I know many members have read about my change from the excellent cayman S to the gorgeous Targa 4 911. I had kept hidden one small fact about this transition. When I purchased the Targa, I did not get a PPI done as I was not thinking clearly when I saw the car. This turned out to be a month of restless sleep and some worry while driving. To make matters worse, I went to my preferred P-dealer to have them look into what I felt was a wheel bearing sound. After taking a test drive, I was told it is tire noise due to Hankooks v12s instead of OEM tires (which makes no sense in hindsight as I enjoyed thousands of quiet miles in my cayman with v12 tires). In addition, the mechanic told me he noticed some oil residue near the RMS area.

So what had me sleepless?
-bought a Targa 4 without PPI
-dealer saying I need 4 OEM tires (~$1500)
-possible RMS service (~$2.2k)
-no mention of any other items

For the first month of ownership, I was honestly regretting my change as I was very content with my Borla Cayman S with all black wheels!

Since it had now been 4 months, I will explain my timeline.
-for the next two months, I tried to live with the sound and got an oil change to then begin monitoring for any leakage or issues with the rms. the oil Change outlet forgot to put the crush washer in so I panicked the next morning with a small puddle of oil on my garage floor!
-issue was fixed without incident and I continued with a loud tire noise, eventually replacing two rear tires due to wear, with new Hankooks.
-for the last month i was out of the country so it went by with no real issue other than placing a trickle charger to prevent loss of battery power

Finally, 2 days ago, I decided to bite the bullet and take care of my issue with the car. I looked for a reputable Indy shop in New Jersey and eventually decided on Bodymotion in Ocean NJ (no affiliation). I spoke with their head manager Ace about what issues I was having and had them look into the rms, wheel bearing, and worn brakes (which p-dealer did not even mention). I will say my experience with them was absolutely the best. The shop was able to instantly answer any questions I had including options for upgrades, brakes, rms, etc...

After the first day, I got a call about their diagnosis. They found the rear wheel bearing was severely worn, front brakes needed replacement, and NO leaks in the RMS or IMS area! I also let him know about the clutch engagement being a bit high but he said it definitely does not seem worn (a garage telling me the truth, wow!). So we moved forward with the major issues and now I have the car in tip top condition.... So how does it feel?

1) I feel so much better knowing my rms and ims don't have Any issues
2) the cars engine is much more dynamic in sound than I thought. The low end torque is audible with bass while the hp sounds like an air cooled 911 sound in higher rpm ranges. The Bose system is very good in quality and clarity. The car does not rotate like the cayman around the beltline but you can feel a bit of a pendulum effect like in a roller coaster. I love this feeling! The steering is super direct, smooth, and responsive. The brakes on the 911 have an obvious front end bias and feel much stronger than before, even with the cayman in comparison.
3) Bodymotion dealt with me with immense integrity and educated service. Their prices do reflect their knowledge (not cheap but not p-dealer expensive).
4) I think I felt like I did when I got my first p-car my Cayman S, absolutely content and smiling on every bend! An intense connection where the rainy gloomy day was the best day I've had driving... The feeling I had hoped to have when I first purchased the Targa 4. So I want to end by saying, I feel like myself again... A Porschefile with a huge smile.

 

Sounds like a happy ending!! What year is your car and how many miles do you have? Enjoy.

 

Hey that's terrific! Unless yours is an early '05, you shouldn't have any issues with the IMS.

I'm picking mine up today with a set of iPC Innotech Valvetronic mufflers and a new B&M short throw shifter. I can't wait to hear the new cans and feel the shifter. You might consider Gundo hacking your mufflers. Sounds really good and costs about $300 to have a shop do it.

Put some photos up!

 

I think the term "Happy Ending" is now a defined term.

 

Glad everything worked out!

 

I'm glad you had a great experience at BodyMotion, Ace and his crew are top notch people. They know Porsches in and out and when it comes down to price they are right on the money. I have been taking my Porsches there for a long time, never disappointed. Also, their body shop is very good, excellent work!

 

The car is a 2007 with 50k miles now.... I bought it with 42k miles with the understanding that driven cars are less likely to have major issues.

As far as Bodymotion is concerned... I am totally in agreement with the way they conduct their business.... It's how an ideal business should be run... Quality of work and amazing customer service/communication. Plus I saw their race ready Cayman and GT3RS!

 

What does your post and similar posts say about these cars? Sometimes they break; and when they break , it ain't cheap. I get the overall feeling that most of the time they don't break. I have an 07, and I am retiring hopefully in 5 years. I would like to keep the car forever. But, honestly, I am not sure I want to tolerate expensive repairs on a fixed income. But I will worry about that in 5 years. Glad that the 997 purchase is working out for you.

 

There's less chance with a non05 but there still is a chance

 

All my mods in my sig where done at BODYMOTION. Except the tune which I did myself.

You described them perfectly. Not the cheapest but they will tell you what you need and what you don't.

They also provide car transport to races and DE's and are big into ITC cayman racing which they won last year.

Best of all they are supporters of our region of the PCA and regularly hold tech nites for us.

Glad all worked out. To the op check out

Jsrpca dot com for info on our region.

 

Targa is mint