Hello Everyone,

I recently purchased a 2009 C4S, my first Porsche, and have enjoyed the car as my daily driver. However, I believe my oil consumption is a bit excessive but my local Porsche dealer is telling me this is normal.

At 23,491 miles and shortly after purchasing the car, I took it to the local dealership for all the preventative maintenance, including an oil change. Around 800 miles later, my oil indicator was at the bottom segment and flashing. So I added 1.5 quarts, slowly and in 0.5-quart intervals, and that filled it to the top level.

Now at under 400 miles later, I'm back at that same bottom segment and flashing. I had an appt. at the dealership this morning to get it checked out, and while I was on my way, they called me to tell me they don't have any loaner vehicles AND to tell me the shop foreman believes there's no issue with this oil consumption and no "official" test by Porsche to confirm excessive oil consumption.

So I rescheduled my appointment this Friday. I've read a lot of threads in this forum but I don't believe I found one suggesting that 1.5 quarts of oil consumption in less than 400 miles is normal. I also have a Fidelity Platinum warranty which is providing some peace of mind.

Any suggestions on what I could tell the dealership when I bring it in this Friday? Thanks in advance.

 

According to Porsche, 1.6 quarts per 622 miles is acceptable, so your consumption rate seems a bit high. The thing that would concern me is the big change in consumption from 800 miles to 400 miles between using up the 1.6 quarts from the first to second cycle you mention. On my car, I get a consistent 1200 miles per 1.6 quarts every cycle.

See link below:
https://rennlist.com/forums/997-foru...l#&gid=1&pid=3

 

Did you check your oil on a completely flat surface after proper warm up?

you don't describe your driving habits, since the car is new to you are you flogging it, driving through mountain passes ect?

 

Thanks for sharing. And although that thread references the table for the 997.1, I have the same oil consumption rates in my owner's manual for the 997.2 on page 286. And I did mention this over the phone this morning but I was speaking with the service advisor, not the shop foreman. Wish I had more data points but the 800 to 400 are the only ones.

Yep, completely flat surface and right after I'm done driving it. Then I'll check it again about 10 minutes later. I drive about 30 miles every day in stop & go traffic, almost exclusively in normal mode with driving habits that are very boring, mostly due to the fact I have a 3 year old in-tow. On the weekends, I probably put on the same amount of miles, but sure, a bit more spirited. But nothing crazy, no track days, no autocross or anything like that. And no mountain passes here in Florida, except the ones built by Waste Management.

 

That seems high to me and my car uses more than I would prefer at a quart about every 1500. Could be the air-oil-separator (AOS) or something else. I would insist they diagnose it and not fall back on "Porsche specifications". There may well be nothing wrong and its a high use car, but I wouldn't let them assume that.

 

Heck, that would freak me out too. Mine hasn't taken a drop since I got it in the spring (2500 miles ago).

Maybe let the dealership know that you have a warranty. They might be more prone to admit a problem.

 

My 2009 911S (stick), bought new, sucked up oil when new and had me worried, so I kept a log of consumption. It was taking about 1.5 qt every 1,000 miles for the first year.

No track, not a daily driver, and driven, after the oil/ trans warmed up, bought up close to redline as often as you can in California...

The bottom line is this 997.2 now has 44K miles and hardly uses any oil, at the most 1/2 qt in between yearly oil changes, driven 3-4K per year. There was a steady drop to this level of consumption over the ten years I have had the pleasure of owing this Porsche.

One theory I have read about this drop is that the S rings are "very hard" and take a while to seat. Hard driving after a long warm-up might help to seat them.

Also, as mentioned, a flat surface after warm up and, in addition, wait about the time it takes to fill up your tank to restart the car and measure.

 

Unless you are married to that dealer, also look into indie shops that are specialists if the dealer isn't treating you exactly as you'd like. I am not a fan of dealer service centers from Hondas I have owned to Porsches and everything in-between.

 

Thank you all for the feedback. Sounds like I should mention the warranty and push them to troubleshoot and not just let them top it off and tell me to come back later. There's also a very reputable indy (so I hear) that's right down the street so I do have that in my back pocket in case the dealership is not willing to help.

 

^^^ also, second opinion is peace of mind sometimes...at least for me.

 

^^^This X 997

 

If you want peace of mind, get a borescope done. Do it now while it is still under warranty. Feel free to look up my posts here. I had excessive oil consumption on a 2009 3.6 and had scoring and CPO paid for a new engine.

It does happen. Hate to break the news to you.

 

I second this. Unless you have a puddle of oil under the car every morning, this is a useful inspection. If they can borescope from the sump, better yet.

 

I think there is an engine oil consumption test. They fill and neasure and hav you drive a specified distance and bring it back and they measure again. I think the PIWIS gives a more accurate reading than the 3 bars on the dash.

 

It sounds like the dealer already is not willing to help if they told you there’s no issue. Most dealers would at least offer to rip you off by saying they’ll charge you a set amount of hours to diagnose the issue. Warranty or not, they could’ve made that money. This one sounds uninterested. I’d just take it to a good Indy or another dealer and ask them to figure out what’s going on.