Is this normal wear? Also, how costly to fix/replace? Dealership said they are going to give it a good detail to see if they can fix, but not sure if possible. I understand it's an 8 year old car, but just want to know if it's normal wear.

Wheel (hard to see from photo, but right side is darker)


Hand Brake


Driver Seat

 

Not normal wear from my experience, not sure the repair options on that.

 

Seems like the car was not 'babied' like most Porsche's are. Get a quote from a detailer that works on exotic cars and they can tell you the cost to fix (or replace).

 

To me, the steering wheel and hand brake, look like suntan cream damage. I have seen suntan creams pull the colour out of some of my boat interiors. I'm sure it would be worse with leather?
The drivers seat lumbar, looks like wear to me.

 

It looks more worn in those spots thatn mine (same year and a cab) but the console looks in pretty good shape!

i have the same colour seats (but 2 tone interior so a black steering wheeL0. Looks like he dragged something across the seat when enetering or exiting that caused that scrape. Leather looks dry but can probably rub some good rejuvenator and bring it back. Worse case you can replace or re-dye the handbrake and wheel

 

I have also seen this done. Some "leather cleaners" also can do this as well

 

So, you are saying this is fixable for low cost...

 

Probably but depends how picky you are. I would guess you could get some dye and try it or take it to an interior professional. Rubbing some good leather product in the seat could do wonders but you'll never know till you try

If your picky then you probably won't be happy and would need to replace. You can check out the parts cost yourself but like most things in these cars that WONT be cheap

 

That's not too bad - you can find lots of professionals who can restore that with dye or a special leather paint. Can make it look brand new again, or you could take the opportunity to upgrade your handbrake or wheel if you so desired. As long as she's healthy mechanically, that's what is most important.

 

The leather on my 05 looks better but I sure with my console looked like that one!

 

Me too!! My leather looks great but my console gets a little banged up. Will have to get some paint to touch it up

 

Often when you see that kind of lotion/hand-creme type of damage, it has also reacted with the main ***** on the radio and the fan switches. Check the radio volume and tune ***** to see if they are tacky to the touch or are visually messed up. I missed this when I bought my 2006. They are cheap to buy at Suncoast and easy to replace, but might as well have the dealer take care of it for free if there is a problem. The fan switches are hard to replace, but many have touched them up with some sort of black paint, again, something the dealer often does for prep.

BTW, if I had to guess, I'd say that the center console looks in such good condition that they may have had it resprayed. Not a problem in itself as long as whoever did it smoothed out any underlying imperfections first and it was well done, just something you may want to be aware of. This is not an uncommon touch-up that dealers do to prep the car since the rubberized coating on the 997 consoles often have a blemish problem (BMWs have the same problem).

If the leather pieces you are showing were yours already, I'd recommend avoiding any quick fix with conditioners or such and leave it to a professional leather repair shop to fix. Sometimes the quick fix messes up the potential for a proper fix (a costly lesson from my attempts to repair my La-Z-Boy chair at home).

 

+1 - Exactly. Make sure the body and mechanicals/electricals are in good shape. The leather stuff in your photos can be made to look MUCH better for not a lot of dough, or replaced with upgraded parts.

 

They do look to be "fixable" but as stated above the car was not "babied". Possibly driven hard, dare I say too hard (a lot of hand break turns? or maybe they just live on a hill). Be through with the mechanical inspection if you choose this motor.

 

My 05 (bought in 09) looked a lot like that pic in a few months when the dealer's detailing wore off. I had it redone by someone recommended by the PCA and it looked ok but not "like new". Only a complete reupholster would do that. I wouldn't suspect the prior owned abused the car though. My ebrake looks like that and I've never used it for anything more than as a parking brake. The interiors in the 996 and 997 are quite fragile compared to the prior generations, and the sand beige shows it a lot.