evilfij

Valve cover gaskets and chain housing gaskets are a consumable on aircooled porsches IME. They last about five years on the lower valve cover gaskets, again, IME.

rk-d

There was nothing all that wrong with with the car. It was a good car when I bought it. Zero leaks, doesn't burn oil, engine runs strong. PPI was solid and compression/leak down was almost perfect. Only thing that *needed* fixing was the steering rack. Most of the money spent was elective - the car was a garage queen for its recent life and I drive my cars. I'm spoiled and want the car as perfect as I can make it. For most people, that's overkill.

olsonreels

If you need your car to be an extension of the office, going to be a pain to daily due to serious lack of technology. Otherwise, maybe I’ve spent too many hundreds of thousands of miles in Jeep Wranglers and trucks and motorcycles with zero tech, this thing is easy to daily. Idles along nicely in gridlock. Maybe you will have to push the clutch 3,000 times in 8 miles on the interstate. Dunno. Second nature with any manual transmission. Mine is a cab and I find road noise a non issue on the highway (top up). Comfort is great. Machine like while being tame and easy to drive while putting around. And just enough juice to have a blast when the road bends. The more bends the better.

Yes they need parts that have and are aging out if you want to bring the car back to spec. Or improve some parts through far better shocks and so on. Or not. Half the fun of ownership is sorting the car out on your terms. Or sometimes as things break it is on the car’s terms. Same as any aging auto.

IMO the beauty of this particular model is the straddling of modern and classic while attempting to retain the original design ethos. Key point here is the attempt at that design ethos.

pp000830

WOW, I had an '86 Carrera and now a 993 both with over 100k miles on the clocks, and I can tell you my total expenditures haven't even come close to $50k. All the heavy lifting on my 993 by shops was done here in Richmond, VA, not exactly a low cost to serve your car town.

On the 993 maybe $15 to $17K over all the years in both servicing & repair including a new clutch, 1st&2nd gear synchros, hydraulic lifter replacement all done by shops, the steering rack I did, in hindsight It was a bit much of a job but saved me $1200 and all the other stuff DIY. My low cost was and is that if the job doesn't require a lift, special equipment, as in an alignment or mounting tires, and it does not involve internal engine/tranny work I just do it myself.

For example with an online discount for Mobil 1 purchased at Walmart my oil change and filter runs $60 or so and three hours in the driveway, could be a lot less time for some, but I'm at the 3 Ibuprofen car therapy stage in my life.

For the original poster contemplating some DIY may be part of the economic equation.

$50K wow, I would have gotten rid of her years ago as she would have been way too expensive a date for me. Would have probably found a girl from the other side of the tracks, you know, A Chevy or a Ford.
Andy

Gbos1

Again, I chose to make the upgrades at my expense. I could have just drove the car and yes my costs would have been very minimal. I am not a mechanic and don’t have the time to wrench on my car. Labor becomes a big cost. This includes all parts to date. When you get into Engine out service, Transmission Re-Gears “done properly“, RS Parts, Suspension, 30k service, check strap repair, full custom exhaust, headers and the list is long......... etc..... it adds up quickly with parts and labor. I have a running spreadsheet with all my invoices to back it up. Many out there make improvements to their cars, but cut corners and skimp. Exactly why Maintenance Records / History are key to these cars to tell the real story.

Tlaloc75

I think this is the key point. To drive it like a normal daily is not going to be that expensive. They are reliable and remarkably robust (not always the same thing btw).

But once you fall in love you will want to make the car perfect. Better than new maybe. That gets expensive! 50k is an outlier but I spent 10k on a combination of suspension and lwfw/clutch. Don’t regret a thing!

My outright maintenance costs have been very low. Similar to my Subarus to be honest.

gmorat

I would say that it depends.....

I have done enough to my car that imo it looks exceptional and that makes the prospect of parking in public for 10 hours a day not that appealing to me. If it were a bit more of a wallflower and closer to stock then maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal?

Another thing I have struggled with is mine was matching quarter century old paint for an aero 2 wing I replaced the aftermarket wing that came with the car. This has made me very paranoid about any damage so from a certain point of view, making the car more special has made it less usable.

Then again, I've seen a lot of 993's knocking about Marin which are obviously being used as DD's.

My service costs have been fine but the amount I have spent on non-essentials has been considerable. Fisters, PSS10's some paint and wheels etc.

mike cap

PS. We do have another newer model car that gets the brunt of the road trip abuse. Generally the 993 would get as much use as possible without unnecessarily racking up miles. Rarely snows here. Trips are modest. The car would not be a flat out replacement for a newer model. Conscious of letting her out of the stable for a good run without running up miles. I recall with the Boxster I averaged 3000 miles a year.[/QUOTE]

Three thousand miles a year is hardly DD territory.

abiazis

I experienced similar numbers of around $15-17K in 21 years of ownership including new tires in 70K miles........would have spent less but cabriolets are more expensive to maintain due to roof design, mechanics, etc. - 33% of the costs attributed to cab costs...new top, motors, etc...

993c4_Toronto

I have mostly used my 993 for DD from May -Nov since I bought it in 2008. It's always been fine. I also take it on longer trips - 1,500 -3,000km's and it has been fine for the most part.

Kika

I would have no trouble DDing my 993, I used to when I had a longer commute. W/COVID, and my current car situation (2 cars block the 993 in the garage) it is just laziness on my part that keeps the 993 in the garage mostly these days. If I have learned ANYHING fro previous Porsche ownership (68 912, 80 911SC, and current 96 993) is that the air cooled cars were meant to be driven, Our 912 especially, was a dog and no fun if driven "lightly" You have to wind up that motor and push it for it to come alive.

When all this quarantine stuff ends, I plan on driving the 993 more often, even if it is only my 16Mile R/T commute to the office.
Don't agree with above that said 993 is not good for long trips, I get it, everyone is different, but my wife and I are fine to take the 993 on weekend road trips, no discomfort at all. I have never driven a Boxster, so I can't compare, but we have a Prius and and Sienna, and the 993 is just as comfortable as the Sienna for long trips, and for me, more comfortable than the Prius.

Cactus

My 95 has 68K on it. Getting ready to drop $4K on a trans drop, clutch, new DMF, and all associated parts because of a shifting issue. Add the fact that I have to drive 2+ hours to the shop because there is nobody close that can handle or who I trust to do this job.

pp000830

For the record, your flywheel should be inspected first to see if it needs to be replaced. I had a clutch put in at 80K miles kept the original clutch, I'm over 100K now and going strong.
Andy

evilfij

My clutch has 126k and is still fine.

m32

Care to share who your mechanic is? I’m also in Houston 👍

Edwin