Terry Adams

Oh, the humanity of it!
I am deeding mine to the local Rabbi. Not that I am Jewish, but he is the only person who would drive it as intended. My wife can't drive it. If I had an ex-wife, I would have it listed on ebay for $1 and the proceeds sent to her. My kids would fight over it. My grand daughter is too young to drive. My neighbors all laugh at me for washing it once a week, even when it rains or the car looks clean already.

Adrienne

I'm at 129k. I've had it just under 4 years now as a daily driver, and I take it to the track about 3x a year.

I've had the top end rebuilt, new clutch, and new suspension, had 1st and 2nd gears and syncros replaced, had it completely re-painted. I've done front rotors twice, brake pads all around a few times. Broken the window switch 3x, all sorts of tires, a couple of batteries (manufacturing problem, not the car). I'm sure I'm forgetting something....

Other than that, it's been fairly maintenance free (hahaha).

Currently, no oil leaks or even seeps, doesn't measurably burn oil between oil changes, runs stronger now than when I bought it. It runs amazingly smooth and strong. Moral of the story...if you are willing to maintain it, it will run forever.

msw

Roland,

You can believe it. I bought the car in July of 98 from a pp in LA when it had about 4K miles on it. It has been my daily driver since then; live in (San Francisco) and commute to pennisula everyday. It goes everywhere and does everything.

As I said, original clutch, rotors, pads, turbos. Car came with ROW springs, techart steering wheel, custom painted gauges, TechFx sport exhaust, front protection bar, and radar. Aluminum package, seat crests were options.

Items that went:
1. collapsed hydraulic lifter around 40K; again at 90K (same side, told wrong part used by first shop)
2. signal tree
3. new windshield (too much glitter)
4. new slave cylinder and accumulator
5. new rear wiper (broke off when cleaning)
6. one new rear hollow twist - bent
7. fuel pump
8. bilstein HD - at 80K and again at 140K
9. rear tires originally only got 4-6K miles (very sensitive to psi); had rear end aligned for 'tire wear' at Custom Alignment in Moutain View - now get 18-20K on rears
10. oil bellows filler tube - cracked over time
11. at 180K service - new power steering hose (leaking); replace clutch booster hose; faulty ac blower resistor
12. rear bumper replaced/resprayed twice (rear ended by cab in city twice...only gouged the cover both times)
13. front bumper replaced/resprayed...metal object put a hole through it doing about 80mph on freeway...

Still have the original seller's info...thought it might be fun to give him an 'update' on the car; decided to do it when it hits 200K. Hope I make it

ceboyd

I'm just flabergasted that someone can get to 180k on a 993 with the same brake pads, rotors and clutch!

RallyJon

And yet managed to wear out Bilsteins in 60k miles.

LAT

Monty, the total expense works out to just over 100 pounds a month over the life of the car. It would cost you half of that for a run of the mill sedan if it lasted 12 years.

More reasons to drive a 993, reasonable economic maintenance and long life.. ...

Mine is a teenager, should see 80,000 km this year before the snow flies.

Carrera GT

Are you concerned about the car or you still being around at 200K ?

That is a remarkably durable car. There's no reason why a well-driven Turbo couldn't go that long, but I would suggest you replace the clutch immediately -- clutches will simply disintegrate after so many miles just from age and fatigue regardless of there being enough material on the friction surfaces.

I hope you're keeping a regular eye on flexible brake lines and having the brake fluid and ABS system flushed (only Porsche specialist shops will be able to flush the high pressure side of the ABS.)

The other thing would be to at least inspect all drive shafts and wheel bearings as well as having the ball joints replaced, again, simply because they can fail without notice. And I know the grind from SF to the Peninsula, I thing some of those bumps in 101 have been there since the quake.

I hope you've had the alignment updated every now again, oh, say every 30K miles ... : ) ... at Custom, just to keep it in spec ... : )

No surprise the plastic and contacts in the steering column would fail and the clock spring connector will eventually die and give you an air-bag light.

You might consider being very sure the clutch fluid is flushed -- replacing the clutch slave would be an unpleasant blip in your operating costs.

And sadly, I'd have to recommend pads and rotors along with that very thorough brake service -- fluid flush, ABS, flex lines.

You know, the more I think about a Turbo approaching 200K and untouched, I think we need a group drive for everyone to get a chance to marvel at this beast.

Oh, and the next time you meet a taxi from behind, get a Euro bumper cover.


Cheers,

msw

Carrera GT,

All points well taken; thank you for the advice.

I have been to every dealer in the Bay area since getting the car in 98; settled at 75K miles with RMG in Sunnyvale; Bob Grigsby has been great. Even called him one time when I had a rear flat...I mounted the inflatable, drove by his shop; he put on rack and plugged the tire (til I could order a new one from Tirerack)... felt like a 'pit stop'

Carrera GT

It sounds like this car is a credit Grigsby and you can obviously trust his advice on when to make the call on the clutch or other preventative maintenance. After all, this car doesn't owe you a mile or a penny at this point, so catching up on some "deferred" maintenance could pay dividends and avoid turning a minor part into a major headache.
I'd really love to see those turbos.

mborkow

mine drives great at 114k miles. however i have done the following:
valve job $6k
new clutch (not sure since i did it while i was in there)
new rack ~$1500 (i think)
new alternator ~$600 (that one did leave me stranded on the side of the road, although i have forgiven it)
all work was done by a mechanic (if you DIY you can save a lot of $)

amfp

Just curious, how many miles did you get on first alternator and steering rack ?

TIA.

mborkow

alternator lasted about as long as can be hoped for: 114k miles. however, the steering rack is a pretty common failure with the 993 (and i would assume the 964 since i think they are the same). mine lasted about 90k miles, but i have heard that they fail pretty often so i replaced it with a new OEM rack that came with a 2 year warranty. there are other options you can explore, and i actually went with the most expensive one...but i did get same day turn around by doing so (and that, in this case, was better than saving some $ to me).

ceboyd

o.k. so how does one know if the 993 steering rack is going bad anyway? ...I'm not liking the idea of a failed steering rack... does a failure mean you suddenly can't steer (that is NOT what I want to deal with while on a track btw)..


..I'm starting to wonder if I should change things not because they are failing but because I've put them through a lot of dE duty..

...so I'm hearing rear axles, rear wheel bearings.. and now steering rack?

mborkow

when the rack went bad all the PS fluid leaked out and the car made a HORRIBLE noise when i made left turns (not right ones...strange, huh?). you can, temporarily, just re-fill PS fluid and the car will be fine i think (though it will leak out again)

Randy M '96 Silver 993

I just hit 106K!

I will just list the maintenance items. There are a few upgrades that do not really count in the cost of ownership!

RS Clutch and LFW at 60K ~$1500

SAI Port flush at 60K ~$1000

Transmission work at 102K. The Synchros and first/second needed help! ~$5000

A/C Evaporator at 80K. ~$1000

Best of Luck.