jw1977

I'm still trying to decide on buying a 911. How expensive are these to maintain? What do typical services cost? Are these cars fairly bulletproof or do they lots of nagging problems?

Thanks fo the help.

Vancouver83LTD

few niggling problems, like any other car, though less. Not too expensive to maintain, it depends how much you drive your vehicle as new rear tires, oil changes, scheduled service etc... will come up more often on a car that's driven regularly than one that's just put in the garage and taken out only on weekends.

gweedo911

Mine has been pretty solid, no problems whatsoever with 10K miles in the speedo. Oil change was $200 w/ 10q of Mobil One oil. Services are schedule every 20,000 miles if you go by the book.

Deven

In the warrentee period, I think your annual maintainence will be slight higher than a regular car, primarily because of tires. By the book, oil change every 20 000 miles, means 3-4 less oil changes, so it might actually be cheaper to maintain apart from tires.

SilverSteel

Years ago a good friend of mine had a 993, and a beautiful one at that. It was about a year old when I had seen it and it was his weekend car, like mine is now. At the time, I could not afford such a car as even a primary car. I asked what it cost to maintain, and hs response was simple: if you have to ask you can't afford it. Well, I can afford it now, and I can tell you it's not that expensive for an incredlble German sports car. Sure some things will cost you more, but they aren't very often. Don't kid yourself, though. If this car needs work, it will cost you if you can't do it yourself. I've had three and never really spent much on them, other than optioning the car, which can cost biiiiig bucks. Good luck with your decision.

Soulteacher

JW, welcome! I hope you get to buy the 997! I bought mine in March, have put 7000 miles on it and did not have any maintenance costs except for a quart of oil and cleaning stuff.

I know you are specifically asking for maintenance costs, and I also know that you may already have searched for other costs associated with owning your Porsche, but - just in case - here are a few threads that discuss general ownership costs and may also touch upon the maintenance issues and other questions you may be interested in ("to get or not to get a 997"). Note: I just cut and paste these links from a previous post I made so there may be more out there.

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ford+a+porsche
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ford+a+porsche
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...t+of+ownership
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...e+porsche+cost
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...afford+porsche
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ight=insurance

jpcourt

A 997 is not to bad in maintenance costs, the drive is worth every penny.

Paul S.

To some extent, it depends what you compare it to. Compared to a Ferrari's scheduled maintenance, the 997 is cheap. Compared to a Toyota Camry--tires, brake pads, rotors, 9.5 quart mobil one oil changes, cost money.

If your a DIY person, you can do your own scheduled maintenance easy enough, to save the labor. I do my own brakes because they're so easy to do and I already own a pressure bleeder, jack and cordless impact wrench from my track days. I don't do oil changes--from the mess factor and needing to dispose of all that used oil. I've been pretty lucky--6 Porsches (986/996/997 line) and only one rear main seal leak and nothing major. My Club Coupe will be a year old in October, and it's next visit to the dealer to fix anything will be it's first, probably to change the oil/filter and have them fix the driver's side vanity mirror light which never worked from day one (I just couldn't bring myself to bring it in just to fix something I don't use).

Depending on how much/how far you drive, budget money annually for tires ($1500 per set of 4 for tires plus mounting/balancing--can be done cheaper but that's a reasonable amount to start with), oil change ~ $150 each year. Those are the most common expenses. Seems like my 15,000 mile services were running around $400; 30,000 miles ~ $650. Those aren't bad for dealer rates.

dstrimbu

3800 miles so far on 2006 C4S; total out of pocket (besides $200 for detailing products... ;-) $12.00 for two quarts of Mobil 1.

And I calculated total uptime as 98.6% - three days in the shop (for a fuel related problem, under warranty) since April 14th, 2006 - my in-service date.

Buy it, JW. You won't be sorry!

-don

Vancouver83LTD

the fact is too, while an older car may be cheaper you may end up spending more on maintenance than you might expect. that and combined with the improved ergonomics of the interior and the additional features a 997 has over, say, a 993, and it's not that significant a cost for maintenance.

Edgy01

This is really the wrong forum to ask about maintenance costs. Keep in mind that every 997 is still under factory warranty so issues that would normally be an expenditure to the normal Porsche owner won't be an issue for several years, yet. As a long time Porsche owner I can say that the 911 isn't as far out of line as some will have you believe. But they are not cheap to maintain. Some models are particularly expensive than another. Time will tell on the 997. Of course, the big plus on the newest Porsches is their extended service intervals, and elimination of some past maintenance issues, like valve adjustments (not applicable now!) and tune ups due to parts wear (points, condensors, rotors--a different design entirely).

I suspect that today's 911 is neither more or less expensive than a comparable 2006 automobile other than on special stuff like the tires.

Remember that another big expense on these cars will be insurance. Get an early quote from your company to get a feel for that aspect of ownership. Location of garaging, mileage, as well as all the other usual factors apply,--but remember that the car is a heck of a lot safer for you, having some 6-odd airbags in it! Medical payment premiums should be lower.

Time will really tell, so a precise answer is difficult now.