GothamNYC

A good friend just acquired a 2005 997 Carrera with about 48,000 miles. Cars in really nice physical condition, inside and out has very little shown wear and tires are brand new.

Other than that, car is all original to the best of his knowledge. IMS was addressed under warranty at 7,000 miles in 2007. Only other known service was routine oil changes throughout and new brake pads at 32,000 miles in 2013.

I have been scouring the forums and put together a list from my own service records on my 997. Going under the assumption everything is circa 2005, have I missed anything?

In no particular order:

Complete new brake kit, pads, rotors, sensors, fluid and caliper rebuild kits

Coolant flush, new hoses, thermostat and water pump and coolant tank

New spark plugs and coils

Alternator/starter cable (new battery and it struggles to hold a charge more than a day or two)

serpentine belt

Fresh oil, filter and oil/air separator

Automatic Transmission service new fluids, seal filter etc...

Air and Cabin Fliters

Differential Fluid

Not really sure what to suggest about the exhaust and suspension. Car drives well and exhaust itself looks and sounds good, car passes smog inspection too. Yet at almost 18 years old, should 02 sensors, smog pump etc be replaced? Something with the suspension, if visually the control arms and links etc look intact is it worth replacing the bushings just because of the age? Same thing with shocks/struts springs. Lower milage but still 18 years old. I swapped out my exhaust and upgraded my suspension long before any of it was a concern so I don't have an accurate picture of it...

Am I missing anything or making a mistake by suggesting something above? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Wharf Rat

List looks very good. Luckily my 45k mile car had most of that done by the prior owner and the selling dealer. The 2 most needed “maintenance” items I addressed were an alignment and motor mounts. Both vastly improved the handling of my car.

yelcab

Add all idle pulleys, tensioner pulley.
Upper shock mounts in the rear if they clunk.
The transmission has both gear oil, and transmission fluids.

I am not sure about caliper rebuild, alternator, or starter due to low miles.

kellen

If brakes don’t need replacing or rotors, no point in doing it now. Plus I wouldn’t do a rebuild kit unless an issue.

I like to do all fluids so I have a starting point unless documented by previous owner.

Water pump, coolant reservoir, plugs and coils is your choice. If working fine I’d leave it. Definitely have them inspected due to age but unless you want the peace of mind I’d wait.

Bruce In Philly

2009 C2S 179K miles

I would only do fluids... otherwise you are throwing a ton of money away... in my opinion. Oh, and do the water pump as that series of car has failure-prone pumps.

Peace
Bruce in Philly (now Atlanta)

ATX_Native

If the engine wasn’t replaced with a large bearing engine and you have a small bearing car, I’d definitely do the IMS solution.

The IMS Solution

jbl16

Start with fluids/coil/plugs/accessory belt, and oil analysis. Can recommend the LN oil filter spin adapter, makes changes easier. I would then change the water pump, thermostat (consider the low temp one). If brakes are in good condition let them be, same with everything else, fix as needed. Grats on the purchase, enjoy the car.

4Driver4

I think he needs a little more information on what this means.
Was something done to the IMBS? If so, what?
Or was it really the IMS? If so, what?

GothamNYC

He was told it was an engine replacement but nothing other than word of mouth to support that!
Thanks everyone!

Frank 993 C4S

Without knowing the exact maintenance condition of the the car, I think your list is total overkill, especially if the pads and rotors are not outside limits.

- Depending on age, the battery might need replacing
- If the brake fluid hasn't been flushed in two years and oil hasn't been changed in the past year, I would do that too
In addition Porsche recommends to:
- change the spark plugs every 60k miles or 4 years
- replace the belt every 60k miles or 6 years
- change the Tiptronic transmission fluid and final drive oil every 120k miles or 12 years

If your friend didn't have a Pre Purchase Inspection completed, I would have one done for peace of mind by a reputable shop.

rileyracing1

Don't do anything .... Drive the thing for awhile and it will let you know if it needs anything ...48k is nothing ... don't waste your $$ .

As a preventative a water pump as mentioned is not a bad idea in the future ...mine was still good with 98k on the car and just make sure the battery is still top notch ..our cars do not like mediocre batteries.

4Driver4

Maybe post the engine serial number here. Lots of folks here are versed on this type of thing.

anewman

Air/oil separator is something to look at as well.

sandwedge

How was the IMS "addressed"? Since it was addressed under warranty at just 7,000 miles I assume it failed since no warranty including CPO would pay for an IMS replacement, much less an upgraded IMS unless there was an IMS failure. No damage to the engine? Would be unusual if that's the case. And what was the replacement IMS? The same smaller somewhat fail prone small IMS or did they upgrade it to the bigger more reliable one? Other than that I agree with Bruce. Some things on that long list doesn't need to be messed with.

Whatever your friend decides to do, advice him to save ALL receipts. A friend of mine is trying to sell his 2005 C2S and is having trouble since he has done all the maintenance on the car himself and saved just a few receipts on parts and fluids he's bought over the years. So there's no good reliable history of service and maintenance on the car other than the seller's good word. Not good enough for a lot if not most buyers of a 17 year old 997 unless deeply discounted which my friend is not willing to do since he says it's been meticulously maintained. I know it has been and the car is almost flawless but again, he has next to no proof of 17 years of service and maintenance. Big problem for him.

4Driver4

Read the whole thread. ;-)