“Master mechanic” generally refers to a top-tier technician designation, often tied to manufacturer training and demonstrated diagnostic/repair skill. In a Porsche context, it suggests Angelo is qualified to handle complex, brand-specific issues.
A service director runs the dealership’s repair shop. They see patterns in what breaks and what gets fixed, which helps when talking about which cars are dependable.
This is the Porsche dealership in Nashua where Angelo works. Since he runs the service department, he’s likely to know what problems show up most often in day-to-day ownership.
“Goldmeister” is a special certification/recognition from Porsche for highly skilled technicians. It’s meant to tell you the mechanic has advanced training and experience.
“10,000 plus miles a year” frames the reliability question around real-world usage, not just occasional weekend driving. High annual mileage increases the importance of long-term durability, maintenance intervals, and wear items.
They’re saying the Porsche Cayman is the most dependable Porsche for everyday driving. The idea is that it’s easier to find a good used one without paying 911 money.
The host says the Cayman they’re recommending has “no sunroof,” implying a preference for simpler ownership. Removing a sunroof can reduce complexity and potential leak or drainage-related issues over time.
“Water leaks” refers to moisture intrusion issues—typically from seals, drains, or body joints—that can lead to interior dampness and corrosion over time. The hosts claim you “almost never have to worry” about water leaks in the Cayman they’re discussing, framing it as part of why it’s a reliable, low-hassle choice.
Direct injection is how the engine gets fuel into the cylinders. The hosts are saying the Cayman’s direct injection is one of the updates that helps make that generation feel better and more modern.
LED taillights are the newer type of rear lights that use small electronic lights instead of a hot bulb. The hosts are using it as an example of the Cayman 987.2 feeling more modern.
Car
Porsche 987
Porsche 987 is an older Boxster/Cayman generation. Here they’re saying it can be a great daily driver because it feels more intimate and connected, even if it’s not the newest design.
“Daily driver-ness” is shorthand for how practical a car is for everyday use—comfort, ease of living with, and how well it fits routine driving. The hosts connect this to the feel of the 987 cabin and how “connected” it feels versus newer, more expensive options.
“Connected feel” means the car feels like it’s responding directly to you, not like there’s a delay. They’re saying the 987 gives a more engaging, hands-on driving experience.
“Bang for the buck” just means getting the most enjoyment or usefulness for the price you pay. They’re talking about which Porsche generation makes the most sense financially.
They’re talking about how Porsche prices keep climbing. That affects what you can buy and how much risk you take, but it can also mean older Porsches still feel like a smart choice.
“991.1” is a specific version of the Porsche 911. They’re saying this one tends to be a good daily-driver pick because it’s naturally aspirated and generally a solid, sensible option for reliability and cost.
Term
NA
“NA” means the engine doesn’t use a turbo. The hosts are suggesting that, for everyday reliability and cost, naturally aspirated can be a simpler choice.
All-wheel drive means power goes to more than two wheels, which helps grip. The hosts are saying it can also mean more maintenance because there are extra parts involved.
The front differential is a part that helps send power to the front wheels. If you have AWD, it’s one more thing that may need service, which can raise your ownership costs.
The hosts are describing how used-car ownership costs can be unpredictable because prior maintenance may have been skipped or deferred. They’re essentially arguing that you should budget for “catch-up” servicing when buying a used Porsche, especially on AWD cars with more components.
Term
S's and four S's
Porsche uses badges like “S” and “4S” to indicate different versions of the 911. “4S” usually means it has all-wheel drive, but the conversation is basically saying the badge isn’t the whole story—driving feel matters more.
Horsepower is basically how strong the engine is. More horsepower usually means more acceleration, but the hosts are saying that around 320 hp is already plenty for a fun Porsche 911 experience.
The “power band” is the part of the RPM range where the engine feels strongest. If the power comes on later, you have to rev it more to get the car to feel right.
RPMs tell you how fast the engine is spinning. If a car’s power shows up higher in the rev range, you’ll need to keep the RPMs up to make it feel quick.
A “non-runner” is a car that doesn’t run—usually it won’t start or drive. In this story, it wasn’t heavily modified; it just wasn’t cared for and eventually stopped being driven.
Angela stresses that the car was “everything about the car was original,” meaning it hadn’t been abused or modified. For reliability and long-term ownership, originality matters because modifications can introduce new failure points and complicate diagnosis.
“Second gear started to grind” indicates a transmission or synchro problem where the gear engagement isn’t smooth. Grinding often points to worn synchronizers, clutch/shift linkage issues, or internal gearbox wear—exactly the kind of drivability problem that can make a Porsche feel unreliable until repaired.
Paint correction is basically polishing the car’s paint to make it look clearer and smoother. Instead of repainting, you remove small surface imperfections so the paint looks better again.
A full engine rebuild replaces or refurbishes worn internal components to restore reliability and performance. When someone says they “completely rebuilt” the motor, it usually implies more than routine maintenance—often including machining, new bearings, and refreshing the rotating assembly.
“Motor out” means the engine is taken out of the car. Mechanics do this when the job is big enough that they need full access to the engine and related parts.
“Down to the crank” means the engine was taken apart to the main rotating shaft inside. That’s usually done when you need to check or fix internal wear, not just replace a simple part.
Turbo engines often use lower compression so they can handle the extra pressure from the turbo without pinging/knocking. The downside is that before boost kicks in, the engine may feel a bit slower or less responsive.
“On boost” means the turbo is actively pushing extra air into the engine. That’s usually when a turbo car feels much faster than it does when you’re just cruising or accelerating gently.
Non-assisted steering means there’s no power help from a pump or electric motor. At low speeds you have to use more strength to turn the wheel, so it can feel awkward or tiring.
An on-ramp is the lane you use to get onto the highway. It’s where you usually accelerate hard, so it shows how responsive the car feels when you need to merge quickly.
A “four-speed” car refers to a transmission with four forward gears. Fewer gears can make acceleration feel more dramatic (bigger jumps between gears) and can also affect highway cruising RPM depending on the gear ratios.
“Zero to 60” measures how fast a car goes from stopped to 60 mph. It’s useful for comparing cars, but it doesn’t tell you everything about how fun or engaging a car feels on roads.
Head studs are strong bolts that hold the engine’s cylinder head in place. If they fail, it can cause major problems, so it’s a big deal when people talk about reliability.
When an engine heats up, metal parts expand. Different parts can expand at different rates—so if the materials don’t match the heat they see, the stress can build up and cause failures.
Warming up means letting the engine get up to temperature before you rev it or drive aggressively. It helps the engine parts heat evenly, which can reduce stress.
Some engines are built with very small clearances between moving parts. When it’s cold, those parts don’t move as freely, so the engine may not start until it warms up.
A turbo uses exhaust energy to spin a compressor and push extra air into the engine. That extra airflow makes more power, but it also makes the engine run hotter.
ARP makes stronger replacement bolts and studs than many stock parts. People use them when they’re trying to prevent fasteners from stretching or failing under high heat and pressure.
Studs are like extra-strong bolts that hold parts together. If the original studs can’t handle the heat or pressure, stronger studs can help keep everything tight.
Connecting rod bolts hold the rods to the crankshaft. Stronger bolts can reduce the risk of failure when the engine is under more stress than stock.
Concept
Mali 3.4 conversion
They’re talking about upgrading the engine so it becomes a larger-displacement (3.4-liter) setup. It usually takes a lot of parts and labor, so it can be expensive.
The “930” is the classic Porsche 911 Turbo generation. The speaker is saying it tended to run very dirty and produce a lot of exhaust emissions compared to what you’d want today.
They’re talking about how dirty the exhaust is—what comes out of the tailpipe. The speaker is saying the car wasn’t designed to be clean by modern standards.
The Merritt Parkway is a road in Connecticut with little pull-off areas. The host is describing how traffic behavior there can feel aggressive and stop-and-go. That driving style can make a car seem like it’s burning more fuel and producing more noticeable exhaust.
Term
self ventilation with like a closed system
They’re talking about the car’s ventilation mode that tries to keep outside air from coming in. Even with that, the host smelled strong gas and felt like they were choking. That suggests the car had an odor problem that the ventilation couldn’t fully block.
The host is talking about emissions rules in the U.S. that got stricter around 1980. He’s saying some versions of these cars were hard to make clean enough to legally sell. So Porsche had to change the cars they brought over.
