I'm considering buying a 2006 911 S4 Cab with 23K miles. What am I in for maintenance wise if I make this purchase? $$ wise and frequency. Reality of what I really need vs. what the manual might say.

Thanks in advance from a new member!

 

At the very least you should budget for what services: oil/filter, brake/clutch fluid flush/bleed, tranny/diff fluids, spark plugs, engine and cabin air filters, etc.; at whatever miles or elapsed time the factory says.

I don't have a maintenance schedule for your car so I can't offer up specifics other than the brake/clutch fluid flush/bleed is typically an every 2 year service.

My advice is you should at least consider having the engine oil and filter service done every 5K miles or once a year.

My SOP is to also reduce the other vital fluid services, the tranny/diff fluid changes from IIRC the 90K miles Porsche recommends to something less. With the Boxster I've gone 90K miles and less but I can't recall the mileage now. With the 996 Turbo I have never run the tranny and diffs (there are two: AWD you know) fluid anywhere near 90K miles. I think this fluid gets changed every 30K to 45K miles. In the case of both cars this tranny/diff fluid service is one of the least expensive services. The labor for the Boxster is just 0.3 hour, the Turbo a bit more.

I also have the coolant drained and the cooling system refilled with fresh coolant every 4 years or so.

How much this costs depends upon where you have the work done and how many miles you drive per year.

Rear tires can last 20K miles front tires twice that with a proper alignment and reasonable driving. If you love spinning the rear tires around corners be prepared for rear tire life half (or less) that 20K miles.

Brakes will eventually need doing. I don't recall how many miles I get out of my Boxster's brakes -- it is a lot, they are quite long lived -- but the 996 Turbo front brakes lasted 120K miles. The rears are still good at nearly 150K miles.

A clutch might be in your future too. Depends upon how you drive. In the case of my cars both are on their original clutches. The Boxster now with over 305K miles and the Turbo with almost 150K miles.

 

So the dealer did this when the took in the car:

Spark plugs
Brake fluid
Air cleaner
Oil change
Replace drive belt
Ignition coil

So am I good for a while at 22,000 miles?

Tirewise, I know I'm going to need to buy snow tires (Pirelli are my only option) as I am not wealthy enough to have a third car for the winter. I put 6K miles tops on my car, so next Spring I know I will need new tires on the rear, maybe front.

Macster - thanks so much for your response, much appreciated.

 

I'd say you are good. With just 22K miles on the car the tranny/diff fluids are not due on miles and Porsche has no change on time call out for these fluids (at least none I know of).

If the coolant is original though I'd like to see that drained and the system refilled with fresh. I think this helps extend water pump life. (172K miles in my Boxster, around 120K miles in my Turbo.)

Be sure both the brake and clutch fluid is flushed and bled. I let this go just 2.5 years with my Boxster. The clutch became impossible to engage smoothly and every gear change felt like the clutch wasn't fully depressed.

The behaviour was totally at odd with the way the car behaved at other times. Thinking the clutch was finally going out -- the slave cylinder perhaps -- I took the car in and talked the the SM who looked up my car's service records and noted it had been 2.5 years since a brake/clutch flush/bleed service. I had this done and the transformation was remarkable. Might add the brake action was teh same before and after the service but the clutch was once again super smooth to engage and shifting was like moving a hot knife through warm butter.

Be sure the tires are not too old. 6 years is the replace by age stated by Porsche.

Be sure you get proper winter tires on the car. I've driven in snow in both of my cars (Boxster and Turbo) with summer tires and while nothing bad happened -- other than I spent hours behind the wheel of the Boxter in a harrowing drive from Fort Smith ARK to Butler MO in one of the worst snow storms I've ever experienced -- I was damn lucky nothing bad happened.

Be sure the body water drains are free of trash build up. If these fill up with trash, leaf/plant matter, and it doesn't take much. Then (rain/wash) water can collect and overflow into the cabin with disasterous results. The security module is on the floor of the cabin under the passenger seat. If this security module gets wet... Oh my.

