Porsche Boxster Maintenance Schedule – 981
Recommended Time and Mileage Based Maintenance Service Intervals for Porsche Boxster – 981
Porsche Boxster | 2012 – 2016 | 981
Standard maintenance on the Porsche Boxster 981 models is very straightforward and well laid out. There are additional items recommended at certain intervals on the Porsche Boxster 981 cars as highlighted below. Porsche originally recommend PDK clutch fluid should be serviced every 120K miles or 12 years. However, for the extended health of your PDK transmission, we recommend this service be performed at the 60K or 6 year service interval.
Seek out the services of an expert Porsche shop for advice and healthy maintenance options for your Porsche Boxster 981.
Porsche Boxster Recommended Maintenance Intervals – 981
To keep your Porsche Boxster 981 healthy, we recommend you inspect the car and change the engine oil and filter annually or every 10K miles. The original 981 maintenance schedule called for a minor service at 20K or two years and a major service at 4 year or 40K mile intervals. Additional maintenance items are also required at the 6 year and 12 year interval, as shown below. In addition, we recommend a PDK clutch fluid replacement at 60K miles.
Many people become confused by Porsche maintenance schedules. The intervals and maintenance items are cumulative – so for clarity, a 4 year service includes all the maintenance items recommended at the 4 year interval, plus all maintenance items from the 2 year and annual maintenance interval as well.
Safety and Maintenance Inspection
Every annual service should include a rigorous safety and maintenance inspection. It’s essential this is carried out by an experienced, skilled Porsche technician who knows the likely wear characteristics of your Porsche and can identify issues of concern at an early stage. A thorough inspection of your Boxster should reveal maintenance items that have been influenced by road or local environmental conditions.
Some maintenance items are described as “lifetime,” such as coolant, for example. It’s important during the inspection to discover the health of these “lifetime” items. If you need cold weather protection from your coolant, you’ll find the “lifetime” is considerably shorter than you might expect! Identifying mechanical problems at an early stage allows planning and budgeting for the necessary work.
Porsche Boxster Maintenance Recommendations – 981
Annual Maintenance or Every 10K Miles:
- Vehicle Inspection
- Change engine oil and filter
- Update or replace maintenance items based on inspection
Add the following maintenance items to the annual service, based on the time or mileage intervals shown below:
Additional Maintenance Every 20K or 2 Years:
- Replace brake fluid
- Replace cabin pollen filter
- Replace cabin pre-filter element
- Replace engine air intake filters
Additional Maintenance Every 40K or 4 Years:
- Replace spark plugs
Additional Maintenance Every 60K or 6 years:
- Replace drive belt
- Replace PDK clutch fluid
- Clean throttle body
Additional Maintenance Every 120K or 12 years:
- Replace manual transmission fluid
- Replace PDK transmission oil
Maintenance for HPDE and Track Driving
If you plan to take your Porsche Boxster 981 to the track for some fun, there are different maintenance considerations to make. In general, track driving will speed up the requirements for maintenance and the replacement of service items. Most track day companies, groups and the PCA HPDE, will require a safety inspection be completed by a Porsche repair shop. However, you should view the safety inspection as the minimum requirement for having a safe day out at the track with your Porsche.
If you’re pottering around in the novice group at a track day, most of the standard maintenance service items on your Porsche are up to the job. Once you progress to more spirited driving in the advanced run groups, it’s quite easy to quickly exceed the performance of those standard service items, especially if you are running multiple track days in a season.
At this stage, it’s extremely important not only to complete a safety inspection, but also to radically speed up maintenance. For example, a brake fluid flush and oil change before each event is a sensible approach. Likewise, a spark plug change after two events will keep your engine running healthy under track conditions.
There are upgrades to standard maintenance items for the 981 Boxster cars that can help prevent over-driving. For example, Castrol SRF brake fluid will be far more durable than the standard brake fluid. There are better engine oil recommendations for the track versus the standard Mobil 1 factory refill. As your driving progresses, it’s also worth considering different brakes and tires. A specialist Porsche shop with track experience, can better help you understand the increased maintenance requirements for your car.