On Thursday, April 15, 2004, at 08:06 PM, Tim Schuh wrote:
> Chris King wrote:
>> You're probably right. I saw the Boxter Tuesday at the New York Auto
>> show. It had a lid on both the front and the rear of the car, and
>> neither accessed the engine. I wonder how you check the oil?
>
> Assuming it's not in the owners manual you take it to a dealership and
> pay their exhobitant prices or get reamed for the factory service
> manual. I seem to have heard that Porsche in particular got fed up
> with sophomoric mechanical neophites attempting to do their own work
> and making the cars worse at Porsche's expense.
Heh - I think Porsche, which used to be the kind of sports car that was
generally maintained by the owner (mainly because the nearest
dealership was three states over), has been elevated into the kind of
car that's owned people who would never get their hands dirty. That's a
shame but the way the world works, I guess. I bought a 356 while I was
in college for the grand sum of $1,050, and the owner and I argued for
a good hour over that $50. I was in Chapel Hill, NC, and the nearest
dealer was in Washington DC.
But you know what eventually soured me on the Porsche? You had to get
under it to fix anything. I got tired of sand and grit in my teeth and
eyes. One fine day a friend brought over his Spitfire, lifted the hood,
and sat on the front tire to adjust the points. "Wow," I thought, "a
car that not only has everything within easy reach, but provides a
handy seat." I bought my MkIV two months later and the two cars
co-habited for a while until I sold the 356 to my brother-in-law. He
eventually forgave me. He now owns a TR-6 as his weekend ride.
Ken Strayhorn
Hillsborough NC
'72 MkIV
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