[esuharev]

I am in the process of buying a 1994 Porsche 968 Cabriolet with approximately 52k miles and wanted to get opinions from experienced 968 owners regarding timing belt service intervals and whether I am being overly conservative.
The car appears to be a fundamentally solid, well-documented example:

• clean history
  
• long-term ownership history
  
• documented timing belt services throughout its life
  
• no major leaks
  
• healthy cooling system
  
• good PPI overall
  
• no major structural concerns
  

According to records/CARFAX, the timing belt appears to have been replaced approximately four times over the car’s life, with the latest service performed in May 2021 at around 47k miles. The current mileage is approximately 52k, so the belt only has around 4k–7k miles on it depending on the records interpretation.
A Porsche specialist inspected the car recently and actually did NOT recommend immediate timing belt replacement. Their view was that the belt appeared to be in good condition and they did not see an urgent issue.
However, my understanding has always been that 968 timing belt service is heavily age-based, not just mileage-based, and that catastrophic engine damage is possible if the belt system fails. The current belt service is now roughly five years old.
So my question to experienced 968 owners is:
Would you proactively redo the full front-engine/timing belt service immediately on a car like this despite the low mileage since replacement, or would you consider another 1–2 years reasonable given:

• documented replacement history
  
• low miles since last service
  
• good inspection findings
  
• specialist shop not recommending urgent replacement?
  

For reference, if I do the service I would likely replace:

• timing belt
  
• rollers
  
• tensioner
  
• balance shaft belt
  
• cam seal
  
• balance shaft seals
  
• oil pump front seals
  

Curious what the real-world consensus is from long-term 968 owners versus internet fear/purely theoretical maintenance schedules.
Thanks.

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[Inkedupfatboy]

bummer - glad you found one, but bummer it wasn't mine.
my 94 cab is for sale also...
Good luck on your car.

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[Chris Vais]

I would change the timing and balance shaft belts. The rule of thumb that I have followed with my 94 coupe is belt service every 30,000 miles or 3 years, which I believe was the original Porsche specification when these cars were new. Our cars are now more than 30 years old, undoubtably belt materials have improved to a point where you could theoretically go longer between changes. That said a belt failure will result in 4 figure top end rebuild. so the question to ask your self is "What is my risk tolerance". When I do belt services, I have seals changed rollers inspected and changed if inspection warrants. Make sure the water pump is in good working ordered. I have a little over 170,000 miles on mine, no belt failures. Routine maintenance is your friend. When I bought mine from the original owner it was 2 years old with 29,000 miles on the car a zero maintenance records. I had the car completely services that way I knew everything had been done correctly.

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