dryadsdad

You may be right. IMO, if there were stone chips repaired with such care, that only speaks more highly of the car and owner.

BTW, what is the normal maintenance for this car and roughly the cost for scheduled maintenance such as oil changes? Is there a FAQ covering this? I'd like to know if we're getting into Ferrari territory here.

johnsjmc

993 Regular scheduled maintanance is fairly reasonable .Oil changes and brakes and similar things are all reasonable prices, rotors are less than $100 and pads are $50 and up. Cars are hard on rear tires and a clutch can cost $1500 + in parts alone. The unexpected can be very expensive( things like electronic AC and ABS controllers) but they are reliable cars in general.They are complicated and German so dealer service can be expensive many here do alot of their own service and I personally enjoy it.Costs will climb with lots of miles but most of the depreciation is already done. A high mile 993 will still bring low $20s The 996 /boxster has an engine which can grenade suddenly ,IMS failure affects 1% under 100k mi.but costs over $20000 if it happens ,for a new one).The 993 will wear out more slowly ,not explode suddenly. The main reason the 993s are going for more than a 996. Want really cheap to own buy a Miata.

dryadsdad

We concluded this AM that the two choices are, just as you say, the 993 or the Miata. My wife prefers the 993 over the 996 not even considering 'grenade' issues. I discouraged something like an SC due to it being older so will be more maintenance demanding just because its older. That and I think my wife, being an enthusiastic but unschooled driver, will more likely get into trouble if she doesn't have the benefit of the multi link rear suspension of the 993 and up.

Most likely, I'll arrange a PPI for the 993 and take it from there.

95 NC 993

We own a BMW and the 993 and love BOTH! The 993 though is so unique and your wife has caught the bug. Your wife is a real treasure if she wants you to buy the 993. Do you have any idea how many guys would love to marry your wife just based on her desire to own a 993?? She doesn't have to cook, clean, nothing!! LOL!! The price is very fair in my book. Even dropping a few grand into the car is still worth it. Don't miss out on this opportunity if everything checks out. Good luck!!!

dryadsdad

My wife doesn't want me to do anything. She wants to buy the 993 for herself and she be the primary driver. As to me being lucky married to her, I am and the 993 has nothing to do with it. Still, it's nice icing on the cake.

niche

You might find this interesting:

http://p-car.com/temp/993service.htm

dryadsdad

Interesting, but tough to decipher w/o talking to the fellow who compiled it. Frex, much of the work was DIY and some other was probably DIY. Like he replaced the alternator belt for the cost of the belt. That means either it's trivial to replace the belt or he just forgot to account for his time in putting it on.

Then there are the mystery items like the shocks replaced at 10k miles. Was that due to the old ones being worn out or did he do an upgrade?

Are common items to maintenance like oil changes easy access or do I have to do stuff like remove the exhaust or something else? Like on my truck, you need to remove pretty much the entire air intake system down to the plenum to replace three of the six sparkplugs.

Just looking at the 993's engine from the open hatch, it seems very tightly packaged, but I've never really seen these worked on or talked to anyone who has.

Well, the good news is that even if the maintenance is difficult, we do have a dealer locally and several indie shops which are good reps. I know one which I think does great work at reasonable prices that maintained my Benz. It also works on Porsches as does several others so we do have good support or so I hope.

johnsjmc

The oil change can take an hour or more and uses 10-11 qts of synthetic oil and $40+ in filters. If you keep the mileage down then it,s only a yearly expense. The biggest expenses people on this forum experience are upgrades. Things like new wheels are expensive and not really needed. The original shocks don,t last more than 50000 mi and owners can replace the set for less than a $1000 or upgrade the whole suspension with a package/kit like PSS10 for about $3000. Perhaps you should browse some part prices at Pelican parts. Bear in mind the car cost about $100000 new so the total of all parts through the parts dept is probably 3x that.. The same ratio applies to a Miata but the replacement cost is lower. Porsche could build the car for less BUT has to pay for the racing program somehow. My wife likes our 993 quite alot also.

milrad

Premium condition cars bring a premium price. If it is really pristine, 5 years from now you will be very happy with your purchase. Sure, there are "steals" out there, but how many "stories" do you want to investigate, worry about, and ultimately correct? For how much $?

Re:the 996, I would not consider any of them that were not a TT or GT2/3. Even so, I had a 996TT for a while alongside my 993 and eventually sold the 996TT and kept the 993.

Oil changes are only "reasonable" to Porsche people! Relative to "regular" cars, they take 2X the oil, 2X the filters, and 3X the time. And if done at the dealer, at least 3X the cost. Still, you won't need to do them very often considering your intended use.

A few of the spark plugs can be a PITA. So much so that some unscrupulous mechanics (including dealers) have been known to skip a couple on plug change job. It is not really that hard, it just takes time and patience. Don't let this scare you off either. The job does not get done often.

Falcondrivr

White will grow on you. I "settled" for my white car after I couldn't find one of the colors I was looking for. Now I love it....

niche

White on 993s is awesome...

Academictech

Review everything on the market, Ebay, Rennlist, Pelican, Autotrader, Cars.com....you'll find that is not a premium price for a 40K mile car.

While we're all biased here about the cars...especially so for the 993 crowd....NONE of us want to pay a premium! If you get a clean PPI on the car it's priced fair and is probably negotiable 5% tops.

Whatever you do don't go offering the seller Blue Book prices you'll get nowhere on future negotiation.

Good luck, you picked not only a great brand but the correct model! Rennlist is a great place to learn about all things 993.

p.s. when we asked you to post pictures...we really meant of your wife not the car in question

DC from Cape Cod

Agreed - that price is more than reasonable...and when you factor in that it is exactly what you want I can't figure out why you haven't bought it yet.

Anyone who buys a car like this has some measure of financial success...why lose sleep over $2000...you could be dead tomorrow.

dryadsdad

Since the car now is dead stock and pristine, I will encourage my wife to keep it this way. Once you start down the customization trail, you find there is no end except to sell the car for a fraction of investment. While I'm not Porsche familiar, this is the general rule in collectibles or semi collectibles and will assume it applies to Porsche until I learn differently.

I'll take a trip to Pelican and browse around some.

As to the Miata, my wife seems to have left that idea behind and I'm glad. I don't like the ride / comfort. I'd not like to do more than 100 miles at a stretch in one.

Adding a small amount to the cost of parts multiplies the cost of any manufactured product rather dramatically down the line. That's just the nature of manufacturing finance. So if the shocks in the 911's cost $20 more each, it boosts the overall showroom cost of the car not $80, but $200 or so. Also engineering costs a good deal.

You can see excellent engineering in both the Porsche 918 and the Prius, but Toyota can bury those engineering costs in millions of pedestrian vehicles where Porsche needs to absorb same in a run of only a few thousand.

Excellence costs exponentially over pedestrian. Note I never said that a Corvette was part of the buying matrix. I'm surprised no one here suggested that as an alternative. To me it isn't.

dryadsdad

Well, it's my wife's fave color for the car and it's her car so white it will be. Remember, I'm the passenger here.