[SM_ATL]

I recently acquired a 2017 base Cayman with no more than 22,000 km (~14,000 miles). The car was in perfect shape and had been owned for less than 2 years by Porsche itself and mostly driven -from what I saw in the nav system- between Stuttgart's private airport terminal and Porsche HQ. I found it a bit weird that the car was not sold as a CPO by Porsche itself but by an independent reseller, but all the paperwork and car condition checked out and I bought an extra year of warranty from a 3rd party insurer for my peace of mind.

I rapidly started to put miles on the car and after about 1,000 miles I started to notice a kind of rattling noise around 3,000 RPM that kept getting louder. It definitely was not there when I bought the car and everything still seemed to be OK (oil level, no warning of any kind, power output OK...).
Convinced it could not be anything too bad, I still went to my local Porsche dealership. They also thought that some minor part of piece of trim had come loose around the engine and kept the car for further investigation. It turned out that nothing had come loose but checking the oil and oil filter, they found small metal flakes ?. They could not offer any explanation so as to what had gone wrong (oil level was OK, oil pump was fine). Fortunately the car was still under original Porsche warranty for a few weeks and Porsche Germany immediately shipped a new engine to the dealership to be installed at no cost.

I am now breaking in my new engine properly and have been extremely happy with Porsche' service but am still perplexed at what actually happened. I have driven several Porsches very hard on the road and on the track (996, Cayman R, 997 GT3, 991 S, 987 S), some of them with more than 80,000 miles under the belt without the slightest issue. Could it be that Porsche actually knew there was a problem with the car and got rid of it through a wholesaler rather than CPO'ing it ? Yet, Porsche's official records shared by the dealership did not show anything... My dealership -who is reputable and trusted- was as surprised as myself as they proceed to engine replacements extremely rarely, and certainly at such a low mileage.

I can't help to think that there was something fishy to start with, but with a new engine and the car now thoroughly checked and serviced by Porsche, I feel OK and hope it was nothing more than an isolated incident.

If you have an opinion about what may have happened (or about my naivety ?), feel free to comment !

 

[Porsche2018]

@SM_ATL is this a duplicate post?

 

[SM_ATL]

I actually realised it would be a better fit for the "problems" section than the one about engine & performance where I posted initially. I duplicated here where I think it fits better but was unable to delete the original post under the engine & performance section. If you agree with where the post belongs best, could you erase the initial post listed under engine & performance... Many Thanks!

 

[wriggly]

Fortuitous it happened with some warranty left. Congrats on brandy new engine.

 

[GGG]

Could it be that Porsche actually knew there was a problem with the car and got rid of it through a wholesaler rather than CPO'ing it ? Yet, Porsche's official records shared by the dealership did not show anything... My dealership -who is reputable and trusted- was as surprised as myself as they proceed to engine replacements extremely rarely, and certainly at such a low mileage.

I can't help to think that there was something fishy to start with, but with a new engine and the car now thoroughly checked and serviced by Porsche, I feel OK and hope it was nothing more than an isolated incident.

If you have an opinion about what may have happened (or about my naivety ?), feel free to comment !

I highly doubt that Porsche would try to get rid of a car they know is going to have a problem in the near future. Or that they could do something that would "hide" the problem for a few thousand miles.

It wouldn't be worth the effort and the risk of reputation damage when something of this "conspiracy" comes out into public is enormous.

 

[jimmuller]

I highly doubt that Porsche would try to get rid of a car they know is going to have a problem in the near future. Or that they could do something that would "hide" the problem for a few thousand miles.

It wouldn't be worth the effort and the risk of reputation damage when something of this "conspiracy" out into public is enormous.

Agreed. An unscrupulous dealer, private seller, or used car dealer might try that. But at any corporate level? Not a chance. Least of all Porsche. That they quickly jumped on the engine replacement tells you that.

