When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Is this the first time you are driving a PDK? I drove a 991 PDK several years ago, and IIRC, in sport mode it's essentially an automatic MT, so 1st gear acts like it would be in a MT. @GTSpure is spot on. Try driving in Normal mode in the streets/slow speed and see how it goes.
One odd thing did happen - after driving multiple hours at highway speed, arrived home and in my neighborhood the car lugged/lagged a little in 1st gear - still in Sport mode. Not sure how to describe - almost like it wasn’t able to engage 1st so the power kind of stalled out. Happened a couple times. Of course now I’m concerned there’s something wrong with the pdk....I’ll drive it more today to see if I can figure out how to describe the experience.
I have found that even on a slow roll as in preparing to stop, if I do not apply "positive and sustained" throttle input when I am ready to accelerate, it will happen.
Thanks CAVU - I read post 16 in that other thread and as I think about what happened last night in both situations I was turning into a residential area and pulled my foot of the gas and then back on the gas and it felt like the car was out of gear for a second then it lugged a little then engaged again. That post hit it on the head. I’ll drive the car later today and try to get a better feel but it makes sense that what I’m feeling is the PDK believes in stopping so it shifts to neutral but when I apply gas again it has to re-engage. I just need to adjust to the PDK style - ive never driven one before.
Thank you - this helps me feel better about things!
Thanks CAVU - I read post 16 in that other thread and as I think about what happened last night in both situations I was turning into a residential area and pulled my foot of the gas and then back on the gas and it felt like the car was out of gear for a second then it lugged a little then engaged again. That post hit it on the head. I’ll drive the car later today and try to get a better feel but it makes sense that what I’m feeling is the PDK believes in stopping so it shifts to neutral but when I apply gas again it has to re-engage. I just need to adjust to the PDK style - ive never driven one before.
Thank you - this helps me feel better about things!
You are most welcome and WELCOME to Porsche 911 ownership. You might consider going into your Rennlist profile and update your location and add your year and model to your standard signature line. Lots of folks are here who are willing to lend a hand and offer their experiences.
Maybe, maybe not. And it's too late to do a PPI anyway.
"after driving multiple hours at highway speed" - Sounds like a stretch that this is something a PPI would flag unless there are stored codes. But again, too late for a PPI.
Don't get too spun up about it. All the PDK failures in North America get concentrated here... It tends to skew perceptions to the negative. Same is true for almost any high dollar issue. I have an 09 and the PDK gets a little jerky between first and second sometimes. The car will sometimes ignore throttle input if it's about to shift. Sometimes this feels like hesitation or lag. You will learn how it behaves and work with it and then it will be fine. Normal mode is a lot smoother but lugs the engine so I rarely use that mode. Play with the 2 settings and you should quickly get a feel for what I mean.
Thanks everyone - I drove the car today and seems like all is well. I went through the gears - up and down - in sport mode and no problems. CAVU pointed me to a post that really helped make sense of the PDK style of driving and with that in mind I think I’m good. 👍🏻
Maybe, maybe not. And it's too late to do a PPI anyway.
"after driving multiple hours at highway speed" - Sounds like a stretch that this is something a PPI would flag unless there are stored codes. But again, too late for a PPI.
I am leaning toward no pdk problem and a clean PPI would make me lean that way even more. That said, I would worry about someone dumping a car with an issue festering and no PPI makes that a possibility as well. A couple hundred mile drive is not going to crash an otherwise healthy pdk unless electronic failure which he does not seem to have.
I am leaning toward no pdk problem and a clean PPI would make me lean that way even more. That said, I would worry about someone dumping a car with an issue festering and no PPI makes that a possibility as well. A couple hundred mile drive is not going to crash an otherwise healthy pdk unless electronic failure which he does not seem to have.
Fair enough. My issue was that the PPI opportunity had passed. Really no point in bringing it up.
I've said it before on this forum: not all PPI's are the same, and a PPI is not always necessary. Buying a car is a risk/reward adventure, and a PPI is one of several tools that can be used to source information that may reduce the risk. A PPI is not a magic bullet that eliminates risk.
Apologies if my posts came off as aggressive or directed at you. It wasn't intended to be. It's a pet peeve of mine is when a new owner has an issue and is immediately subject to bunch of folks telling them they bought someone else's problem because they didn't do a PPI. It's not productive, and it's far too common.
Last edited by 4Driver4; Dec 20, 2020 at 11:30 PM.
I appreciate everyone’s thoughts / it’s been very helpful!
I certainly planned to do a PPI but in the end rolled the dice. I think I’m fine overall - but that being said I also think I had a mindset of looking for anything that may be the ticking bomb that a PPI would have caught. But I decided to go without a net and was then predisposed to finding something wrong when it was not as I expected it to be.
You're all good. I have a 2009 4S cab. I rarely use sport or never sport plus but I do use manual a lot! I have become soo used to using both the stick and the paddle buttons to up and down shift I use them all the time. Once in a while I use sport but the pdk is somewhat like a woman. One day she's fine the next day she's ornery. So I pretty much stay away from sport mode. Not sure if it works with the 09 but there is a relearning you can try. I used it on my 2010 Panamera 4S and it works. Check out the steps on the Panamera forum. But use manual where you can really wind out it gear, downshift and upshift comfortably. Btw bought mine with 50k miles and I have 80K miles on my 997.2 now.
I appreciate everyone’s thoughts / it’s been very helpful!
