.
Since I'll need to replace the front dampeners I might just put some inexpensive coilovers on car if the cost differential isn't too wide. Bringing the ride height down a touch wouldn't be terrible. BC Racing seems to have a lot of fans on here. Fortune Auto doesn't have much user experience here, but other fours seem to like them
Vendor wise, FCPEuro seem to have decent prices on things. Any other reccco's for parts suppliers?
Suncoastparts.com has pretty much everything you need.
05-02-2019, 02:22 PM
#70
It really cleaned up nicely. A cut and polish of the paint would really bring it to life. I'm considering ceramic coating as well (doing the research now).
No maintenance records, aside from what's on Carfax. It shows oil changes at 14k, 22k, 24k, 32k miles. They also had the 40,000 Service at 45k miles, but that was in 2016. From 2016-2019 I'm not seeing any records, and only 11k miles were put on it during that time. So, I'll be flushing everything.
Here's the punch list thus far:
New motor oil, install magnetic oil plug. (might consider doing UOA moving forward)
New oil filter
New PDK gear oil and pan (60k service), check software version number, and have it recalibrated.
New brake fluid
New intake filters
New cabin air filter (charcoal version)
Inspect/ clean throttle body if necessary
New drive belt
New spark plugs
New front lower control arms
New front dampeners
Any other fluids/ wear items I'm missing? I think the trans and diff fluid are ok for now. I'm told by 2 different shops that the ignition coils should be fine.
For motor oil I'll be using Joe Gibbs BR30 for a 100 mile flush, then run DT40 at 5K mile intervals. Over the years I've had 3 different engine builders swear by JB oils and I tend to listen to the people that see wear first hand. (I know this has been spirited topic on this forum so we don't need to discuss it here :-) Summit Racing usually has a good price.
Any suggestions for brands for filters, spark plugs, dampeners, and control arms? Or are you using OEM for everything? I'll likely avoid the Porsche tax on plugs and go with Bosch branded ones (i'm assuming the OEM ones are Bosch anyway)
I'll use OEM parts for drive belt and obviously the PDK oil, but the OEM LCAs seem pricey compared to alternatives. Any have any experience with those? I don't think I'll be getting the adjustable ones.
Not sure to go with Cortecho or Mann on cabin air (never heard of either). K&N makes a decent products overall, but I may go with OEM here too.
Since I'll need to replace the front dampeners I might just put some inexpensive coilovers on car if the cost differential isn't too wide. Bringing the ride height down a touch wouldn't be terrible. BC Racing seems to have a lot of fans on here. Fortune Auto doesn't have much user experience here, but other fours seem to like them
Vendor wise, FCPEuro seem to have decent prices on things. Any other reccco's for parts suppliers?
No maintenance records, aside from what's on Carfax. It shows oil changes at 14k, 22k, 24k, 32k miles. They also had the 40,000 Service at 45k miles, but that was in 2016. From 2016-2019 I'm not seeing any records, and only 11k miles were put on it during that time. So, I'll be flushing everything.
Here's the punch list thus far:
New motor oil, install magnetic oil plug. (might consider doing UOA moving forward)
New oil filter
New PDK gear oil and pan (60k service), check software version number, and have it recalibrated.
New brake fluid
New intake filters
New cabin air filter (charcoal version)
Inspect/ clean throttle body if necessary
New drive belt
New spark plugs
New front lower control arms
New front dampeners
Any other fluids/ wear items I'm missing? I think the trans and diff fluid are ok for now. I'm told by 2 different shops that the ignition coils should be fine.
For motor oil I'll be using Joe Gibbs BR30 for a 100 mile flush, then run DT40 at 5K mile intervals. Over the years I've had 3 different engine builders swear by JB oils and I tend to listen to the people that see wear first hand. (I know this has been spirited topic on this forum so we don't need to discuss it here :-) Summit Racing usually has a good price.
Any suggestions for brands for filters, spark plugs, dampeners, and control arms? Or are you using OEM for everything? I'll likely avoid the Porsche tax on plugs and go with Bosch branded ones (i'm assuming the OEM ones are Bosch anyway)
I'll use OEM parts for drive belt and obviously the PDK oil, but the OEM LCAs seem pricey compared to alternatives. Any have any experience with those? I don't think I'll be getting the adjustable ones.
Not sure to go with Cortecho or Mann on cabin air (never heard of either). K&N makes a decent products overall, but I may go with OEM here too.
Since I'll need to replace the front dampeners I might just put some inexpensive coilovers on car if the cost differential isn't too wide. Bringing the ride height down a touch wouldn't be terrible. BC Racing seems to have a lot of fans on here. Fortune Auto doesn't have much user experience here, but other fours seem to like them
Vendor wise, FCPEuro seem to have decent prices on things. Any other reccco's for parts suppliers?
For plugs and cabin filter, Bosch and Mann are listed on Pelican as OEM and I've been fine with those thus far.
For Air Filter, I ended up swapping to an AFE oil-free filter and the car breathes better with it. Avoided the K&N and AFE oiled one to avoid any MAF sensor issues.
For coilovers (and wheels), I have also thought about BC Racing/Forged but haven't pulled the trigger to do that quite yet.
05-02-2019, 05:30 PM
#71
Drifting
I'm glad you're happy with the car.
Please report back after you've driven the car on a humid day, and maybe got the carpet a little damp. This usually brings cigarette smell back. I have not found a product or service that makes the smell go away permanently.
