DM

Have you 911sc and 911 Carrera owners done a calculation on running costs over several years of ownership? Difficult to average I know. I'm running an E36 M3 as a daily driver and have never had a 911 before. Got to love the way the 911 cars drive!

Jay H

Here's a data point(s) for you:

I bought my '86 Carrera for $16,900 with 91,000 miles on it about 5 years ago. I drove it 25,000 miles in about 4 years. It cost me $137.60 per month or about $.20 per mile to maintain it (not including insurance).

I replaced tires once, shocks once, did two 15,000 mile tune ups (full service including all fluids, filters and belts), replaced suspension bushings, ball joints and tie rod ends, one A/C charge, misc trim items, lots of wax and polish, rebuilt alternator, rebuilt starter and had the clutch replaced.

It was very presentable, but would have needed a full repaint to be a concours show car. I sold it for $15,000 in about 5 minutes at the start of winter of 2000 (with snow in the forcast in WI = damn hard time to sell a 911). It need a 15k mile service and tires when I sold it. I figured it would have brought $16k in springtime with a service done and new tires.

It was worth every penny!

Jay
90 964

gerry100

I'm beginning to realize that what will add to the cost of supporting my Carrera is the need to have it running perfect

Because the car tells you everything it feels you can tell when it's running rough, a little down on power etc. Once I'm aware of that it needs the plugs,injectors whatever,it means right NOW, whereas in a typical transport appliance these things can wait.

No musician wants to play an out of tune instrument you won't either.

Rick Lee

I've had a few BMW's and from what I hear, your owning an M3 should have you plenty prepared for 911 ownership. I think with BMW's, maint. becomes an issue of what is needed. When you get a 911, you look for things to fix and at that time you upgrade parts - i.e. you have worn tie rod ends, you get turbo tie rods. You OEM Boges are shot, you go to Bilstein Sports. You need a new clutch, you get an aluminum flywheel and/or spring centered disk. These things never came up with my Bimmer. I just replaced what it needed, when it needed it. With my 911 I have an ongoing to-do list, which will probably never be totally done. But I had always heard M3's were high maint. Also bear in mind, you'll drive a 911 more spiritedly than a Bimmer.

R22tech

I would have to agree with Gerry. For what it is, my 85 is extremely low maintainance. However, I spend a $hitload of money on it making "better" or "perfect". I am not talking about upgrades, just oem replacements of parts "that could use a fresh, new one" for the sake of keeping it looking and performing like new. The cars have soul; they let you know when they are feeling down. So I guess they are actually "high maintainance" cars- gotta keep 'em happy! Specifically, the SCs and the Carreras do not take much $$ to keep them running and I would say they are very similar in operating costs. Your E36 M3 is a very capable sports car, one of the best IMO, but as refined as they are, they'll never have the soul a 911 offers. Buy one and get back to us after a few months and you'll understand.