davidadebayo

Hey guys, Im really curious to get other 991 owners opinions on my situation and to get some recommendations before pulling the trigger on a purchase. I've always loved 911s and I think Im finally ready to make a decision. Ive been driving around in my older 2012 535xi m sport and the other day the serpentine belt went out. My indy shop said it would be $780-$4500+ to put her back in good shape depending on whether or not the belt wrapped around the crank shaft behind the harmonic balancer and pushed the main seal back there for requiring the oil pan to be dropped and cleaned out. Luckily that scenario did not happen and it only ended up costing me the 780, but it got me thinking about how much I spend on that car that Im really not totally in love with but continue to drive.

I asked to get a breakdown on my maintenance costs over the years and Ive spent on average about $7500 a year just in maintenance. The tech also told me that on my model year he has seen other folks headlamp assemblies recently start to fail and to fix those it is around $5500 to repair.

Then I started thinking about just going ahead and get a car that I really want to drive. Im looking at an early 991.1 manual gearbox Carrera S and was hoping to get some direction on how costs go as far as daily driving one of these.

Am I better off purchasing another (reliable) daily as well as have this one for the nicer days? How have you all faired daily driving, or what are your daily drivers? I do drive quite a bit I am a real estate broker (15-20k/year). Any warranties that are recommended in looking into? Ive already taken a look at the Porsche Approved Individual Warranty but are there any others that are better/more cost effective/offer more protection that I should consider?

I need to get a family car for my wife to drive as her old civic just isn't ideal for my 7 year old daughter and my 2mo newborn. Thinking about getting a Ford Explorer for that. Trying to make some smart decisions. (As smart as I can considering I just had a newborn and want to buy a 911)

Any direction or advice or other forum post recommendations would be helpful. For reference I live in the Washington DC suburbs of MD and I would love to track the car when I have the chance.

Tier1Terrier

911s are "said to be" bullet proof. We know that's not really true but they are overwhelmingly known to be more reliable than other vehicles. That said, they are expensive to fix and work on when needed. I purchased mine and added a 10 year Fidelity Platinum warranty which is arguably the best after market warranty for Porsches. It is not my daily driver though. For that, we also have a Ford Explorer and a Lexus which are quite reliable and inexpensive to maintain. They are also great baby/child haulers although my 8 y/o boys LOVE to go for rides in my 911 a few times a week.

Go for it. Get the 911. Stay within your means. My only regret about my buying my 911 was waiting so long to buy it.

pbon

How are you going to have time to track the 911 with a 7 year old and a baby in the family? If the 911 is just going to sit in the garage, consider a family Porsche like a Macan or Cayenne. Sure, it will get beat up by the use, but that is ok if you have the mindset that you are buying the car to use rather than to preserve for its next owner. And expect Porsche maintenance costs to exceed BMW.

I am a BMW guy converting to Porsche, but do all my own work, including all the repairs and maintenance on a 535xi for the past 7 years. We just bought a 21 Cayenne S for my wife (kid is out of the house but we have 3 dogs). My wife said I could buy a used 911 Turbo for myself instead (I have a 2008 M3) but the family car was really the higher priority. Now when we take a trip or go somewhere together, the family car can give me a little entertainment value.

Rich_Jenkins

I'm previously a BMW guy. I've owned either 8 or 9 depending if you count my ex's. Serviced my E46 ZHP myself for 8 years and 100K miles. Last bimmer was a Dinan chipped E92 M3 in Melbourne. Man I loved that car but it had a thimble for a gas tank. The V8 was a lot of fun once you spooled it up though.

As to Porsche's, I bought a used '14 Cayman S in '16 and used it as my DD. I had one oil change by an indy ($285), but no other real issues. I traded it in '19 for a '17 CPO 991.2 C2. Only services I've done are a DIY oil change ($92, oil and filter) and one unscheduled visit to the dealer (tank valve, replaced under warranty, N/C). I've bought front rotors and pads (OEM, Suncoast, $652) that I will DIY next month (front rotors have developed a lip, and pads are a bit past 1/2 way so why not). Plugs are also due at 30K, which I likely will have done at the dealer. That's it. It just runs.

Before COVID, the 911 was my daily driver. I retired early partly due to the pandemic, so not driving nearly as much. It's a much better suited car for everyday than my 981S. I live in FL so roads are pretty flat, and decent. I drive MT, so finding a 991.2 in MT in 2019 was a bit of a search, but I located it using the PCNA search tool in Long Island NY. I flew up to JFK and paid the asking price on the spot.