Term
491 option
The transcript mentions a “491 option,” but it’s not clear exactly what Porsche code or package that refers to. The host’s meaning is that Porsche introduced an option/engine setup around that time to make the car easier to keep clean for the U.S. emissions rules.
“SC motor” means the engine from the Porsche 911 SC. The host is saying Porsche used that engine in a car that looked like a turbo so it would be easier to meet emissions rules. So it was more about making it cleaner than matching the turbo engine exactly.
This describes a “turbo look/feel” conversion where the body and many systems are turbo-spec, but the original engine configuration is normally aspirated. The key point is that the car can be built with turbo components while still lacking the turbo gearbox and engine, which affects how “true” the car is versus a factory turbo.
When someone says “turbo brakes,” they mean the brake setup from a turbo model. It’s usually upgraded to stop harder and resist fade when you drive aggressively.
Concept
reworked the engine (making it more lively)
They’re describing work done to the engine to make it feel stronger and more responsive. It sounds like part of a bigger upgrade plan, not just one change.
A “Garrett turbo” is a turbocharger made by Garrett (a major OEM and aftermarket turbo supplier). A “ball bearing” turbo uses ball bearings in the center housing to reduce friction and improve spool response compared with older journal-bearing designs.
Changing the exhaust can help the engine breathe better and can also change how the turbo responds. A custom exhaust is built to match a specific car and performance goal.
“Spooling up” is when the turbo starts working and making boost. If it spools up at lower RPM, the car feels quicker and easier to drive without waiting for power.
A “four cylinder boxer” is an engine layout where two banks of cylinders lie flat and move in opposite directions, with pistons that “box” against each other. Porsche’s boxer design is known for low vibration and a low center of gravity, and the hosts are emphasizing that the newer four-cylinder boxer engines have proven durable in service.
“2 liter” means a smaller engine size compared to the 2.5-liter. They’re saying that even the smaller one has been very reliable in their service department.
The “2.5 liter” refers to engine displacement, a key spec that roughly indicates how much air/fuel the engine can move. Here, the speaker highlights the 2.5L boxer’s durability and assembly quality as part of the reliability argument.
“Flat six” is Porsche shorthand for a six-cylinder boxer engine, with cylinders arranged horizontally in two banks. The hosts describe the four-cylinder boxer as a “miniature” version of the flat six, implying similar engineering principles and smoothness characteristics.
A boxer engine is a type of engine where the cylinders are laid out left and right. In this discussion, they’re talking about how the 718’s four-cylinder boxer setup changed how people feel about the car.
The Porsche 718 Cayman is a mid-engine sports car. Some versions use a four-cylinder “boxer” engine, and the hosts are talking about why people argue about that choice and how the car has evolved over time.
“Out of warranty” means the factory warranty has ended. After that, you’re more responsible for repair costs, so people often wait until then to do big changes like tuning.
This is a way the turbocharger can adjust itself to work better at different speeds. It helps the engine feel more responsive instead of waiting for boost.
The water pump moves coolant through the engine so it doesn’t overheat. If it fails, the car can run hot, but it’s generally a normal maintenance/repair item rather than a major engine failure.
The Porsche 718 is a Porsche sports car. It can be had with a manual gearbox or Porsche’s dual-clutch automatic (PDK), and the host is saying the manual version is especially fun.
PDK is Porsche’s fast-shifting automatic. Instead of waiting for one gear to finish before the next starts, it preps the next gear so shifts happen quicker and the car keeps pulling.
The Buick Grand National is a fast American performance car. It became well known because it could accelerate very strongly, especially in short races like a quarter-mile.
An automatic transmission shifts gears by itself. The car decides when to shift, which can make acceleration feel smoother and sometimes quicker than a manual.
A manual is a car where you choose the gears yourself using a clutch pedal and a shifter. Many enthusiasts like it because it feels more connected to how the car drives.
A hybrid uses both a gas engine and an electric motor. Because the drivetrain is more complex, it can be harder to offer a manual gearbox on those versions.
“Stick” means a manual gearbox, where you shift gears yourself. They’re talking about how fewer Porsche models are being offered with that option.
Term
TK case
“TK case” doesn’t clearly match a common Porsche option name. Based on the context, it sounds like they’re talking about how orders or availability are handled, but the exact meaning isn’t certain from the audio text.
They’re talking about how different kinds of Porsche buyers want different things. Some people want the manual for the driving feel, but if more buyers just want the newest and fastest option, the manual gets offered less and less.
Ferrari is the Italian supercar brand being used as an example. The point is that if Ferrari changed something and people still wanted the cars, Porsche might feel pressure to do the same.
“Touring” usually means a car that’s meant for enjoyable driving over longer trips, not just track days. They’re debating whether the 911 R is special because it’s a great “touring” style car, or mainly because it’s rare.
Flipping is when someone buys a hard-to-find car and immediately sells it for a big profit. If lots of people do that, the market price can stay inflated until more cars are available.
When Porsche “crapped the market out,” the idea is that increased production or availability flooded demand, pushing prices down. This is a common market dynamic: scarcity drives high prices, and more supply eventually cools them off.
The Subaru WRX STI is a fast, turbocharged four-cylinder Subaru that’s famous for rally-style performance. The host is comparing “back then” when its power felt extreme to “now” when big power from small engines is more common.
They’re talking about how today it’s normal to get huge power from a four-cylinder engine. Technology has improved so much that big numbers that used to be rare are now common.
Term
pea green
“Pea green” is a very bright green color. The point here is that the whole inside of the car was painted/upholstered that loud green, not just a small trim piece.
Sometimes a car is ordered with options that almost nobody wants. If the color/trim/options are too unusual, the dealer can’t easily sell it, so it just sits there.
The option catalog is the menu of add-ons you can pick when ordering a car. Some combinations are popular, but weird combinations can be hard to sell later.
They’re basically saying the dealer protects itself with upfront money. If the buyer backs out or the car is hard to sell, that deposit helps cover the risk.
Some car mods can make the car wear out faster, not because the idea is bad, but because they’re installed or tuned poorly. Longevity depends on doing the work correctly and making sure everything is set up right.
A cold air intake is a kit that tries to get cooler air into the engine. If it’s installed wrong, it can actually pull in hot air or let dirt in, which can hurt reliability.
Flashing a tune means changing the car’s engine computer settings. Some people try to hide it by putting the original settings back later, but the car may still show clues.
Readiness codes are like “checklist” results for the car’s emissions tests. If the car’s been modified or the emissions system isn’t behaving normally, those checklist items might not show as completed.
O2 sensors are sensors in the exhaust that help the engine know how much oxygen is in the gases. If the exhaust/emissions setup is changed a lot—like removing catalytic converters—the sensors can “notice” and trigger diagnostic flags.
Catalytic converters are emissions devices in the exhaust that clean up the gases. If you remove them, the car’s sensors can detect that something isn’t right.
The check engine light comes on when the car detects a problem. But with some modifications, the light might not come on even though diagnostics are still showing something is off.
DME is the car’s engine computer. A “flash” means the computer software gets updated or changed. If the work was done properly, there should be records showing when and what was flashed.
Modern ECUs track software history and diagnostic data. After a legitimate update, the car may show counters/tickers and other indicators that confirm the update occurred. The host uses these logs to distinguish normal dealer updates from suspicious or unauthorized changes.
A data log is like the car’s “black box” for certain events. It records important information when the engine computer sees a problem. In this case, it helps show what was happening right before the failure.
Torque is the force that makes the car pull. It’s measured in newton-meters here. The host is using torque numbers to judge whether the car is still running stock software or something else.
A misfire is when one or more cylinders don’t burn fuel correctly. The engine computer notices and saves a code so a shop can diagnose it. Here, the host is using those saved codes to infer what happened.
“Maintenance costs” refers to the ongoing expenses required to keep a car in good working order—scheduled service, wear items, and sometimes repairs. In this segment, the hosts focus on whether Porsche’s maintenance and repair bills are higher than other high-end German brands over time.
They mention Mercedes to compare ownership costs. The question is whether Porsche is more expensive to keep running than Mercedes, or if it’s about the same.
An oil change is when you replace the engine’s oil so it can keep lubricating the engine properly. They’re saying that even if Porsche charges more, the basic service itself isn’t complicated.
Carrera S is a higher-end version of Porsche’s 911. The hosts mention it because the car’s price is so high that owners notice every service cost more.
Price hikes mean the car costs more now than it used to. If Porsche prices went up a lot, then people feel like everything about ownership is more expensive too.
