Vape NYC

I recently got a Targa 4S PDK delivered to me with just over 11K miles. I had not been able to see the car ahead of time, just a few pictures, but it had the exact options I wanted and was very low miles at a very good price from a private owner almost 1000 miles away (I took the chance and bought it then had it enclosed trucked to me.) I really wanted ventilated seats since I was always sweating in the warm weather with my previous car - bonus options were full leather -power comfort seats, Nav, Bose, Univ audio inter, self dimming, heated wheel, Dynamic cornering, bluetooth, XM, and Sport Chrono, Black on Black.

I had test driven quite a few cars (both man and PDK) but never an S and was pleasantly surprised by the extra power and mid range torque.

There is about 4 months left on factory warranty and wanted some advice as how best to utilize it while available. (for example does the PDK need a firmware update, etc?) SHould I ask a local dealer to look it over?

Upon seeing the car in person I noticed both of the rear seat's leather cushion was wrinkled, or looks like the glue holding the leather has come undone. Please see the attached pic. Has anyone seen this issue, how to fix, warrantee item, etc?



The second seat question I have is that the passenger power comfort seat doesn't seem to raise up in the rear, like the driver's seat does. (the rear of the horizontal lever does nothing - though tipping the front raises the seats front angle - is this normal?

So far I absolutely love the car. I spent way more than I had originally intended to (after deciding to go with a PDK car rather than a manual), but in the end I'm happier that I got a almost fully loaded car with low miles.

I am about to get the entire car fully wrapped in 3M Ventureguard, since it's a city car and I'd like to keep the paint in great condition, and had previously had good luck wrapping front and rear bumpers on my 9 year old RX8.

Here are some of my thoughts on deciding to go with the PDK from another thread, in case anyone cares.
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I live in New York City and have driven a 6 speed RX-8 in city traffic for the past 10 years. In my search for a 911 Targa (wanted a hacthback since I can only have 1 car and sometimes need to transport things), I drove quite a few cars, and was planning on getting a manual. Before I bought one, I decided to test drive a PDK (non s non sport) car. It was weird at first and I thought I'd be giving up a lot, since I am a very active driver, but decided over the long term PDK would be the best option for me.

Since getting my car (which was the only S/sport chrono car I had driven up to this point) I can't relate how happy I am with the choice. As everyone says, sport option is a must (and obviously can be added later)

I love having the option of full auto or then full manual when needed. Last few times I drove I have been using the auto but then paddle downshifting when needed to pass, etc. I think this is the most useful mode of all for everyday driving (auto with manual overide). I would think this would also save gas since you don't have to kick down the throttle to get to a lower gear (and end up possibly accelerating too much) - With the manual downshift at the same throttle position - the car seems to do exactly what I want it to.


I also really like when cruising 30 mph or so to keep it full manual and go back and forth between 2nd and third as needed, just as I did with my old 6 speed.

If I lived in a suburban area without much traffic I would have probably stayed with the 6 speed out of habit and fear of giving something up, but I have no regrets about the PDK. -As a bonus it's so much easier to pull into to tight underground garage entrance at 1 or 2 MPH than in a manual (without having to wear the clutch)

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gota911

Congrats on the Targa.

Rear seats - if the driver side rear cushion looks like the rear passenger seat in you pic, I am guessing the the previous owner had child booster seats installed in the back.

Attached is a copy of your pic. IN the back of the seat it looks like the booster seat (or something else) sat in the car long enough to make depressions in the set (shown with the lines) and that also caused the leather to get pushed and bunched up toward the center of the seat.

The oval I have drawn appears to be the curvature of the front of a booster seat.

That said, I don't think Porsche would warranty this because it does not appear to be a defect in the seat.

BTW, the rear seat cushions are held in place by Velcro strips and can be easily removed by pulling up on the front of the seat cushion.

You could try to heat the seat with a hair dryer to see if that relaxes the leather. If you are uncomfortable with doing that, ask your Porsche service adviser if they gave a leather repair person they use.

Front Passenger seat - this should operate the same as the driver's seat. Have this checked out while the car is still under warranty.

Please let us know how both seat issues get resolved.

Tim

chris.hanle

It is a nice looking car, I too love my pdk sport chrono. My car had a small "dent" in the rear seat leather. I took the seat out by just pulling it up and then took the leather off and heated it using steam. You would be surprised how easy it is to take the leather off of the seat. It is attached very simple any one can take it off in a matter of minutes. BTW I used my iron's steam function, I did not iron the leather just got the iron close and had the steam come out and warmed the leather. With a little massaging and tugging it worked great. A hair dryer would probably work good as well.

