Lots of people have “allergies” to high mileage cars.. To a certain extent I can understand them, since the useful life of a car is not infinite, and with higher mileage, there is a greater propensity for certain elements of the car to fail or break down. However, that “allergy” is often unfounded and supported by bar counter myths. One of those myths is that Sports cars are fragile and mechanically delicate cars. If someone tells you that a sports car is a fragile car, show them this Porsche 911 Turbo with 1.1 million km.
The car in question is a Porsche 911 of the 996 generation, corresponding to the facelift. That is, a car with about 20 years behind it. Right now, the car has a whopping 1,089,290 kilometers on its odometer. This mileage is more typical of a heavy industrial vehicle or bus. And yet, it is the one who boasts a 911 that It is not only used as a daily car, but also regularly enters the circuit. The car in question belongs to Tom Thalmann, and he lives in New England – specifically in Rhode Island, United States.
More than 57,000 km per year. Sometimes it has reached a monthly frequency of oil changes.
Thalmann is its first owner, having purchased it from the official Warwick dealer in February 2003. At the time, he paid a real fortune: $ 160,110, including more than $40,000 in optional items. Adjusting for inflation and the current exchange rate, we are talking about more than 250,000 euros. The car is used daily by its owner, who uses it to get to his job in Boston, as well as regularly attending track days, where he uses the car for what it was designed for.
The car has a 3.6 Mezger engine, a turbocharged six-cylinder boxer up to 420 hp. It has all-wheel drive and a six-speed manual transmission. The all-wheel drive has been fantastic for its owner, who uses it in winter, with the usual snowfall in the area, wearing winter tires. And what is the secret so that this car has reached 1.1 million kilometers? Preventive, exhaustive and very routine maintenance. For example, oil changes are made every 8,000 km, instead of the 25,000 km indicated by Porsche.
Its owner has done up to 12 track-days in a year. He does not drive calmly only on the highway.
One of the biggest “breakdowns” involved change vehicle transmission. She took the opportunity to change the clutch, something that only happened once. When the car exceeded 600,000 km, Thalmann took it to a local specialist at Porsche to check the health of the engine. All internal component tolerances were still within factory specifications. or slightly offset, and the crankshaft bearings were barely marked. All in all, it was decided to rebuild the engine, preventively – even unnecessary.
The engine would have held the type much longer, but they decided to heal in health. Their cylinder heads were rebuilt, new pistons, valves were installed… Even the turbocharger was replaced. Since then, the engine has covered more than half a million kilometers with complete reliability. His owner does not plan to retire her car, or ever sell it. Although it hasn’t traveled as many kilometers since the pandemic, it’s still his daily vehicle. A “fragile” and “delicate” sports car with 1.1 million kilometers.