After washing or if the car is exposed to rain feel along the bottom of the doors. If you feel dampness this is a sign water is getting into the door where it shouldn't get and the water if allowed to remain can cause electrical gremlins to appear initially with the door lock and window operation. Later these gremlins can appear at other places.

Generally the repair involves removing the door card and replacing the sealing membrane that keeps the water that gets in from getting over into the door/window electrics/electronics.

Be sure the radiator ducts are free of trash build up. These cars are like vacuum cleaners with the radiator fans running. They suck in all the trash that gets near the radiator intakes. In some cases the front bumper has to come off and the A/C condenser unbolted and carefully (!) swung out of the way to get the trash from between the condenser and the radiator.

The concern is not reduced cooling -- except in severe cases of trash accumulation -- but the trash collects/holds moisture and this can/will corrode the condensers and radiators.

 

Again, I can't thank you enough for your response. As for clutch fluid, the car is automatic, not manual. That's kind of a bad thing for me, but it will score points with the wife if I get the car since she can't drive a stick.

 

With a Tip then of course no clutch fluid flush/bleed is possible. Still do not let the brake fluid go too long before a flush/bleed. The times I've done this the stuff that comes out of the bleed valves looks distressing. While the brakes feel no different afterwards I feel better knowing the fluid is fresh.

It is nice your dear wife can enjoy the car. The problem is she might just take it over. That's the bad news. The good news is you have an excuse to go out and get yourself a Porsche.

I am not married so there is no wife to share my cars with, but I do not let my GFs (or any friends, or family for that matter) drive my Porsches.

Hmmm. Maybe that's why I'm not married?

 

So I'm going to have the local (and highly recommended) Porsche do a PPI (pre purchase inspection) for about $200 before I decide if I'm going to buy. I checked the rear tires and they were manufactured in 2010 so that's a deal breaker. Either the dealer replaces these expired tires or they take $1,000 off the sell price. Right now, the sticker is $41,999. Macster, thoughts on the price?

 

My price info is woefully out of date. One has to keep on top of this all the time to stay current.

So my usual recommendation is to visit NADA and KBB and plug in the car's numbers and see what trade in/private sale/retail sale numbers come up.

The numbers from the sites may differ. As a buyer I select the site with the lowest numbers. Not my job to reconcile the numbers. Not my job to make a case for the seller's asking price.

My info is a dealer will have no more than the car's trade in value in the car so that is the base value of the car.

Used cars generally have a pretty good mark up: 25% (or more) is not uncommon.

How much over trade in you pay depends upon how dear the seller values the car vs. how much you are willing to pay.

While there is a car buying technique for every car buyer one way you can help yourself is make it clear when you go in to buy the car you are going to buy a car today. This one if you can reach an agreement on the price. But if not this car another car and you have a list of say 3 to 4 cars -- they don't all have to be Porsche Turbos but they should be in the same price range -- with some details written down.

You make it clear that if you are unsuccessful buying this car you walk off the lot and buy a car at another location. The seller of this car then sees a sale walking off the lot, a car shopper who won't be back the next day willing to pay more money. He's lost a sale to another car seller.

That is hard for a car seller -- a dealer, the GM at any rate -- to watch. You won't steal the car but you stand a better chance of getting it for less.

It is important the sales manager/GM is getting your offer. A salesman can only say "no". If you offer a price for a car that cuts into or even eliminates his commission he's going to say "no" for sure. Only the sales manager/GM can say "yes" and my car buying experience is they'll say "yes" even if one offers thousands less than the asking price.

'course, if the seller agress to knock of $1000 for a rear tire adjustment and that's acceptable to you then that's ok too.

 

Macster,

Again, thanks for all the info. Both KBB and NADA value the S4 right at the asking price or higher. So I don't imagine they are going to want to budge on the sell price. They are lowballing my trade-in because my Lexus has the Takata air bag recall and they say they can't sell it until the air bags are replaced and they don't know if that is going to be 2017 or later. My trade is a clean 2008 Lexus IS350 w/52,000 miles. KBB and NADA are saying $12K - $13.5K and I'm throwing in Lexus wheels with Blizzak snow tires that are in good shape. They offered me $11K. I'll see what the results are from the PPI on Thursday and keep you posted.