[JackMan]

Periodic maintenance on a P-Car is a bit more than a Ford and much less than an exotic sports car, i.e. Ferrari, Lotus, Lambo.

The key to controlling costs, IMHO, is learning to do periodic maintenance yourself. I have no experience on 996 and 997 cars, but for 993, 964 and 911 cars periodic maintenance is no more trickly than working on a VW Beetle, just with more pricey parts and tolerances that are alot tighter.

I define periodic as oil/filter change every 5k miles, valve adjustment every 15k miles, tire rotation every 5k miles, replace rotors/brake pads as needed, flush brake fluid. These are all very easy to do. If you can put together a complicated Legos toy, you can do this work. The initial outlay in tools may be more than taking it to the mechanic, but the second go round will be much cheaper.

Pre 1989 911s are very easy to work on. I drove mine 15k miles last year.

The participants in this board are fantastic. Yes, diagnosing problems in your 911 via internet is like robotic heart surgery, but it still gets the job done.

wj