Scheduled maintenance intervals are the regular services you do at certain times or mileages. The goal is to keep the car healthy without waiting for expensive problems to show up.
A brake flush replaces old brake fluid with new fluid. Old fluid can hold moisture, which can make braking feel less strong and can cause damage over time.
Car
Ducati Monster
The Ducati Monster is a common kind of street motorcycle. The host mentions it to show that even a bike can have expensive maintenance when big service items are scheduled.
A timing belt is a belt that keeps the engine’s timing lined up. If it breaks, the engine can get badly damaged, so it has to be replaced at the right mileage/time.
Dealers often charge more for parts and labor than independent shops. The host is basically saying that even when you plan to DIY, the real-world cost can be surprising.
Spark plugs create the spark that starts combustion in the engine. If they’re due for replacement, it’s one of the scheduled items that can add to maintenance cost.
Reliability means how likely a car is to stay dependable over time. The hosts are talking about whether a car feels “expensive” or troublesome to own, which is really about reliability and maintenance.
The host is talking about BMW because they’ve owned BMWs before. They’re using that experience to compare how BMW ownership feels versus what people expect from Porsche.
FCP Euro is a company that supports European car owners with parts and repair know-how. The host is mentioning it because the guest works in that space and has hands-on BMW experience.
It’s a checklist of what the car needs and when—based on the manufacturer’s testing. Doing it on time helps prevent small problems from turning into expensive repairs.
Routine maintenance is the regular “keep it healthy” work the car needs. It’s not just one simple task—shops also check for problems and do other small services that prevent bigger issues later.
Inspections/checkovers are part of scheduled maintenance where technicians look for wear, leaks, and developing issues before they become failures. This is why two cars with similar age can require different work—what’s found during inspection drives the final service.
A baseline is like a starting checklist or reference for what a car should look like and how it should behave. It keeps the inspection consistent instead of guessing based on what someone thinks they did for maintenance.
Deferred maintenance means you delay fixing or checking things until they get worse. The longer you wait, the more likely you’ll end up with expensive repairs.
“Gutter drains” are drainage channels that route water away from the vehicle’s body and into safe exit points. When they’re clogged, water can back up and enter areas like the cabin or vulnerable body seams.
A convertible is more likely to get water where it shouldn’t because the roof opening changes how water flows. Keeping the drain paths clean helps stop leaks and water damage.
Inner fenders are the panels inside the wheel area. They often have hidden drain paths, and if those get dirty or blocked, water can’t escape properly.
A Porsche Boxster is a two-seat sports car from Porsche. In this part of the show, they’re basically saying that Boxster owners often ask about how to handle certain maintenance issues, like keeping things clear so the car works properly.
Company
Bobasto
They’re talking about a company that makes most of the parts for sunroofs. The exact name is a bit unclear in the transcript, but the point is that the right supplier matters for how well the sunroof system works over time.
Wabasto is a company that makes car heating parts. The hosts are saying older Porsches used their heater hardware, which is why the name comes up in the context of those cars.
The Porsche 356 is an old Porsche sports car from the early days of the brand. People who own or restore them often talk about original parts, like cabin heaters, because those details affect how correct and usable the car is.
Some Porsches have drain paths to let water escape. If bugs or debris get into those drains, the water can’t get out properly, which can cause problems over time.
End flaps are small covers at the end of a drain tube. They’re meant to stop bugs from getting in, but if they stick, they can also stop water from draining out.
The hosts describe a modification where you “snip the end” of the drain-tube end flap so there’s always a path for water to exit. The key idea is to ensure water egress even if the flap mechanism would otherwise stick.
Term
water to egress out of it
“Egress” just means “get out.” They’re saying the fix makes sure water can leave the drain area instead of pooling.
Blackstone Labs is an oil-analysis company that tests used engine oil for contaminants and wear metals. Here, the hosts use Blackstone’s large oil-sample datasets to estimate which Porsche engines are more prone to bore score and to quantify failure-rate differences by generation.
Bore score is when the inside of an engine cylinder gets scratched or damaged. Once that happens, the engine can start wearing out faster and may fail, so catching the problem early matters.
Bore scoring is when the inside wall of an engine cylinder gets scratched or worn. That can make the engine use more oil and, if it gets bad enough, can cause bigger problems later.
They’re talking about how people used to warm the car up more before driving hard. That matters because a cold engine doesn’t lubricate as well, so it can wear faster if you push it right away.
Concept
rabbit hole
They mean people get too focused on internet debates and scary stories. The host is saying that can make rare issues feel more common than they are.
They’re basically saying reliability talk can be misleading because people usually complain only when something goes wrong. Cars that don’t break don’t get talked about as much.
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Hey everyone, I'm Derek, this is 11 After 9, and I am with one of my very, very good Porsche friends, Angelo Scuderi.
I've known this man, he's like a brother from a different...
He's like my brother from a very Italian mother.
And I've known this guy for years and years and years, and he is the service director at Porsche of Nashua, and he is a goldmeister, master mechanic with Porsche.
And so he's been the brain trust that I've relied on for, dude, I don't even know, maybe 20 years, 15 years, long time.
And I'm just so happy that he was able to join me on 11 After 9, because not only is an amazing mechanic and a wealth of knowledge, but he's become just a real true friend over the years.
And he's funny as hell.
And so I'm really happy to have him on.
Angelo, welcome to my podcast.
How you doing?
Thank you for having me.
Great, great.
Yeah, man.
Yeah.
I am happy to have you because I feel like when you and I get together, it's like a podcast every time.
So for those of you that don't know, I have a tendency of finding my way to the dealership.
If I'm driving by and I'll pop in and I'll talk to my friends in the service department and then Angelo's office, I'll find myself in.
And we end up talking forever.
And I'm like, dude, we got to get on the podcast.
And because Angelo is opinionated, but they're informed opinions.
And they come from, they come from probably busting his knuckles on the underside of too many cars.
And so what's really cool is I'm going to be asking you some questions, Angelo, that are going to.
So I like to put myself in the shoes of a listener who's just buying a first Porsche or maybe is looking at a certain model of Porsche.
And you are uniquely qualified.
So anyways, that was a long preamble to welcome to the podcast, buddy.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
You're welcome.
All right, I'm going to start off with a question for you that is probably going to lead to quite a discussion.
So I reached out to a lot of the fans and the listeners of 11 After 9 and asked, what should I ask my buddy who is the big Porsche guy?
And they said, first question, Angelo daily driver myth, which modern Porsche is actually the most reliable for someone putting on 10,000 plus miles a year?
Now we're talking any Porsche or we're talking sports car.
Now, see, that's the thing, right? Because it's like, well, Cayenne, dummy or Panamera, we're filling the blank.
All right, let's just go sports car because we know that the SUVs in the sedans are great.
So, you know, sports car, I have two really, and it's going to be a tough one.
You know, if you ask me what's the most reliable bulletproof, headed free Porsche?
Yeah, turn the key it starts.
Yep.
Cayman.
Hands down.
Cayman?
Cayman.
Really?
Yeah.
All right.
Now, that's going to be a hot topic already, I'm sure, by saying that over 9-11.
But the reason I say that is because, say you're on the market for a used one, you find a nice reasonably used, not beat up Cayman's are cheaper than 9-11's period.
So, you can rip one of those, you could rip one of those year round if you wanted to, honestly, with a set of snows, if you really want to go down that road.
And it would be completely fine.
It's got no sunroof.
It's got no frills, really, other than just being a solid car.
You almost never have to worry about water leaks.
You never have to worry about, pretty much, anything that typically goes wrong if people aren't maintaining them.
And on top of that, being that it's a Cayman versus a 9-11, it's going to be less expensive to maintain as well, because there's just less going on with it.
Less going on.
Well, let me ask you a question, though, because Cayman spans 15 years, 20 years.
Yeah.
What, well, 20 years, God, we're so old, 20 years.
It's a long time.
What generation Cayman would you pick?
I would say probably 987.2.
Really?
Okay.
So, for those of you out there that don't know, the Cayman started in like, oh, six, I think was the first year?
Yeah, oh, six was first year.
That's a dot one.
It was a dot one, basically the same as a Boxster, everything honestly identical, other than it's a hard top versus a soft top.
Yeah.
And really nothing different at all other than that part of the body.
And the only reason I say dot two is because, especially if you're looking like an ass, right, it's direct injected.
It's got some of the nicer updates with the headlights are a little bit nicer, the taillights are LED versus just incandescent bulbs.
