All,

My 2 yr CPO on my 09 Carrera will be ending in September. Would love to get opinions on if I should seek out an extended warranty, or just continue to keep the car without one and save for anything that might happen. The car has been flawless without a single issue since my ownership. Here's my few questions:

1. I will be taking it to a Porsche shop before warranty ends to get a complete check so that if any potential issues pop I can take it to the dealer and get it addressed. Question is, should I be doing this now, or wait until August? Also, do you all recommend an independent shop, or just to get it checked at a Porsche dealership? Is one check enough or should I seek out multiple shops for their feedback?

2. If I do go the extended warranty route, which should I choose? I've read about fidelity, etc on the forums and they seem to get decent reviews. Also, could anybody give some recommendations on where I can go get a great deal in the Atlanta area?

3. Water pump. I know and read about this as a weak link for the 997s, and also watched some videos on Youtube to experience the sound pre-failure. I currently just passed 40k miles on my car. Should I be worried and just go ahead and replace it? Or can I just continue to drive and just monitor and listen to noise coming out from the back?

That's all I can think of for now. If you all have any other watch-outs or to dos before CPO runs out please chime in. Very much appreciated!

 

Have the dealer do the inspection prior to the expiration of your Warranty. Warranty repairs are money makers for them, they are incentivised to find problems on your behalf.

 

On fideility, i went with Troy based on feedback and other RL posts (do a search). You don't have to buy it in the Atlanta area, pretty much any dealer in the nation can sell it and you are covered no matter where you go. And also doesn't have to be a Porsche dealer. Just make sure to get it while still under factory warranty. Good luck!

Troy Dietrich
Factory Discount Warranty / Toyota & Ford of Greenfield
Fathers & Sons Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche
& Kia of West Springfield
Tel. 413-772-0989
Fax. 413-774-2247
Web. http://www.FD-Warranty.com

 

Bought my 07 4S with 18k on it 4 years ago. Has 56k now. Not one problem and I didn't buy. Extended Warranty nor did CPO. Regret it...at first maybe. Thinking something would go wrong. But nothing has happened at all. Solid as a rock. Only thing I spend money on has been the two M's. Maintenance and Mods!!! LOL

 

My 2009 Carrera CPO expired in March of 2015. I had my Tech look it over, he found nothing. I did not get a warranty--in fact this is my 3rd 911 and I have never had an extended warranty (other that my CPO)

 

Bought my 07 4S with 18k on it 4 years ago. Has 56k now. Not one problem and I didn't buy. Extended Warranty nor did CPO. Regret it...at first maybe. Thinking something would go wrong. But nothing has happened at all. Solid as a rock. Only thing I spend money on has been the two M's. Maintenance and Mods!!! LOL

What he said

 

Get the car inspected ASAP. If anything is found have it addressed also ASAP. Any warranty on the work done under warranty lasts only as long as the warranty lasts.

IOWs, if you have something fixed under warranty the day before the warranty expires, the warranty on what you had fixed also expires. Sure, if the part or fix failed the day after the dealer would probably (probably) goodwill the re-repair but it is best if you get any warranty work done sooner rather than waiting until the last minute.

If you have accumulated just 40K miles on your car since 2009 that's around 6700 miles per year. That 2 year, 100K mile CPO warranty is only going to cover the car for bit less than 13K miles of use before the warranty expires on time.

Unless you get a heck of a discount on the warranty you are going to pay dearly for the coverage.

Regarding the water pump, my advice is to just drive the car and pay attention to the water pump and all the other things that possibly go wrong with the cooling system like radiators, hoses, fittings, etc. and the engine. I'm not talking about big failures, just the run of the mill stuff like an oil leak, spark plug/coil, something like that. Even if you install a new water pump it can fail at any time, so you are not home free.

If I had to go aftermarket warranty Fidelity comes in for some good word of mouth.

Check with the techs where you have the car serviced and where if something does come up under warranty where you will have the car repaired what they think of the warranty company and what you can or should do -- if anything -- to improve your chances of having a warranty claim honored should some problem arise.

 

Just my $0.02. Had my car since new. Bought it new because I was afraid of german engineering. Car ran out factory warranty 2 years ago, and I haven't experienced a single problem. So for me the warranty was a sort of trial period, and now I am generally confident that it will be fine. I wish I could say the same for the Mini Cooper S I had prior to the Porsche.

 

Try and send your car in as clean as possible. I'm torn with a clean or dirty engine???
Any sweats are going to show in the oily fuzz.
But I'm ocd. I wash my engine every month.
Water pump? It either works or it doesn't. Any weepage?
Any low coolant? Any crusties around the tank?
Stick you cell phone in there to look around back.
How close are you to the service teck? First time? Don't be going in there first time and asking for favours? Perhaps a drop in? Preparation conversation.
Ask what day is the slowest for your inspection? Are you expecting them to do it for free? Would you get a more detailed inspection if you were to pay for it?

 

Heh. Another former MINI owner defecting to Porsche.

That car was the reason I passed over an E92 M3. I will never buy another BMW product.

 

Thanks for the replies so far. I'm the 2nd owner, bought this car in Sep 13 with 31k miles. So I only drove roughly 9-10k in the past almost two years. All maintenance (oil change + 40k service done last Nov) were performed by Hennessy Porsche in Atlanta. I decided to use the dealer at least during my CPO period so there would be no concern if I ever needed warranty work done. I might go find a reputable independent Porsche shop once CPO expires.

Based on feedback, I will schedule to bring my car to the dealership for full inspection ASAP. I'm willing to pay for the inspection (I don't think they would inspect for free anyway).

Still on the fence about the extended warranty though....I probably drive the Porsche roughly 5k miles per year.

 

OP, the only piece of information I can share is that I have a pretty good relationship with my dealership's used-car sales team and just chat with them every month or two. They advised that IF I were to get a warranty beyond my CPO I should do so before 50k miles. After 50k miles they said the prices rise dramatically. It sounds like you are in good shape there though but just an FYI if you change your mind later.

And continuing the aside of the other threads: Two of my three prior BMWs were plagued with problems as well, a 2001 M3 and a 2007 335i. After 8 months, 10k miles, and 13 trips to the shop mostly for problems related to the turbos (and even after complete replacement of them), the 335i was so problem-laden that I successfully pleaded to BMW corporate for help and they got the dealer give me 100% of my money back as long as it was towards another BMW. Not ideal, but at least that particular lemon was gone.

 

Don't want to take this thread completely off-topic but since we're here complaining about BMW reliability, I am curious if anyone has terrible experience with late model Audis. I am seriously considering a CPO A7 as my family/winter car.

 

Never had an Audi before, but from what I heard from friends and other owners it's almost just as bad as BMWs.

I had two BMWs before. Never again.

BTW I just scheduled an appointment to get my car inspected at the dealership on Saturday. They told me it's basically the same as a PPI inspection, and charge is $213. Fair? Anything to mention in particular?

 

If you have them do an oil change the PPI ( called MPVI is free like every other manufacturer. Porsche encourages them to do MPVI's on every service.)

Why pay for just the inspection?