georgios

Hi all, Happy Thanksgiving!

2 days ago my friend here in Pittsburgh slid on ice and her car spun. Fortunately she walked away absolutely fine but torn because her baby got banged up..(it hit the guard rail).  It is a 1997 Boxster 5 speed, sports package and 22,000 miles.

A preliminary estimate includes:

Front Bumper, Front lamps, Repair Ft inr strucure, Frame/Unibody set up/Guage, Repair Unibody/Factory specs, Front Cover, Side Cover, Hood, Lt and Rt fenders, 1 wheel, Both airbags and diagnostic unit, Lt rocker panel,Lt Door, mirror, Lt quarter panel, rear lamps, rear bumper,and an alignment.

This is the major components and the cost is $10,685.  From the estimate I am not sure if there is any damage or mention of damage to the frame.

I have 2 questions:

1) How is damage to the frame evaluated or determined?

2)She is VERY attached to the car, as most of us are:)  If this is the extent of the damage, would it be worth to repair?  The amount of parts to be replaced makes me wonder if the car will perform and be as reliable as it was prior to the accident.  

Fortunately, I have never been in this position and have little experience with such extensive repairs/damage.

I appreciate your feedback

Thanks Loren. Thanks again for all the input everyone.

Thanks for all the input so far. I most likely will take the car to PA. Would I contact a Porsche dealer locally,the DMV, or is there another source I should be looking at?

Hi,

I live in Athens, Greece and have a 2003 C4S 6 speed, purchased in Germany. I plan to move back to the US. What modifications do I need to make, if any, and what approximate cost would I be looking at? I want to see if its worth making the mods here in Athens. I noticed that the rear bumper is different......that's about it.

Thanks

Hi,

I was away for 6 weeks and just started driving my 996 4S and the same thing happened. Twice actually and both times when I hit the brakes rather hard. I am glad it may only be the brake light switch. Just had my clutch, RMS and IMS replaced and had nightmares of additional huge costs. By the way....still have a minor oil leak and I am contemplating if its worth going back in there to change the RMS?!

Thanks for all the input..........Tom, how do I get in touch with Jake Raby? Also Geoff, my mechanic has access to Porsche tools. Will it be necessary to purchase the tool from LNE to extract the bearing, etc? Once again all the input is greatly appreciated.

George

Considering that the car has only 40K miles would it be standard procedure to go ahead with the upgrade at this point? I guess my other option is to have the transmission pulled and if the IMS bearing is questionable to then have it replaced.

Thanks,

Off hand, what would the cost be for the parts. I forgot to mention that the car is a 2003 996 4S. It is a 6 speed with roughly 65000 klm on it. All the work will be performed by a friend of mine who is a car mechanic and quite trustworthy ( I think he will be charging me roughly 400 euros or close to 600$ for all the work).

Hi,

I am writing from Athens Greece where unfortunately Porsche is quite reluctant to offer any advice and their parts are about 3 to 4 times more expensive than those in the US! Recently I was told by my mechanic (US trained) that I need a new clutch...the current one is slipping. I have gone ahead and ordered from Sunset Porsche the following:

Clutch Kit

RMS

The 8 bolts that hold the flywheel

The bolts to the pressure plate

Guide Sleeve/Tube

Clutch Release lever and bushings (2 pieces)

Small plastic lever in the ball housing of the intermediate shaft (3 pieces)

Sunset as usual was very helpful. Somewhere I read about an IMS upgrade (LNE) and when I went to their site it was mentioned that if there is no problem with the IMS to at least perform an IMS retrofit. Can someone please explain what they mean by that as I am reluctant to spend what appears to be 800$ for an IMS upgrade I may not need.

Thanks in advance for all the help because I am quite lost here.

George

Wow,

thanks for all the input! I guess I'm staying with OEM rotors as is. I dont track the car, actually its quite difficult to find a descent track out her.

George

I'm driving a 2003 C4s. I was recently checking out my rotors and pads and my freind who is also a car mechanic mentioned the fact that some after market rotors have beveled holes in order to reduce the microfractures. Is this true? If so, is this something I could have done to my current or new OEM rotors?

Thanks for any input

George

Thanks for all the input. I do plan to keep this car for a very long time.. About 18 mos ago I changed the coolant reservoir. My understanding was that the high temperatures in the engine bay cause the reservoir to crack. Is this something that I will be changing frequently? Also, how do I go about determining whether I have a faulty light switch or ignition switch? Also, I was told that the fuel filter is located in the fuel pump. Should I just pick up a fuel pump then?

George

I'll be going over for business purposes....the length of which is unknown currently. By the way, is there a relay switch that I can change that would fix the problem that I have with the lights? Also what is the MAF cleaner that Izzy recommended?

I appreciate the help.

