Motoring Discussion > Porsche - Porsche first service due
Thread Author: legacylad Replies: 51

 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
Hard to believe it’s almost two years since I bought the Macan GTS. Some carefully considered options, and I made quite a few changes to the available options before I fully committed, but it’s lived up to, and exceeded, my incredibly high expectations. Ironically my previous car was a £2k Focus 1.6 Tdci, so quite a step change.
Dash indicated that the first service is due soon, although the mileage is still slightly sub 10k, which is good for residuals. I’m spending increasing amounts of time overseas as warmer climes are better for my health, so my annual mileage will remain circa 5k.
There’s no point moaning about service costs. Or RFL. Or mpg. It is what it is with such a vehicle and I bought it eyes wide open. Never regretted it for a second. It’s been far more enjoyable than investing my late Aunts legacy ( no pun intended) for a rainy day, and the sense of occasion whenever I get in it hasn’t diminished in the slightest.
Wonder if they’ll loan me a 911 ?
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Duncan
Don't Porsche require a service at least once a year, regardless of mileage?

Unconnected comment. I understand the spending time in warmer climates, but doesn't the flying and the traipsing to and from the airport spoil it?
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Runfer D'Hills
I'd take the Porsche to the warmer climes.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
Duncan, from where I live in the Y Dales it’s only a pleasant hours drive to LBA, 45 mins on a good run, from where the worlds your oyster with BA flights to LHR and KLM to AMS. Hand luggage only most of the time so easy peasy. The flying bit doesn’t bother me. Download films onto my tablet, headphones on, we’ve landed!

Should I ever buy overseas then I’ll definitely get an old LHD estate. Abandoning a nice car beside a forest track or similar remote spot before walking in the mountains, throwing a paddle board or kayak on the roof doesn’t really suit the Macan. And I’d need a step ladder ! A tatty old Leon ST or old Pug 406 would be just fine.
Last edited by: legacylad on Sun 11 Aug 19 at 10:45
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Duncan
Ok. Fair point.

What about the car? Doesn't Mr Porsche like his cars to be serviced once a year minimum, regardless of mileage?
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - tyrednemotional
...I think the Macan, at least, is serviced at 2 year/20000 mile intervals throughout its life.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Zero
The Beemer is 18k / 2 years. With 26k up in 20 months the time element is redundant.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Robin O'Reliant
My 02 reg almera get's a service when something breaks.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Rudedog
Z - Heresy, that you even suggest such a thing! ;)

Go on 'another' site and they would be asking you to collect your coat.

My Golf's on a variable service schedule since new with no issues.
Last edited by: Rudedog on Sun 11 Aug 19 at 20:49
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Falkirk Bairn
The service intervals of a Macan are every year in the USA
You can buy a service plan - service costs from yrs 2-5 are covered.
The 12 month service is FREE!!

A son has an X5 in the USA - recommendation is service 1 x per year or every 12,000 miles.
The car is BMW built in the USA - when the same car comes to the UK the service is longlife - every 2 years.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - zippy
>> The service intervals of a Macan are every year in the USA
>> You can buy a service plan - service costs from yrs 2-5 are covered.
>> The 12 month service is FREE!!
>>
>> A son has an X5 in the USA - recommendation is service 1 x per
>> year or every 12,000 miles.
>> The car is BMW built in the USA - when the same car comes to
>> the UK the service is longlife - every 2 years.
>>

Wasn't this done to initially please the fleet managers / lease companies as to cost and of course it probably effects the buying decisions of private car buyers too - why services yearly when two yearly will work and cost you twice as much in repair bills / longevity anyway.

 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Dave_
>> >> when the same car comes to
>> >> the UK the service is longlife - every 2 years.

>> Wasn't this done to initially please the fleet managers / lease companies as to cost

I'm led to believe the EU spec longlife service engines have a bigger sump/ oil capacity.
I still wouldn't.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - tyrednemotional
>>
>> I'm led to believe the EU spec longlife service engines have a bigger sump/ oil
>> capacity.
>>

....and probably a much higher oil spec.

(Which is why the cost of a, more regular, oil and filter change in the Americas is ludicrously low by EU standards).
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Netsur
Scotty Kilmer (YouTube) recommends oil changes every 3,000 miles on older cars although has managed to accept that cars using synthetic oils can be stretched to 10,000 miles or 12 months. Given the mileage a lot of American cars do I am surprised at the low mileage threshold. Surely a car driving 60 miles each day on the highway at 60mph is barely affecting the oil quality?
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Kevin
Service schedules for vehicles in the US always used to be based on useage profile and not a fixed time limit. If it is classed as "heavy duty" ie. in one of the hot southern states with lots of stop/start journeys, like taxis or cop cars, then it's every 3000 miles. Anything else and it's 6000 miles or more.

