Bore Scoring Blues

Hi everyone, I'm a newly minted Porsche owner that has learned he didn't do enough homework with his first Porsche purchase. Anyhow last year I bought a 2008 Boxster S at purchase it had 20K mile. It came from the dealership that previously held a Porsche Franchise before it spun off to be "Indigo Porsche of Saint Louis". The car has been a blast, but I noticed maybe within the first month (after a spirited jaunt with my BMW buddies) that it consumed a bunch of oil, the warning light came on, I immediately went to Autozone bought a quart of Mobil -1 0W-40 and kept it moving. I had previously ready about the bore scoring issues, so I start being hyper-aware of the oil. So with the first 3000 miles I ended up adding about 5 quarts of oil. This seemed abnormal to me, so I brought it to Porsche St. Louis and asked if they could check on why my car was consuming oil. They told me that it was the air/oil separator (like within 5 minutes) and by the next day I was on my way (August 2017). The oil consumption seemed to be within what the manual stated (1.5 quarts every 622 miles), so I just kept going with adding oil. I changed the oil at about the 24000 mile mark, and kept driving. Fast forward to August of this year, I got a Check Engine soon and Maintenance required warning. Reading the codes it showed the preCat O2 sensor was shot. So I figured I would change the O2 sensors and do an oil change. After doing this work I learned I couldn't clear the Maintenance warning so I brought the car into the dealership. I asked what the minimum I could do in order to have them reset the maintenance light, and I was told that I could not do a minor service and that I had to do a major service in order for Porsche to approve the Maintenance being reset. So at this point I asked, if I'm required to change the oil (after I just changed it 50 miles prior)and pay $1700 for the major service, could they validate how much oil comes out of the car since it seems its still burning oil excessively. Obviously they can't do that, but I wanted them to validate I don't have any Bore Scoring. So, they set me up with a loaner (2018 718 Cayman S ) and sent me on my way. Later I get a call, and what I suspected came true, Bore Scoring. I'm not shocked nor am I upset, I bought the car with a solid warranty and I wasn't expecting much hassle. Well, I was sure surprised. Last week Friday I got an additional call that the Warranty has come out and scoped the engine and agree that there is Bore Scoring, but what they seem to be agitated is that I brought the car in at 23000 miles and the dealership didn't catch this, and they are accusing them of improperly diagnosing the car and causing more damage. As such apparently the dealership has quoted the warranty company $28K to do the work. This work consists of a new long block ($7k) 52 hours of labor ($5.2K) and $16K for all the other pieces. They will be attaching the original head to the new long block so me and the warranty company are struggling to understand why so much. The Warranty company is wanting to source their own used engine (which I do not want either), or possibly their own new long block (which I'm told Porsche wouldn't warrant). The Warranty company is also wanting a complete tear down before agreeing to pay for the repair (ugh!). They want to see if there were other circumstances that would of caused the scoring (overheating or lack of oil). The dealership is saying I'm now on the hook for the tear down and rebuild if the warranty company deems that the issue isn't covered because of some other damage. After talking to the warranty company I was assured that as long as I didn't run the car overheated or without oil I should be fine. I called Porsche NA for advice on this and they suggested that the dealership open a good-will case on the matter. I was surprised that Porsche NA mentioned this, but the dealership didn't offer to do this. I asked my service advisor about this and he was fairly negative about this, and suggested because I didn't buy the car from a Porsche dealership, and I don't have a long service record that I would be turned down. I'm a bit miffed because all through this experience I've felt talked down because the car is 10 years old as if I should expect this type of mechanical break down. Also, I'm still having to pay for the Major Service after all this. So all in all when is all done, they could potentially got $30K from me for all this, if not more. So I write all this to ask: Does this all sound normal? Are there others who had this issue and went through a long block replacement? Am I foolish for pushing forward with this repair (assuming the warranty company pays) The car was running as great as ever when I brought it in, I've loved every moment of ownership while driving. I just feel trapped at the moment.

I do not have personal experience with this but I would talk to the warranty people about taking the car to another shop. $30k is too much to spend on that.

My condolences for sure. If by "normal" you mean "nobody wants to pay the bill and are looking for reasons not to", then yes it is normal. I would continue to push for the insurer to pay the bill, and that includes any teardown they are requesting. What I don't understand is, after accusing the dealer of improperly diagnosing the car they now want the dealer to do a teardown to see if YOU have miss used the car. i.e. If they find evidence of miss use, how do they know it was you and not the previous owner? It all seems to boil down to, this is a big Fing bill and how can we reduce the loss? Insurance companies, what can you expect? Anyway put up the good fight! You payed the premiums and the car failed. They need to pay for the fix! Good Luck.

This is such a large amount of money that you should be covered on, that is why you paid for a warranty, you need to get a attorney involved, right now I think they a using a excuse hoping you will not pursue it.

