Running my 996 as everyday car

As one or two know i have just purchased my first 996 and indeed my first Porsche. I am griining every time i get in and drive. I am intending it to be my everyday car and because a trip to my Girlfriends is an 80 mile round trip I generally cover around 10-12K a year. Is it s good idea to get my dealer to check the car more regularly than the 12K 12 month service ? Maybe just for an oil change. I don't intend to drive the car that hard, but obviously want to keep the car in tip top condition Any advice (constructive ) would be welcome Thanks Steve

It must be serious - capital "G" on girlfriend...[ ][ ] I run mine as a daily drive, and change the oil and filter every 6000 miles. I'm a bit "old school" in that respect - I know modern fully synthetics are good for 12000 mile changes, but they always look like gnat's pee when they are draining. If you intend to maintain a full OPC service history, or have a Porsche warranty, I would take it to them for the main services, and find yourself a good independent to do everything else.

I mean't girlfriend I was intending to use a good specialist for everything really as it has on specialist stamp in it already from the supplying dealer . I have thought about taking it to an OPC for the check and getting the Porsche warranty however

Definately worth getting an OPC check and a warranty. The 996 are pretty reliable but expensive when they are not. MOST sensible items seem to be covered from my own personal experience. Regarding the distance, my first thought was get a girlfriend/Girlfriend closer to home but then, of course, you wouldnt have an excuse to drive such an excllent car. So, maybe you should get a GIRLFRIEND even further away!.... [ ] Enjoy your new car!

Congrats - Ive also just bought my first Porsche (996 C2 too!)... Just out of interest - do you need to service the car with an OPC if you have an extended warranty? or will they honor it still if an independant has done the service (assuming a porsche expert, not a bloke under the arches)

I was wondering the same

anyone?

Guildford OPC told me as well as Reading that it must be OPC service. Others will tell you exactly the opposite. Any other jobs I either do myself or go to good independant(s).

Well just to let you all know. My car is booked in to have the 111point check next week so that i can purchase the Porsche warranty. They had no problems with the last service being carried out by an independent, especailly when I told them who it was. Its seems some specialists are recognised by Porsche others not. Anyway fingers crossed that it passes with flying colours and that i don't get landed with too hefty a bill. I think its worth it though Steve

I used mine as a daily drive for the first eighteen months. I put twelve thousand miles on it with no drama. I'm confident I could do that for ten years before anything major happens. Previous drives were various BMWs and the 996 felt no different in terms of quality. The biggest problem was finding somewhere to park it in the company car park where it wouldn't get dinged. Practically, find a good specialist and buy a day-to-day motor (the Audi cost me £12k and ought to get me a lot of that back when I change it). I use the same specialist as Richard H and would defy you to find anyone better. My 996 has recently been awarded "second car - weekend - nice day - drive it 'cos I can" status and now does 5-6000 miles per annum so I now use semi-synthetic GTX Magnatec and have it overserviced on purpose. The next one is a 24k (in theory 72k) service at 42k miles. A lot of advice says change the oil every 6000 miles anyway, regardless of type. If you're likely to do big mileage, I'd consider this very good advice. Cost wise, if you avoid a dealer, an oil and filter change only will cost you less than £100. It is most definitely worth it. After two years of ownership, I still can't believe I'm saying this. My 996 is by far the cheapest car I've ever owned!!* * Incidentally, last year's 12k service, with no extras required, cost me about £150. I had a 1997 VW Polo at the time as well which cost me £220 for a 12k service at a specialist with no extras.

Hi, Is there a specific reason you would use a semi synthentic oil, even with the shorter oil change periods? Cheers Pete

Castrol Magnatec is on the Porsche Approved Oils list anyway, so Mr P is obviously happy with it. 'Our' specialist uses Magnatec as standard fill for all services (unless otherwise specified), and even uses it in the air-cooled race engines he prepares. A lot of independents use it - it's bl**dy good stuff, and a heck of a lot cheaper than '1'.

Hi, I'm sure Magnatec is a good oil, and a lot of Independents seem to use it, but I would have thought a fully synthetic oil would be even better? Each to their own, but if you are saving the money on labour charges by doing your own oil changes, then the extra cost of a fully synthetic oil would be minimal? Pete

I just bought a warranty this week. Cost me £500 to replace the A/C condenser, but worth doing it for peace of mind. I overheard the lass of the reception desk telling a customer that his RMS had failed, qouting nearly £1000 to fix it. Ouch! You don't have to have your car serviced at the main dealers, as long as the servicing is done to the same spec/standard.

It's just my personal experience. When I bought the car it had just been serviced with Magnatec by Northways. I then switched to Havoline FS 5W-40 which was recommended, and I got a good deal on 20 litres from our heating oil supplier. When it ran out and I couldn't get the same deal, I tried Mobil 1 0W-40. I soon found out how much thinner this stuff is. 996's have a quirk that they can produce a rattling noise at startup after the car has stood for a while (overnight). The oil drains out the hydraulic tappets and takes a second or two to pump back up at startup. I also noticed the oil pressure was reading a little lower, albeit you couldn't say it was serious. I changed back to Magnatec and the 'problem' all but disappeared. I'm happy with the way it works, and maybe there is something in the cold start performance Castrol bang on about in their advertising.

Hi Richard Interesting observations, I've just swapped from Magnatec today (as filled by the dealer I bought the car from) to Silkolene Pro 5-40, which is fully synthetic, and also has the esters that give the "Magnatec" effect, so I shall be monitoring things carefully to see the effect on temperatures and pressures, and any noises on start up. Cheers Pete

I'm sure the Silkolene 5W-40 will be fine - it's just the 0W oils I'm not keen on. It will be interesting to see how the Silkolene performs in your 171,00 miler (respect!). Of course the 993 engine is a whole lot different to the 996.

I've used Silkolene Pro 5W40 in the past (lovely stuff), but not tried it in a Porsche, so I should be interested to hear how you get on with it.

Hi, Magnatec is a "semi-synthetic" not a fully synthetic oil, and so I can believe what you say about it breaking down in turbo charged cars with the high temperatures involved. It is, however, on the Porsche approved list and should provide adequate protection for our cars - not sure if there is a specific list for turbo Porsches? Personally I don't like the idea of using anything but a synthetic oil in any high performance engines (especially mine [ ] ) and for a turbocharged engine I would say it would be essential, but lots of Porsche independents seem to use Magnatec quite happily, which means a lot of the Porsche population is running on it my 2p Pete