As TnE mentioned, oil and filter changes are dirt cheap, even fully synth, and it's done in the time it takes you to drink a soda or coffee.

When I bought my Chevy in Texas it came from the factory filled with dino oil for the first 1500 miles which was swapped to fully synth at the first service and every 6000 miles thereafter.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - sooty123
I wonder what the difference in oil spec is on identical engines between the UK and the US?
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - DP
My understanding of BMW servicing is that the intervals are entirely variable and calculated by an algorithm that monitors the number of cold starts, oil condition, driving style and so forth.

My M140i asked for its first service at 18,500 miles. It's now done 37k, and the OBC reckons it's still got 2,000 miles to go until the second one. However, it spends a lot of time on motorways at 70-80 mph and does a relatively small number of short journeys. By comparison, a mate of mine has an identical car, does the occasional track day in it, and his commute is only 6 miles each way. His asked for its first service at 9,000 miles (14 months old).

I'm not sure whether to be proud or ashamed of the fact I'm getting this sort of mileage between services, or that I'm still on my original brake pads all round at 37,000 miles! ;-) This car might be wasted on me.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Zero
I'll pop round with my odb reader, check how many times launch control has been used, and I'll let you know if you are allowed to keep it.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - DP
>> I'll pop round with my odb reader, check how many times launch control has been
>> used, and I'll let you know if you are allowed to keep it.


Never been used. Tried to engage it once, and it simply performed an incredible rolling burnout that a Santa Pod crowd would have applauded, and took a thousand miles of rubber off the rear tyres. Spectacular, and very entertaining in its own way, but not exactly what I was aiming for, nor particularly subtle. Sport Plus, gear lever over to the left, foot on the brake and mash the throttle. Clearly there's something else I missed, or it's broken.

Never bothered since. Anyhow, where's the fun in letting the electronics do it for you? One of the most fun things about this car is trying to drive it quickly with as little electronic help as possible. That engine / gearbox combo, an open diff, and the cheapest and nastiest suspension they could get away with fitting makes it 'interesting' to drive. It's an odd combination of really nice balance and good fundamental handling, but so obviously limited by really cheap components. I guess that's the only way they could stick an engine like that in a £30k car.

None of this changes the fact that for 80% of my mileage, I would be financially better off (and have no worse an experience) in a 120d, but spent far too many years doing that. And it's worth it for the other 20% :-)
Last edited by: DP on Tue 13 Aug 19 at 13:34
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - PeterS
>> My understanding of BMW servicing is that the intervals are entirely variable and calculated by
>> an algorithm that monitors the number of cold starts, oil condition, driving style and so
>> forth.
>>
>> My M140i asked for its first service at 18,500 miles. It's now done 37k, and
>> the OBC reckons it's still got 2,000 miles to go until the second one. However,
>> it spends a lot of time on motorways at 70-80 mph and does a relatively
>> small number of short journeys. By comparison, a mate of mine has an identical car,
>> does the occasional track day in it, and his commute is only 6 miles each
>> way. His asked for its first service at 9,000 miles (14 months old).
>>
>> I'm not sure whether to be proud or ashamed of the fact I'm getting this
>> sort of mileage between services, or that I'm still on my original brake pads all
>> round at 37,000 miles! ;-) This car might be wasted on me.
>>

I wouldn’t read too much into it...! My 235i has also done 37k miles. It’s rarely driven on motorways or in town. My commute is around 10 miles each way on mainly quiet A and B roads with their fair share of bends. It’s driven accordingly, and has averaged 26 point something mpg over that time (it’s got a manual ‘box). Read into that what you will about how it’s driven ;)

The first service was at around 21k miles, and it’s still 7k miles away from needing it’s major service. It’ll probably need it’s 3rd set of rear tyres around the same time (Michelin Pilot Sports), though roughly 8k miles have probably been done on winter tyres. Front pads were replaced at 34k miles, and it’s still on it’s original rear pads - they’ve got 22k miles to go according to the OBC. So all in all, actual service / maintenance costs are IMO remarkably low. And I’ve no idea how it’s gone so far between services - it’s not exactly driven slowly, though i do have a reasonable degree of mechanical sympathy I think. But the engine does sound good when revved,the acceleration is fun and the exhaust sounds much nicer now it’s worn in than it did when new...! It’s a very good 8/10ths sort of car I think...ragged when pushed, but possibly the best value 38 months motoring I’ve had :)
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - DP
>> It'll probably need it's 3rd set of rear tyres around the same time (Michelin Pilot Sports),
>> though roughly 8k miles have probably been done on winter tyres.