My condolences. Not good. The first big warning flag should have been 5 quarts in 3000 miles, definitely indication a serious issue. But what is done is done. The insurance company will find any reason not to pay the bill and you should be absolutely merciless with them. I agree with shell above to get an attorney involved. You have insurance exactly for cases like this. Good luck and keep us posted!

kurthutchinson-get some good legal advice and a new engine. For those prospective owners reading this forum, the advice is to get a good PPI done before you purchase your car, so you know the outcome of at least one of three major drawbacks from 987.1 M97 motors. Change your oil much more frequently than Porsche 's recommendations to reduce the IMS grease contamination from engine oil. Look for a motor oil that protects your rod bearings for scarring from boundry layer break down by using oil that specifically is made to withstand high PSI (as in flat tappet usage) and high heat. Add a deep oil sump with a windage tray to prevent oil starvation. Down shifting can add engine oil on hot cylinder walls to help prevent bore scoring and let your engine warm up fully before standing on it.

Did you actually see pictures of the bore scoring yourself? Does your warranty have a maximum limit? Normal ? Don't think so. Apex1's comments are basically the same thing I have read many times now. He was super helpful when I was very concerned after changing my oil the first time. That and, the more you drive these motors, the longer they last. I drive mine as much as I can, which is about 3 days, for at LEAST 20-30 miles, usually more like 100-200 miles when I do take it for the day. Houston....

At $28,000 the insurance company is going to total the car, and hand you a check for the value of a 2008 Boxster S. You'll have to dicker with them about the low miles value. The insurance company will get the salvage value for your boxster - which should be fairly good being low miles. Some used car dealer will pick it up and swap in a used engine and move it on. Take the money and start looking for a 2009 Boxster . Different engine. MUCH less troublesome. Haven't heard of any fatal flaws in it - which is why I only looked for 2009 and newer 987's.

Hi Kurt, I am curious on how this was resolved. Did you end up replacing the engine? If so, what type of engine replacement did they do? I’m looking purchasing a 2008 Boxster S.

That was the one and only post by @kurthutchinson and he hasn't been back since (7 yrs ago). Additionally that tale of woe is extremely similar to others we occasionally see here. I'd say there is a better than even chance it is pure fiction. It does match a pattern common with drive-by spammers.

Thank you for the info. I’m currently in the process of buying my first Porsche . Gotta start somewhere! Main reason I was asking @kurthutchinson is because the 2008 Porsche Boxster S that I am buying is located in St. Louis and has a Carfax that has an engine replacement at that same dealer. It also has similar mileage so I think it’s the same car. PPI has everything coming back good from the BMW dealer selling it. Just curious to find out the history. I’m going to call the Porsche St. Louis dealer and ask if they’ll share the engine replacement details. Hope they replaced it with the upgraded cylinder sleeves, but at a minimum, at least the car had the engine replaced at Porsche. Looking forward to more discussions with the group!

Good luck with the Porsche dealer. They tend to not want to divulge service history to the public. It might be worth the cost of a Carfax to see the car's service History. BTW its a very good chance that this is that Kurt and he is in St Louis. www.kurthutchinson.com

I’m with you on your observation of the drive-by spammers and what I call ‘drop-ins’. And these seem to be occurring more frequently. Often, I’ll go to our forum, (community), and start to read a post from someone reaching out for advice or information about their personal issue, usually without a greeting, and lacking the important stuff like year, engine, trans, mileage, usage, etc. Then my eyes move over to their member name and info and notice that they joined 4 hours ago. Now, I click on Planet-9 nearly every morning while sipping my coffee and enjoy reading my favorite threads, as I learn a lot, contribute some, and live vicariously through other’s rides. But sometimes it seems these posters forget courtesy and etiquette, by way of introduction and engagement. Or, as you say, maybe they’re just spammers/scammers.

Hi ~ This is my first ever post here: so VERY suspect. But, seriously- wait, how does this scam work? Why would someone create a post asking for advice then simply ghost? What is the advantage to that? What happened to poor Kurt Hutchinson? Maybe someone should do a wellness check ? His story sounded rather dire, poor fella. Can't blame him for jumping out of Porsche and anything Porsche relate after THAT experience. Perhaps he is driving a BMW ...or hopefully a Lotus or a newer better warrantied Boxster . Anyway, I am just lurking here doing research, kind of interested in a used Porsche Cayman or Boxster . I have had a 1983 SC for 20 years. Researched for over a year prior to buying it. It's a great car, wouldn't hesitate to hop in it and drive 5 hrs tomorrow. That is, if the roads were not salty, it's hibernating now.....I would like to step up to something more modern - but just as reliable. Not selling my SC as long as I can work the clutch !