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high mileage 997.2 GT3 (over 80.000miles) experiences
greetings to everyone,
A friend of mine would like to buy a 997.2 GT3 with 81.000 miles: full service history, Porsche Approved, no/very little track history (sofa seats, no rollcage)
My question would be the following:
does anybody has experince with such high mileage GT3?
How robust is the engine + gearbox?
Is there any common failure/issue with this model with high mileage? (not the water line pinning story)
What are the weak points to check at a PPI?
May want to reach out to Ralph https://www.instagram.com/snowboarder54/ on Instagram. Granted, his 100k+ mile 997 GT3 is a Sharkwerks engine build, so it won't be apples to apples, but you can get an idea for the car overall. @Steve Theodore has some miles on his too. Not quite 80k, but close.
Engine and gearbox are relatively sold when well maintained.
Camshaft actuator bolts backing out can be an issue on the .2 cars, specifically with lightweight flywheel.
Differential strength, they're known to be weak. They're relatively solid cars when well maintained. I'd likely recommend starting fresh when he gets it. Flush all fluids. Pin lines. Replace plugs, coils, drive belt, coolant expansion tank, check clutch, pressure plate and flywheel while the engine is out (only trans needs to be dropped to do the clutch).
@RP993 my own 997.2 GT3RS has about 69k miles on it, and I have owned it since 2013 when it had about 60k miles on it. I had the car thoroughly checked out with a PPI prior to buying it and it received high marks from the Porsche shop that looked at it. Cosmetically mine is a bit weaker than most examples but it was and remains completely acceptable to me. At the time I do recall that the service techs praised it for being in fine condition due to being driven so regularly, and I have not encountered any mechanical issues over the 8 years that I've owned the car myself. My car is on it's third clutch so I'd pay close attention to service records, and the PCCBs that mine comes standard with proved to be the greatest obstacle to my purchase as they failed Porsche's own internal qualifications for health. In fact I turned to RennList to help me with that and, once I presented photos of each PCCB rotor, the group here helped me to better understand that they were not about to self-destruct and crumble. 8 years later I'm on the same rotors, and so am exceptionally pleased that I took the plunge.
I'd recommend a thorough PPI, including a DME scan to check for fault codes and over-revs, and if the car is PCCB equipped do give some special attention to that topic. The FAL is known to be a bit fragile over time too, if the car is equipped with one. Other than that, these are really robust cars and they will last a very long time if properly cared for. Drive and enjoy!
I purchased a "high" mileage .1GT3 (61K miles) at the time, sofas no cage, old yellowed PPF. Original owner daily drove it for 51K miles in the bay area, second owner put 10K miles on it. Original owner had a dedicated track car, second owner didn't track it and was local to me (California car). Full service history from day 1. 0 over revs. I spoke to the shop who maintained the car for the second owner (local indi porsche shop). Some very minor paint work was performed, due to daily driving, but nothing extensive or body panels removed.
It's all about the documented history of the car. Who were the owners and how was the car treated. You could buy a 15K miles GT3 with all track miles (towed to and from track) is that a better car? I think high mileage GT3 daily drivers are not a problem. Most of the owners still took very good care of the car, better if they had some PPF, but there are the usual rock chip parts. Assuming you're looking at a "drivers" car, where you won't have to be worried about racking up miles and just enjoy the car and use it as intended. At least that is my purpose.
The big thing here is you want to make sure that someone didn't modify the car, then bring it back to stock for sale. I think having 0 over revs would be indicative of a good car. Check for coolant lines pinned, sharwerk elbows, check the adjustable bits underneath the car. A decent PPI should be able to tell you some of the vehicle history if it is not documented.
I have about 105,000 Km on my car. I don't track this car anymore but when it was newer did about 5 years of tracking with it.. It has had almost zero problems. I mean zero [I hope I don't jinx myself]. Coolant lines are pinned and rotors were upgrades to Girodisc, purely for longevity at the track. Still on original clutch. Passenger window actuator is the only thing that has gone wrong. Oil change every 5000 Km and driven regularly, rain or shine.
I purchased a "high" mileage .1GT3 (61K miles) at the time, sofas no cage, old yellowed PPF. Original owner daily drove it for 51K miles in the bay area, second owner put 10K miles on it. Original owner had a dedicated track car, second owner didn't track it and was local to me (California car). Full service history from day 1. 0 over revs. I spoke to the shop who maintained the car for the second owner (local indi porsche shop). Some very minor paint work was performed, due to daily driving, but nothing extensive or body panels removed.
It's all about the documented history of the car. Who were the owners and how was the car treated. You could buy a 15K miles GT3 with all track miles (towed to and from track) is that a better car? I think high mileage GT3 daily drivers are not a problem. Most of the owners still took very good care of the car, better if they had some PPF, but there are the usual rock chip parts. Assuming you're looking at a "drivers" car, where you won't have to be worried about racking up miles and just enjoy the car and use it as intended. At least that is my purpose.
The big thing here is you want to make sure that someone didn't modify the car, then bring it back to stock for sale. I think having 0 over revs would be indicative of a good car. Check for coolant lines pinned, sharwerk elbows, check the adjustable bits underneath the car. A decent PPI should be able to tell you some of the vehicle history if it is not documented.
Good on you for buying one of the "high mileage" GT3's. Agree completely too that ownership history is probably one of the most important things, or quality of owners. There are owners of these cars that drive them hard on the street, don't change the oil and then sell off to the next guy. There's also guys that use them on street and with an occasional drivers ed event, over maintain them with yearly oil change and brake fluid flushes and are protecting the paint. I'd rather have the latter car even with the light drivers ed events.
Only thing I'd keep in mind for the OP is that a clean DME on a GT3 or really any Porsche can be a controversial item. On a 997 GT3, range 1 is 9k, redline is 8400 (thanks again Doug for the education). This means that you can bounce the car off the rev limiter all day, or even worse, bounce it off the rev limiter all day on cold oil and it'll never register a range 1. If you mis a shift, that is when you're going to register a range 1 and that can happen by someone on street or track. Best thing is to use the DME report as a piece of data in your larger decision making process.
Also with the limited number of these cars made, there's a chance you'll be able to track down prior owners. In my case, I've been able to talk with all 6 prior owners to me through researching.
I think working on a car is half the fun. Getting up early on the weekend and hitting the garage with a morning coffee and a project, heck I can't think if many things better. I love maintaining my cars and high mileage would not scare me in the least bit.
Now if only there were more higher mileage, reasonably priced examples available. I'd gladly buy a 50-60k mile car without losing sleep over it but it just seems so rare to see these for sale.
I agree with you. Unfortunately, most high mile GT3s are owned by enthusiasts that actually drive them and not willing to sell. The few that are available for sale have lower miles and have a higher price tag.
I’ve got 65k on mine. Only big failure during my ownership over the last year was a cat/header failure, which was replaced under CPO warranty. My cup holder is broken, so I’ll fix that before warranty runs out, and I just had my head unit reset twice on me the other morning. So I think that’s beginning to fail as well. Hopefully that dies completely, before the warranty ends next year.
09-10-2021, 09:07 AM
high mileage 997.2 GT3 (over 80.000miles) experiences
