Due apologies for the absence of a monthly update for June. Here in America we are still wracked with the coronavirus, and therefore nothing went on in regards to the GT3 for that particular month, so there weren’t really anything to write about. Actually, that’s not entirely true: the 911 did get taken out for a spirited drive on the mountains during a weekend in June, but more on that later.
So was it laziness? Lethargy? Probably a bit of both. On certain days, the COVID-19 situation really grinds, making me desperate for things to get back to normal, when I can take the car out every weekend and go on adventures like I used to do. Unfortunately, that dream is not to be for at least the rest of this year, perhaps longer. Honestly, it kind of hurts to be paying a monthly payment in the thousand and insurance premiums in the hundreds for a car to be parked 95% of the time. I could take the GT3 off the road permanently and stash it in a garage, but the cost of renting a space in San Francisco (parking tax is 25%!) would cost more than the insurance I would be saving on.
It’s okay to be frustrated sometimes.
I probably wouldn’t be writing this piece for the month of July if not for the fact I had an unscheduled visit to the dealership. With regular maintenance being an annual thing, the GT3 was not due for service until December, though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at making an unscheduled trip: the 911 is a German car after all, and what are German-made automobiles known for but not-so-good reliability? Even from Porsche, a manufacturer with a sterling reputation for engineering excellence, one shouldn’t expect a trouble-free ownership experience. Had I wanted that, I would have bought a Lexus, but I can’t afford the LFA by a significant margin.
At least it wasn’t the engine, or anything to do with mechanical motivation!
On a periodic drive of the car this month - to bring the oily stuff up to temperature and to charge up the battery - I realized the HVAC system was malfunctioning. The longer I got into the drive, the hotter it felt inside the cabin, even though I’ve always had the automatic climate control set to a nice 70 degrees (Fahrenheit). A hand test to the vents felt no air coming out, and pressing the button for maximum AC – which turns the system on full tilt – did absolutely nothing. I was slowly cooking in the car, though thankfully for San Francisco weather, it never got to an uncomfortable level. Actually rolling down the windows to let air into the car: what a novel concept!
Hoping that it’s just a temporary fault of the electricals, I found a highway rest stop to park and did a “restart” of the system: shut off engine, pull key (no push button start here), wait a few seconds, then start the car back up again. Sadly, the power-cycle did not resolve the issue, so it was onto the next step.
Lacking immediate tools to perform the procedure, I had to wait until the next day to bring along a 10mm wrench to then unhook the negative battery lead. This constitutes a proper reset to the whole electrical system, and after a minute of an absolutely dead GT3, I reconnected the battery and fired up the car. Once again, still no air coming out of the vents under any combination of buttons on the HVAC controls. This means it’s time to make an appointment at my dealership, one that’s rather inconveniently located 50 miles away.
No big deal: the GT3 is still under the certified pre-owned warranty, so I knew that this issue wouldn’t cost me a single cent. It’s a good opportunity to see how the dealership is operating in this new COVID world, and if it weren’t for the fact I had to make the trip with no mechanically-assisted air circulation, it would’ve been a solid hour of fine cruising to get there. Thank god the weather was mild that day.
Other than a distinct lack of foot traffic, and the fact everyone was masked up, it appears my dealership isn’t really operating differently. The service advisor said that after a brief period of deadness in March, the amount of work haven’t decreased at all – on the service side, anyways. Make sense: even during a pandemic, cars still require maintenance work, which is the reason why I was there. Knowing full well that any work would be covered by warranty, it was a quick signing of the papers and off I went back home to await updates.
So what was the problem with the HVAC system? Turns out it was a failed blower motor, a $600 dollar item according to various online Porsche parts catalogs. Factor in the dealership premium and labor costs, this was probably a $1,500 job to fix the problem (because it was warranty work, the invoice did not list the true cost of the service). While I am happy my out-of-pocket cost is zero, this ordeal is a reminder to purchase an aftermarket extended warranty for the GT3 once the CPO warranty expires. The initial outlay of a few thousand dollars is absolutely worth the peace of mind of not having to stress about any surprise costs due to unreliability.
Again, the 911 is a German car after all.
The impromptu service took a week, not because the procedure actually took that long, but because the replacement part arrived broken. It took the third overnighted blower motor for one to arrive intact and ready to be installed, which is fine: it’s not like I’ve got anywhere else to go with the car.
As the adage goes: you don’t realize how much you miss and take for granted something as essential as air-conditioning until it fails and you no longer have it.
Did long periods of sitting during these coronavirus times cause the blower motor to fail? I would certainly hope not, but having the GT3 sit stationary for long durations in between drives probably doesn’t help. These high-strung sports cars are meant to be driven and used regularly; it’s when they sit for an extended period that’s when undue issues happen (I would bet the person who just bought a pristine 8,000 mile E30 M3 for a quarter of a million dollars is likely to have some hefty surprise maintenance bills in his future). Obviously, the lockdowns make it difficult to drive our sports cars regularly; to do so would be, in my opinion, reckless.
Perhaps it was on a drive in the Livermore mountains back in June that caused the blower motor failure. I remember that day well because the weather was deep into the 90s, and for the better part of an hour, the GT3’s tach needle was constantly living in the upper rev range as it carved through the mountain pass. Engine oil temperature spiked to over 240 degrees - probably the first time it has done so this whole year – and of course I had the air conditioning on at full blast. It resembles the sort of conditions the GT3 was engineered for: track days on a circuit, with heavy heat and engine load lap after lap. I wasn’t concerned about the hot conditions at all; I was actually quite happy the car was getting some proper exercise in, after having pretty much sat and done nothing for over four months (and sadly will continue to do so for the rest of 2020).
Little did I know, the next drive after that brilliant jaunt on Mines Road – some weeks later – would be the one where I discovered I had zero mechanical air circulation. But again: at least it wasn’t the engine, and honestly, life with the GT3 was getting bit boring anyways.
See you all next month.
Photo credit: Matt Brown
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Date acquired: January 2019
Total mileage: 30,342
Mileage this month: 152
Costs this month: $258.18
MPG this month: 15.12 mpg