geoff

Try Doing some defensive maintenance, Here's what's being done and 60K mi gotchas that are not often found(?) for starters. Plus things like pulling the front bumper and cleaning out the radiators, checking for torn CV boots, etc. Search for the phrase "60K service" to find more. I had the transmission oil changed at my 60K mile service besides everything Porsche recommends. Clean the throttle body if you haven't already done so.

Tim - thanks for the recommendation. I purchased the tires back in mid-November (and already received the $100 rebate). Still no tires. I've got the original Continental tires still on the Cayenne, with 26+K miles on them, and still not at the wear bars. The tires wear well, but were nothing special. I'll look into the Extend Contact DWS tires, but based on my Continental tire experience with both my Cayenne and Boxster, and compared to the Michelin Pilot Sports on my cars, I'm less than impressed with the way Porsches perform with Continental tires. The Extend Contact DWS tires aren't listed on the N-rated Cayenne tires at http://www.porsche.com/usa/accessoriesands...tsanddownloads/ - I also drank too much punch, and am inclined to go with N-rated tires, at least as long as the car is still under warranty, based on my discussions with the head mechanic at my dealer (I also still put Mobil 1 0w40 in my cars, so what does that say about me?). I'll do some research on the tires and report back. I'm leaning away from the Michelin Latitude Sports, since they don't do great under about 40°F on the off chance the Cayenne sees cold weather any time in the next year or two

I had seen http://www.designpaulchampagne.com/928Dash.html referenced on some Porsche forum a long time ago and bookmarked the site. Don't know much about the guy, but he says he now does Boxsters, which have the same dash as a 996. Since your profile says you are somewhere in Ventura county, there are a number of decent and not expensive auto upholstery places in Oxnard if you're not going after 100% authentic. I had the bench seat on my Toyota pickup reupholstered for $120, and the quality was as good as the factory original. If you're anywhere near Oxnard, you might want to get some trusted recommendations and stop by some of the shops to check out the quality of their work

I always thought it was British slang for Porsche, like they refer to Mercedes as Mercs. They have such a colorful way with words on the other side of the pond, which is obvious if you ever watch Top Gear Urban Dictionary has the definition "Any Porsche vehicle or Porsche driver"

Try making your pictures smaller. There's a limit on the combined size of attachments. I've successfully uploaded more than 2 pictures in a single post when they are a more manageable size Looks like a very nice car. The cocoa interior is great, that's what we have on our Carrera

For the past several weeks, I've had a very annoying squeak that sounds like it's coming from the front of my car ('01 Boxster, 5 speed, ROW M030, 18" wheels, 64K miles). It's noticeable driving downhill on a twisty canyon road at around 20-30 MPH. Not a metallic squeak, but more like the squeak you get behind the dash on a new car from plastic rubbing against something. It seems to occur more when it's warmer, and isn't noticeable over speed bumps. It's either getting worse, or I'm just noticing it more and more. I went to the dealer last week and the mechanic went with me for a joyride, but he couldn't hear the noise (I could). Based on searching here, the probable culprit sounds like the rubber bushing in the lower control arm. The mechanic plans to apply some high-tech grease to see if that solves the squeaking noise, at least temporarily, so we can identify if the lower control arm is in fact the problem. Any other suggestions for diagnosing the problem? I'm guessing trying to touch only one suspension component at a time is probably the best approach for narrowing down the source of the squeak. Any secrets to quickly isolate the problem anyone cares to share? If it is the lower control arms, is there any advantage to spending the extra $ on the GT3 control arms? Are they any stronger or do they wear better? Is it possible to replace the rubber bushings that wear on these in the future instead of having to buy all new control arms the next time?

I ordered some 19" Michelin Latitude Tour HP tires from my local tire store back in November, and told them no rush before mid-December. The store manager ordered them anyway, and found 3 in the US. Unfortunately, I need 4 tires. I've checked with the store ever 2 weeks for the last month and keep getting the story the tires aren't being manufactured right now. These are all season mud and snow rated tires. The manager offered to split the difference between the cost of the Latitude Tour HP and the Latitude Sport (the Sport is about $30 more per tire). The Latitude Sport is a higher performance tire, but not recommended for snow or ice (which I've only driven the Cayenne in once). Anyone here have the Latitude Sports? If yes, how do they drive in the rain (lots expected here for the next month)? I expect almost anything will be better than my original Continental tires, now with around 27K miles on. I would like to have tires I can take to the snow, but not sure when the Latitude Tour tires will be back in supply.

