Interesting take from PCA E-news.

https://www.pca.org/news/why-isnt-porsche-classic-selling-crate-engines

”Porsche needs a realistically priced crate engine program, now, and not just for air-cooled cars, but for M96/M97 engines as well.”

 

The M96 long block program was a great program back in the day. For $7500 you could get a long block to replace your engine with a trade in. We all looked at it as a no brainer if something happened to our engines. The cost then went up to $15,000 and then eventually was eliminated. Today they still offer the short block program for $8-10k plus labor.

As the long block program became more expensive and then eliminated, rebuilds then became more attractive for the costs amd ultimately the enhancements in parts and output.

 

... and then -good- rebuilds went from 15 to 25+ grand.

You can still find some cheap ones, but reputable ones like Hartech for example will ask for £12k + VAT + labour (assuming your crank is good, otherwise add another 4 grand) + whatever displacement increase you may splurge for, and they only rebuild your engine meaning leadtime is significant.

What all this means is Porsche ownership gets more and more unattainable for many people. And I doubt Porsche will do anything about it. Heck they're the ones selling a piece of plastic and carpet for $1K.

 

Yep. It's not the cost to buy a Porsche that is the big expense, it's the cost of keeping it running.

 

Truth. My 996 cost me a fourth of its purchase cost within its first year. And I bought a clean example with -perhaps too- low miles.

 

Hear you. I am afraid to officially tally up mine over 22 years. But i gotta say that it has been worth it. Been alot of fun to drive on the street and track as well as with the PCA.

 

That's insane. In 2021 I paid $154.00 for that.