 

[SM_ATL]

I tend to agree with you guys and maybe Porsche may not have known or sold the car in full disclosure to the independent reseller who in turn may have been dishonest with me, especially since the extended insurance was provided by a third party. I keep finding it strange that it took only 1,000 miles before the engine failed. It could be a coincidence but they do not happen very often. So very likely no "Porsche conspiracy" but I remain curious regarding what the rootcause of this unusual failure was....

 

[msacks]

Without a complete tear down of the engine, you will never know what failed or why. My guess is the engine will go back to Porsche for exactly that. They want to know why it failed as much as you do. You could ask the dealer to see if they can keep you in the loop, but highly doubt Porsche will do that. You've got a brand new engine at no cost to you, other than inconvenience of your car in the shop for the swap. Be happy, drive it!!!

 

[MikesGTS]

I recently acquired a 2017 base Cayman with no more than 22,000 km (~14,000 miles). The car was in perfect shape and had been owned for less than 2 years by Porsche itself and mostly driven -from what I saw in the nav system- between Stuttgart's private airport terminal and Porsche HQ. I found it a bit weird that the car was not sold as a CPO by Porsche itself but by an independent reseller, but all the paperwork and car condition checked out and I bought an extra year of warranty from a 3rd party insurer for my peace of mind.

View attachment 23755


I rapidly started to put miles on the car and after about 1,000 miles I started to notice a kind of rattling noise around 3,000 RPM that kept getting louder. It definitely was not there when I bought the car and everything still seemed to be OK (oil level, no warning of any kind, power output OK...).
Convinced it could not be anything too bad, I still went to my local Porsche dealership. They also thought that some minor part of piece of trim had come loose around the engine and kept the car for further investigation. It turned out that nothing had come loose but checking the oil and oil filter, they found small metal flakes ?. They could not offer any explanation so as to what had gone wrong (oil level was OK, oil pump was fine). Fortunately the car was still under original Porsche warranty for a few weeks and Porsche Germany immediately shipped a new engine to the dealership to be installed at no cost.

I am now breaking in my new engine properly and have been extremely happy with Porsche' service but am still perplexed at what actually happened. I have driven several Porsches very hard on the road and on the track (996, Cayman R, 997 GT3, 991 S, 987 S), some of them with more than 80,000 miles under the belt without the slightest issue. Could it be that Porsche actually knew there was a problem with the car and got rid of it through a wholesaler rather than CPO'ing it ? Yet, Porsche's official records shared by the dealership did not show anything... My dealership -who is reputable and trusted- was as surprised as myself as they proceed to engine replacements extremely rarely, and certainly at such a low mileage.

I can't help to think that there was something fishy to start with, but with a new engine and the car now thoroughly checked and serviced by Porsche, I feel OK and hope it was nothing more than an isolated incident.

If you have an opinion about what may have happened (or about my naivety ?), feel free to comment !

Just for your info... I saw a similar story to yours on the Macan uk website, ie a Macan had the same problem and sized up... metal filings found to be the cause .... or a good story to give.

 

[DriveInHouston]

@SM_ATL: Can you elaborate a bit on the 'rattling noise'?

Did it happen every time you went through 3000 RPM or only if you hit the gas hard? I hear a chirping noise if I hit the gas hard around 3K and will discuss in the upcoming service.

 

[MikesGTS]

@SM_ATL: Can you elaborate a bit on the 'rattling noise'?

Did it happen every time you went through 3000 RPM or only if you hit the gas hard? I hear a chirping noise if I hit the gas hard around 3K and will discuss in the upcoming service.

It makes might be a coincidence but petrol Macans ( I had a GTS ) can suffer a chirping noise at tick over ... mine did .

 

[DriveInHouston]

It makes might be a coincidence but petrol Macans ( I had a GTS ) can suffer a chirping noise at tick over ... mine did .

Thanks! Was it a problem?

 

[GregW]

IMO, as msacks said, only a complete tear down would show the cause.
Bad casting, bad heat treat, bad 3rd party component, bad install,--it could be almost anything. Especially as it's not something that is common--or we'd have been hearing LOTS about it.

Enjoy the the new engine.