It just looks a little bit more modern without the expense of getting into a 981 generation Cayman.
Do you think that the 981, which is for years like say 2012 and a half to 2016, do you think that's a less reliable car or is it just like a size thing?
I think it's a size thing, but I also think that there's some reason the 987's definitely demand less money.
So as far as just a cost factor and injection enjoyment, you'd probably find one of those for better bang for the buck.
The 981 would probably be a better car, but you're also adding, you know, 1520 grand for, I don't know if it's 1520 grand more of a car, you know?
Yeah, it's a great car.
But then please don't get me wrong, they're honestly, they're all great cars.
You know, when we're talking about good versus bad, we're looking at like 90 to 100% when it comes to like if it's good or not.
You know, I'm not saying a bad one's a 10% junk box.
It's a small window we're looking at right now.
Yeah, these are all these are all fantastic cars.
Do you do you feel like the 987 from 09 to 012?
Is it a better driver too for your daily driver-ness?
It's just if you like that connected feel, if you like, it's just a smaller feeling car when you're in it.
It seems a 991 versus a 997.
I mean, identical, right?
The same thing, the car just grew.
And if you like that smaller feeling sports car, it just feels smaller.
And that's just, you know, kind of, and again, I am opinionated on it.
And do I like the newer ones 100% but I also like to try and find things that are that make sense when it comes to like, like I said, bang for the buck really when it comes down to it.
Yeah, well, I mean, that's the thing.
I mean, all Porsches are getting really expensive and it seems like by the week they're jumping up in value.
And you just picked a 15-year-old car that you'd still daily drive, which obviously speaks to the model and the brand.
But that's pretty cool.
You said you had two.
What's the second car that you'd pick?
Probably a 991.1.
Okay.
All right.
So there's your 911.
991.1.
Why that?
It's NA.
I'm still, I mean, don't get me wrong, I love turbos.
I have one.
But for a daily driver reliability, again, going back to cost factor, a 991.1 is still just a solid car.
And, you know, you find in yourself a nice, if you're not going to drive in the winter, if you so choose, stick with an S, right?
It'll be great.
Do you like the wide body?
Go for the 4S, because 991s, if you wanted a wider body, you had to get the 4S to get the wide track.
And it does give you a little bit more of a look.
But then you got to deal with all-wheel drive.
You got to deal with extra servicing when it comes to the front diff and everything else.
Because if we're talking used cars here, these are all things that may or may not have been done when you bought it.
So you're going to have to do it.
And that's going to increase the cost factor.
And that's really, so if you found yourself a 991.1 S, I mean, stick.
Another cream puff of a car where it, but now, you know, you jumped price by a lot going from that 987 or even 981 to a 991.
So that's why it's hard.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
And fun factor when you go from an S.
I mean, if you can get your hands on a base courier, if you can find one, because they're just so hard to come around, get one of those.
That 36 is still a solid car to drive.
It really is.
It's not, I mean, people get so caught up on the S's and four S's and all these crazy things.
And then you just go for a rip in one and actually drive it like it should be driven.
You would not be disappointed.
Well, that's really interesting because you and I, so I rolled by the dealership the other day in my 997 and I threw Angelo the keys.
And I was like, dude, I need the Angelo sale of approval.
Tell me, tell me what doesn't feel right.
Tell me what you like.
And he took me for a ride.
I definitely had a little more grain in my beard when I was done.
And he drove that car, I mean, fantastically and extracted a lot more performance out of it than I have thus far.
But what he was saying is, why do you need more than this?
What was it?
It's like 320 horse in that maybe something like that?
That was right on 320.
Yeah.
So why do you need more than that if you can just absolutely rip?
You don't.
You don't.
You just don't.
You don't.
You don't.
It's rapid.
But you did say something I thought was really interesting and something I've touched on some of my videos.
Because you said you have to drive it differently than an S.
It's just the power band comes on a little later, right?
So it definitely needs the RPMs to be up there.
But once you get the feeling of how it's supposed to be driven, you just find yourself getting into that, that motion of how it should be.
And it's, it's great.
I mean, that's really what it comes down to.
I completely jumped over what I, I'm sorry, I needed to ask you this.
Angela, what do you have in your garage right now that gives you your, your Porsche goodness?
So I have a 79930.
That's, that was my dream.
That's why I got into this industry because I fell in love with one of them.
And then I said, okay, I got to get one.
So I just busted my tail till I could find one that didn't run, didn't shift.
Pretty much didn't do much of anything.
It just had a solid body.
And that was, that was my dream, you know?
Yeah.
You bought the car for a song.
I mean, would you call it a basket case or would you just call it an absolute non-runner?
No, it was just a non-runner.
I mean, it really wasn't a basket case.
Honestly, if it was kind of like that dream bar and find because it hadn't been abused, it hadn't been modified.
I mean, it was, everything about the car was original.
So it was like, it just really didn't get maintained or taken care of.
And the previous owner honestly stopped driving it because second gear started to grind and he didn't want to abuse the car anymore.
So he just parked it and it just sat.
He just parked it.
That was it.
That's it.
That's it.
And a carport.
That was it.
When I found it, it was brown.
It wasn't even red.
That's how the video was.
It was guards red, but it just looked like rust.
Yeah.
I thought it was going to be paint.
And COVID actually gave me the time to redo the entire exterior.
I kind of taught myself how to do like a three point, just like paint correction, you know, nothing crazy.
Yeah.
We shut down for a month back then.
And that was the time I took to do it.
So that was it.
So everything.
Motor out, completely rebuilt the motor, right?
Took it down to the crank to tasteful rebuild.
You know, originally when I got the car, I wanted it to be this crazy.
I wanted to make a five, six hundred horsepower like monster car.
Yeah.
And you know, as life happens and I couldn't really build it as quick as I wanted to.
I ended, my daughter came around and at the same time, the value of them started going a little crazy from when I bought it.
So I just, I kind of stopped and said, you know what, I'm just going to build it back up tastefully reliable and just enjoy it.
So that was it.
Can I, can I give you, I don't know how to say this.
I'm going to, can I give you my opinion of nine thirties?
Because I had one.
I had a 79 as well.
Yeah.
Poster car.
I had, it was like a smoky gray.
It was like something black.
I don't know if it was anthracite or whatever.
It was like a really cool, like dark, dark gray on black and I drove that car and I grew to not love it.
And I'll tell you why.
So when it's, so it's a low compression motor, you know, this was Porsche's go at adding turbocharged.
So you have to have a lower compression motor, which means it doesn't have like a lot of get up and go when it's not on boost.
So around town with, you know, your non assisted steering, you really, it was, it wasn't like a very peppy car.
You really had to kind of like push it to try to keep it in that almost on boost thing.
So where I was living, I would drive it around and I'd be like, this thing is just like, it's kind of a bus because it was hard to turn.
And it was slow.
It's more heavier, right?
So it was lower off the line.
Well, yeah, no, I'm going to, I'm going to crap on your car some more.
Hang on.
Wait a minute, here it comes.
So, so wait.
So, so then the brilliance of this car was your on ramps.
So where I was living in Massachusetts, you get on the on ramp.
I had a four speed car, which you do as well.
And you'd lay into the gas and that thing, the classic light switch.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
Well, yeah.
You bury your foot, one 1000, two 1000.
And so then it just like takes off, right?
And it's just like, and then you shift into second.
And you're just like, all of a sudden you start passing all the cars on the highway and you're still on the on ramp.
And you look down and what's second good for like 70, 80, maybe at least, right?
Then you slam it into third.
And if you got pulled over by the Massachusetts state, you were probably going to jail.
You were losing your car.
And so you quickly shifted into fourth and then the revs dropped down.
And then you get in the middle lane and you're driving a Honda record with heavy steering.
I think we're done here.
I think we're done talking.
Wait, no, I want to tell you how else your car is a piece of crap.
Wait a minute.
No, I'm just kidding.
So, so you're 100% on that.
So, so, so here's the thing and I always talk about this on the podcast and on the YouTube channel.
I always talk about use case, right?
I always talk about like, what's your use case?
I'm grateful to the 930 because it told me the kind of driver that I wanted to be in terms of what made me happy.
I'm not a straight line speed guy.
I'm not a zero to 60 guy.
I'm a back roads, high RPM, you know, really worked the car type of driver.
And I didn't find like the 930 was that and it killed me because I would stare at that car dude for like a half an hour at a time and just marvel at its beauty.
But am I, am I, am I off base on this?
