mxt

I've got about $30K to spend, and I would love to get a 993 after owning older variants. I'm seeing higher miles 993s down in the low $30's now (and even into the high $20's), so I'm thinking it might be in reach. I'm a bit worried about how much the high miles will "cost" me in maintenance. Anyone in the 100K range yet? Are these as bulletproof as the earlier 3.0/3.2 engines? As long as it was well maintained, could I expect to have reasonable maintenance costs with a higher mile car? I'm buying a car as a daily driver and want to keep it for at least 5 years...I'm going to drive it into the ground, and just don't want to have to dump thousands a year into it to keep running.

Terry Adams

I drove an '87 Cab to 126K miles, with a new clutch at 81K and top end rebuild at 116K due to worn valve guides. On the 993 I put in a new clutch/FW at 71K ($2500) and new shocks with suspension upgrade at 73K. My experience on service is that the cost per oil change (15K per manual but I do it every 7500) and major service (30K) are about 40% more, but intervals are twice as long, and inflation counts for part of the increase.

[quote]I'm going to drive it into the ground <hr></blockquote>

That's the best way to enjoy these cars, and it will not cost you any more per mile than the 3.2L.

mpm '95 C4

I also had an '87 cab, traded it at 105K for my '95 C4 (which now has 97K). I bought it in '99 for $34K.

The original owner kept good records and only did scheduled maintenance, plus brakes at 60K. In three years, the only work I've done is a master & slave cylinder to fix a hanging clutch. I change oil once a year, unless I go over 10K miles.

I'm still on the original clutch, shocks and other wear parts. The clutch has a little chatter and will need replacement in 10K or so, and I'd like to replace the shocks/struts.

While the engine/tranny are out, I might replace the lifters, since these are a little noisy,(and perhaps replace the syncros). I'll also check the "early 993 problems" (steering rack and wire harness). After that, this car will run a long time.

Bottom line, these cars were meant to be driven. I'd worry more about a marked-up garage queen with no mileage - and no exercise, then a well maintained 993.

Good luck...

E. Malcolm Crosby

I'll add my $0.02 in here about my daily driver.

I have a 1995 C2 Coupe that I just drove from San Francisco to Cleveland for vacation. I bought the car in May 2000 with 40651 miles and as of today it has about 96500 miles. I would like to say that I haven't put any money into the car other than scheduled maintenance and a few smaller items, but I can't. Since April of this year I've replaced the following

-power steering rack
-wiring harness
-driver side drive shaft
-starter
-brakes front/rear (august 2001)

I'm not including things like tire's, hood/trunk shocks, valve cover gaskets or the 90k tune-up (all were performed in preperation for the trip).

All of those things did cost a pretty penny, but I try to look on the bright side. All of the failed items (not brakes) were original parts and had not been replaced before. So hopefully they'll last another 90k miles.

The car has only let me down once and that is when the starter failed. Some of you may remember my posting back in April about my freaked out starter. Other than that the car hasn't let me down. Also, from what I can find out I'm still on the original clutch.

So I don't know if the car is bullit proof, but the way I look at it this is an older car and things have started to fail. Again, I'm trying to look on the bright side so that stack of bills in my drawer won't depress me even more.

There are a few items on the list to be scheduled

-passenger side drive shaft
-clutch (sooner or later, hopefully later)

I'll probably post a summary about the trip after my return. I've made several observations about the car and how well it did on a long drive. As an example, I used to think the car wasn't very comfortable for long drives, but I was wrong. Some of my observations/questions may be well known to others, but not me. However, this will have to wait.

P.S. - If I had to chose a car all over again I would still buy a 993. The grin I have on my face will remain long after I have passed...