Techbod

Enjoy your new toy. I got the same car in Atlas Grey a bit over a year ago, with a lot more miles (30-something). It is spectacular, and the Targa roof (closed in the rain even) is extra-special.

jason952

I would just treat the leather a few times and leave it out in the sun, if no better, then steam as mentioned, great car !

Vape NYC

Gota911, you must watch a lot of those mystery shows because you clearly solved mine. I'm going to try the steam trick and see what happens.

When I take the car in for the front seat issue, is there anything else I should ask about or have them look at? It's been cold since I got the car, but the Targa top is rubbing a little bit. Should I ask them about this or just clean and lubricate as suggested by one thread here?

Should I let the dealer do an expensive oil change and clear the 10K service now indication just for them to look over the car and see if anything can be serviced under warrantee? I was planning on doing an oil change someplace much cheaper than the dealer and having the Service now cleared when I do a tune up in a year or two at a local shop (Formula in LIC) who said they can clear it?





Tecbod - The Atlas (or any) Grey would have been my first choice, with black half way down the list due to black looking dusty much quicker than a grey, and black cars being less visible on the road.

But as I posted, I happened to find a black car with very low miles for a lot less than book. All of the other Targa's I had been following were mostly above KBB. I ended up passing on an almost identical Grey/Grey car for the black one which had the same miles but was an '09 vs. the black '10. I ended up not with the color I wanted because the alternative was a better value.

A few days ago I saw a fantastic deal on a local Targa, but with 52K miles. I definitely would have bought had I not had convinced my unmotivated seller to go through with the deal. This one is brown/beige which I've seen and while the combo seems more a Mercedes color, it looks great in person.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-911-...US_Cars_Trucks

While this 1 owner car I bet would have made a great car for me at a much more attractive price than even the deal I got, I would think that by the time I was done with it it would had had about 100K miles. From what I see the 80K and up mile 911's just don't tend to sell - they just sit there for months. (I was really only tracking Targa's so maybe other 911 are different)

From what I see I think selling a car with a maximum of 65K miles is the way to go. There's just so many super low milage cars around for most buyers to even consider the higher milage cars.

tbrom

I've always thought no matter what car it is that selling prior to 70k miles is a good choice. For some reason at 70k things start to happen that are expensive. However, there isn't much that isn't expensive when maintaining the newer 911s. Was just reading the Tech Forum letters in Excellence about the water pump issue. They still stick to their guns on replacing the water pump at 50k or 4 years. Don't know how expensive that is but it sounds like something that I'd want to do. The plastic propeller - once the bearing starts weakening it starts beating the case and plastic pieces find there way into places they don't need to be - as in small holes in the head and causing hot spots. Anyway just another issue and maybe time for you to consider this with your 911.

On another note about looking for a Targa 4 - I'm looking for one right now too. I've recently gotten back on this site to see what's happening. I've had 3 other 911s and now it's time for another. I've always loved the targa's glass roof! I want to tour the country in it and can't think of a better 911 to do it in than the Targa 4 or 4S. There is a nice red one with 31k miles on it in Atlanta at Jim Ellis for 58k - that's a good deal - Red/beige. If I wanted red I'd be on that one but I don't want red. I saw the dark brown you mentioned but the miles are just a bit high and I bet the water pump has not been replaced. I would guess not many are adhering to the advice given in the Tech Forum on Excellence for the time/mileage limit for the WP.

What do you guys think of the Tech advice I mention? Anyone adhering to that? Is it a common knowledge thing here?

Otherwise, I'm looking for a white, or racing green metallic or meteor gray and with the sand beige interior - sport chrono PDK.

Tim

Rod Handsfield

You don't need to use steam. Place a wet towel on the seat for a half hour or sit there in you wet trunks then let dry. May take a couple of tries,then treat with leather conditioner.

Vape NYC

Thanks all - I tried steaming a few times and working it with my hands but it didn't tighten up. I'll try steaming again then drying with a hair dryer.

Tbrom, don't let lack of sport chrono deter your purchase since you can always add the sport button later.

tbrom

I thought that there was more to sport chrono than that like the launch feature and some other things - no?

Vape NYC

UPDATE: I now know how Tom Cruise's character in Risky Business felt. I'm having a titling issue with this out of state car. If anybody has advice with those matters, PM me.


Trbom: I could be wrong but I thought I read the timing function is what's missing without the wart.