No, not at all, which is why I said I did a very tasteful upgrades to it to make it a more of a driver's car.
I don't think you didn't get to drive it, did you?
Well, not yet, but you're still my friend drive.
You're gonna drive it.
So I did very tasteful things to it, right?
So first and foremost, one of the most like common things on those to fail, especially from sitting around our head studs.
They actually would snap and it was a really bizarre thing to portion it back in the day.
They used different, they used dissimilar metals for the head studs on the intake side versus the exhaust side because they knew the temperatures would heat up differently.
Oh, so talk about that.
Talk about the, yeah, talk, just explain what the expansion rates like what that means.
So basically because the exhaust side is going to be heating up a lot faster and hotter than the intake side.
They used a different type of metal on the studs and they were trying to make it.
So there was a linear growth of expansion on the motor as it warms up, right?
Just like everyone tells you, always let it warm up because I think it gets you.
I think it might have been your last episode with the whole boar scoring thing.
I mean, you know, people don't realize that they fire up a car and then they start revving it.
They don't realize that they are destroying their motor because nothing is warmed up.
Everything is still super tight and there's your problem.
But they all want to hear that scraping.
It's just scraping.
I mean, not to get crazy, but F1 cars have a heater that warms up the entire motor.
Because if they don't, they won't even fire up.
They're almost locked solid.
They won't even turn on.
The tolerances are so tight.
They're so tight that they actually have to warm the motor up with the oil to get it to turn over to fire up.
Otherwise, it won't even fire up.
So just to kind of, I mean, that's obviously the extreme.
We'll talk about F1 cars, but I mean, same idea, right?
Our tolerance is a pretty ridiculous and, you know, that goes back to that.
So anyway, the whole thing with the studs was that they would break and was super common on turbos because they specifically did on those because of all the heat with the turbo charging.
So, you know, I went crazy with ARP hardware.
I did ARP studs all the way around.
I did ARP rod bolts.
I ended up going, I couldn't get new pistons for it.
And at the time, I didn't have the money to do like a Mali 3.4 conversion on it.
So I ended up finding a company in Germany that would actually make the pistons for them because I couldn't get them from Porsche anymore.
They basically discontinued everything.
So I ended up doing that.
And then I had the cams sent out and had them reground to 964 spec because one of the biggest problems with the 930 was it was filthy.
It threw emissions out the tailpipe and it didn't care.
You know, it just, it just wasn't a thing.
So can I tell you something?
When I bought my 930, I bought it down in Pennsylvania and I drove down with my brother and like, I think we had a forerunner.
And driving home on the Merritt Parkway coming up through Connecticut.
The Merritt Parkway has these like little turnoffs.
They're like little stops.
You use the bathroom, get a coffee.
And the craziest thing for those of you that have never driven the Merritt Parkway is you have this like little parking lot off the side of a highway.
The highway is like two lanes and people treat it like an F1 race track.
I mean, they're doing 90 to 80, 90.
Oh, they're just just bombing down this highway, right?
So, so to get back on to the Merritt Highway or Merritt Parkway, you were at a stop sign and you literally try to pick a hole in the traffic and you just got you.
I mean, you just drive as fast as you can.
And just hope you don't get piled into the back, right?
And so I was driving, I let my brother drive the 930 and I was in the forerunner and he takes off and I try to keep up after him.
And through closed windows and like the self ventilation with like a closed system where it's not supposed to let outside air, I almost choked on the smell of gas.
And I do that car was getting like 0.5 miles a gallon.
And there were just these little gas gremlins like just piling gas onto the exhaust, you know?
So it, I can imagine why you say it's dirty.
Yeah.
So I mean, that's why they stopped coming to the States, right?
That's that was the whole thing is when the 1980, when 1980 came around, they were like, okay, these things are just too filthy.
They won't pass the mission.
So that's why I mean, that's the whole reason them 491 option came around and 911 was because they wanted to bring a car that looked like a turbo into the U.S.
And they could because they just made it look like a turbo and stuffed the SC motor in it because that one was a lot easier to keep, you know, clean and make it happen.
So that, yeah.
So the M 491, a lot of people that listen to the podcast don't, they're learning the, a lot of the nomenclature of Porsche.
So the M 491 package was like literally a turbo car.
It was the body of a turbo on a normally aspirated regular motor car.
Did it have like turbo brakes too?
Brake suspension.
They had everything but the gearbox and the engine.
That was it.
Everything else is turbo.
And you know, I mean, I don't know if you follow those prices.
Someone was telling me the other day, they're fetching almost turbo prices.
I mean, truthfully, they're actually probably more rare than turbos because there was huge money back then and not many people bought them or ordered them.
So they didn't make a ton of them.
People always trying to bring, and everybody wanted the turbos, right?
So the very market cars were still coming in and, you know, it just didn't really, didn't do that well.
But now they're, they're coming back.
So you, so you reworked the engine.
You made it a little bit more lively.
You put in new pans.
And then the last thing I did was I ended up switching out the turbo and I did a ball bearing Garrett turbo so that it just, I mean, with that, along with the exhaust, which was, this guy is amazing.
It was really late motor sports custom built into whatever you want to do.
And he was, he knew Porsche.
He knows Porsches like unbelievable.
So I told him, I said, this is what I'm expecting to get.
And I said, you know, Max is probably a 400 horse.
If I can get there, you know, crank, and if I can get that with this cam and this and this.
And he was like, okay.
So he custom built the exhaust from it took about a month or two from to put it together, sent it to me so that with the turbo.
I mean, it spools up now at probably 2,500, 2,600 RPM.
Oh, so that's way more usable.
It is so much more usable.
Oh yeah.
Okay.
So it's a different car.
It's not the same car I owned.
No.
That's why I said you need to drive it.
And I will.
And I'm glad that I didn't in your first time on this podcast directly insult your car and call it a piece of crap.
Because your car is not.
But listen, I mean, your car is, it's a showstopper.
It's absolutely gorgeous.
The paint is just flawless.
It has all the right moves when you're looking at it.
The interior is like this beautiful brown, just gorgeous, like Nougat color.
That is just fantastic.
So it's what I'll do.
You're going to have to text me some pictures of it so I can put it on this podcast when I edit it.
So everyone can see the beauty of having the new YouTube channel, my friend.
We can put up some pictures with the podcast.
Yeah.
So wait, why were we talking about that?
Oh, because I asked you about your first car.
Yeah.
All right.
Pivoting.
Talk to me about four cylinder boxers and Caymans.
Do you like them?
I think they are a fantastic car.
They are by far on the newer side of Porsches when it comes to boxer Cayman.
I mean, they are so reliable.
The motors are, I mean, they are built, and if you actually took, we never actually taken one apart because we've never had one have a failure of any sort.
Wait, say that again.
You've never taken, you've never taken a four cylinder boxer or Cayman motor apart because you've,
you are the head of the service department for a major, major dealership.
Are you serious?
Have we ever had to dig into a two liter or a 2.5 liter?
And that two five is truly like phenomenal.
The way that they put that motor together.
I went, that was actually one of the last mechanical classes I went to before I took over the service department.
And it's unbelievable.
I mean, you could probably punch 6,700 horsepower out of that four cylinder and it won't break.
I mean, it is just, it's just a miniature version of the flat six and it's so rock solid that, I mean, it's insane.
It really is.
All right.
My mind's blown because listen, so the 718, they're the four cylinder boxers and Caymans came out in 2017 to when?
22?
Ish?
I mean, technically now.
Still?
Yeah.
When did they switch over?
I hear people call 982s.
What are they, why do they call it 982s?
I guess that would be 2023 or 24 when they switched over.
So when they did like the tiny little facelift, but it wasn't, I mean, it really wasn't much of a change, honestly.
The internals, as far as powertrain and stuff like that, nothing really changed.
All they really did was they added the GTS version and had the four liter available to it because prior the GTS was still the 25, but just a little extra horsepower.
Turbocharged four.
Yeah, and people just, they just did not want to accept it, which is, it's just really unfortunate because I gotta tell you, if you actually drove those and now they're coming up, they're plenty well out of warranty.
And if you put a tune in them, forget it.
I mean, forget it.
You'll have 400, 420 horsepower of that little car and it will run circles around so many cars, but they just get fixated on the sound.
It's not a, you know, it's, it's 100% Porsche motor.
And I mean, the 25 even has variable vein turbo geometry.
Like it's bizarre how good they put that thing together.
