Am I being unreasonable.

[Dave1971]

This is going to be a bit of a ramble but you might as well have the whole story if your going to give an informed opinion.

A couple of months ago I bought myself a 07 plate Boxster from a very nice looking Maserati main dealership near Preston, 110 miles from where I live. In the first week I noticed it was using what I consider a lot of oil and smoking quite a lot on start up. I contacted the garage and said I was quite concerned about this and also pointed out another couple of things that were not right. I agreed with them to get the car inspected at a local Porsche specialist in Stockton the following week( as soon as I could ).

The specialist could not find anything obvious but agreed that if my figures were correct it was worthy of further investigation, as it turned out it was approx 1.5/1.7l in the first 1000miles.He also found another couple of things that were not as they should be.

I contacted the garage and they agreed to put the car into there workshop and inspect/repair things that were not up to scratch.They delt with everything to my satisfaction and like the local guy couldn't find an obvious reason for the oil consumption. They said they had flushed the system and done an oil change and could I keep an eye on it and log when I topped it up and by how much. We agreed I would return after about 1000 miles for a more another assessment.

Over the course of the next 1000 miles it settled down a little but was still high in my opinion. On returning it to the garage they calculated it used just over 1 litre per 1000 miles. They now say that this is well within the "up to 1.5l per 620 miles " that is stated in the owners hand book and as far as they are concerned they have "proved" that there is nothing wrong as the consumption is not high enough and they will not take it any further.

I do accept that the oil usage does not exceed what is in the handbook, but that is a MAXIMUM and not what can reasonably considered NORMAL.I do not believe they have "proved" anything, indeed this level of consumption could well be a symptom of a number of problems hidden deeper inside the engine and as such further investigation is warranted. They disagree and want nothing more to do with the car with regard to this issue.

What do you guys and girls think. Should I push it further or am I being unreasonable?

 

[Merrsh1]

I think you could argue for either position. You're at the top end of normal but still within tolerance. Nobody wants to be on the edge of that tolerance. I can see both points of view.

I would be as nice as pie going forward to provoke goodwill but I don't think you've got much of a case for complaint.

Sorry!

 

[SUUNTOBOB]

1L / thousand miles has got to be way to much, my Z4 has done 50,000 miles and I cant remember seeing an Oil drum anywhere in my garage :?

 

[paulgs1000]

Have you thought about contacting Porsche direct to discuss - that way you may get further reassurance that your engine is operating within excepted limits?

I can see why you are concerned but you will be on a hiding to nothing if the handbook states your engine Is within tolerance.

Good luck with your Porsche.

:driving:

 

[Dave1971]

Have you thought about contacting Porsche direct to discuss - that way you may get further reassurance that your engine is operating within excepted limits?

I can see why you are concerned but you will be on a hiding to nothing if the handbook states your engine Is within tolerance.

Good luck with your Porsche.

:driving:

Contacting them is my next step to get there take on the problem or lack of it.

 

[bradmarsh1989]

I bought myself a 07 plate Boxster

This appears to be the source of your problem.... :rofl:

Kidding....

I would want my car running at 100% and if any abnormal behavior was cropping up I would want it sorted at no expense!

 

[teamemmenracing]

Rather than chasing the oil usage thing - that's going to be difficult when they tell you it is within limits ......
.......... chase them up on the "smoking on start up" ..... because that is definitely not normal.

 

[sars]

Sorry Dave1971, using 1.0l/1000miles may seem very high to you and probably to most of us, but it's not high according to the manufacturer (not the dealer) who wrote the manual. Unless you have a leak somewhere and they have missed it the only solution is to change the piston rings or liners or both and that is not something to be done lightly nor freely

All the effects of someone enjoying the car when it's cold or lots and lots of short journeys :headbang:

 

[ukgatecrasher]

I have had both a Boxster and a 911 turbo, niether car used enough oil to warrant any sort of a top up between the annual service's (7-12k miles), so I would not be happy with a litre per 1000miles.

Due to the flat six design of the engine, you may experience smoke on start up on the odd occasion but not very often. For me I only noticed it about half a dozen times over a period of 5 years.

Did you take it to a reputable specialist to be checked?

The oil usage may not be your only avenue to pursue a claim, An internal boroscope could indicate piston scoring which the 987 model has been known to suffer from.

 

[pvr]

Never understood the acceptable level of oil consumption as per manufacturers. You can not even do a trip to Scotland without topping up, madness.

 

[Dave1971]

Thanks for the replies.

The trouble is it could be just one of those things (best case) but it could also be bore scoring (worst case). I'm not comfortable with keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the former and want to know which is why I'm pushing the dealer but they don't think it's an issue.

I guess if I want to know I'll have to find out myself.

 

[Hunter]

This is from experience....My Cayman s used to use about 1lr every 600 miles...i went to porsche for a full health check (reported all was fine) and they said this wasnt unusual, they said the same about the smoke on start up....then i started getting some when accelerating at roundabouts etc...then the em light came on...i took it to porsche who found the fault was down to an oil comtaminated cat....futher investigation revealed the reason for the contaminated cat was bore score on number 6 cylinder...cost for Porsche to fix....10 grand.....

 

[coupedan]

I would take Cylinder 6 coil pack and spark plug out and the bore inspected for scores etc.
It was more the 997 S (the 3.8L) engines suffered from this quite a lot but we did use to see a few 987's with the same issues.

For what it costs to get the bores inspected, it's might put your mind at ease knowing that the bores are not scored.

Just a thought..

Cheers
Dan.

 

[Dave1971]

I knew I should have bought an M. Bugger. Off to bed, it's been a long night.

 

[StevenH72]

How long do you have where you can refuse a car? i.e. hand it back to the dealer?

 

[Carol M]

Is there any smoking? (Boxster's will occasionally smoke on start up) or any leaks on the floor?

 

[coupedan]

I knew I should have bought an M. Bugger. Off to bed, it's been a long night.

It may not be as bad as you think, how long and how often do you drive the car for?

My E86 went through a spate of drinking a litre of oil every 1000 miles or so and it was because I was doing lots of start stopping, round town driving.
Now I drive it everyday for around 30 - 35 miles each way, it has not used a drop of oil since!

It may just be one of those things that you have to live with?

I do agree with Carol, a Flat 6 engine will smoke on start up if it has been sitting for a while, any longer than 2 days or so.

If you clean your exhaust tip so it's nice and shiny again, drive it for a while and quite hard, if there's evidence that there's black soot on it again, that will be another indication if it's using oil (Bare in mind that there will always be carbon build up / soot) but you will have to see if it's excessive or not.

 

[MartynF]

Not good, that amount of oil was for cars in the 60s and 70s not modern cars. Smoke on start up really bad news, however if its a turbo car (don't know about Porsche) could be an issue there rather then the engine itself?

Another issue it could be the wrong grade of oil? I had that problem with an XR3i in the 80s, once it had the proper grade no smoke or oil loss! I was being a cheapskate at the time and put Tescos own branded stuff in!! Had to go back to Castro.

If I were you I would get rid of it and consider something else, just in case it is serious.

None of my cars use any oil to speak of. My Z4M does not seem to use any oil, though I have only done 2000miles in it so far, but I guess I should not expect otherwise for a modern engine with no turbo?

 

[danmiddle2]

.... Had to go back to Castro. .....

is "Castro" oil any good then?

PS - I don't have anything constructive to contribute to this, but hope you get it sorted!

 

[Carol M]

Just looked on Porsche forum and a member had exact same symptoms as you. The thread was from a couple of years ago and no conclusion was posted on it. I've pm'd him to ask what the outcome was.
Will let you know if he gets back to me.