Boxster/Cayman Owners Do You OEM?

[ronster]

I decided to start this topic out of curiosity after participating in another topic, on this forum, about oil. How many of you Boxster and Cayman owners go OEM when it comes time for replacement and service? For instance do you always use "N" rated tires? Do you use the Porsche recommended oil and weight? Do you use the recommended spark plug brand? Do you always use OEM parts? If not what do you use and why did you decide to go aftermarket?

[recycled sixtie]

First off I go Mobil 1synth. for the oil. Is that OEM recommended? That depends on what effect it has on the car like antifreeze. My PPI last spring said not Porsche antifreeze. I thought, so what? Now I know from the website that the engine runs cooler with Porsche antifreeze so the next coolant change will definitely be Porsche coolant. I am an older geezer of 65 so have no need to customize my car which is a base 2001 Boxster. I want to keep it standard, reliable and drive the poop out of it. . If in doubt I go OEM. Why take a flyer on questionable parts. Hope this helps

[Doug&Julie]

I've had to buy very few "parts" for my Cayman S, but so far I'm seeing very little savings for aftermarket v OEM. YMMV, but I'll usually spring for OEM whenever possible.

Tires...no I don't look for "N rated". I simply go by (customer and consumer) ratings and what best fits my car (balanced with what fits my budget).

Oil...Mobile 1 synth. Mostly because oil has to be (one of if not) the most important thing you put in your car...don't skimp there!

Hope this helps.

[ronster]

This is a curiosity post about what other owners do when it comes to repair or maintenance so I'm not looking for suggestions for me. The oil post I referred to got into a hot debate about what oil to use and why and just spurred my curiosity about what other owners use for maintenance and repair.
I had Pirelli P Zero's on my Boxster when I bought it used which are the Porsche recommended tires for it but I've switched to a non "N" rated Sumitomo and am getting the same, and in some cases, better performance from them.
I won a case of Royal Purple 5-40 wt. oil and am currently using it instead of the recommended 0-40 wt Mobil1 and the valve noise on startup I was experiencing has gone away as have the occasional puffs of smoke. The water pump I had replaced when it failed was OEM but I don't use the OEM oil filter because the one I do use Mahle is rated as good but half the cost. I am replacing the plugs with the recommended Bosch so I'm really just curious about what other owners do and if there is something you've hit on that is as good or better than OEM i.e. serpentine belt, cabin filter for examples.

[mikefocke]

Used non-Porsche recommended oil, OEM oil filters, N-rated tires, non-Porsche brake pads/rotors.

Yet when replacing things like O2 sensors, etc I used the OEM but not labeled/marked up by Porsche parts.

[WhipE350]

I'm with Mike on this one. I have done a ton to my car, not because it had to be done or needed it but because I just wanted to. I mix it up. Some parts are specific to Porsche and really require genuine or oem others are not. Those things that wear out many times in a life time like brake pads, rotors, tires, brake fluid, oil, filters are generally from manufactures that are always improving on or have higher performing parts than original parts. I've been replacing parts on the car that are specific to the car so obviously they are genuine....good news is i get them at 10% over cost so when it comes to porsche parts it makes it worth doing otherwise i would be buying from dismantlers.
For instance I will be doing the 3 piece clutch kit soon, the oem part and the genuine are only within $50 of each other for me and really are identical, i will probably spend the extra to get the warranty from genuine.
Take the O2 sensors, probably can't go wrong with any aftermarket there because they are a technology that are used in all cars however if i can get genuine for close to the same price...I will.
Oil, well ya gotta love those conversations. Look if you change the oil a lot and you found one that makes the engine more quiet...heck use it. I use synthetic Castrol but only because I can get an unlabeled mann fleece and 10qrts for just over $60.

[Schumi]

The one thing I will never deviate from OEM on is spark plugs. I always use the OEM spark plug. Whatever the motor was designed for, that is it.


I have seen too many people have problems on cars when they switch to the $1.99 spark plug on sale at autozone and wonder why they end up down on power and have fuel economy issues.

The OEM Beru spark plugs are damn good. It's worth the money. You replace spark plugs what? once every 30K? It's worth spending the money on.

[s_wilwerding]

Another thing that I have converted back to OEM on is transmission fluid. It's expensive, but again, you don't do it that often.

After trying Redline, Swepco, etc, I find the OEM is the best.