I have 13K miles and changed my oil about 4 times which works out to once a year. My car is a DD but I live 1 mile from work.

 

I think it would be interesting to see if owners that change their engine oil more frequently are DIY'ers, and the ones arguing for less frequent changes use a dealer's service department.

Just a thought.

 

Can't understand ANYONE recommending or using regular gas. The manual recommends 93 octane. I switch between 92 and 94 octane. Here in Vancouver, Canada, Chevron has 94 octane. I tend to agree with most responses that the max. interval for oil change should be one year, but as most have said, it depends very much on driving pattern and conditions. It's inconsequential cost compared to the price you paid for this grand machine.

 

I change it every 12 months or 6000 miles whichever comes first.

 

the dealer told me once a year as well, i thought he was crazy, but in my mind i knew to change it every 5k, but i think i could entertain 10k, but 20k or 2 years, oh hell no.....i cant see my baby taking a beating with the same oil for 2 years with the same oil...

 

Given the price of the toy, it makes little sense saving on oil, anyway.

 

I change oil once a year but my manual says every 20000 miles or 2 years. see attached.

 

Off hand, I'd say the person you talked to at that dealership is a twit if he suggested the use of regular gas, even by implication. The Porsche is a versatile sports car. Granted, some owners drive them in places where you can't count on getting premium fuel except in major cities. Like any good design, the engine will survive use in those extreme situations their customers meet, but it isn't the intent, that is the real purpose, of the design. This is a powerful sports car that should be driven as such. Don't dawdle around town at 30 mph in sixth gear -- whatever that stupid mileage arrow says -- and don't try to economize on consumables, especially fuel and oil, but also the filters for air, fuel and oil.

Open up the engine cover and notice how little space is left over. Then ask a friend to open up his Corvette Z06. You could put up a family of possums in his engine bay with the space left over by that large displacement V-8. (Well, some pretty heat tolerant possums, if the car was being driven.) The Porsche engines, especially the S and turbo models, have a higher ratio of power output to cubic foot of engine bay than any other civilian machine I've seen. What makes that possible is the complex interaction of three fluids to cool and operate the engine internals: oil, water-mix coolant, and air.

You need to respect the design and its need for reliable fluids. I'm sure the compensation for low octane is a brilliant design, but basically you're asking more of the car and getting less when you use cheap gas or oil. Lower octane fuels generate more heat and the wrong kind of oil does a lesser job of dissipating it, as well as causing problems with the internal engine mechanisms that rely on hydraulic actuation. That is, things like the variable valve timing, which uses oil flowing through some pretty narrow channels to adapt quickly. Least glamorously, make sure your air intakes stay clear. Ever notice how a Formula One team will have one person checking the air intakes every time the car pits? Your Carrera deserves that attention at least once a week, and immediately if you run over a plastic bag or the like and don't see it appear again in your rear view.

Don't let that dealer convince you that an exotic sports car is just like a Volkswagen. It is not. Porsches are famously reliable, but they must be treated like fine machinery to deliver that reliability.

This is our first Porsche, for various reasons. We just bought it in November, but we've had sports cars for fifty years and just finished ten years with another exotic. We live fifty miles from the nearest dealer, over some freeways that are trying at our age, so we'll try to plan our visits for twice a year. Possibly a third visit if something annoying comes up. Every time the car sees the dealer, it will get an oil change. With one of the approved oil compositions, not something a neighbor says worked fine in his pickup, and not the latest suggestion from a rail-hanger at the race track either. With our annual mileage, that will work out to about 7,000 miles between changes. At worst.

We can't find 93 octane fuel closer than the Willow Springs Race Track (at about $125 per fill) but we will use the highest quality fuel we can get at a regular station. Apparently 91 octane Shell, though I sure wish we could find a slightly better source. If we should participate in one of the PCA track days, we'd put in 100 octane from the pumps at the track because I'd not feel comfortable asking for maximum power over extended intervals with a low-octane fuel.

I know all that sounds excessive when you hear it stuffed into one note, but it really isn't. It's just a matter of respecting the very sophisticated drive train in your beautiful new car. Trust me: in forty years or so, it will be second nature.

 

Excellent post Gary! Thanks for the sound advice.

 

You're always welcome.

 

i normally change all the oil on my family cars half intervals. If dealer is telling you 20K, have it changed at 10K.

 

About three weeks before my 997.2 C2S' first birthday, the service indicator came on telling me that in 21 days or 1900 miles, the car needed to be serviced. At exactly one year to the day after I took ownership (with 9400 miles clocked), the indicator came on and said get it serviced. That first year service (which cost over $500) includes changing oil and pollen filter. Although Porsche says every 2 years or 20K miles on the oil change, the electronic service indicator is not consistent with that advice.

 

Forgot if I posted up or not but, even though I do all my own work on the cars (accept for a covered warranty item), I still go 5000miles max for an oil change.

Now something to ponder (from the non-owner point-of-view). Lets say you were looking to buy a car and the owner says they have all records for the services. Question being. Would you buy that car knowing, lets say it had 19,000 miles on it an just ONE oil change?

I suspect if a poll was out there that 90%+ of the people would say no.

 

I couldn't believe it when Porsche changed the recommended interval. 20K seems excessive, doesn't it? Maybe the superior german oil they use doesn't degrade as quickly.

Regardless..do you really want to go 20K without changing your filters too?

I've started to do mine on this schedule: minor & major services + when put on mywinter tires.

RJ

 

Considering all the comments so far, the dealer in Bellingham I now use to service my recently purchased ride, they recommend one year or 10k, whichever comes first. That seems reasonable to me on the basis of normal driving. If you intend to track the car, that is a totally different scenario requiring more frequent oil changes.