I certainly planned to do a PPI but in the end rolled the dice. I think I’m fine overall - but that being said I also think I had a mindset of looking for anything that may be the ticking bomb that a PPI would have caught. But I decided to go without a net and was then predisposed to finding something wrong when it was not as I expected it to be.
Did you ever get the "Transmission Emergency Run" message on the dash or did you just sense that something wasn't right? As long as you didn't get that warning on the dash I wouldn't worry. As Doug H said, the PDK's are a bit temperamental. After two failures I'm on my fourth now and they've all felt different. Not drastically different. More like a different personality between the four.
And I could be wrong but I doubt a PPI would have told you much if anything about the PDK. Short of driving the car and making sure it's shifting as it should there's nothing else they can check except that it has been maintained on schedule. Even a a shop able to pull fault codes wouldn't have found anything unless you did get the message on the dash or the previous owner got it. At least that's my understanding.
I really appreciate everyone’s thoughts! I’m not panicked yet - I’ll drive the car today and either way I’m taking to the mechanic on Jan 4 and having an oil change and he’s going to go through the car for me at no charge.
I dis not have a PPI - probably should have- and I planned to and had it arranged and the seller was going to drive it in for me to the mechanic.
Long story short (or long) is he and I started talking about the car only hours after he posted it on a site called TRED. I’ve been watching all over the web for months for the right car at the right price and this ticked the boxes. I was the first person to contact him - he subsequently (same day) had multiple calls on the car. He and I agreed he would take the car to the mechanic who has worked on the car for years and go through it for me. I already paid the $200 fee to have it done. I’d talked at length with the mechanic and felt the car had been serviced well and regularly so wasn’t too concerned but seemed like a good idea to do a PPI - if only to make sure nothing was lurking that the owner didn’t know about.
So we’re all set to go and have the PPI. This was a Friday a couple weeks ago and the mechanic had us scheduled for the next Monday. But later that day the seller called and told me the car had been sold! He explained that unknown to him the agreement with TRED allowed for a buying to select “buy it now” and basically buy the car. So I was bummed but not much I could do. The seller felt bad about it and said so and tried calling TRED to explain that we already had a verbally agreed deal pending a positive PPI. I also called TRED. But they told us both there policy is once the car is listed through them if someone buys it through their site then that’s it. So that was it...until the seller called me later that evening and explained the buyer couldn’t come up with the necessary funds within the allowed 24 hours required by TRED and the car was available again.
So at that point I decided to pull the trigger and wired the funds and bought the car and skipped the PPI. So that’s how I’m here now. If it’s nothing or a minor issue - then I still got a great deal at $37,500. If not - then I guess it’s on me.
Here’s the receipt for the last service done - at 73,000 miles- I’m now at 79,000.
Those of you who've had the PDK service done like on the above receipt, is the $436 fluid and labor cost about right from what you've seen?
Fair enough. My issue was that the PPI opportunity had passed. Really no point in bringing it up.
I've said it before on this forum: not all PPI's are the same, and a PPI is not always necessary. Buying a car is a risk/reward adventure, and a PPI is one of several tools that can be used to source information that may reduce the risk. A PPI is not a magic bullet that eliminates risk.
Apologies if my posts came off as aggressive or directed at you. It wasn't intended to be. It's a pet peeve of mine is when a new owner has an issue and is immediately subject to bunch of folks telling them they bought someone else's problem because they didn't do a PPI. It's not productive, and it's far too common.
Lol, just my former lawyer mind looking at all angles.
I agree with you. Many PPIs are useless. A transmission problem should be apparent on a test drive by someone that has driven pdks.
Did you ever get the "Transmission Emergency Run" message on the dash or did you just sense that something wasn't right? As long as you didn't get that warning on the dash I wouldn't worry. As Doug H said, the PDK's are a bit temperamental. After two failures I'm on my fourth now and they've all felt different. Not drastically different. More like a different personality between the four.
And I could be wrong but I doubt a PPI would have told you much if anything about the PDK. Short of driving the car and making sure it's shifting as it should there's nothing else they can check except that it has been maintained on schedule. Even a a shop able to pull fault codes wouldn't have found anything unless you did get the message on the dash or the previous owner got it. At least that's my understanding.
What he was potentially describing was a mechanical or clutch problem not your typical electronic software run error. A PPI should be able to detect a clutch or mechanical problem.
I agree a PPI would be useless for the failure you just did had, but he never once mentioned a warning light or stuck in gear.
Porsche's Top 5 Most Questionable Naming Decisions
Slideshow: For a company obsessed with engineering precision, Porsche has occasionally named its cars in ways that left even loyal enthusiasts scratching their heads.
Pogea Racing's 964 Porsche 911 Reimagination Stands Out in a Crowded Field
Slideshow: Pogea Racing's latest Porsche 964 project blends carbon-fiber construction, modern chassis upgrades, and up to 500 horsepower while keeping the air-cooled 911 experience firmly analog.
Talos Takes Your 991 Porsche 911 GT3 to the Next Level for a Cool $1.13 Million
Slideshow: Talos Vehicles has transformed the Porsche 911 GT3 RS into a carbon-bodied, race-inspired machine that costs well over $1 million before the donor car is even included.
9 Vehicles Porsche Helped Engineer that Aren't Porsches
Slideshow: Long before engineering consulting became trendy, Porsche was quietly helping other automakers build everything from supercars to economy hatchbacks.
9 Features and Characteristics That Only Porsche People Understand
Slideshow: Some brands build cars. Porsche builds traditions, obsessions, and a few habits that stopped making sense decades ago but somehow became part of the charm.
