blake

I just "winterized" my 964 Speedster yesterday after another summer of complete enjoyment. I keep spreadsheets on everything, and note all services, what was done, items purchased and how much was spent. After 11 years of ownership (bought the car in April 2000), I have spent a total of $5,038.29 which averages a little under $420/year (insurance expense not included). Wow - can't believe what a value....

Looking through the list, ALL expenses have been maintenance related - scheduled services, oil changes, new tires, hood shocks, alignment, etc. I have had ZERO mechanicsl problems. 17 year old car owned for 11 years, and ZERO problems. Incredulous.

So what have my issues been? Actually, the PEOPLE that serviced the car:

(1) Porsche Dealer - slammed the hood down, bending the latch and breaking the plastic cross piece. I had a Colgan bra on the car, and had to adjust the clearance on the latch to allow for the bra thickness. The service tech then told me that Porsche told him the proper way to close the hood was to slam it down hard.

(2) Detailer Shop - Ferrari dealer sent me to this independent who proceeded to learn from me how to open/close the rear tonneau cover, then chose to not listen and forced the handle, stripping the threads on the cable.

(3) Indy Mechanic - During a routine oil change, poured a few quarts of motor oil into my engine bay and didn't tell me. I found out a few weeks later, after the oil had a chance to set and congeal.

And I wanted to throw on the list "price gouging":

(4a) Carlsen Porsche of Palo Alto, CA: In Dec 2000, they charged me $1562.43 for a 15K maintenance (car had 13K on odometer).
(4b) Ken Garff Porsche of Orem, UT: In July 2006, they charged me $623.43 for a 15k maintenance (car had 19k on the odometer)
I still feel ripped off by Carlsen! (And note - both services add up to $2.2k - almost half my total expense over 11 years...)

All 3 of my Porsches have been more reliable than my other cars. I'll always be a Porsche nut.

-Blake

Henry964

You have been very lucky, I spent 9000 U$S just this year!!! if I lived in EEUU probably I could have saved half of it, but even so 4500 dollars in a year is a lot of money, and nothing important broke (My engine, gearbox and clutch are still untouched)

Babalouie

Me too...$9k in 6mths (includes $1.4k for tyres, and $2.5k for clutch tho)

Quadcammer

When you only drive 1,000 miles a year, that tends to happen.

dfinnegan

I drive mine everyday and have averaged about $3k per year.

I think it depends upon the car.

Some folks are lucky. And some never get to drive Porsche.

blake

That's my experience, though many on Rennlist argue that "garage queens" will have serious problems and need to be driven. Time will tell...

-B

ChaseN

Funny, someone always has an opinion...damned if you drive it damned if you don't. I'd like to start keeping the miles down on mine going into the future (have been averaging probably 12k/yr since I bought it). Glad to see it won't spontaneously fall apart!

mooty

oh, you too?
i hate the dealer and you know why....
bring out the '3 to play!

Makmov

What?

(1) Porsche Dealer - slammed the hood down, bending the latch and breaking the plastic cross piece. I had a Colgan bra on the car, and had to adjust the clearance on the latch to allow for the bra thickness. The service tech then told me that Porsche told him the proper way to close the hood was to slam it down hard.

That is the most absurd thing I ever heard.

catch someone doing that and cut their arms off

Streetfighter

Just my two cents, but a lot of this depends on your mileage. I drove my 964 all year long in Chicago and averaged about $2k in regular maintenance as well as the odd starter and ecu going out on me. Which are things you can't plan for. The more you drive it the more things can go wrong over time. If I didn't drive the car everyday, I am sure my cost would have gone down considerably.

941MXVET

My wife's an accountant, we have a similar record with regards to our 964!


BTW Park City is a wonderful place to enjoy your cars.

Vandit

CPA here. I've got an Excel spreadsheet broken out into tabs w/ Services, Parts, Modifications, Tools, etc. then a Summary tab that sums up everything. I think i've spent $2k in my 8mo of ownership, but I had to catch up on some maintenance and i've upgraded a bit while replacing parts (Wevo mounts). Nearly 1/4 of that $2k total is some ridiculous invoice I got for what amounted to a basic R134 recharge and HVAC functionality overview (found nothing wrong). That's the first and only time so far i've had the car in the shop.