How often should I service
my classic Porsche?

Servicing a classic Porsche is like caring for an old house – you are never finished! When you buy it, you know that will be the case, but you still do it anyway because it feels good making something better and keeping it that way.

Classic Porsche, just like modern Porsche in fairness, benefit from being used as they were designed. Porsche engineers designed many of the models to run at very high speed, for extended periods of time (Germany is a big place with fast motorways!), so the cars like exercising, the faster the better! As Porsches age, it usually follows that they will get used less given either the increase in their value or importance to the owner, but using it less sadly doesn’t mean servicing it less. If you take a mid-eighties classic Porsche that isn’t driven often, the types of issues that we tend to see are:

• Seals and rubbers perishing quicker due to not having any heat cycles and being lubricated by oil. This typically results in oil leaks, potential water leaks around windows, hoses failing and poor handling as a result of deteriorated hard/old tyres
• Wheel bearings failing due to poor lubrication and drying out
• Brakes seizing on as caliper plates have oxidised and push the brake pads against the disc faces
• Engine oil deteriorating due to age. Also with the passage of time, the oil will completely drain to the lowest points meaning little or no internal lubrication in places
• Brake fluid ‘going off’ as the hydroscopic nature of the fluid means it absorbs moisture, and water in the braking system can prevent proper operation of the brakes
• The list could go on..

How often should I service my classic Porsche then?

Our advice would be to carry out annual services as a minimum, irrespective of the Porsche mileage covered in that 12 months. Leaving a Porsche for two years without having an expert check through the mechanicals can actually cause you to have larger running costs than maintaining annually.

Why? Well, where a mechanical component is waxed or oiled regularly by the engineer, there is little to no cost in doing so but it can extend its life massively. The technicians can spot an issue before it becomes a very expensive one. The technician can also monitor any wear items and make a judgement call to how far worn they were since the last inspection and advise, given your usage and mileage, when they may require changing, allowing you the owner to budget for future costs.

The list of items above should be enough for anyone to logic the annual check over being a great idea, but not only are you looking after the car but also yourself. The ramifications of a significant mechanical item on the Porsche failing, resulting in an accident doesn’t really bear much contemplation. Some classic Porsches are seriously quick, even by modern standards and deserve respect. The final aspect of ensuring maintenance is kept on top of, is that if the time ever comes to sell your pride and joy, meticulous maintenance will aid the speed of the sale of the Porsche. In almost all examples it will also add value to the car, as the next owner will likely want to buy a cherished Porsche that they can equally enjoy driving and preserving. One final point to consider is that by using the car regularly you can actually reduce your maintenance cost, so if ever there was a win-win situation, this is it.

BOOK YOUR PORSCHE SERVICE TODAY

You can book your classic Porsche in by visiting our servicing page. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our team on +44 (0)1296 663 824.