I run the same tyre all year round, and replaced the OE fit Pilot SuperSports with the new Pilot Sport 4 when they needed changing (fronts at 24k due to shoulder wear, rears at 28k - again, lots of motorway use). I found the Super Sport to be a fantastic tyre in the wet and dry in most conditions, but seemed to completely go off when the temperatures dropped much below 10°C. In very cold weather, they were borderline dangerous IMHO, even in dry conditions with irritating wheelspin / TC intervention even under relatively modest acceleration.

The new 4 is much better in the cold, with little perceptible trade off in summer conditions. They also seem to last longer, particularly at the front, with the fronts just showing some light scuffing on the shoulders after 13k. The nearside Super Sport was almost bald on the outer shoulder at 20k. This is a feature of the car due to the geometry, but the softer shoulder compound on the Super Sport really suffered with it.


>> But the engine does sound good
>> when revved,the acceleration is fun and the exhaust sounds much nicer now it’s worn in
>> than it did when new...! It’s a very good 8/10ths sort of car I think...ragged
>> when pushed, but possibly the best value 38 months motoring I’ve had :)

I agree, these so-called 'M-Lites' are brilliant cars. M-car performance and noise with very reasonable running costs for the performance. On a motorway run, I regularly see 40 mpg (average is nearer 28), and in 37k, total maintenance costs come to a service at £300, four tyres at £450.

Reliability has been first class. Aside from a couple of iDrive wobbles (a couple of unprompted reboots, not a single thing has gone wrong with it. It hasn't needed a drop of oil between services, although it does seem to like a coolant top-up every 15k or so. This is a "feature" of the B58 engine by all accounts.

I very much agree with the 8/10 thing, and it's mostly down to the dampers, I feel. The car gets very unsettled even in a straight line when pressing on, and you get a horrible vertical jiggling motion. With good quality suspension, and perhaps to a lesser extent for road use, a limited slip diff, I honestly think you'd have a near faultless driver's car.
Last edited by: DP on Wed 14 Aug 19 at 10:03
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Zero
With 26k up on the G31, the tyre wear has been more or less even shoulder to shoulder and front to rear (X drive remember) I have about 4k left I thought, for 30k which is not too bad. Pirellis.


However, I have noticed, that the car has started to kick the stability control in, in locations it never did previously, usually on long motorway interchanges (say M25n to M3e, M25w to M23s)

With fresher tyres they were taken at Motorway speed, 70mph with no drama but now at that velocity you can feel the power output being modulated. The runflats will be replaced with normal tyres, rain tyres probably, before the winter weather kicks in. Oh and a slime type pump repair kit.


Handling wise the g31 is a big heavy beast, its porkiness on full display in comfort mode, a bit wallowy and floaty, the self levelling rear however is fast enough to prevent squatting or nose-diving under fast speed changes, I have induced understeer a couple of times, but no oversteer.

Sport fixes the lardiness, with really not much reduction in ride comfort, you notice it but its not "ouch" by any means. Adaptive however is the way to go, flat and stable through bends at speed even humpy or off camber ones, with, as I discovered, even the gearbox dumping itself down a couple of gears prior to corner entry, all on its own. It is however never going to be a 10/10ths car, pushed it to 8/10s probably which is good for 1,800kg spread over 5 metres.

It is however an 11/10s car in snow. Spectacular forward traction, choose easy graceful 4 wheel drifts or lurid but controlled oversteer, which is all very useful and life saving given its frightening inability to stop on the white stuff.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 14 Aug 19 at 11:00
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - PeterS

>> I run the same tyre all year round, and replaced the OE fit Pilot SuperSports
>> with the new Pilot Sport 4 when they needed changing (fronts at 24k due to
>> shoulder wear, rears at 28k - again, lots of motorway use). I found the Super
>> Sport to be a fantastic tyre in the wet and dry in most conditions, but
>> seemed to completely go off when the temperatures dropped much below 10°C. In very cold
>> weather, they were borderline dangerous IMHO, even in dry conditions with irritating wheelspin / TC

Agreed, the MPSSs are poor in lowish temperatures, even when dry, and worse when wet. That’s why I bought a set of winter wheels / tyres. Good to know that Pilot Sport 4 is much better... if I do keep it beyond this winter and then I’ll replace the MPSSs with the Sport 4 and see how the following winter goes!