Please report back after you've driven the car on a humid day, and maybe got the carpet a little damp. This usually brings cigarette smell back. I have not found a product or service that makes the smell go away permanently.
05-02-2019, 09:06 PM
#72
So far so good, and I've got a sensitive sniffer.
05-03-2019, 03:10 AM
#73
Nordschleife Master
It really cleaned up nicely. A cut and polish of the paint would really bring it to life. I'm considering ceramic coating as well (doing the research now).
No maintenance records, aside from what's on Carfax. It shows oil changes at 14k, 22k, 24k, 32k miles. They also had the 40,000 Service at 45k miles, but that was in 2016. From 2016-2019 I'm not seeing any records, and only 11k miles were put on it during that time. So, I'll be flushing everything.
Here's the punch list thus far:
New motor oil, install magnetic oil plug. (might consider doing UOA moving forward)
New oil filter
New PDK gear oil and pan (60k service), check software version number, and have it recalibrated.
New brake fluid
New intake filters
New cabin air filter (charcoal version)
Inspect/ clean throttle body if necessary
New drive belt
New spark plugs
New front lower control arms
New front dampeners
Any other fluids/ wear items I'm missing? I think the trans and diff fluid are ok for now. I'm told by 2 different shops that the ignition coils should be fine.
For motor oil I'll be using Joe Gibbs BR30 for a 100 mile flush, then run DT40 at 5K mile intervals. Over the years I've had 3 different engine builders swear by JB oils and I tend to listen to the people that see wear first hand. (I know this has been spirited topic on this forum so we don't need to discuss it here :-) Summit Racing usually has a good price.
Any suggestions for brands for filters, spark plugs, dampeners, and control arms? Or are you using OEM for everything? I'll likely avoid the Porsche tax on plugs and go with Bosch branded ones (i'm assuming the OEM ones are Bosch anyway)
I'll use OEM parts for drive belt and obviously the PDK oil, but the OEM LCAs seem pricey compared to alternatives. Any have any experience with those? I don't think I'll be getting the adjustable ones.
Not sure to go with Cortecho or Mann on cabin air (never heard of either). K&N makes a decent products overall, but I may go with OEM here too.
Since I'll need to replace the front dampeners I might just put some inexpensive coilovers on car if the cost differential isn't too wide. Bringing the ride height down a touch wouldn't be terrible. BC Racing seems to have a lot of fans on here. Fortune Auto doesn't have much user experience here, but other fours seem to like them
Vendor wise, FCPEuro seem to have decent prices on things. Any other reccco's for parts suppliers?
No maintenance records, aside from what's on Carfax. It shows oil changes at 14k, 22k, 24k, 32k miles. They also had the 40,000 Service at 45k miles, but that was in 2016. From 2016-2019 I'm not seeing any records, and only 11k miles were put on it during that time. So, I'll be flushing everything.
Here's the punch list thus far:
New motor oil, install magnetic oil plug. (might consider doing UOA moving forward)
New oil filter
New PDK gear oil and pan (60k service), check software version number, and have it recalibrated.
New brake fluid
New intake filters
New cabin air filter (charcoal version)
Inspect/ clean throttle body if necessary
New drive belt
New spark plugs
New front lower control arms
New front dampeners
Any other fluids/ wear items I'm missing? I think the trans and diff fluid are ok for now. I'm told by 2 different shops that the ignition coils should be fine.
For motor oil I'll be using Joe Gibbs BR30 for a 100 mile flush, then run DT40 at 5K mile intervals. Over the years I've had 3 different engine builders swear by JB oils and I tend to listen to the people that see wear first hand. (I know this has been spirited topic on this forum so we don't need to discuss it here :-) Summit Racing usually has a good price.
Any suggestions for brands for filters, spark plugs, dampeners, and control arms? Or are you using OEM for everything? I'll likely avoid the Porsche tax on plugs and go with Bosch branded ones (i'm assuming the OEM ones are Bosch anyway)
I'll use OEM parts for drive belt and obviously the PDK oil, but the OEM LCAs seem pricey compared to alternatives. Any have any experience with those? I don't think I'll be getting the adjustable ones.
Not sure to go with Cortecho or Mann on cabin air (never heard of either). K&N makes a decent products overall, but I may go with OEM here too.
Since I'll need to replace the front dampeners I might just put some inexpensive coilovers on car if the cost differential isn't too wide. Bringing the ride height down a touch wouldn't be terrible. BC Racing seems to have a lot of fans on here. Fortune Auto doesn't have much user experience here, but other fours seem to like them
Vendor wise, FCPEuro seem to have decent prices on things. Any other reccco's for parts suppliers?
05-03-2019, 05:17 AM
#74
So a three year gap in service between 2016 and 2019 but only 11,000 miles during that period so that wouldn't concern me. Sounds like you've got it covered. I do the intake and cabin filters myself (easy) and just get OEM filters from Pelican. Spark plugs....I don't know since I leave that to the dealer. I guess it could be done with a jack in the garage but I see a PIA job thinking about it and having read about those having done it. Tight quarters.
Last edited by Westside997; 05-03-2019 at 02:56 PM.
05-06-2019, 07:01 PM
#75
For motor oil I'll be using Joe Gibbs BR30 for a 100 mile flush, then run DT40 at 5K mile intervals. Over the years I've had 3 different engine builders swear by JB oils and I tend to listen to the people that see wear first hand. (I know this has been spirited topic on this forum so we don't need to discuss it here :-) Summit Racing usually has a good price.