And we, I'm telling you, we've never, truthfully, never taken one apart down to anything other than, you know, a fuel pump here or maybe a water pump.
Simple things that are, you know, on the extra parts of the motor that fail on any car.
So, a lot of people trashed, people listening, a lot of people trashed the dead generation of Boxtrain Cayman because it has a four cylinder motor.
It does.
The four cylinder.
It does sound super rude-ish.
But if you can hear past that, I've had the pleasure of borrowing a couple cars from your dealership and test driving them for videos.
I think I have a base 718 video that's going to be coming out in a couple weeks.
And as a stick, it's like a lot of fun to drive.
And that's the base.
I would imagine a PDK with the, with the variable vein technology on the turbos has got to be a blast.
It's, it's a ripper that asks for the PDK.
I'm always old school with the manuals.
Don't get me wrong.
But when you start getting into this kind of tech, I mean, it's a PDK on a turbocharged car.
I mean, not to go into American cars, but everyone always lost their minds because grand nationals with these rocket ships used to rip down the quarter mile, right?
Right.
And why, why?
It had a 3.8 liter with a turbocharger that did the same thing a 930 did.
It didn't spool up for days, but it was stuck to this God awful automatic transmission that did one thing, hold the boost because you're not letting off the throttle.
The other thing was a rocket ship down the road.
And think about it, right? PDK, you're on the throttle, that thing's throwing boost.
You're staying on the throttle and it's just going to keep pushing.
Your gear changes, you're not losing RPMs.
And so you're just staying in that awesome power band that the turbos working for you.
Even 996 is when they came out and they started advertising 96 turbos.
All the zero to 60 times were all done with the automatic because the automatic is faster in a zero to 60 time than the stick.
Even with the old slash box autos, those were the numbers?
That five speed, zero to 60, well, 100% beat out of stick because you're doing the same thing, right?
So it's staying in boost and it just keeps pushing.
Yeah.
It makes you cry a little inside because you're like, with an automatic, but it did.
It did.
And that's why they stopped making even an option.
They just said to hell with it.
We're done with manuals on all of our cars because you're not a better driver than our automatics with German.
We know how to make these things shift.
We'll make the car faster if we make it an automatic and you guys can't control it.
And that's why they did it.
You do not get manuals.
You do not get cup holders.
We are German.
Is that it?
I don't want you to get in trouble here, but we're just imagining because all the different brands are going away
from their manual heritage.
And Porsche did in the early 2000s, their GT3s went all automatic with the PDK.
And then the 911 R came out in the mid-2000s and everyone just lost their mind.
That Porsche came back out with a stick and then Porsche realized, oh crap, the American public, the worldwide public for Porsche fans,
they want to drive a stick, they want that connectiveness to the car.
And so then we saw them come back into normal production line cars.
And we enjoyed this like resurgence, this renaissance of manual cars for Porsche that has taken us into the 2020s.
But now we're starting to see it again where they're restricting it to only special models and you can't get a manual at all, right?
For a normal base or an S or a GTS.
I don't believe currently, yeah, GTS forget it with the hybrid that's just not happening.
No way.
But I think right now the only way you can get a stick is if you do a 911 T or GT3, regular GT3 or GT3 Torn.
I think those are the only three models currently that you can get as a stick.
And don't quote me on that because it's always changing.
But I think as of right now, that's all you have for options if you wanted to get a manual.
I think you're right, dude.
I think you're right because I remember with this new generation of the 992.2s that everyone was holding out hope.
The bases came out as PDK only.
And then they were like, oh, well, maybe the asses, maybe they're going to save the stick for the ass.
And then they didn't.
People don't look for it anymore either.
They don't ask for it as much as everyone says it.
The enthusiast that wants to drive it with a manual is by far smaller in my opinion than the ones that just want the car.
And they get a TK case.
All right.
So all right, now I'm getting fired up because I'm going to punch my desk.
Dude, like this is the problem that it's the secondary buyers of Porsche that, well, I'm going to insult the first line buyers that they're not enthusiast.
I can't say that because that's 100% not true.
But like you just said, they're looking for PDKs because they want the car.
They want the newest.
They want the fastest.
They want the greatest.
And then it goes down to the second line people and they want the stick because they are drivers that want that connectedness to the car.
And it's just drying up.
It's no longer available.
And it's like, what do you do?
And Porsche has to understand that, right?
How can they do that?
How can they say, well, you know what?
I know we've had a heritage for 70 plus years of having a stick, but we're just going to do away with it because Ferrari did it and it was fine.
Didn't change anything with them, did it?
No.
Except, except that there's rumors of, you know, they're going to come out with like a crazy supercar and make it a stick because they know that people are going to pay huge money, kind of like that 911 R thing and come out with a stick.
Which all 911 R's is a touring.
It's a touring.
It's a touring.
It's a touring.
It's a Gen 1 touring, right?
Yeah.
Do you think it's more special than the GT3?
Is there anything about it that's more special or is it really just a touring?
I mean, well, disclosure, I've never actually, other than seeing one when I went to one of the, one of my training sessions in Atlanta, I've never actually even had the opportunity to drive one.
Looks wise.
Yeah.
They look a little more unique.
They all had the dual stripes going down the hood.
I mean, I don't think you had an option to not get that.
I don't know if it's any more special than a touring.
It's probably, I mean, it's a pretty car.
Don't get me wrong, but I don't know if there's this like, I think it's the rarity of it that makes it special to more than anything.
It's the rarity.
Yeah.
Yep.
And the fact that they were flipping for so crazily overmarket, way over MSRP.
Way over.
And then people were flipping them for twice that.
And then Porsche goes, and I do appreciate that Porsche did that.
They were like, oh yeah, you sons of bitches.
Well, we're going to come out with the exact same car and then anyone can buy it.
And it did.
It crapped the market out for a long time before it came back.
Right.
Now, and like I said, it changed it because they saw how many they started making on the
tourings and all these and like, okay, the arc started going back up in value, right?
Because they're still much more rare than a touring would be.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I agree.
All right.
So Porsche 718, the four cylinder boxers and Caymans are the unsung heroes of the mid engine cars.
And you can get like 400 horsepower out of this little car, which is awesome.
All right.
You ready for it?
350, right?
It's 350 stock.
Yeah.
And what's the tune on that?
Nothing.
Dude, can you remember?
I remember when the Subaru WRX STI came out and they were pushing 100 horsepower per cylinder
and we were like, oh my God, this is if God came out of the sky and touched the chassis of a car.
Can you imagine a four cylinder?
Like what?
And now it's like commonplace.
It's like, you want 500 horsepower out of your four cylinder?
Go for it.
It's all good.
Yeah.
All right.
You ready for another listener question?
Sure.
Let me, I'm going to find a good one.
All right.
This is a fun question.
Someone asked, what's the worst spec car you've ever seen?
Do you have something in your mind that came into your shop that you looked at this and
you were like, what the hell were they thinking?
So I'm dating myself.
So no funny jokes, but we had a 996.
I don't know how this man even got this thing to be built, but it was in speed yellow.
It was a cab, black roof and the entire interior.
And I apologize.
I don't recall the color or the name of the green, but the entire interior was green.
And I'm not talking like a nice deep like hunter green.
It was pea green.
And I mean everything, the seats, the dash, the door panels, everything was green.
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It looked like a cabbage patch kid throwing up.
That was probably the silliest thing I think I've ever seen as far as builds.
I mean, that's gross, yeah.
It was gross, yeah.
We didn't build it, thank God.
I don't know where it came from, but it came in for service and that was like, wow, this is so ugly and unique.
I like it, but it's ugly.
You do hear those stories though where like someone with a ton of money comes in and they just throw up on the parts catalog and throw up on the option catalog.
And the car gets delivered and it's in a completely unsellable spec and then the person flakes on delivery and they don't pick it up.
And the dealer is just said, they're holding this thing that they can't possibly turn over.
I mean, when they start doing these crazy builds, I know at least our dealership will typically say, listen, if you want to build this,
you might have to leave some money with those that you're not going to get back just in case because you might get the car and go, well, what did I do?
And it's like, yeah, you did it.
That's right, this is yours now.
Exactly.
It's called an insurance policy.
Insurance.
Dude, for real.
All right, give me a common mod you see that actually hurts longevity of a car.
Can you think of a mod a lot of people do that actually hurts the car?
You know, being in our, in a dealership setting, we don't really see a lot of modifications.
Probably the most common is the fact that this is not a jab, but the customer doing it themselves, whatever it might be.
