Hi all - Previous 991.1 owner new to the 997 forum and looking to buy a 997.1. I have located a 2008 Carrera Cab w/ Tiptronic (the stick vs Tip decision has been very agonizing, but ultimately I have to be practical given the NorCal Bay Area traffic) and would like some advice. The asking price for the car is ~$29k.

The service history of the car in question is as follows:

• 5/2008 – vehicle first sold as new car to owner 1
• 5/2009 @ 7.2k miles – oil changed
• 7/2010 – car sold by owner 1
• 9/2010 – car purchased by owner 2
• 7/2011 @ 14.7k miles – oil changed
• 3/2012 @ 18.4k miles – 20k mile service at dealer
• 4/2013 @ 26.9k miles – 40k mile service at dealer
• 4/2014 @ 32.8k miles – oil changed, brake fluid flush/change
• 10/2014 @ 37.8k miles – oil changed
• 12/2014 @ 39.7k miles – front brakes replaced
• 10/2015 @ 48.3k miles – oil changed
• 3/2017 @ 57.6k miles – oil changed, rear brake rotors replaced, brake fluid flush/change
• 2/2018 @ 61.4k miles – owner 2 sold car
• 2/2018 @ 61.5k miles – owner 3 purchased car
• 4/2019 @ 62.2k miles – owner 3 sold car / car subsequently auctioned / no further service history from this date.

All servicing done at Sonnen Porsche in NorCal, and the car seems to have been a California car throughout its service history. Car is being sold by an independent broker with the odometer at 62,280 miles.

The oil change intervals have not been consistent, some longer than the others. My biggest concern is that the last oil change seems to have been in March 2017 with ~5k miles added since then. The key question I have is whether this would have caused irreversible damage to the engine. Would a PPI reveal any engine damage? Would an immediate oil change address any potential issue?

Appreciate any / all feedback. Thanks much!

 

I had a similar situation when I bought my car last March. From what I could tell from the service records (I only had Carfax to go off of), the car had not been driven much from 2017-2019. It had about 2 years and 5k miles on the oil when I bought it. I drove it back to Colorado from Texas and did an oil change the very next day. I sent in my oil for a used oil analysis to Speediagnostix. The viscosity held up well, and the wear metals were where they should be. Acidity, as to be expected, was high. I did another UOA last Fall when I changed the oil for the second time and everything came back great. While old oil sitting in the crankcase isn't a good thing, I don't believe there is any cause for concern with my engine now that I am doing regular oil changes (based both on time and mileage) with a quality synthetic oil.

I would absolutely recommend a PPI. If you're really concerned about the condition of the oil, you can have the shop doing the PPI pull some oil for a UOA. I just don't know how quickly Blackstone or Speediagnostix would be able to turn around a UOA for you and how long the broker will hold the car for you. At a minimum, I would have the shop doing the PPI pull the oil filter and look for debris or shavings that would be cause for concern.

Good luck.

 

I have purchased several Porsche's from Bay Area and I live in Seatle. Sonnen Porsche is top notch dealer. I prefer buying from private party. Better price and most often better service history
I don't believe 5K on an oil change is a big deal and it is possible the oil change could have been done at some point in between by indy and no record of it.


**I strongly suggest a PPI and DME report to see if there are many over-revs in range 5/6 - Will let you know if car was push on
PPI so important and will give you bargaining tool of something crops up like brakes needing replacement, condition of coolant, any issues with any moving parts on top/etc.
There are many reputable Indy shops to get the PPI performed. Do not use the shop where the car is being sold--->Conflict of Interest.

 

Thanks G.I.G. Good to know that your second oil analysis was positive. I will definitely have the oil filter opened up to inspect for shavings / debris if I move forward with this car.

 

Thanks Groovzilla, appreciate the advice. Would you expect over-revs considering that the car in question has a Tiptronic transmission?

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but Tip cars don't have overrevs.

I'll take my answer off the air. Thanks.

 

I only buy manual transmission - i don;t know if auto tranny has over revs my mistake but i think i remember threads relating to this.
either way PPI a must dont buy any car without one

Also, you can get service records if you can find a way to contact previous owner and have them released