drcollie

While doing that maintenance on the 991 is not difficult, it's not novice-level, either. If you have the will to learn how to do it, perhaps someone can teach you where you live? I've done that for Washington DC area residents, help them learn to work on their cars for minor maintenance such as that.

Last Porsche owner I did that for though, he showed up and stood out on the driveway talking on his phone taking an "Important Conference Call" while I worked on his car. Then he pulled out a $ 20 bottle of wine at the end and said "Thanks, this is for you". Not exactly how it's done when you come over to learn how to work on your car. Was I ever the chump on that one, should have least been a $ 100 bottle.

Car25

Engine had a scored cylinder at 9K miles. Was making a random metallic ticking noise at idle

991.1 Guy

Reliability and Porsche do not go together. Honda, Toyota maybe. But not Porsche.

Rich_Jenkins

I hear ya. But at some point, it's just a money pit. I get the personal attachment; heck, I kept a '67 Mini Cooper S for long past when I should have sold it. It was like a pet.

Anyway, I'll try and sketch out some perhaps typical (guesstimate?) service costs for a 991 in the .2 model year range ('17-'19) in a subsequent post. Hope one of the .1 folks chimes in. For context: my 911 is the third (and currently, only) Porsche I've owned; I had a used 981 S for a year, before buying the used 991.2 last June. We also owned a '19 Cayenne base. Mrs. Rich traded that for a '20 Lexus RX350 because: reasons.

Rich_Jenkins

Ok, since OP asked for typical maintenance costs, below is derived from my '17 MY poverty spec C2 991.2 service manual, with estimates (guesses) for costs. Your costs may be higher, or lower; depending on if you are in areas with higher costs/taxes, so YMMV applies. These are only my thoughts, others can chime in with their figures where I'm out of whack. The intent is just to help with some idea of what to expect with a 991.2. I defer to the guys with .1 non-turbo NA engines for data on the '12-'16 MY.

Porsche has an annualized/mileage approach to scheduled maintenance. Generally, it involves "small" and "large" service concept. Time dependant maintenance is based on either a 1, 3, 5, 7 year ("Oil Maintenance", the smaller service) or a 2, 4, 6, 8 year ("Maintenance", the larger service.) These are similar to the MBZ A and B service rotation.

Oil Maintenance includes: drain and fill engine oil, replace oil filter, plus various inspections. This is at the latest, every 10,000 miles or one year. The 30,000 mile interval also specifies a plug change. The 60,000 mile interval specifies replacement of the drive belt.

Maintenance includes: All tasks in Oil Maintenance, plus replacement of the air intake pre-filter and particle filter, replacement of brake fluid, plus various inspections. The 40,000 mile interval also specifies an engine Air Filter change, and a wheel off brake inspection.

As far as actual tasks/costs go:

Oil and Filter change - Costs here vary widely. My last OC was $92. I DIY'd it. At my indy, I paid around $275 for my Cayman. At the dealer, gotta be at least that, if not a bit more.

Engine Air Filter - On a 991.2, the rear bumper needs to come off. I am very ham-handed, so am unlikely to get it back on properly. So I'll leave this one to the dealer. Guess of $400-$500, but I could be off.

Spark Plugs - This is a PITA. I'll likely have mine done at the dealer. I'm not as young as I used to be, and I don't fancy twirling wobbly bits on a ratchet extension these days, so no DIY for me. I'd guess at the dealer, a plug change might be $600-$800, but that's just a WAG. I'll find out soon.

Air intake and particle filter - This is incredibly easy to do. There are two filters, one in the cabin and one in the frunk. I did my Cayman's and it took all of maybe 15 minutes. The two parts are pretty inexpensive, maybe $100 (I'd have to go look what I paid.) At the dealer, I am sure they jack the price up on this. Maybe $300 dealer cost? It's outrageous for the effort and parts involved.

Brake fluid - This can be done at home, but I prefer to let the dealer handle the mess. I've done it on my BMWs. I don't have a good handle on this for Porsches as it hasn't come up on mine. Total guess since this is mostly a labor type job, maybe $300-$400 at the dealer, all in.

As far as tires go, obviously wear is subject to driver care and style. I replaced the original Pzeros with a set of 4 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S on my 991.2 last December at the dealer for an all in cost of $1,962, which included my PCA discount. A four wheel alignment was $220. This was one service job I specifically wanted done at the dealer; I did not want my car at Costco (nothing against Costco, but it ain't a Hyndai) or my local tire fitter. Plus, I wanted the alignment done, not because it wasn't tracking correctly, but the car was new to me and I didn't want to throw on $2K of tires if there was a problem. Turns out they did make a small adjustment to bring it into line with factory specifications. Plus I wanted to continue to build my relationship with my local service department; my car is under factory/CPO warranty for the next four years. (I do bring the service guys boxes of Krispy Kreme now and again. )

These cars go through batteries at the normal rate, maybe every 4-6 years, again, depending on useage as well as environment. There's nothing magic about the OEM Porsche AGM battery. You can walk out with a direct fit replacement from Batteries Plus for around $225. I did a self-install on my Cayman; it is fairly straightforward. I've seen price quotes installed from folks at dealers who paid $500-$600 for an OEM battery replacment.