 

[SM_ATL]

@SM_ATL: Can you elaborate a bit on the 'rattling noise'?

Did it happen every time you went through 3000 RPM or only if you hit the gas hard? I hear a chirping noise if I hit the gas hard around 3K and will discuss in the upcoming service.

Strangely it was strictly between 2,800 and 3,000 rpms. Hence why I thought initially it was a resonance issue of something that had come loose.

 

[SM_ATL]

Thanks for all your feedbacks.
As you stated, I will stop thinking about this and enjoy a brand new engine... and in fact a 'newer' car than what I paid for

Now I have to make up my mind if I ever want to apply a tune ?
The car is objectively quick enough, even for having trackday fun, but who knows if I would not be tempted at some point...

 

[MikesGTS]

Thanks! Was it a problem?

No problems.. I use to think it’s just talking to me?

 

[alanhats20]

Thanks for all your feedbacks.
As you stated, I will stop thinking about this and enjoy a brand new engine... and in fact a 'newer' car than what I paid for

Now I have to make up my mind if I ever want to apply a tune ?
The car is objectively quick enough, even for having trackday fun, but who knows if I would not be tempted at some point...

How long is the new engine under warrenty ?
I had a 2015 MACAN and put 48000 mikes on it in 3 1/2 years
Traded on a new 2018
Just picked up 2018 718 base CPO
with over 4 years warrenty
My 2018 MACAN only has 16000 on it.
A little over 2 years left on the warrenty, car has been perfect.
I’m hesitant to keep a P car without a warrenty

Thoughts?
Thanks

 

[RussellHodgson]

I’m hesitant to keep a P car without a warrenty

Thoughts?
Thanks

Inn my experience Porsche's don't have any major issues until they get to be around 8+ years old. All my previous ones I had for 8-10 years, and there were no issues until I reached around 8 years old (60,000+ miles). Then things like the water pump failed, or with my 987.1 Cayman the engine failed after track use (that was a known issue on those cars).

So I wouldn't get rid of the car just because it was out of warranty. But around 6-7 years I'd start thinking about it. Of course YMMV.

 

[GTS18BGTS]

Unfortunately I'll never be forewarned of any issues from the car making a sound/noise. I usually have the top down, the music blasting, the engine winding out and I'm half deaf anyway ?

 

[SM_ATL]

How long is the new engine under warrenty ?
I had a 2015 MACAN and put 48000 mikes on it in 3 1/2 years
Traded on a new 2018
Just picked up 2018 718 base CPO
with over 4 years warrenty
My 2018 MACAN only has 16000 on it.
A little over 2 years left on the warrenty, car has been perfect.
I’m hesitant to keep a P car without a warrenty

Thoughts?
Thanks

Warranty offered by Porsche in Europe is 2 years only and my car was only under initial warranty for 11 more days before it expired when the engine failed ?. The dealership assured me that they would not have let me down if it had happened after the expiration of the warranty due to the extent and exceptional nature of the failure.

I asked the dealership if a new 2 year warranty would kick in for the new engine and the answer was not black and white. In theory -according to the standard warranty terms-, there is no 'new/extended' warranty. In practical terms, the dealership explained that if something as unusual was unfortunately happening again, they would show a lot of understanding and extend a suitable commercial gesture. There is nothing in writing, but the service they provide is evidence enough to me that they are paying a lot of attention to the reputation of Porsche and their dealership.
I have come to know a lot of 'stealerships' over the years, but both Porsche dealers I have been doing business with (Hennessy in Alpharetta/Roswell, GA and Kronos in Belgium) have always been outstanding.

Before my 718, I have owned 6 Porsche, some bought new, some used (996, 987.1 S, 997.1 GT3, 987.2 R and 2 991.1 S). They have all been rock solid (until the last one) and I have always appreciated going to trackdays, driving full out and returning home as if I had spent the day at the office. Meanwhile I have seen a bunch of Bimmers with blown up turbos, Ferraris with no brakes, Mustangs overheating like crazy etc.
Do not be afraid of owning a Porsche without warranty.