
8
Before driving off...
Dear Porsche Owner A lot has gone into the manufacture of your 
Porsche, including advanced engineering, rigid 
quality control and demanding inspections. 
These engineering and safety features will be 
enhanced by you... the safe driver... – who knows his/her car and all controls, 
– who maintains the vehicle properly, 
– who uses driving skills wisely and always  drives within her/his own capabilities and the 
level of familiarity with the vehicle. 
You will find helpful hints in this manual on how to 
perform most of the checks listed on the following 
pages. 
If in doubt, have these checks performed by your 
authorized Porsche dealer. 
Before driving off... Check the following items first f Turn the engine off before you attempt any 
checks or repairs on the vehicle. 
f Be sure the tires are inflated correctly. 
Check tires for damage and tire wear. 
f See that wheel bolts are properly tightened 
and not loose or missing. 
f Check engine oil level, add if necessary. 
Make it a habit to have engine oil checked with 
every fuel filling. 
f Check all fluid levels such as windshield 
washer and brake fluid levels. 
f Be sure the vehicle battery is well charged and 
cranks the engine properly. 
f Check all doors and lids for proper operation 
and latch them properly. 
f Check, and if necessary replace worn or 
cracked wiper blades. 
f See that all windows are clear and unob-
structed. 
f Check air intake slots and area between lug-
gage compartment lid and windshield. Ensure 
that these areas are free of snow and ice, so 
the heater and the windshield wipers work 
properly.  f
If a child will be riding  in the vehicle, check 
child seat/child seat restraint system to ensure 
that restraints are properly adjusted.
f Child restraint systems will not fit into the 
Sports bucket seat.
Do not install a child restraint system in the 
Sports bucket seat.
The Sports bucket seat cannot be equipped 
with the LATCH system and thus the airbag 
system cannot be manually deactivated.
f Check all exterior and interior lights for opera-
tion and that the lenses are clean. 
f Check the headlights for proper aim, and if 
necessary, have them adjusted. 
f Check under the vehicle for leaks. 
f Be sure all luggage is stowed securely. 
Emergency equipment It is good practice to  carry emergency equipment 
in your vehicle. 
Some of the items you should have are: 
window scraper, snow brush, container or bag of 
sand or salt, emergency light, small shovel, first-
aid kit, etc.  

82
Operation, Safety
Windshield Wiper/ Washer Lever 
 Warning!
Danger of injury when  the windshield wipers 
operate unintentionally, e.g. in intermittent 
or rain sensor operation. 
Risk of damage to the windshield, wiper sys-
tem and headlight washer. 
f Avoid running the wiper blades over a dry 
windshield to prevent scratching the glass. 
Spray washer fluid on the windshield first. 
A scratched windshield will reduce visibility. 
f Always loosen wiper blades from frozen glass 
before operating wipers to prevent damage to 
the wiper motor or blades. 
f Always switch off windshield wipers in car 
wash to prevent them wiping unintentionally 
(intermittent or sensor operation). 
f Always switch off windshield wipers before 
cleaning the windshield to avoid unintentional 
operation (intermittent or sensor operation). 
f Do not operate the headlight washer in car 
washes. 
f Do not operate headlight washer when it is frozen. 
Wiper and headlight washer system0  –  Windshield wipers off
1  –  Intermittent/rain sensor operation for 
front windshield wipers
f Move wiper lever upwards to the first click.
Please see the chapter “RAIN SENSOR” on 
Page 83.
2  –  Windshield wipers slow
f Move wiper lever upwards to the second click.
3  –  Windshield wipers fast 
f Move wiper lever upwards to the third click. 4  –  Windshield wiper – one-touch operation:
f
Move wiper lever downwards. The windshield 
wipers wipe once.
5  –  Windshield wipers and washer system:
f Pull wiper lever towards the steering wheel. 
The washer system sprays and wipes while the 
lever is pulled towards  the steering wheel. 
When the wiper lever is released, a few drying 
wipes are executed. 
A - Headlight washer (Vehicles with Bi-Xenon 
headlights):
The washer sprays only while low beam or high 
beam is switched on.
f Briefly push button  A to operate headlight 
washer system.
f If heavily soiled, repeat wash.
The headlight washer system automatically sprays 
once for every ten times the front windshield 
washer system is operated.
Note
The  windshield washer nozzles are heated 
when the ignition is on, as a precaution against 
freezing. 

Operation, Safety
93
Opening front luggage compartment lid 
 Caution!
Risk of damage to luggage compartment lid 
or windshield wipers. 
f Make sure that the windshield wipers are not 
folded out forwards when opening the luggage compartment lid. 
f Raise lid slightly and unl atch the safety catch 
with the red lever ( arrow). 
Closing front and rear luggage 
compartment lid fLower the lid and close it. 
f Push the lid closed with the palm of your hand 
in the area of the lock.
Check that the lid has correctly engaged in the 
lock. 
 Warning!
Risk of loss of control  or an accident, result-
ing in serious personal injury or death. 
f Should you notice at any time while driving that 
one of the lids is not secured properly, please 
stop immediately in a suitable place and close 
it. The front lid may fly up impairing vision.  