My usual advice for people searching is be prepared to move fast on a car you find. They are not getting cheaper. In fact, there's a pretty long thread here on how pricing on used 991s is going nuts. I suggest reading it, there is a fantastically good amount of info in there from both owners as well as buyers.

My base C2 is not the fastest one out there, but it's mine and I love it. My only regret is I didn't buy one sooner.

Good luck!

RSBro

Depends on the car. My 996 was old, and in good shape, so things just wear out over time and is to be expected. Paid way more than I needed to but learned my lesson and it's better to pay more for a newer car that probably will have less maintenance costs. Again, probably. Get a PPI. Walk away from anything funky or make sure it gets fixed/replaced.

I had an F10 2012 BMW but was the 550i and it was the biggest POS ever due to the N63 engine. Glad I moved, wish I had sooner.

Wear and tear will depend on how you drive it. I track mine 3-4 times a year over a full DE weekend, so I expect running costs for some items to be more. Just had the 55k service done, and I needed both high and low horns replaced, plus a few other things, so was a ~$1300 bill, but I got it in April 2020 and this is the first out of pocket cost besides gas, so not too bad. These tires will probably last another year before needing replacing. All else is good.

Buy once, cry once!

darylbowden

A 991.1 is great as a daily driver. I DD'd mine (2013 C2) for 4 years until I no longer had to commute (COVID). They're still new enough that most things haven't started to fail and won't for a few years. However, the consumables are expensive. I realize I drive more aggressively than the average bear but I spend 1700 on new tires every 10k miles (max) and a good 2000 on rotors/pads every 15k-20k. If you don't ever track it or drive it hard, those will last much longer but I don't drive a 911 to try and max out rotor life.

And the reality is that in 2 years it'll be 10 years old and things will start to go. So be prepared to pay for those things. But having owned many BMWs, I've found that the 911s in my life (3 currently) are all far more reliable. I've never owned a BMW that wasn't needy.

Sooner

I've put over 130,000 miles on both a 993 and 997.2, and now have a 991.2 (not driving near as much now). These cars can easily handle the rigors of daily driving. I got the 993 when the kids were small and it worked great for me including 4-6 track days per year. Wear from the track aside (brakes, tires, more frequent oil changes) I have found the maintenance costs to be reasonable. At 15-20K miles per year, plan on 3-4 oil changes $190 or less at an indy, brakes every couple of years, pads & rotors are an easy DIY on these cars, and tires once a year based on the mileage above $1500-$2K. Beyond that the other every few year items aren't that bad. You should be well under what you are spending annually on the BMW. If you are going to the track more than once or twice a year, budget for that separately and I'd suggest dedicated wheels/tires & brakes once you progress past the first run group.

Jumping into a 911 years ago was the best car related decision I ever made and have never regretted it for a second.

Stealth 993

$7500 a year on 535? That is crazy! More than three times a year what I'm spending on my 991.

Not that the 991 doesn't have a few issues as well, some headlights like to delaminate, the early cars have door panel issues. It's like a BMW with the cooling system. But overall they are solid and very reliable.

Yes, they are also very fun to drive! I put about 7km on my car last year due to Covid runs around the mountains. Sometimes you have to get out of the house. Porsches are also all kind of bespoke, no 2 are the same. The option list is insane, so it's often hard to compare 2 cars to each other. There is also a shortage of used cars, so prices have gone up. Do a search, find a few to test drive, figure out what options are important to you, and get the car that speaks to you, even if it's a little over priced. Not only will it hold it's value, but in a couple of months the few grand you spent will not matter.

There are several warranties available for the cars. Including a factory warranty extension and of course CPO. Again, price it out and see if it's worth it to you. But if you are used to spending $7500 a year, the Porsche experience will be far less.

rugu6869

$7500 per year for your BMW sounds quite steep. I'm a former BMW guy too (still own a Z4 coupe racecar) and my buddy owns an independent BMW shop and he's never heard of it costing that much to keep a car running. Your car isn't even that old being a 2012.
My wife's X3 has cost us VERY little to maintain over the years. Her's is a 2012 with the NA 2.8 straight six (first and last year for that engine in the X3). I believe we're into it for maybe $2K since the warranty ran out and we're at 93K right now.

That being said, there are PLENTY of guys daily running their 911s. If you can swing it, do it. You can fit both kids in the back no problem (plenty of threads here regarding car seats).

