Is this something that is a common occurrence or am I just screwed?

 

Well, that doesn't look great. Get a finger in there: what does it feel like...is it rough? If it's anything but perfectly smooth you've got issues.

 

It feels smooth but it just looks really terrible! I guess if something's really boogered up I'll just replace the cams and all the lifters and hopefully that resolves the issue. The previous owner changed the oil every 3,000 miles but it only has 70,000 miles for an 11 year old car, So possibly less than once a year so it might be just oil contamination.
I'm going to do a timing chain and tensioners at the end of this year and it has less than 75k on it

 

If the car runs fine, not sure why the cam would look like that… Also, that looks terrible for claimed 3000 mile oil changes

 

That's why I was puzzled by the condition of the lobes!
I got it from the original owner, who brought it to Michigan from california. It's never seen snow, was driven by a little 4 ft 10 Filipino lady and her husband never touched it, everything went in for all due maintenance that was recommended, I have all service records to it.
The only reason they even got rid of it is because the high pressure fuel pump and the footwell module went out at the same time and they didn't want to spend the money.

I'm just going to send it and if there's issues, I'll just replace the cam and lifters and call it a day, the timing chain has no noise, engine runs absolutely flawless and is pretty peppy for a completely stock 2011 S

 

Gotcha. Maybe it just needs a little bit of the Italian tune-up!

 

Common problem on some stock cams. You need to replace the cam an I bet the rollers an the rocker arms look just as bad. Easy job to repair.

 

That's kind of what I was expecting but I just wasn't for sure because for as well taken care of as the car has been it just didn't seem like it was neglect.
If I have to replace the cams I might as well do the chain while I'm there because it's all got to come apart.

 

I mean, the cam looks trashed, but if you're telling me they feel smooth maybe it's just discoloration? You sure you can't feel any pitting with a fingernail anywhere?

Might be worth pulling the valve cover and inspecting all the cam lobes, see exactly what you're dealing with. After 11 years the valve cover's probably leaking anyway, and I'd speculate the PCV rubber is not in great shape, so good opportunity to take care of that too. Not at all a hard job.

I will say that things look pretty dirty for 70K and 3000 mile oil changes. That looks like carbon buildup on the cam lobe, honestly, but I personally haven't seen such a thing so I don't know if that's even possible. Maybe hit it with a Magic Eraser, see if it cleans up, lol.

 

I'll probly pull the valve cover and check the valvetrain. thats just from peekin in the oil fill

 

The only time I have ever seen those type deposits was when I rebuilt an old V8 that used Penzoil and was changed every 3K miles. That's correct, three thousand miles! I don't care what the paperwork of the other owners say, that is typical conventional oil break down deposits. I didn't respond yesterday, but couldn't stand the thought of not saying something. Synthetic oils will not break down in engines that are run below 300 degrees F. Of course no engine sees that unless they are out of coolant, low on oil or have failure of oil pump. The purest Synthetic oils won't make gunk in the oil pan either, even if the oil is run for 20 or 30K miles, as long as the level and flow are good. That's why Mobil 1 can make the 20K mile claim.