192k miles 20mpg 14yrs old, 0 car payment

[jetmax]

You have to love these cars.
192k miles, 20mpg, 14yrs old, 0 car payment
X-brilled front rotors and drop in K&N is the only mods.

90 944S2 Cab

[SoCal Driver]

Well not really a zero payment. I put away about $100 a month to cover coming repairs.

[jetmax]

I just changed the belts/rollers at 187k and replaced the upper tensioner pad at 175k. Lower pad, chain, and tensioner were all in good shape.

[SoCal Driver]

How do you know the chain was in good shape?

[89944TurboS]

Wow outstanding!
...You should have a party for the 200k mark!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I never understood the "I have to have a new car every two years" mentality that seems so pervasive here in LA - even if you spend $3,000.00 annually on parts / repairs / maintenance (which is very high, you'd have to work hard to spend that much), it comes out to around $250 a month - or less than the payment on a POS Ford Focus. Plus you don't have to carry the ridiculously expensive insurance. For that, I get to drive a Porsche which is stylish, fun, etc. Who cares that it's 20 years old when it still looks & runs well!

[VINMAN]

I agree with Porsche-o-Phile, Everyone has to have the"latest and greatest". I'm one of the few people i know that owns his car outright and also has a car that I can work on myself, I get ragged on by all my buds, telling me to let the moths out of my wallet and spring for a new car. I say why ? so I can have a high payment and insurance premium? All my vehicles are older , my newest is a 94 Ford truck.
It is also nice not to have a "cookie cutter " car that everyone else has.

[Tishabet]

VINMAN, are you inulting my cookie cutters? Because if you are, I WILL CUT YOU!
Oh...wait....I have phone dials. OK, we're cool again.

[VINMAN]

Originally posted by Tshabet
VINMAN, are you inulting my cookie cutters? Because if you are, I WILL CUT YOU!
Oh...wait....I have phone dials. OK, we're cool again.

I would never insult a fellow 944 person!
Only one of those "Bocksta" drivers!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

What's wrong with cookie cutters? Mmmmmmmm. Coooookiiieeeessss!

[89944TurboS]

Great points being made!
If you maintain your 944 and keep her in great shape...You can have a great car with NO depreciation as well!
How many other car owners can say that?

Buy right, avoid dealers and new cars...makes a lot of sense...er cents!

[mattdavis11]

I don't know, and don't want to know what it feels like to have my hands clutching my ankles, whilest a $2k rod is inserted in my..., because I drove it off the lot. That doesn't sound to good to me. Thanks for the reminder as to why I keep up with maintenance.

[Panzer909]

This thread talks about a subject that has been near and dear to me for several years now. In April, 2002, my sister bought a brand new Chevy Cavalier and pays somewhere in the region of $250/mo. Now, just shy of two years later, she's still making that payment and the car is significantly more beat to hell than my "S" would ever be. And she sometimes asks me: "John, WHY are you STILL driving that car? Its almost 20 years old!"

Sombody above mentioned that they budget $100/mo to cover maintenance. I do about the same. But even when you add this in, it still is way more fun than paying the same - if not more - than some POS made in the last year or so.

A lot of my friends are into cars as well as I but it just mystifies them how I always show up in the Porsche when we all agree to meet up for some event that is many hours from my house. One of them will ask: "So, how was your trip? Did you bring the Porsche?" When I say "yep - sure did!", its followed by a subtle nod and smile as if to say "darn, that's really cool."

The bug to start looking at other cars comes up every once in a while, but I just can't justify paying $600+/mo on a Boxster payment - even if I DID have the money. But then again, maybe that's just me. Until then, I'll continue to rack up the miles on my great little 944 and continue to enjoy it the way I did when it first arrived in front of my house.

The way I see it is: the joke is on them!

[CJFusco]

hmmm when people hear i have a 20-year-old Porsche, their first thought is "man, you must pay out the ass for repairs!"

over the past 2 months, nearly everyone I work with has had some kind of repair done to their cars.

my car has been in the shop (not counting accident repair) exactly twice over 4 years.

That being said, I have a pretty major repair coming:
steering rack repair (it's either the rack slipping on the gear, or a broken steering rod)
suspension upgrade (new struts, springs, and an alignment)
oil cooler seal replacement

all this will be done in one foul swoop next week, as soon as the struts come in from Pelican

[TheCooler]

I think I get around 25 mpg in my s2 with 93 octane. Should I put 93 octane in my car or will it take 89?

Anyways I like how my car is faster and handles better then most brand new cars that cost 6 or 7 times more than i payed for mine. Also I like how the 944 has a timeless design. When people who dont know porsches ask what year my car is they think its like a 96 or a 97.. sometimes i dont want to tell them its an 89. Is that wrong? lol

I have defenitly noticed that 3 or 4 year old cars seem to get beat really fast when they get around 70k miles maybe. Hell I even noticed my G/f's, Father's, G/f's (sorry for the confusion) 2000 Audi s6 is starting to get a little beat. It just blew some rear seal a week ago when I was sitting in it and drip drip drip onto the exhaust and tons of white smoke in the car. The auto tranny doesnt shift too well also its starting to get a little jolty when it downshifts.

[CJFusco]

"When people who dont know porsches ask what year my car is they think its like a 96 or a 97.. sometimes i dont want to tell them its an 89."

Yeah, I've had people ask, "is it a 93?"
"Nope. 83."

Only men though. Most girls give a second look
"That's a PORSCHE?" they don't seem to think it's really anything great... some do, of course, but I think most gals nowadays are more impressed by a ricer Civic or a Escalade...

[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

i just like`to mess with old cars, although i have refined what i will dump money into, usually a truck or a sporty model that is a bit unique, or motorcycles, i guess i just got me a transportation jones!!

[jetmax]

TheCooler, put 93 octane in it. Porsche recomends 91. And it's best to go hi than low on the octanes.

[serge944]

all of my female friends think my car is an ugly POS

Oh well...but they sure love my friend's 540i

[Panzer909]

Originally posted by CJFusco
[B
...........Most girls give a second look
"That's a PORSCHE?" they don't seem to think it's really anything great... some do, of course, but I think most gals nowadays are more impressed by a ricer Civic or a Escalade... [/B]

LOL - hey, that's okay, man. Those girls are the type to avoid anyways. That is the crowd that doesn't say two words and wears the word "Princess" on their T-shirt.