Phoenix864

I've been seriously looking at picking up a used 718 or 718 S as my daily driver and am trying to get an idea of how reliable these cars are/how much I should expect in yearly maintenance. Based on what I've read so far, these cars are pretty reliable and don't really have any widespread issues. Is that more or less accurate, or are there any common problems I should be expecting?

I've been watching both a manual base and S, both for ~50k USD.

• Base is a 2019, one owner, 20k miles, PTV/PASM/Sport Chrono, plus a few quality of life things and some significant track mods (buckets, steel brake lines, aftermarket dampers, roll cage, etc.).
• S is a 2017, two owner, 61k miles, PTV/PASM Sport/Sport Exhaust (but no sport chrono), plus a few QOL things.

For the base, anything I should be particularly watching for, speaking the car has a history of fairly extensive track use? For the S, anything to watch out for with the somewhat higher mileage? The S also seemed to have rapidly racked up mileage back when it was new, In the two weeks between the title being issued and the car undergoing inspection, it seems like it racked up ~2k miles. Then in the three months between inspection and the first service, the car seemed to have racked up another ~6k miles. Any concerns with the car likely racking up so many miles so early on in its life?

For sport chrono - how much of a loss is it to skip it with the manual? I wish the S build included it, but an otherwise very well-equipped car is missing it for some reason. The auto-blip rev matching it provides sounds nice, especially as this car would be my first manual car and I plan to use it for some casual autocross/track days.

Much appreciate any advice!

PTSFX

I would absolutely not buy the base car given the mods and track use unless you plan more than just a casual autoX/track day, and are OK with replacing things prematurely, like CV boots, etc that naturally wear faster on the track.

JCtx

Both cars would be a hard pass for me, due to track use and lack of chrono, respectively. There are A LOT of used cars on the market, so take your time. I would not go over 20K miles used, especially a manual; you never know how they were driven. And I'd buy a CPO, to have some piece of mind. Try Porsche's website; there are many there. Good luck.

Phoenix864

Appreciate the advice! For the track car, the owner's got the original parts, of which I'd swap some back in to make the daily experience better. If the car pulls a clean PPI, is there still much to be concerned over regarding the track use? The otherwise low mileage and spec fit what I'm looking for. I'm also taking a good look at CPO cars (and will likely be the route I end up going). Getting PTV on a CPO car for less than $60k seems to be tough, but I'm keeping an eye out.

ldamelio

If looking for a daily, don't buy a heavily tracked car. I'm assuming (insert caveat) that this car was tracked heavily given the level of modification. And I say that as a track guy with 50,000 miles, similar mods and 66 track days on his 2018 Cayman S.

I just accept that something expensive will go kablooey at some point even though the car has been bulletproof (7 years ownership, 4th track season). CV joints and water pumps are the main potential weaknesses (aside from consumables) but track use is very hard on the drive train. Track cars spend a lot of time at full throttle, redline and threshold braking.

I have no way of knowing if this is accurate, but I once heard that one mile on the track puts wear and tear equal to 7 - 10 street miles. Take that with a large grain of salt, but there's a reason racing engines have short rebuild intervals. If you discover that this car has had only a few track days, then I would consider it but only with a clean PPI and DME.

Miles on the S are somewhat high but if it's priced correctly, no reason not to go for it. You will like the 50hp over the base. Sport Chrono (esp with a manual) is nice to have but not essential IMO. If you do decide to track the S and are anything more than a beginner, there are cooling issues with the S. These were vexatious at first. Eventually cheap, effective solutions were discovered. See the Suncoast thread now buried in this forum for that issue.

ReidMct

I would not be concerned about the mileage on either car. And lots of miles early on? That is a good thing! They're likely highway miles, which means low wear on almost everything except the exterior finish. Both cars can be expected to last well over 100,000 miles.

I also would not do without Sport Chrono. I had it in previous PDK cars, and now in my CTM6. Love it; gotta have it. I notice most used 718s lack it. Porsche builds the 718 for the track. It is a tough car. If the tracked car suits you, and checks out, buy it!