That's usually the bigger problem than the modification itself is the person or whoever did the work.
Why are you looking at me like directly in the eyes when you say that, Angelo?
Why are you doing that?
I can't tell you how many times you get the car and all of a sudden it's like, yeah, oh, the cylinder is damaged.
Well, that's weird.
Then you start getting into it.
And I was like, oh, so you put your own cold air intake that's sucking hot air in from the motor because there was no baffles and you didn't actually tighten the boot down.
And now there's dirt getting sucked into the motor.
That kind of stuff.
Yeah.
Or something gets done and they leave it unplugged and now the thing overheats because the fan didn't work or that kind of stuff.
But we don't see a lot of stuff that's modified.
I mean, outside of maybe someone flashing a tune and then flashing it back before they send it into you.
Can you track that?
Like if someone does that, can you read these to you and see that it was flashed?
So the thing with those is, and they're getting really good.
I'll tell you what, some of these companies are getting really good.
The easiest way to usually tell that that's happened is one, readiness code is usually not set, but the car is not in for any problems.
Why would it not be set?
So all the normal parameters to make sure that the O2s are working and this is working or whatever is working.
The other thing is they'll do that, right?
But they also put some type of exhaust system out that has no catalytic converters.
Well, if there's no cats, those O2 sensors are definitely going to tell you the cats are bad because it doesn't see them.
Yeah, there's no check engine light.
That's usually another indicator of, hey, you know, and honestly, it's up to them that they choose to do that.
That's on them.
That has nothing to do with us.
That's probably that.
And then the other way is the newer cars have a little bit of way of doing it, but up to say 991, I would say even .2991s,
the DME has like a ticker on how many times it's been flashed.
So you can see the flashes.
You don't know why.
So it could have been another dealer that may have done a flash.
But if it's all in the warranty and you look at it, you can see the paper trail of a car getting a DME flash.
If it needed for like a software update, normal stuff, and you'll see the ticker count up.
And then if you see zero, that's usually another sign because it's like, wow, how would it be zero?
There should be at least a one.
You know, so there's like, there's different things and different models have different numbers.
So it's, but the biggest one that usually no one ever realizes.
And I tell customers all the time, I said, you can do everything you want.
When the car blows up because of a tune, it records like a timestamp and it does like a base of a data log.
And they know that a turbo pushes out 600 newton meters of torque.
Let's just say, right?
If it threw a fault for a misfire and it's pushing 700 newton meters of torque, that's impossible to be done on a stock DME flash.
Gotcha.
So you know that that's what did it.
You know, so, but I'm telling you, they're getting really, really good with the way that these flashes are happening.
And there's been some that you would switch by.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I can, I can see that.
I'm not against it.
I'm really not against them.
I like, I mean, I grew up doing that kind of stuff, you know, I had a 300 ZX one turbo that did all kinds of goofy stuff too.
And I liked it.
But the only reason I don't like it is I want, and honestly, we have such a great, great customer base that they are very forthcoming with information.
So, you know, it's, it's a good thing, but it's just a problem with warranty because at the end of the day, if we decide that we can do a repair on it under warranty and it's something that shouldn't have been, they could leave with their car and now I'm stuck with the problem, you know.
I want to, I want to switch over to, because you see the quality of like Porsche in terms of how they're built for good or for bad.
I have people come to me all the time and they're looking for buying advice.
And one of the things that they always are very afraid of as Porsche maintenance costs.
And do you, in your experience, because I know it crosses amongst many brands, do you feel like Porsche is actually more expensive to keep on the road than like a high end BMW or a Mercedes over the course of time?
I mean, I really, I really don't think it's more if you kind of look at what you have as far as if you're looking at the cars and investment.
You know, an oil change is an oil change.
Do I think it's a little pricey for an oil change?
It depends on what you think is pricey.
You're starting out with a car that's $150,000, $160,000 if you're getting a Carrera S.
We'll just use that as an example.
That's probably where they are.
Maybe a little more now, but.
I'm sorry, 2020 called and they just said that your numbers are way off.
I don't know if you noticed this, but Porsche has hiked the price quite a bit in the last three or four years.
You're, you're an ass is touching almost 200 if you get a couple of options in there.
They are getting close to 200 now.
All right.
So a T.
Well, actually, it's funny you say that.
These are not the ones that we have in our law right now.
No, we have a very beautiful T.
Now, you know, is it really that much more in comparison?
I truly don't think so.
I don't think they're very maintenance heavy cars.
You do it once a year.
That's, I mean, no one drives a sports car more than 10, 12,000 miles a year.
It's just not a thing.
Yeah.
I mean, there's, there might be that one random person that might be doing it other than that.
So, you know, if you take all the maintenance of how long you want the car and you break it up, is it really that maintenance heavy?
I mean, you don't start getting into anything crazy until you get like 80,000 miles.
I mean, oil changes and air filters and cabin air filters and brake flushes.
That's not, I don't think honestly it's out of this world.
I mean, I had a Ducati monster.
I needed to get the time belt done and I was going to buy the tools to do it because I can, because I can.
And then I started seeing the cost of the tools and I said, you know what, I'm just going to bring it to the dealer.
You just haven't done it.
It was almost $1,200 for a timing belt on my bike.
$1,200.
So, I'm like, wait a minute.
I'm like, this is a street bike.
The bike cost me, I think when I bought it, I bought it used.
I want to say it was around 12, 13 grand when I bought it.
That's a pretty big cost versus what I paid for the bike.
Now you take a car and you bring in a car that's not cheap and you drop, you know, even though I think one of the biggest,
and I'll use it, I'll use just the career, whether it's an S or based and pretty much identical,
other than, you know, different parts, part numbers, but the plugs, all that stuff is all the same.
It's the cost.
You drop what, $3,500 every four years.
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I mean, is that really that much?
And then, you know, the smallest service is not even close to that.
So, you know, for the enjoyment factor or what the car is, I don't think that it's expensive at all, honestly.
Can I make a crazy statement?
And I want you to tell me if I'm off base having owned BMWs for a long time.
I did a podcast last week with Joe Finkel from FCP Euro, and he is also a goldmeister master mechanic down in Connecticut,
and also spent quite a bit of time as a BMW mechanic.
So, here's my statement. Tell me if I'm wrong.
I actually think that the maintenance might be more expensive on a Porsche, Angelo,
because if you do your maintenance in a Porsche, things don't break as much.
Like, if you maintain a Porsche, it'll last a long, long time if you maintain the maintenance schedules,
versus like, say, a high-end BMW where you can do the maintenance,
but it's almost like they're designed to break at certain mileage.
Like, because of the parts are made of plastic or there's, you know, programmed obsolescence into some of the things that they do with their cars.
Am I off base in thinking that?
I don't think that that is inaccurate at all. I really don't.
I do feel the exact same way.
And here's another thing that I run into a lot is people say I maintain my car.
Oil changes are not maintaining your car. That's an oil change. End of story.
You're changing the oil. Everyone does oil changes,
but when you start getting into the, like, the nitty-gritty of all the other things that should be done as part of a routine maintenance,
then you start understanding, like, some of the cost factor too, you know?
And, and again, all places are not equal. All technicians are not illegal.
And I try to really stress that with my team to be the same no matter who's working on it.
But there's a lot more that goes into a two-year maintenance than when someone says, you know,
oh, it's just an oil change in a brake flush or it's just an oil change in a brake flush and you replace an air filter.
You're just talking about the pieces that are getting replaced.
There's way more than just replacing a bunch of parts.
You know, there's just, there's all kinds of cleanings and inspections and checkovers and adjustments if need be, you know?
And granted, it's, you don't know until the car comes in because one 911 might come in with 1,500 miles and it's three years old.
And the other one might come in with 15,000 miles and it's three years old.
You know, so that you never know what you're going to have to do with the maintenance until that specific car comes in.
And that's tough to predict what it would mean.
So you have to have just a baseline and say, this is what it's going to be.
And regardless, we check everything the same way on all the cars.
But people will say, I take care of my BMW.
I take care of my Audi.
And it's only this and it's like, you're changing the oil once a year, a couple hundred bucks.
And that's what you think is all it needs.
And then they get mad because a bunch of things start to break because no one ever checked or adjusted or whatever the situation might be.
And that's just what happens.
You know what I think of to your point when you say that to me is I think about the gutter drains, the water drains in a car.
And like cleaning out, especially in a convertible, cleaning out the way your water gets to exit out of the car.