Phillip - sounds like you need to fnd a new dealer! (you actually met the head mechanic at my local dealer last year in Ventura when we were talking to Charles Navarro)

Try the Internet Wayback Machine for old web content - http://web.archive.org/web/20070811023322/...emarkermod.html

That does absolutely nothing to help in snow. To be honest, engaging the low range and locking the differential might even be harmful since you're on the road and its not really designed to be used at speed. Side road to a lake. Solid ice mixed with deep snow. Very low speeds. Very impressive being able to drive through that stuff I think the low range and locked differential is limited to something like 35 or 40 MPH.

I wouldn't use Mobil 1 0w40 in a lawn mower either, or any other 2 cycle motor Please don't turn this topic into a Mobil 1 bashing discussion! That was never my intent in posting. There are plenty of other Mobil 1 comes straight from hell topics

It was the Mobil consumer site and I asked a basically simple, non-technical product usage question. From their answer, it's clear none of the Mobil 1 5w40 products on Porsche's approved oil list are available in the US, even though they are listed as applicable world wide. The two Mobil 1 5w40 oils readily available today in the US here don't correspond to any of Porsche's approved oils I never intended this to be a technical discussion on the relative merits of Mobil 1, or to discuss the best weight motor oil, or to give Loren cause to lock this topic. Just to let members here know what Mobil had to say about Mobil 1 5w40 suitability

I was surprised and impressed I got an answer so quickly. The answer also made it clear Mobil's 5w40 oils are not their recommended product for Porsches

I took my '08 S to the snow for the first time around Christmas. First time I ever used the low range and locking differential. Is Porsche getting rid of the low range and locking diff for the 2011 models? The transmission has to go into low mode first before the differential can be locked After doing some research, I found the Offroad Technology Package is a seldom ordered option that gives some of the differential locking capabilities described in the owners manual. Are they going to make low range an option like this?

I've seen more and more posts here and elsewhere regarding Mobil 1 is good, Mobil 1 is bad, use 5w40 instead of 0w40, etc. Most posts degenerate into opinion, speculation, ignorance or worse. So I looked on the Mobil 1 web site and found there are 2 Mobil 1 5w40 oils, one for diesel engines and another specifically formulated for Mercedes cars. Neither of these appear to be on Porsche's A40 approved oil list. So last night (Sunday) I asked Mobil which oil was suitable for use in Porsche cars: I have several relatively new Porsches and have been using Mobil 1 0w40 in all of them. The Porsche technical service bulletin of A40 approved oils also lists Mobil 1 5w40 and shows worldwide availability. I've found Mobil 1 5w40 diesel oil and Mobil 1 ESP Formula M 5W-40 for Mercedes cars. Are either of these approved for use in Porsche cars? I can't figure out which Mobil 1 5w40 Porsche has approved. Which should I be using? A lot of people are now recommending to use Castrol Syntec 5w40, or another synthetic 5w40, instead of the 0w40 weight oil, but I would rather use Mobil 1 if possible. And this morning I actually got an answer back from them (their exact response, which indicates somebody answered and somebody else sent the answer back to me) ExxonMobil wrote: The Mobil1 0W40 motor oil is the suitable product. -- Thank you for choosing ExxonMobil products. If you need further assistance, please contact ExxonMobil at 1-800-ASK-MOBIL I hope this helps some decide whether or not Mobil 1 0w40 is suitable for (continued) use and reduces some of the less useful oil discussions. I'm neither advocating nor impugning the use of Mobil 1 or 0w40 oils, just reporting what Mobil responded to me.

Go to RennTech Store at Amazon at the top of any page under Special Offers and search for Raggtopp fabric top protectant

Depends on the dealer and your relationship with them. In the past month or two, my '01 Boxster has started having a slight squeaking noise from the front on downhill legs of tight twisty roads. I called my local dealer to see if I could stop by and maybe they could figure out if it's something loose, worn bushings in the lower control arms, or something else. When I got there, my service writer marches me out to the head mechanic, I talk to him for about 15 minutes, and then we (mechanic and me) go for an extended joyride in my car through the canyons to see if he can hear the noise (I did, he didn't). (The place was busy, and all the lifts had cars on them) Then we spend another 10 minutes when we get back to the dealership in their driveway trying to reproduce the noise. Bottom line is we couldn't figure out where the noise was coming from, so I'm going back next week so they can squirt some high tech grease into the bushings to see if that silences the problem. I've never had any other dealer or indie give me this level of service (Lexus included), and in general the dealer service cost seems to be on par with the top Porsche independents in the area (I've asked). Total cost for today's diagnosis was $0. I have a great working relationship with both the service writer and mechanic, but every customer who is reasonable and realistic seems to get treated fairly. I don't think it's fair to generalize and say all dealers are crooks or worse (although I'm sure some are). In today's economy, everyone seems to be more reasonable than in the past for what they charge for service, and the good dealers seem to be busier than ever (my local dealer has plenty of business these days, both sales and service). Maybe it's a rare example, but if you look and ask around, there are some very good dealer service departments. And some will go to bat with PCNA for out of warranty cars on items that are known issues.