I say if; difficult to know what to replace it with really... mines a convertible, and there aren’t any competitors bar, perhaps, the Mercedes C43 AMG. But that’s AWD, so means forgoing the rear wheel drive of the BMW. But the next service is a major one - that’s £710 including plugs. A set of tyres will be needed. £500 or so. Rear pads/discs seem to be £530. Add the next MOT and that’s an £1,800 bill almost /manmaths on. So,...
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Zero
>> My understanding of BMW servicing is that the intervals are entirely variable and calculated by
>> an algorithm that monitors the number of cold starts, oil condition, driving style and so
>> forth.
>>
>> My M140i asked for its first service at 18,500 miles. It's now done 37k, and
>> the OBC reckons it's still got 2,000 miles to go until the second one.

With 26k up in 18 months, clearly mine has spent a large proportion of its life on Motorways, First service was called for at 18,500, and my phone app says the car wants another in 11k miles, so thats 37k. Algorithm or not thats as near 18k miles between services as you can get.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Manatee
Perhaps 18,500 is the backstop. When we leave the EU it will be scrapped (the backstop, not the car).
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Zero
Ooo really? best get my service in before Halloween. (how appropriate that day has become)
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Bobby
My X1 F48 (like it Zero) was registered Sept 16.

Has had one service, 30 Oct 2018 at 8597 miles

The dash thingy is telling me "16000 miles to service (09/19)"

So does that mean I have to service it Sept 19 irrespective of mileage?
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Zero
Whatever is first, but I thought time based servicing was every two years, 30 oct 2020
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 14 Aug 19 at 14:55
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Bobby
Its only on 11500 miles now. Maybe I should ask BMW conscierge services whilst I still have that function!
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Zero
Its probably the stuff needed every three years, like brake fluid.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
The first service on the Macan GTS, due imminently at two years or 20k miles, whichever comes first, is £575. It is what it is.
I’ve just worked out that in 2019 I’ll have been away from home, not using the car, for 29 weeks, and I’ve already got 14 weeks booked before the end of May 2020.
Before anyone thinks I’m a multi millionaire, my long term winter rentals, 10 weeks at a time, cost about €60 per night in a 4 bedroomed villa. Split 3 or 4 ways, sometimes more when friends come and go, so dirt cheap. Far less on my back packing trips around the U.K.
It’s hard to justify tying up so much ££ in the vehicle when I’m not around very much. Common sense tells me to sell it now that the itch has been scratched, buy a much cheaper practical estate with a decent engine, and move on. OTOH the new model Macan, it’s just had a mid term facelift, will be purely electric...no petrol, no hybrid, so maybe it will become more sought after. Who knows.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - PeterS
As you clearly like it, I would go by the old adage that the cheapest car is the one you’ve already got, and keep it. Now, how exactly does one practice what one preaches...?!? ;)
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Zero

>> around very much. Common sense tells me to sell it now that the itch has
>> been scratched,

Given how many miles you have driven it, and how long you have been in the uk, thats an itch thats barely been noticed let alone scratched.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - sooty123
I’ve just worked out that in 2019 I’ll have been away from home, not using
>> the car, for 29 weeks,

that's good going we are only in august! :0
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
22 to date. 7 pending. A few days ago I spotted a £34 Jet2 mid AM flight on 5/11. Return Ryanair 21/11 @€31. LBA - Alicant. Great villa with 3 friends...€150 rental cost each per week inc gas, electric, laundry, final clean, WiFi. Fabulous long distance views minutes from the Costa Blanca coast at Moraira
I’m happy to pass on details to anyone
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - smokie
Not sure I'd want to share with your 3 friends, thanks all the same :-)

Seriously - are you saying it's €600 a week, at that time of year? Does it have pool etc?
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
Smokie. It’s a 3 bed, 2 bath villa, with 6’ comfortable sofa bed in the sun room. Heated pool. Garage, private parking, extensive terrace with views SW to the Bernia, so great sunsets.
€1200 5>21 November inc all bills
I’ve dealt with the very professional agents for a number of years and already booked the same villa for 10 weeks early 2020.
PM me if you want details of the place and the agents who own virtually all of their extensive rental portfolio
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - PeterS
>> Its probably the stuff needed every three years, like brake fluid.
>>

It’ll be exactly that I reckon. Mine was keen to remind me of the time countdown to the vehicle check (MOT) 3 years after I picked it up, as well as a brake fluid change which was, strangely, an amber alert which turned red as the car ticked over 35 months since first registration. The BMW connected app helpfully gives you dealer prices for all of the items that might need attending to...
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Bobby
Will check the dealer price and also a local indie BMW specialist.
If this is a kind of variable servicing does that mean the price won’t be known till they have it in and hooked up and it tells them what is required?