George

I am in the process of moving to Europe and I own a 2003 996 4S. Since spare parts are rather expensive in Europe I will be bying whatever I can here in the US and take with me for later us. My car has approximately 35000 miles on it. I have already purchased 1 set of brake pads (front and rear), and plan to purchase front and rear rotors , and maybe a fuel pump as well. Does this sound right? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Parts in Greece are about double the price right now.

Also, lately I noticed that sometimes when I turn the light switch on, the xenon lights dont go on but when I turn the switch off and on again they light up. Is that indicative of a bad switch?

ROW cars Europe 2003: spark plug change 80.000 Km or 4 years

oil change 20.000 Km or 2 years

fuel filter + poly V-belt 80.000 Km

air filter 40.000 Km

cabine filter 20.000Km

Thanks,

Do you use Porsche's spark plugs......they charge 14 euros a piece?

George

Hi,

On my RoW 2003 996 4s 6 speed should I also purchase the NGK sparkplugs described in a previous post? I bought the car with 32,000klm on it and it now has a little over 41,000klm. I cant find the owner's previous records. I was told that he took it in and had it "serviced" right before I bought it and I was told to change the oil now. Is it necessary to change the plugs or should I wait. I do very little mileage in this car......10,000 klms in 16+ mos. The post says to change them in 60,000klms or 4 yrs. Also,I read that the fuel filter should be replaced every 80,000 km, In Greece fuel is not of the highest quality, so should I replace it every 40,000 or is that overkill?

Thanks

George

Hi,

On the same note for my 2003 996 4s should I also purchase the NGK sparkplugs? I bought the car with 32,000klm on it and it now has a little over 41,000klm. I cant find the owner's previous records. I was told that he took it in and had it "serviced" right before I bought it and I was told to change the oil now. Is it necessary to change the plugs or should I wait. I do very little mileage in this car......10,000 klms in 16+ mos. The post says to change them in 60,000klms or 4 yrs.

Thanks

George

Mobil One 0W40 is the proper fill. If you buy tires outside of Greece, won't you be hit with a potential duty upon re-entry?

Since Germany and Greece are part of the EC, there would be no duty. I just wonder if the difference is large enough to justify buying them there.

Hi,

I live in Athens Greece and own a 2003 996 4S. I need new tires but will be visiting Germany in the near future. If any German or non German members for that matter are aware what the prices are I would greatly appreciate it. I am looking at purchasing Continental 295 30 rear and 225 40 front on 18 inch rims. In Athens the going cost is 1250 euros installed but I was told that in Germany they were significantly cheaper!

Also, what oil make is recommended for my next oil change? I was thinking Mobil 1?

THANKS!

No, the clutch is hydraulic - so no adjustment.

There were some bad release bearing lever arms but those were before MY03.

So I assume that by replacing all of the above that the mechanic recommended at Porsche, will not make the clutch feel any different. And If that is so.......I'm in a bind as there is no one else I can take the car to while its under warranty.

By the way, would a worn disk and pressure plate be covered by the warranty? I would assume not, even though the car only has 40,000 Klm.

George

Once again I am writing from Athens Greece. Took the car in today to have the radiator replaced. The mechanic last time who drove the car, 996 4S 2003 6 speed, said that the clutch was a little heavy or tight, and that he would adjust it. Fine with me. Today whan I took it in I was told that It was a big job and that the clutch disc and the pressure disc had to be changed. Keep in mind that I had no problems with shifting in all 6 grs and noticed no slipage either. I told them that If everything was covered under the warranty to go ahead with the replacements otherwise to call me. They haven't called yet. By the way, is the clutch adjustable in the 996? Excuse my ignorance!

George

The other day I was taking my 996 4S to have a water leak checked and the battery had died. The battery had to be changed and the dealer told me that "sealed" batteries are not approved by Porsche. I related this to a store where I picked up a Sealed (non maintenance) battery for my sisters BMW and the guy said that it was ridiculous. So, for my next battery..........what should I do? I read back some of the old articles and it appears that Loren recommends the Non-maintenance kind. I didn't want to argue with the Porsche dealer because they are a cocky bunch here in Athens Greece and unfortunately the only ones (I believe) in Athens.

Thanks

George

Bingo Jeff,

Its the resevoir. Thanks for the input guys.

George

Thanks Nick, I bought this car three mos ago and had it checked by Porsche here and got a clean report. Is this somrthing they should have seen. I have only driven it about 1500 miles since then.

Yesterday I was at the Porsche dealer in Athens Greece having my key reprogrammed. I noticed that under the Left exhaust of my 2003 996 4S 6 speed there was a tiny puddle of coolant (3 inch radius). The mechanic checked the level and told me to add a little as it was low. He said this happens sometimes after one turns off the engine but to keep an eye on it. This is the first time I noticed the leak and 2 days later I noticed a couple of drops again.

Should I worry about this?

I appreciate any input.

George

By the way, it took abt 2 liters to bring the coolant up to the max level.