TBH, with two kids, do yourself a favor and get your wife a minivan. I know it sounds like sacrilege, but in the end, they are SO useful and have so much room. You'd have to get into a Suburban to have more space than a minivan.
My best friend is a car guy and was looking at a Durango (he has two kids too). I told him it's a nice truck, but you should definitely check out the Honda Odyssey (my sister-in-law has one and four kids). He and his wife were beside themselves saying they would NEVER drive a minivan.
They actually listened to me and looked at the minivan along with the Durango. They were adamant about not getting a minivan, but after they looked at it, it was a hard decision for them. They were blown away at how useful it was and how easy it was for the kids to pile into it.
They bought the Durango. Two years later - they traded it for the minivan and haven't looked back. They love it!

So if you think about it. A practical sportscar along with a super practical minivan would be a win-win.

RSBro

I always love watching Doug DeMuro's minivan reviews lol. Growing up we always had conversion vans w/ the cool 'tech' of the late 80s/early 90s, and compared to today, just holy crap!

WolfDenShoebox

Highly recommend a minivan for the kid carrier and a mazda6 for the daily driver. 911 for the party car.

the 991 shouldn’t be expensive at all to maintain if you service your own consumables and find a good Indy shop for the major repairs.

jeffucd

Agreed that what you’re currently paying for maintenance is very high. That’s $625/month, and for comparison I remember a brand new leased M3 I had back in 2016 was $750/mo. Sticker was around 70K.

I had an E90 M3 then an F80, and have two kids (ages 4 and 1 at the time). I prioritized safety, so wanted to get something post-2011 when the NHSTA increased their safety standards and decided to let the F80 go and get a 2014 Cayenne GTS. Loved the way it drove and sounded, but kept kicking myself for not going 911 for my first P-Car. After 3 years, I was shopping E90 M3 again, GT4, and 911.1 GTS. I do occasional track days, but never drive it over 8/10ths. When I want to go nuts, I rent a spec Miata (I’m in NorCal, and there’s a shop that provides arrive and drive for a Sonoma track day for $550) and live every corner at the limit. I may have found the wall at turn 7, and was happy to hand over $150 for the fender repair.

Fast forward to last year (kids now 6 and 3) and I decided it was time to go 911. Started my search with 991.1 because I love the exhaust and regretted letting go of the E90. But I’m not much of a wrench and an out of warranty car didn’t align with my cost / risk comfort. I also wasn’t comfortable / didn’t know enough about a third party MBI policy. Nothing against it, just wasn’t looking to do it. Had worries of first year 991.2, depreciation, different drive ability, higher cost, and not liking the exhaust sound.

Then I saw the 991.1’s were rising in cost and Porsche had stop sale for emissions and were mostly out of warranty / limited CPO coverage if there was one.

My unicorn popped up at the same dealership I bought my Cayenne from so I pulled the trigger a bit quickly. It’s a CPO 2017 991.2 GTS with MT in Dec 2020 (CPO has 3 years on it) and have no regrets. I have a 2009 GTI to daily just in case, but with Covid and no more commute I find myself taking every opportunity to drive the 911. I’m actually on a breakfast break after a drive right now My wife has a Volvo XC90 for family trips, the 911 isn’t good for the way we travel. I have one kid in a Britax Boulevard Clicktight forward facing and the other in a Bumbo travel seat and they work great for our small kids (20th percentile).

I also went with a 5 year tire, wheel and dent protection package. I have never purchased a package like that before because I generally take good care of my cars, but remember with the M3 my reluctance to drive it on daily trips out of worries about dings. That’s now gone and I take it everywhere.

Anyways, my situation is different than yours but there are some similar flavors. Thought I’d post in case it helps.

asellus

Whoa, back up a sec here. Red flags abound. $780 for a serp belt? $25 belt at your favourite NAPA equivalent and a $75 tensioner from the usual suspects and you're set for parts. It's a two hour job for an inexperienced tech. Either they're gouging you on parts or they're gouging you on labor.

911 or not, it sounds like you should find a new shop, pronto. You are being ripped off if you're averaging $7500/yr in maintenance alone for what amounts to a regular joe BMW. My 170k mile M5 has cost me somewhere around $8000, but over five years, which includes not-so-maintenance things like paint work and a transmission swap. My 911 over the last year has cost me around $3300 -- most of which are the cost of two rear summer tires and all four snow tires.

Bud Taylor

golf R is best daily driver available (although the new ones have that silly screen in the middle that looks like an 8 year old duct taped an ipad to the dash).

asellus

Gah, unfortunate. My '19 R had the screen molded into the dash. Sad to see VW take the lazy way out.