On a side note, a couple of jobs I have applied for include a company car. One is local whereas one is more national. I really don’t want to give the X1 up but I also don’t have room for a fifth car at the house! There may we’ll be a cash option instead of car.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Falkirk Bairn
A son's 4 year old Porsche 911 is in for it's 4th service - it's low mileage but it has an annual service.

Last year about 6 months after the 3rd year service the on board computer perked up saying service due in XXXX miles. The service counter had not been reset at the service.

All it has had in the past was the service - nothing out of line - he get it back on Monday so, fingers crossed, it is the same as previous years i.e. nothing to report.

The garage always hand out loan cars - normally well above the spec of the one you own.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Boxsterboy
>> throwing a paddle board or kayak on the roof doesn’t really suit the Macan.
>>

But I thought that's what SUVs were for?? - or is it just the marketing men who think that :-)
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
35 years ago I used to put my heavy, long windsurfing board on top of my B reg Pug 205. There were huge overhangs at both ends. Without putting the mast up there.
In the real world a twin cab pickup with proper load bay would be ideal for my toys. SUVs are hopeless for such things
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Bobby
Passed a 911 today with a full size roofbox on it.

Just didn't look right!
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Runfer D'Hills
More or less permanently, there's bike racks on top of my car. They get used at least once a week in the winter and more than that when the evenings are lighter.

When I had an SUV it was frankly a pain in the bum, as the racks were by default, higher to reach and load, and even being a fairly standard issue 6' tall, I sometimes struggled to reach the middle racks.

Estate cars work far better for me for that purpose, and indeed for the loading and unloading of my work stuff in or out of the back of them.

That coupled with the fact that I prefer to drive with my backside nearer to the road rather than feeling like I'm sitting on a bar stool, keeps me very much in favour of an estate over an SUV.

Each to their own of course.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
Estate cars definitely work better than any SUV when carrying roof mounted kit.
It’s booked in for a service early September after transporting several of us around the Lowlands as we are spending 5 days walking the Southern Upland Way. It will come back filthy so a complimentary valet will be a bonus!
I requested a courtesy car...Golf Type R ok sir ? OK says I but any chance of a pre owned 911. If you don’t ask you don’t get...I bet neither are as much fun as my garage pals courtesy car from decades ago. An Alfasud Ti. There you go, rose tinted glasses again.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Zero
Estate cars work better for most things, and certainly for pet transport its a transit van or an estate, A fellow doggy person has the new X5, its mega huge, yet there is more load space in my estate
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 21 Aug 19 at 03:12
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Kevin
>...and certainly for pet transport its a transit van or an estate,

Free beer if you bring Fido to the pub on Bank Hol Monday.

www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/17849038.old-basing-pub-offering-free-pints-dog-owners-bank-holiday-monday/
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
And today’s courtesy car was......a spanking new proper Barbie mobile. A showroom fresh Macan in white, with drug dealer style tints, ugly wheels but the impressive new 11” touchscreen. Only the 2.0 with 245 bhp but various modes to stiffen the suspension and alter the PDK settings. It’s more than acceptable, and in exchange for a hugely expensive oil and brake fluid change mine comes back clean and shiny, inside and out.
The only fly in the ointment is that my local dealer, Parker’s in Kendal, have a second hand MY2015 911 Carrera 4 GTS in stock, one of the last of the normally aspirated 3.8 flat sixes. Nowhere to put my pressure washer, hose reel, Honda petrol mower, bags of sand & cement.
And it sounds gorgeous. Really really gorgeous. And looks a million dollars in Agate Grey.
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - Runfer D'Hills
No problem. Trailer. Job done. And, you'd get to drive a bloke's car...
;-)
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
Just like my olde worlde 330 convertible.
That question is already on my list. And it comes with a 24 month Europe wide warranty
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - tyrednemotional
>>And it comes with a 24 month Europe wide warranty
>>

...what more incentive could a man who drives less than 5k miles a year, and only in the UK, need... ?

;-)
 Porsche - Porsche first service due - legacylad
Slight thread drift, but I probably drive more miles in Europe these days than in the UK. I enjoy driving overseas, and my friends are happy to let me almost always be behind the wheel. And as I never ever drink and drive, not even a bottle of shandy, after mountain walks and trips out most days during the winter months, there are no arguments about the appointed driver.
Perhaps because of this I find myself, quite unexpectedly in the UK, reminding myself to ‘drive on the left’ sometimes when exiting fuel stops, cafes etc on quiet roads or at night. That I find quite strange.
And the 911 had been sold today. Just as well because it wasn’t homologated for towing.
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