Hi,

I'm curious, my CS is a 2007 (punched Aug 2007 I believe) and I currently have 6K miles on it. My original plan for Oil service was to do it myself at 6K and let the dealer do it at 20K so I can keep it in my record book.

Then a thought hit me, is the first oil change to be at at 20K or is it 20K/1 yr. which ever comes first? Since technically, I'm already past one year.

I just want to make sure a silly oversight like this may void my warranty or something.

So, should I do my own oil change now, or take it to the dealer for the 1 yr?

Thanks

Originally the first service interval on the 07's was 20,000 miles or two years. Evidently by the time we got ours, May 07 in my case, the recommended first service was reduced to 13,000 miles with the service indicator coming on no later than the end of the first year.

I took my CS to the dealer at 13 months and 6,500 miles for an oil & oil filter change. They performed this simple service and reset the service indicator. From my recent experience it sounds like you are right on track with your plan to change the oil since yourself.

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'07 CS Speed Yellow

I believe Porsche has backed way off on the original 20,000 mile interval specified in our earlier Caymans. A problem with the Porsche recommended "Commercial-Grade" oil is that historically synthetics do not hold (1) their additive packages and (2) contamination, be it ingested through the intake system or created in the crankcase as oxidation/sludge in suspension. This is necessary to get contamination to the filter. I was told Seattle area BMW dealers do not even specify that particular synthetic any more. Keep in mind that the lubricant in your engine's crankcase is perhaps the least expensive component of the drivetrain. Run the highest quality oil you can get your hands on, but don't let extending your drain interval be your motivating factor on establishing drain interval. If you are running the oil Porsche "specifies" through their marketing agreement with Penske, change it more often then recommended. Oil sampling is the only analytical way to determine the correct drain interval on your individual vehicle, and most people don't want to go to the expense or effort.

Take it for what it's worth, but I heard that Porsche shortened the intervals in '08 in response to dealer pressure b/c they were suffering from the loss of service revenues.

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'99 Miata 10th Anniversary Edition
'07 KTM Super Duke 990
'07 KTM 300 XC-W / '06 KTM 450 XC

Somehow that wouldn't surprise me a bit.

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OK, so it's ok then for me to change the oil myself and wait till 20K (even if it takes two years) before taking it in to service at the dealer.

Once again, my main concern is really just the warranty and making sure I'm following the rules.

Thanks

iqwertyi,
I just had my 2 year service on a 07 Base Cayman I got last Aug. I also sent my oil in to Blackstone Laboratories to get it analyzed. I was curious how long I could have gone with Porsches 20,000 mile suggestion. With 9,000 miles on the odometer I wish I had done it sooner. The oil still had a bit of life but there was a lot of contaminates in it.

That is, I wish I had done my oil change sooner. Not 2 year service.

I'd say change it @ 10k miles if that occurs in under 2 years. Then every 12 - 15K after that.

The first oil will always have more contaminates in it, but if my memory servers me right, no third party reports stated here say they were anywhere close to a "danger" level.

Porsche engines hold a lot of oil and the factory specs good quality filters. If you use full synthetic as the factory did and OEM type filters, you should have no problem with the above mileage/time intervals.

No one was saying danger levels. But Blackstone found unusually high levels of contaminants in the oil. They say I should have changed the oil at 7,000 miles

If your primary worry is making sure you are following the rules, why don't you simply pull out the warranty and maintenance books that came with the car and give them a thorough reading? I doubt anyone here has as much command of that information as what's printed in the book... that's where the rules are printed for keeping your warranty intact. It will also tell you what work is performed at the required service intervals.

Is it ok to change your own oil - even as a stand-in for the dealer's service? In a word, yes. If you do a search you'll find a myriad of threads discussing this. You should save proof of this by keeping receipts for the parts and oil. But, if something happens to the motor, and your work becomes suspect, then you may face the denial of a warranty claim if what you did caused the problem.

You also might do a search and find the threads that have been started by others like Hayman who have sent their oil out for analysis - this will give you an idea of what these folks found out as far as how the effectiveness of their oil is lasting.

Although I have done a lot of my own work on my past Porsches, on the newer cars I've had, I just take them down to the dealer and have the oil changed. Just tell them that's all you want to have done - if you want to make it even less expensive, buy and bring in your own oil. My dealer charges me about $120 for an oil and filter change which includes all the parts, oil and labor - a price I find pretty reasonable since we're talking about the life-blood of a fairly expensive and complex automobile.

brad

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