A lot of people here seem to buy the factory manuals from user porschelibrarian (I have no experience with him/her). You might want to PM him to see what he has

I bought the yellow cover Porsche Owners Maintenance Manual by the same author. Nowhere as useful as the Bentley. A while ago, Sunset was selling the Porsche OBD manual for a great price - see Porsche Factory Repair Manual Sale, Sunset Imports. Even though it wasn't the latest DME version, there is lots of useful information. You might want to check with Sunset to see what they have left in stock

My wife loved driving her '05 997 so much we bought an '08 Cayenne S for our dog (we have to drive it for the dog). But we kept the Carrera. And the Boxster. I've been very pleasantly surprised with the fuel economy in the Cayenne - around 20 MPG highway at respectable cruising speeds. You might not do quite as well with the Turbo. The Carrera holds a lot for its relatively compact size, but the Cayenne holds so much more. The back seat is lots more usable for people, too. Many Cayenne parts are a lot less expensive than their Carrera counterparts. While not as enjoyable as a Porsche sports car on twisty roads, the Cayenne does a pretty good job holding its own compared to most other cars on the road. And driving it puts a smile on our faces. But totally different driving dynamics from the Carrera Enjoy your new Cayenne :D

Just to close out this topic, here's the before picture of the trim and (what's left of the) wiper arm. After picture looks like new, so no point in posting. After this experience, I set the tailgate so it wouldn't open nearly as high so it doesn't smash into any more parking garage ceilings, using the procedure described in the owner's manual. The trim under the window just pops in and out - replacement takes less than a minute. I had the dealer replace the window (insurance co. for the garage paid), and the mechanic said it takes a lot longer than expected due to all the pieces that have to come out first

Old topic, but finally cleaning out pictures from my camera. You can just pull the little metal piece out of the ash tray and make it into a slightly more useful storage area. Works for a 986/996 also

The 05 987 order guide (top of page under Documents) says the following: Standard equipment includes: ... Anti-lock Braking System (ABS). ... Driver and passenger front and side airbags. ... Immobilizer System with transponder system for safety protection. Central locking with remote control. among lots of other standard items. Maybe your insurance agent will accept the dealer order guide that shows they are standard features and not available as an option. I'm assuming you have a US model Boxster and not some gray market import

Congratulations on your new Boxster! Tire wear depends on your specific tires/wheels, driving style, proper alignment, the kinds of roads you drive on, and keeping the tires correctly inflated and balanced. With lots of spirited canyon driving, I get about 27+K miles (43+K Km) on my rear tires, a bit more on the front, on my 986, which is a lot compared to many. 987s should do a little better. Some people report rear tires worn out in as little as 10K miles (16K Km). Rear tires wear a lot faster than front ones, because that's where the power is put down on the road and they carry more weight. Your tires have wear bars to show when they need to be replaced, or use a tire depth gauge to measure how much tread is left. I usually get an alignment ever two or so years. Same story on brake pads - it all depends. I have over 60K miles (96K Km) on my original brake pads and they have a lot of material left. It's a manual transmission. My wife's 997 Carrera goes through front brake pads about every 30K miles; it's a tiptronic and she does more stop-and-go driving. Brake pads wear out faster on tips than manual transmissions. Front brake pads wear about twice as fast as rear ones. Rotors typically last about twice as long as brake pads. As with tires, you can measure your brake pads and rotors to see how much you have left before they are worn out.

15K miles is what my '01 Boxster maintenance manual says for an oil change (and 60K miles for the fuel filter, etc.). If you look at the Porsche maintenance summary PDF referenced in my earlier post, Porsche magically changed the maintenance intervals for a number of items relative to when the cars were new (more frequent maintenance now). Which tells me either there are two sets of recommended maintenance intervals and someone used a different one from what we were all originally told, or Porsche was overly optimistic in their original maintenance schedules and found it was causing higher than acceptable failure rates