214
Maintenance, Car Care
Washing The best method of protecting your car from the 
damaging effects of the environment is frequent 
washing and the application of a preservative. The 
underside of your vehicle should also be thorough-
ly washed for cinders, salt or sanding at winter’s 
end. 
The longer salt, road du st and industrial dust, 
dead insects, bird droppi ngs or substances from 
trees (resin, pollen) are allowed to remain on the 
bodywork, the more serious is their harmful ef-
fect. 
New cars should be washed carefully with plenty 
of clear water to protect  the new paint work. Dark 
paint finishes show up the smallest of surface 
damage (e.g., scratches)  more readily than lighter 
colors. 
Dark colors are also more  susceptible to scratch-
ing because of the compos ition of their pigments 
and require particularly careful paint care. 
f Do not wash your car in bright sunlight or while 
the bodywork is still hot. 
f When washing by hand, use abundant water, a 
soft sponge or wash brush, and Porsche car 
shampoo. 
f Begin by spraying the body thoroughly with wa-
ter to rinse away loose dirt.  f
After washing, rinse the car with plenty of wa-
ter and then dry with a chamois leather.
Do not use the same chamois leather for dry-
ing as you use for cleaning the windshield and 
windows. 
 Warning!
Moisture which gets on to the brakes during 
a car wash can reduce braking efficiency or 
make the brakes pull unevenly which could 
increase the danger of  an accident, causing 
serious personal injuries or death. 
f After washing the car, test the brakes and 
steering and briefly brake the discs dry.
When doing this, take care not to hamper other 
road users behind you (traffic conditions permitting). 
Automatic car washes 
f Please see the chapter “WIPER BLADES” on 
Page 212.
Optional add-on parts or parts which project 
beyond the contours of the vehicle may be 
damaged by design features (e.g. brushes) of au-
tomatic car washes. The following parts are particularly 
susceptible to damage: 
– Convertible top (hot wax treatment cannot be 
used, as the wax attacks the convertible top 
material)
– Windshield wipers (alw ays switch them off to 
prevent them wiping unintentionally in intermit-
tent or sensor operation) 
– External antennas (always unscrew)
– Rear spoiler
– Wheels (the wider the rim and the lower the tire  height, the greater the risk of damage) 
– High-gloss wheels (to prevent these from get- ting scratched, do not clean with the wheel-
cleaning brushes of the car wash). 
f Please consult the operator before using auto-
matic car washes. 
f Wash and dry by hand all points not reached by 
a car wash, such as door and lid seams or 
door sills. 
Note
Automatic car washes spray water at odd angles 
and high pressures, which are not seen in normal 
driving. Therefore, water can sometimes find its 
way into the passengers compartment during or 
shortly after the car wash. 

Practical Tips, Emergency Service
251
Winter operation The capacity and ability of the battery to store 
power decreases at low outside temperatures.
Moreover, the battery is more heavily loaded in 
winter months, e.g. by the heated rear window, 
more frequent use of additional lights, the fans 
and the windshield wipers, etc.
f Have the battery checked before the start 
of winter.
Maintenance note
Keep the battery well charged to prevent it 
from freezing.
A discharged battery can freeze at 23 °F (--5 °C), 
but a fully charged battery only freezes at -- 40 °F 
(--40 °C).
A frozen battery must always be thawed before 
connecting jump leads.
Replacing battery The service life of the batt ery is subject to normal 
wear; it depends greatly on care, climatic conditi-
ons, and driving conditions (distances, loads). 
f Only use an original Porsche battery, with the 
correct part number, as a replacement. 
f Please observe the disposal instructions for 
batteries.
Putting vehicle into operationAfter the battery is co nnected or after an exhaus-
tively discharged  battery is charged, the multi-
functional PSM light lights up on the instrument 
panel and a message appears on the on-board 
computer to indicate a fault. 
This fault can be remedied with a few simple 
steps:
1. Start the engine.
2. With the vehicle stationary, perform a few  steering movements to  the left and right and 
then drive a short distance in a straight line 
until the multifunctinal PSM light goes out and 
the message on the on-board computer 
disappears.
3. If the warnings do  not disappear, then:
Drive carefully to the nearest authorized 
Porsche dealer.
Have the fault remedied.
4. After the warnings disappear: Stop the vehicle in a suitable place. 
f Perform adaptation of the power windows:
Please see the chapter “STORING END 
POSITION OF THE WINDOWS” on Page 28. 

292  
Index
Washer nozzles
......
..................... ......... 82
Washer system ........................... 210, 281
Windshield
Wiper blades, changing ....................... 212
Windshield wipers ....... .......................... 82, 212
Replacing ............... ............................ 212
Windstop........................ ............................ 189
Winter operation
Battery ............................................... 251
Coolant ...................... ........................ 197
Engine oil ............... ............................ 198
Jumper cables ............................ 255, 256
Locks ................................................ 215
Seals ................................................. 218
Snow chains ........... ............................ 231
Tires .................................................. 230
Washer fluid ........... ............................ 210
Wiper blades .......... ............................ 212
Wiper Blades ............................................... 212
Wiper blades Care .................................................. 217
Changing.................... ........................ 212