Apologies in advance for another one of these threads, but I would appreciate some assistance on a car I have a deposit on. The car is a 2006 S with under 25k miles. I love everything about it. Perfect options, well maintained, etc. With that said, I wanted to run two findings from the PPI by you guys…

I had the bores scoped as part of the inspection. This was the finding: “There were a few areas in the cylinder walls that had some scoring marks but they all looked like normal cylinder wear.” I compared the pictures to another car I had a PPI on that failed for “awful” scoring. I’m obviously not an expert, but the difference looks night and day. In short, I’m not really concerned about it, and I want to make sure I’m not being too dismissive because I love the car, lol.

The second issue is a bit more concerning. The shop pulled the DME report, and these were the results:

Range 1: 25921/575.4h (eek?)
Range 2: 1793/560.3h
Range 3: 67/467.8h
Range 4: 2/418.9h
Range 5: 0/0
Range 6: 0/0
Operating Hours Counter: 670.6

I understand the car is 15 years old and I do not expect that it will be issue-free. With that said, I don’t want to ignore red flags. The rest of the PPI was good, I have service history records dating back a few years, and the car most recently was sold through a Porsche dealer. Thoughts and advice would be much appreciated.

 

Based on what I have read in this forum so far - Porsche CPO will qualify cars that have overrev in these ranges. They all happened some time ago, roughly before 22K miles. Many have stated that if these occurred 50+ hours from current, they did not cause any damage to the engine. Wiser ones may give more detailed insights, but IMO, if the rest of the car really speaks to you, this would not deter me.

EDIT: Overrevs in range 1 and sometimes 2 tend to be from the rev-limiter, but above this, I believe it would be mechanical overrev.

 

Thanks for your input. The car doesn’t speak to me as much as it screams at me, which is not ideal when one is trying to be rational!

I’m doing as much research as I can, and I still need to talk to the shop that did the PPI (they didn’t list the DME report as an “issue,” which is somewhat reassuring). In the meantime, I really appreciate the unbiased opinions from guys and gals much more knowledgeable than myself. This would be my first 911, so I’m VERY far from an expert.

 

Did they scope it from the sump? Or from the spark plugs? The sump is where you want to scope it from to see the worst wear.

The over revs wouldn't be the end of the world to me. They're long enough ago where it shouldn't be an issue.

 

I’m not sure, but if I had to guess I would guess the spark plugs since my invoice lists a spark plug replacement fee. I’ll confirm when I speak to the shop.

FWIW, the car is from a VERY reputable dealer and the PPI is being performed by a good shop. That said, the 996 I had a deposit on with awful scoring was also from a very, very reputable dealer so I know first hand that this isn’t an absolute safeguard from issues.

 

Nothing wrong with that rev report ....Perfectly fine .....No over revs in range 5 or 6 are the most important ,,, normal to have a few in 3 & 4 ....Ranges 1 & 2 are always wacky.

 

thank you!

 

As I see it this comes down to opinion and tolerance. The guy who did the PPI thinks that some scoring on a 25K mile car is "normal cylinder wear". Somebody else may have a different opinion saying that a car with just 25K miles shouldn't have any scoring marks.

As for the DME numbers. This is where I think tolerance and comfort zone comes into play. The over revs all seem to be somewhat aged so probably not an issue. That said, the large numbers of bouncing off the rev limiter in range one and two suggests to me that this was not a car that was abused but also wasn't driven gently. My understanding is that Porsche will CPO a car with up to range 2 over revs. Anything in range 3, no CPO. So as I said, I guess you have to weigh these findings against your tolerances, wishes and preferences.

 

Based on the overrevs, the car has been tracked. Not saying that is either good or bad. That is your decision to make.

 

I tend to agree. Hard to record DME numbers like that on public roads.

 

If you can post the images from the bore scope you’ll get much better feedback.

Range 3-4 revs are still possible with blipping the throttle enthusiastically or they do not imply money shifts etc. clearly the car has been driven rather than parked . So the DME report would not deter me.

 

Thanks all for your help!

Pending a discussion with the shop that did the PPI, I’m comfortable moving forward with this car. It’s a Porsche. I’m not scared to hear it may have been tracked or has a history of “spirited driving.” I was primarily concerned with the Range 1 numbers because it just looked high, but I didn’t (don’t) have a point of reference/experience to interpret the results confidently myself. You guys gave me the information I needed to make an informed decision. Kudos and many thanks!

Regarding the borescope, I’m pretty comfortable there. I trust the shop’s opinion and my own eyes. I’ve done enough reading on the matter over the past few days to understand and accept the risk.

I can’t wait to get my first 911!