Nat

I'm new here. I have my eye on a 1990 C4 and am trying to learn all I can before purchasing anything. This would be my first Porsche, so I know very little about what to expect other than smiling a lot (hopefully).

I've owned only Japanese cars for the past 12 years and they've proved completely reliable. I've only needed to do regularly scheduled oil changes and maintenance, without any sort of breakdowns or other problems. I don't know squat about working on cars since I've never needed to.

What should I expect in terms of yearly maintenance issues with this old of a 911? I'm tempted to buy a later model 996 only to avoid mechanical problems, but frankly I like the 964 more than any other iteration. There's something about the body shape and exhaust note that's intoxicating. Love that boxer rumble.

Nat

YYC930

Use the search function Luke. There are a lot of good threads here with the info you want.

If you are coming from a Japanese car be prepared to pay around $2K a year (average annualized cost) in repairs. You may spend $500 one year and $4K the next for example.

LouZ

Hi Nat

You are making a wise choice of course we're biased!

Any response will echo the same thing:
GET A PPI (pre-purchase inspection)

Also: familiarize yourself with the "search" function and troll the previous posts on buying a 964.

So, even before you take the plunge

WELCOME, and post a picture immediately after purchase!

Good Hunting.

Nat

Thanks for the input. $2000 per year is about $2000 more than I'm used to! Oh well.

Thanks for the requisite "use the search" too, but I know you all like to opine, so why search when I know you'll talk?

Marc Shaw

Hello Nat! Welcome to the board and congrats on selecting the best iteration of the 911!

For some background reading, have a look here and here and here.....and then buy this.

In the three years I have owned mine, I have spent $2000-3000/year on maintenance (including tires) and required repairs and about five times that on unneccesary modifications.

Marc

Southampton76

Welcome Nat!

Search is the way to go, so much information available to you and endless posts from Mr. Shaw on his well documented "unnecessary modifications"

I have had my C4 for 4 years. Only drive it in the spring, summer, autumn. I guess I do about 10K miles a year. Taking away mods and the seemingly constant need to upgrade and renew everything in the winter months when its off the road. I guess I'm at about $1000 a year on average. That would be the two oil changes. Every 20K I get the valves adjusted and a top end looked at.

Maybe either a front or rear set of tyres, they don't last that long, and something else that goes during that time, top shock mount and both tie rod ends this summer were $800.

if it helps, my 3 year old Range Rover probably costs MORE to run than the Porsche and is no where near as much fun to drive.

Get a PPI. I didn't! I bought mine sight unseen from California and didn't see it until it arrived. But, I had all the receipts and the engine had just been overhauled and the P.O put me in contact with the engine builder. That said, get an inspection.

Good luck

User 040621

I drive a 90 C2..........I love the shape of the car.....and everything else about it. It might be a bit more expensive to maintain.............but the driving experience is like nothing else........it's not a drag racer....but every time I look at it, sit in it, and drive it......it makes me feel a little less ordinary. Think of the maintenance costs like this........a baseball bat never needs sharpening.......but a really good knife does. What's really amazing: compare a 15 year+ old Porsche to anthing else the same age.........NO COMPARISON

Keep us posted......

1990-964

Hi Nat,

Good decision making on your part to go for a 964. I would like to respectfully disagree on the maintenance. I feel that it can depend on many factors, one of the main ones being how well the car was cared for by the previous owner/s. I have had mine for going on 5 years and put over 56,000 miles on it in that time and don't spend more than $1,000 in a year(Though this does not include tires). Most years less. I am always sure to do any maintenance required but while it can be expensive I have been able to have closer to caviar taste on more of a tuna fish budget by looking for a good wrench that is not trying to overcharge. As an example I just did a major service on my car last month and I paid less than $800. The major I did on my Toyota SUV the month before set me back roughly the same amount, so for me the cost of a P car has not been anything close to outrageous.

Best of Luck in your search

P.S. WITHOUT QUESTION BEFORE ANY PURCHASE DO A PPI!!!!

Nat

Wow, Marc! I've just bookmarked all of those links! Thank you VERY much! I'll keep an eye out for your other posts.

I like the quote about sharpening the knife. You all are so helpful!

Nat

Nat

Follow-up question: I was planning to have the car checked at the nearest Porsche dealership with a pre-purchase inspection. How thorough do you suppose a dealership's pre-purchase inspection is?

The PPI checklist in Marc's link seem very detailed. Would a dealership look that closely?

MisterRisky

Nat, where are you located?

Porsche dealers *can* do a good PPI, but in my case the local dealer did a pretty ****ty PPI. They missed a lot of little stuff such as CV boots. I think I would have been better off with a good independent shop, but who knows. Let us know where you live and maybe someone can recommend a good shop or speak in favor of the dealer in that area.

w.r.t. maintenance costs, I am on the lower end of the spectrum as I do most of my work myself. I anticipate under $1K a year on maintenance, not including tires. Of course, if something goes bad wrong I may be in for a surprise. My 91 C2 is a daily driver with no track time. My front end alignment is street based, and not an aggressive track set up, so I hope that will help me stretch my tires a little further. Of course, like everyone else I spend money on "upgrades" and I don't count that as maintenance.

YYC930

So people do not waste their time incessantly retyping the same thing over and over. Your statement makes you come off as an ***.

Nat

I live in Central Oregon but the car in which I'm interested is in Denver at a dealership. I have this underlying fear that if I go to the independent shop that the dealer recommends, it'll be his cousin Ricky who will tell me what he thinks I want to hear and charge me $500 to do so. Then Cousin Ricky and the sales guy will take that $500 and go get tacos and strippers.

p.s., Something else I'm noting about this messageboard is the unusual and refreshingly correct use of language. On most forums I expect something such as, "ur car is teh coolest. porsche FTW!" followed by a dozen emoticons. Is this an older crowd?

Nat

Hey, c'mon. It was tongue-in-cheek. I've been poring over this entire site (yes, using the search feature) while watching for new posts on this thread. Who knows, maybe someone will have something new to add.

I have an analogy: If you walk into Home Depot looking for a specific item and have no idea where to find it, you could walk the aisles for 20 minutes hoping to track it down OR you could just grab the nearest orange vest and ask where it is, and he or she will get you pointed in the right direction. That's what happened here. See Marc's nice links and everyone else's input? They were extremely helpful.

Besides, I know you all like to talk Porsches!

Paul Morgan

Nat,,

You're doing fine.
I use the search function quite a bit (hence the low post count) but to each his own.
Concerning the maintenance issues: I've owned my Targa for three years and have had no maintenance problems to date (touch wood). I drive about 8k a year, both local and on longer drives. I drove 1200 miles roundtrip to 'The Dragon' just three weeks ago.
The key to me was that this board and Pelican Parts were invaluable in my search. I found a car with complete maintenance records that passed the PPI with flying colors.
Best of luck...I have owned a numbers of Porches and this is by far my favorite.