Used Macan S vs Turbo

[kapetajr]

The fiasco continues! I took the S back to the shop after the dealer said they dealt with the leaking drain plug. I dropped it off in the morning and left it with them all day. But by the end of the day I still hadn't heard from them, so I called them. Oh yeah, we didn't get to it today, sorry. So I had to take it back to the dealer.

I gave up on that shop and called around to the other German car specialists I know of. They're all booked out for weeks. So I gave up on that idea and decided to just get someone - anyone with a lift and a screwdriver - to pull the covers, have a look around for leaks, and just generally be a second pair of eyes. I called a nearby locally owned shop and said I wanted a PPI done on a car. "No problem, drop it off whenever you can and we'll get to it the same day!"

So this morning I went out to the dealer, got the car, drove to the shop. As I walked up I could see the guy staring at me like WTF? I told him I was looking to get it inspected. "Not that car. We don't work on those". So it turns out, they are afraid to put it on the lift or remove any covers. I explained my situation and tried to get them to make an exception. I said I don't expect them to make a recommendation, just tell me if it's leaking anything. No way. Not happening. The guy even said "Yeah I remember you calling but I don't remember saying anything about it being a Porsche". Well no, I said it was a car, and it is. He didn't say there are makes and models he's afraid to touch!

So now I'm at home and the car is sitting outside my apartment until I have time to bring it back. I guess I'm doing my own PPI. At this point I've driven the car a lot and I'm happy with it over all. I just want to make sure there's nothing hiding under those splash covers.

What do you guys think? Trust my own judgement or keep trying to find a shop?

I'm a cynic, so consider the source, but I'd hold out for a proper PPI. No real way to handicap if they knew about that leak and/or if they were trying pass it off on you. And, in the very best case, they can't replace a drain plug without it leaking that badly? Even if that's the truth, it doesn't really instill confidence.

Noted. I'm not too worried about the oil drain thing. I've now driven this car 5 times and that was the only time there was a leak, and it was way too bad for me to have missed it the other times. So I think the story is true. They told me what happened was that the oil drain plug was reused when it should have been replaced. My guess is the washer must have been reused too, and that is the real problem. But I don't actually know if they are the ones who changed the oil before. Either way, it's a rookie mistake, but let's face it: if you take your car to a dealership for an oil change, it's going to be done by a rookie and you're going to see rookie mistakes occasionally!

I fearlessly jacked the car up on one side and removed most of the splash guard screws - enough to get a good look:



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I don't see any sign of fresh leaks, or any sign of extensive clean up to hide leaks. There's some surface corrosion on fasteners and pulleys here and there, not too surprising. Overall I think it looks pretty good. I appreciate the advice, and I might take it, but right now I'm kind of leaning towards just going for it.

Good job pulling the covers. After the issues getting a PPI, I'd have recommend you pull the covers and start looking.

I would also agree with @Tom on holding out for the PPI but after seeing the pictures, the bay looks clean. I'd say if you are 100% sure get the car, just make sure to get an extended warranty.

[kapetajr]

Yeah, honestly, if Christopher Columbus took my advice, he'd still be lining up voyage insurance and sealing the hull one last time.

[johnb]

Well I went and did it anyway. It's mine now! Whether it was a good idea or not, time will tell.

[Hawk]

Well I went and did it anyway. It's mine now! Whether it was a good idea or not, time will tell.

Congratulations! It's been a challenging journey. Just enjoy at this point.

[johnb]

There had to be something I missed, right? I was gutted to spot this this afternoon when the sun was in just the right place. Now I can't unsee it:

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It's really a bit worse than the pics make it look. Hard to believe I missed it. My first thought was that someone did this last night outside my apartment. But it really looks accidental, so I'm guessing it was there before and I just never spotted it. Ah well, if that's the worst surprise, I can live with it!

[kapetajr]

Well I went and did it anyway. It's mine now! Whether it was a good idea or not, time will tell.

Congrats John & enjoy the car. If you are happy with the car you made a good choice.

[kapetajr]

There had to be something I missed, right? I was gutted to spot this this afternoon when the sun was in just the right place. Now I can't unsee it:

20220528_164911.jpg

It's really a bit worse than the pics make it look. Hard to believe I missed it. My first thought was that someone did this last night outside my apartment. But it really looks accidental, so I'm guessing it was there before and I just never spotted it. Ah well, if that's the worst surprise, I can live with it!

That should be an easy fix. Worst case get an exterior detail with paint correction. You did good on this car man. Looking forward to see more pictures in the Macan section

[Tom]

I bet a Rupes long-throw polisher would get a lot of that out. The Rupes bigfoot polishers work amazingly well with very little risk of burning paint. You might color sand to start, then polish with the Rupes. I never had much luck with the typical random orbital polishers -- other than to apply wax -- but these new generation Rupes give you nearly the power of an old-fashion, paint-burning buffer with very little risk to the paint.

[kapetajr]

@johnb how's the car treating you?

[johnb]

@johnb how's the car treating you?

Great so far, thanks. Still very much in the honeymoon period. I still keep thinking "I can't believe I own this thing"

I've been discovering cool little things, like the fact that the arm rest slides forwards quite a bit, and there's a handy storage compartment under the seat. The only remaining ergonomic complaint I have is that the steering wheel won't go low enough for my taste, but I can live with that. I just have to accept that not every car can have the 944's steering wheel position

I'm still figuring out the best way to drive it. I really hate "modes" in any car. In my M3, sport mode just changes the throttle response, but it's a manual car, so you can really drive however you like regardless of the mode. I always just leave it in normal mode. With automatics though, I feel there is some trick that I never learned. I just can't figure out how to drive them smoothly. It's like, I try to accelerate a little bit, and I'm happy with the response, and then out of nowhere, after several seconds of constant acceleration, they drop a gear and you lurch forward and spill your coffee. I just never quite got how that's supposed to work, and I hoped the Macan would be different, but it's not. But I'll get used to it.

The big "aha" moment was realizing that the Macan is actually always in manual mode. You can always use the paddles, whichever position the shifter is in. That is really cool and I think it'll end up being an important feature for me. You can either drive in normal mode and downshift manually when you need to, or drive in sport mode all the time, and upshift manually when you're cruising.

Either way, the PDK gear changes are spectacular!