So it doesn't go into your cabin and pool on the floor and blow your bow's stereo that's under the passenger seat.
Don't ask me how I know.
You know, that's maintenance too, right?
Like those kind of things, it's all part of it.
And that goes above and beyond changing your oil.
It's like those are the things that add to longevity because you're not being dumb and letting your car, you know, giving a chance for your car to bite you.
Right.
I mean, there's drains that run down the inner fenders on boxers that people don't ever clean.
And it just piles up a bunch of dirt.
And now you don't have a drain that will drain in it backs all the way up.
And it fills that whole rear cowl where the top goes because they didn't know enough to clean that drain that goes down to the rear of where the fender liner and the body beat.
And you can't get to it unless you pull the fender liner out and actually see it.
And then it's almost always caked in dirt, you know.
And then we always, that's what we run into.
Why do the maintenance isn't it's like you did oil changes.
And that's part of it too, right?
If we do the maintenance and say in the sun, it happens everywhere.
I don't care what anyone says.
Things get missed for something, you know, something happens, whatever it may be.
Then at least you have the backup of saying, Hey, I've been coming here.
Shouldn't have been done.
Yeah, we take care of it.
So there's always that you always get the backup when you do go at least again.
I speak for where I am, how I handle things in my department.
You always get that backup too.
So I mean, again, that goes back to the cost, you know.
Now that we've scared.
This is a big Boxster channel.
Big Boxster came and shown that we scared the crap out of people.
They're all going to look up, how do I clean my drains?
Do you use like a wire?
How do you clean your drains?
You just push a wire down there.
A couple of different ways.
So depending on what you're doing.
So the center of drains, we have a special tool that we actually get with Porsche.
And I think honestly it's the same as it's Bobasto.
It was what is the company that makes almost all the Sunroof parts and everything from.
Best name ever for a company, by the way.
Wabasto.
They made the heaters for like the old 356s and 911s, right?
Wabasto heaters?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wabasto, Vallejo.
There's a couple of variants, but for the most part, they're like the most common.
Doesn't it sound like a German swear word?
Like you stub your toe.
Wabasto.
Wabasto.
Son of a Wabasto.
Yeah.
So it's a special tool that you just run down and it just, it's a little bristle brush
thing and you just kind of push it all the way through.
There's even a mod that we do.
It's not our idea.
It was something Porsche even said to do, but they're so fixated on the drains on their
cars and thinking that, you know, critters or spiders is something going to go up the
drain tubes and clog them that they put these little end flaps on, which if most people
that love their cars don't drive them in the rain or anything, these little flaps get stuck.
So now they don't ever exit out.
So they tell you to actually snip the end of it.
So no matter what, there's always still a way of water to egress out of it.
And there are drains.
And there's drains on coops to everyone.
So it's not just if you're a convertible lover.
You get a...
The only car that doesn't have a drain is back to my first answer was a Cayman.
There's nothing to drain.
There's nothing to drain.
Oh, it really is the perfect car, Angelo.
All right.
So we are coming up on an hour, which is about where people do their commuting.
So we're not going to go much longer.
I do have one more question for you.
A couple of weeks back, I did an interview with Blackstone Labs, the folks that test
oil for contaminants.
And they usually...
They have big sample sets based on the cars, and they can tell which models and which engines
are prone to bore score because they can pick up those particulates in the oil.
And so they know.
And so Joe Adams from Blackstone said is he went through 996, 997, 991 motors and again,
sample size of thousands and gave me the percentage rates of failure due to bore score.
And I'm going to just give you round numbers that pretty much the 996, 997.1 motors, which
are known for bore score, 8 out of 10, 9 out of 10 bore score and explode and somehow punch
your mom in the face, those motors, believe it or not, had a 3% give or take failure rate
due to bore score.
And then the 997.2s, those were in the...
I believe in the 2s and the 991s were under 1%.
And I could be off, but let's just say that pretty much everything is under 3.5%, whether
it's a base or an ass.
Does that sound crazy to you?
You know, I can only tell you what I see at our store as far as a sample goes and the
amount of cars that have ever gone, and I see sports cars will leave at that right now,
that go through that I've had an issue with bore scoring is so small that I mean, even
3% sounds on the higher side.
And that's again, you know, back to what I said, it's how you operate the car, you know,
culture.
This typically I never actually saw with the older generation of vehicle owners because
they had much different mindset on how a car should be warmed up and handled when it's
warming up versus when it's cold.
So I'm not, honestly, I'm not surprised by that.
I'm really not.
So stay away from those forums, dude, right?
It's such an evil thing when you start going down that rabbit hole.
It's insane.
People really get so fixated.
I mean, we could have an entire discussion about over revs.
Okay.
And that is the most obnoxious thing to go down that everyone always brings up.
And it's just don't get so fixated on it because all you do is think about that, whether it's
the bore scoring or it's this over rev thing, or, you know, you got to go back to just enjoying
the car.
And I get it, right?
It's not like you're buying a Toyota Corolla for five grand that it breaks, who cares, right?
I get it.
It's a huge investment that you're getting into.
But you only ever see the bad ones.
Only people can ever talk about the bad ones.
Right.
And that's the problem.
Right.
So the takeaway from today's discussion, Angelo, is that everyone has to go out and buy a 718
because they are the most reliable cars ever.
They are designed to be perfect.
Dude, you asked me what my favorite car would be if I ever had to have just one?
Just one.
Probably be a .1 GT3 Touring.
A .1 GT3 Touring stick.
Oh, you could get it.
Oh, it only came in the stick?
In .1s, yeah.
In the .1s.
You only get it in a stick.
And then .2s when it decided to give you the option for a PDK.
So you would get yourself an early .1 GT3 Touring with a stick.
What would the color be?
I mean, I'd probably start to get Guards Red.
Nope, that's the wrong answer.
Nope.
Nope.
The only right answer is that beautiful Hunter Green with the peanut butter interior.
That's the only color you can get in that car that's acceptable in this podcast.
Dude, Guards Red's hot and Guards Red has come back in a huge way.
I mean, it was out of favor for a long time.
And I feel like in the last 10 years, it has hit really hard.
Everyone's about it.
I just mean, something about a Red Porsche.
You just can't go wrong with it.
Faster.
It's definitely faster.
It's definitely faster.
That's actually scientific.
Angelo, thank you for wasting an hour with me.
It has been a blast.
I'm excited to have you on again.
You're just a man, brother.
I really appreciate it.
Yeah, dude.
It was a great time.
More times to be had.
And everyone out there, thank you so much for following along.
And we'll see you next Tuesday.
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About this episode
Angelo Scuderi, a Porsche service director and longtime friend of the host, breaks down which modern Porsche sports cars make the smartest daily drivers. His top pick is the Cayman, especially the 987.2, for its reliability, lower maintenance costs, and simple, hardtop design. He also makes a strong case for the naturally aspirated 991.1 911, arguing that a base or S model offers plenty of performance without needing more power. The conversation also touches on driving feel, value, and Angelo’s own 1979 930 project car.
Is the Porsche community sleeping on the best daily driver ever made? In this episode of ElevenAfterNine, I’m joined by my "brother from another mother," Angelo Scuderi.
Angelo isn't just a Porsche enthusiast; he’s the Service Director at Porsche of Nashua and a Goldmeister Master Mechanic. He’s the guy I trust with my own cars, and today, he’s dropping some serious truth bombs that might make you rethink your next purchase.
In this episode, we dive into:
The "Zero-Failure" Engine: Why Angelo has never had to tear down a 4-cylinder 718 motor in all his years at the dealership.
The Daily Driver Myth: Why the 987.2 Cayman might be the best "bang-for-your-buck" Porsche on the planet.
930 Turbo vs. The World: I tell Angelo why his dream 1979 Turbo is a "beautiful piece of crap" (and he explains why I’m wrong).
Maintenance vs. Oil Changes: The critical distinction every owner needs to understand to save their engine.
The Death of the Manual: Why the manual transmission is disappearing and what it means for the secondary market.
Whether you're looking for your first Porsche or you're a seasoned Rennlist regular, this conversation is about the real-world usage of these machines—not just the spec sheets.
HELP SPREAD THE WORD I’m focused on creating the best content possible for the "regular" Porsche enthusiast, which means I don't have a ton of time for social media marketing! If you enjoyed this conversation, please:
Share a link in your local PCA WhatsApp group.
Drop a post on the forums (Rennlist, Pelican Parts, etc.).
Subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss next Tuesday’s episode.