Wiper blades are replaced on my cars annually; a set for my 991 was $53. At the dealer this is probably list at $100; but I dunno I buy simple parts like this online, like at Sunset Porsche.

Brakes are another wear item. Prices at the dealer are incredible, for such a straight forward job. My fronts need replacing soon, so I bought a set of parts (OEM rotors and and pads from Suncoast Porsche, plus sundries from Pelican) recently for $742, total. I have the tools and space to DIY. You can probably double that for a dealer price for one axle on a 911.

Hope this helps.

tmarino

Very helpful dialog Rich. I just joined the 991 crowd a few months ago and when I picked up the car from the dealer, they had done the 60K service (as the car is a 2014) and installed a new set of PZero's and did the brake flush etc.As a former BMW guy who did all my own work prior, I am interested in doing whatever work I can on this car also and most of the basic items seem fairly routine in procedure. I too, will have certain tasks done at the dealer just to make sure that relationship stays intact for the times I am going to need a friend at the service dept.!

Thanks again for the info..........

Tom in Reno.....

Penn4S

I had several (at least 7) Porsche 911's of the same vintage as your Boxster from 2001-2008 and have to say they were amazing cars with none of the issues you have stated.
I have also owned several of the vintage your asking about and have a 991.1 TTS now and again have been extremely satisfied and have not had any major maintenance issues. I find the 991 cars to be very reliable.

Rich_Jenkins

You bet Tom. I hope it helps the OP. (PS I see you are in Reno...we visited once, fantastic car museum there. We really enjoyed it a lot.)


One thing I forgot to expand on, was the cost of the "inspections" at the dealer. I don't want to give anyone the impression I find those of zero value.

They are typically associated with the larger services; 20K and 30K and so forth. I don't have any recent data on these for my 911, but for my 981 S, I have a receipt that the previous owner was charged 6.00 units (hours) of shop time to conduct the 40,000 mile inspection. This was $887, and in addition to the parts consumed during this service (in the case of my Cayman, it was 6xplugs, cabin and frunk air filters, both engine air filters, 9 liters of oil, filter, and crush washer, which added up to $473. A brake fluid flush/replacement was done for $132, plus a container of fluid for $28. All in, the previous owner paid $1,640 for the car's 40K mile service. This was for a 981S in Dec '18, you could factor some inflation as well as a 911 vs. 981 to get a ball park these days. I'd believe it if someone told me a 40K service on a 991.2 was every bit of $2k+ at the dealer.

subwoofer

Very good summary Rich. These cars are very expensive to buy, maintain and repair. Seems pointless to me if one only drives 5-10 mph over the speed limit. Haha....OTOH, it also gets tiresome to be clocked constantly (as I do) by the local constabulary itching to generate revenue.

drcollie

I did not know that. Wow, I drove my first 911 to 232,000 miles with no major issues. Hmmmm.....none of my five Porsches have been problematic. Odd.

Penn4S

I agree with the Dr. I'm on number 13. I find them very reliable and not just in terms of sports cars but cars in general. Very few issues over several cars and miles. The Porsche's have been very kind to me and I don't baby them. I drive them and have tuned them including my current car.
Also owned a few Jeep's, now you want to talk about reliability and maintenance?

NJBThor

I just got my 2013 991.1 back today from an "intermediate" service (the major service was done before I purchased the car 2 years/10k miles ago, so I'm thinking this is the 50k service) and I spent $1400ish on it.

DanQ

Watch out for warped door panels on cars without optional leather. Look for stitching along the top of the door panel. Very expensive to replace with factory parts. One guy seams to have a $500 repair.

tmarino

As I stated, before the previous owner traded my car in, the dealer performed the full 60K service, brake flush and all new PZeros and I believe his bill was approx. $3500. Nice present and piece of mind for me for sure. I have all the paperwork and it was done correctly. Looking at all that was done, I would probably tackle it all with exception of the brake flush. Had a bad experience on a BMW with ABS and ending up taking it to the dealer anyway. Since it's only recommended every two years, I'll leave that up to the pros.
All in all, I'm expecting a year full of driving before I see the dealer again..........

Tom in Reno

manu100

That's great to hear; thanks for the info mate!!!