does a porsche have to be expensive to own?

[ishmeal]

So I've heard it costs a bit to keep a porsche running, anyone want to share their secrets to keeping costs low? I know there are some out there that have been able to run their porsches w/o paying the premium. Share, share, share.

[Shuie]

Expensive compared to what? A Toyota? Yes. A Ferrari? Probably not.

I've been through my car from one end to the other and I have yet to find anything that was cheap. DIY is the only way its affordable for me. They are easy to work on if that helps.

[ChrisBennet]

I think the biggest factor in getting a lower maintenance car is buying one that has a history of good maintenance. These cars are very robust so even when maintenance is deferred they will keep going. When someone buys one of these "good deals" they often find that they wind up paying the big bills for the PO's neglect.
-Chris

[ishmeal]

If I get similar reliability from an early porsche as I do my bmw E30, then I'd be pretty content. It requires regular maintenance, attention and regular service too.

[Steve87-911]

If you mostly DIY, I don't think they're that expensive to maintain, assuming you have a well maintained car to start with. As long as I don't need to drop the engine, then it's cheap to me. (I don't have the tools or experience yet to rebuild the engine, replace clutch etc.)
What I mean is if you're going to pay $95.00 per hour to change out easy stuff (distributor, plugs, etc) then it'll cost you. So get a well maintained car and DIY as much as you can.

[tab tanner]

Buy the books ie (101 Projects for your 911 & How to rebuild and modify you 911 engine) These are like bibles to a 911 owner. Get them from Pelican you will be glad you did!!!!!!!!!

[epbrown]

Originally posted by ishmeal
So I've heard it costs a bit to keep a porsche running,

Maintaining a good example isn't expensive at all - paying to repair problems or upgrade the car is what gets you. The best way to save money on a Porsche is to buy a good one up front, and don't get caught up in the upgrade spiral that lurking on Pelican and Rennlist can tempt you into.

Over the 4 years I've owned my SC, I've spent between $1000-$1500 a year. I've spent about $500 on my 944 in the year I've owned it, and nothing on the 928 so far.

Emanuel

[banjomike]

Assuming you have the well maintained car as a starting point like everyone above said, an important aspect to keeping costs down is to spend as soon as you need to. If something needs fixing, don't put it off, do it now. DIY will definately help. The problem is even a well maintained car will eventually need a new clutch, or a tranny rebuild, or an engine rebuild (God forbid, knock on wood, etc.) These are not cheap things and are way out of my DIY range.

[kevjandon]

My two cents.

Here is what is stupid easy to do on a 911 yourself. If you don't do these items, a Posrsche will cost a fortune as the oil change alone will run about $150. The following uses only common hand tools, two jack stands and a floor jack at most:

Oil Change. 1 filter, two drain plug gaskets and 11 qts of oil.

Air Filter

Fuel Filter

Spark Plugs and Wires

Distributor Cap and Rotor

Transmission fluid Change

Belt Replacement

A little more complicated but can still be easily done in your driveway. These may require some speciality tools but the cost of the tools will pay for themselves after the first use:

Brake Pad Replacement

Bleeding Brakes

Adjusting Valves

Replacing Shocks

Stuff you might want to take to a mechanic if your not mechanically inclined. I.e. if you had to buy tools and a floor jack to do the items in the easy section, you will need to see a mechanic on the items below:

Alternator Replacement

New Clutch

CIS Adjustment on 83 and older cars

Alignment

[nostatic]

its not the heat, its the humidity.

Keeping them running isn't that expensive if you get a good one.

Keeping yourself from making modifications that enhance the driving experience is *very* hard to do however...

[sammyg2]

LOL the best way to keep the costs down on a 911 is to take it on the track and get the racing bug, right Todd?

[anthony]

What they said!

Buy a good one

Get a PPI

Do as much DIY yourself

don't defer maintenance

buy used parts when it makes sense (swap meets, classifieds, ebay)

Budget $1000-1500/year to maintain the car but have enough in reserve for a large repair. In some years you may only need an oil change and costs will be low and in other years you may need to refresh the tranny. Planning for it, will lessen the blow.

When you look at the depreciation on a new car, properly maintaining an older fully depreciated Porsche will seem cheap.

[RSBob]

Keep it as a garage queen, wash and wax regularly.

[84Bliss]

snip....
Stuff you might want to take to a mechanic if your not mechanically inclined. I.e. if you had to buy tools and a floor jack to do the items in the easy section, you will need to see a mechanic on the items below:

Alternator Replacement
......snip

LOL...I just had to buy a floor jack and jack stands to do the items in the easy section BUT I also just did the alternator replacement all by myself. I used this forum and Wayne's book. In my opinion it was easy and I did it in one evening. Considering the cost that my LM quoted me the DIY job it was worth it.

So I guess what I am saying is if you ever have to replace the alternator then you'll probably be able to do it relatively easy with the proper resources.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by sammyg2
LOL the best way to keep the costs down on a 911 is to take it on the track and get the racing bug, right Todd?

no no no. First you smash it on a chunk of concrete...*then* you track it.

Oh well, its cheaper than crack. Oh, wait...maybe not. Oh well, at least its healthy. Unless you smack a wall. Hmm...well, at least I won't be on my death bed saying "I wish I'd gotten a 911 and tracked it".

[jtcmuga]

Being a DIY-er, I think bookkeeping all mods and adjustments, and recognizing which parts have finite life - sensors, clutch, etc - is crucial.

Cheers

Jojo

[Wayne 962]

http://www.101projects.com

[PorscheGuy79]

did you hear Wayne say something?

Try to buy the best one you can, break it yourself, have no money and, by necessity, you will learn how to fix and maintian it cheaply.

[larkja]

I purchased my first '82 SC five years ago and once all the bugs were worked out (first year), it has been extremely trouble-free. Here's the run-down:
1. Purchased for 12.5k. PO had just paid for an entire $10k engine rebuild, 4 new Bilstein greens, a new distributor, new clutch, and other misc items. He had receipts for around $12k. Needed to get out of the car so I naturally obliged.
2. As with all sweet deals there is something lurking in the basement. After about 6 months, the tranny did some strange things (stuck in reverse) which required a rebuild. $2k later, I had a great car with basically a new engine and tranny.

I don't drive it much since its our "fun" car but it has probably seen 10 to 12 HPDE track days, a couple autocrosses and coastal trips. I have put about 25k miles on the car. In the last 4 years, I've only had to change oil, change the belt a couple of times, repack the front wheel bearings, and get the valves adjusted once. The hardest thing is not to modify the car so that it's unreliable.

That being said, I just replaced the rear wheel studs so that I could install 14mm spacers. This was a pain only because I had to disconnect the e-brake stuff.

I have been very pleased with the reliability of the car and you can't beat the performance and fun factor. It has 192,000 on the chassis, 15k on the rebuild, and around 5k on the tranny.

The best advice is find the best car that you can buy for the money. Don't stretch your budget. Keep around 10% to 20% reserve after your purchase for items the PO "forgets" to tell you about.

But above all, enjoy the car! They're built to drive.

Jim

[Por_sha911]

The best way to keep maintenance costs down are:
1) DIY
2) Never, ever, total your receipts. Just estimate "aw, maybe a hundred or so.."