Discussion
Honest John, Saturday Telegraph motoring section:
Quote
Rich man, Porsche man
Last year, I wanted to buy a TVR, but was persuaded to buy a Porsche Boxster on the grounds of better safety and reliability. I wish I hadn't. The engine of my January 2000 Boxster S Tiptronic blew about two weeks ago. It has a full main dealer service history and had only 33,000 miles on the clock. In the year I've owned it, I've done everything I can to make sure it is well maintained. My first mechanical problem arose when huge plumes of white smoke came out of the exhaust as I accelerated away from a set of traffic lights. Up until that point, the engine temperature was normal and the oil level was fine.
I took it to a Porsche franchise, which replaced the air mass sensor (for £450) and said this would sort it out. It didn't. When I took it for its two-year service in February, I complained about the same repetitive problem. I told them that it wasn't merely a puff of smoke coming out but plumes, and I was also having to fill up the coolant tank much more often than I thought should be necessary. They told me the crankcase was cracked (I'm not sure what that really means) and subsequently charged about £1,500 for repairs, service and an MoT. The next day, I looked in the coolant tank and could still see a strange congealed substance, so I called to see if it had been checked. I was told it had and took their word that all was fine. The engine subsequently blew during a track day, during which I hadn't been pushing all that hard.
The Porsche franchise tells me it will cost £11,500 to rebuild or £13,000 to replace. Almost every Porsche specialist I've spoken to suspects the car already had either a porous or cracked head gasket. Why did the franchise not pick that up? I am not going to pay Porsche to fix it, so my other options are to have it rebuilt (for about £6,000 at a Porsche specialist) or to get hold of a secondhand engine and have it fitted for about £5,000. What would you do?
James, Clapham
# This is typical of older, lightly used Boxsters (and 996 series 911 3.4s, come to that). It's fairly typical of Porsche franchises, too. The wet sump engine also has an oil surge problem that causes problems on track days - that might be the reason yours let go. Find a decent independent and hope that he can find a good secondhand engine. Then get rid of the thing and buy something more dependable and cheaper to run, such as a Nissan 350Z.
Unquote
Should've bought a Griff
Quote
Rich man, Porsche man
Last year, I wanted to buy a TVR, but was persuaded to buy a Porsche Boxster on the grounds of better safety and reliability. I wish I hadn't. The engine of my January 2000 Boxster S Tiptronic blew about two weeks ago. It has a full main dealer service history and had only 33,000 miles on the clock. In the year I've owned it, I've done everything I can to make sure it is well maintained. My first mechanical problem arose when huge plumes of white smoke came out of the exhaust as I accelerated away from a set of traffic lights. Up until that point, the engine temperature was normal and the oil level was fine.
I took it to a Porsche franchise, which replaced the air mass sensor (for £450) and said this would sort it out. It didn't. When I took it for its two-year service in February, I complained about the same repetitive problem. I told them that it wasn't merely a puff of smoke coming out but plumes, and I was also having to fill up the coolant tank much more often than I thought should be necessary. They told me the crankcase was cracked (I'm not sure what that really means) and subsequently charged about £1,500 for repairs, service and an MoT. The next day, I looked in the coolant tank and could still see a strange congealed substance, so I called to see if it had been checked. I was told it had and took their word that all was fine. The engine subsequently blew during a track day, during which I hadn't been pushing all that hard.
The Porsche franchise tells me it will cost £11,500 to rebuild or £13,000 to replace. Almost every Porsche specialist I've spoken to suspects the car already had either a porous or cracked head gasket. Why did the franchise not pick that up? I am not going to pay Porsche to fix it, so my other options are to have it rebuilt (for about £6,000 at a Porsche specialist) or to get hold of a secondhand engine and have it fitted for about £5,000. What would you do?
James, Clapham
# This is typical of older, lightly used Boxsters (and 996 series 911 3.4s, come to that). It's fairly typical of Porsche franchises, too. The wet sump engine also has an oil surge problem that causes problems on track days - that might be the reason yours let go. Find a decent independent and hope that he can find a good secondhand engine. Then get rid of the thing and buy something more dependable and cheaper to run, such as a Nissan 350Z.
Unquote
Should've bought a Griff
Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff