niche35m

Hello Porsche enthusiasts,
I've spent a few hours on this site and it seems to house a good bunch of people with terrific insights, helpful and friendly as well.

I'm close to purchasing a 07' C4S and plan to drive it approximately 35,000 per year, mostly highway, it currently has 17,000 KMs on it now.

Am I nuts? Comments pros and cons appreciated.

Many thanks.

ADias

35k km (or 22k miles) is perfectly fine.

alexb76

My C4S is a daily and I don't have a 2nd car. However, I live in the city and walk to work and use the car for mostly small trips and weekends, I put down 10K.

35K/ year is perfectly fine... however, be prepared to take a huge depreciation at re-sale as most Porsche's are not driven much and at re-sale there will be many cars with half your mileage!

The other thing is to consider, as much as 997 is a great daily, it's still a sports car and not that comfy so for long commute in traffic it's probably not the best car. So, do some long test drives to see how it is to your liking.

niche35m

I should mention for the Canadians in here, that means winter driving as well, with our salt and snow. I've read enough here to confirm that it's fine to do so. On heavy snow days or particulairy slushy or salty days, I'll leave it at home.

On a similar note, how many porsche owners here have over 200,000 KM or 125,000 Miles?
Any MAJOR repairs required?
Thanks

niche35m

Good point Alex, with my KMs, I'm committing to owing it for the long term. Which I can't see why that would be a problem.

alexb76

Then, have a 2nd car just in case.

I just drove in some relatively heavy snow last week, and with winter tires I was perfectly fine, but still couldn't match the Audi Quattro AWD performance, and I totally rode on snow on a couple of streets where other car's tire marks made a dent on the road. The car's just too low for heavy snow.

As I said, the biggest thing would be depreciation of the car, and just have to be prepared for repair costs... it's a Porsche afterall and parts are NOT cheap. Even not counting the major repairs, just regular maintenance is more expensive than typical cars, brakes for instance, and tires ARE EXPENSIVe and you need to change them every 15K Km... that's why most people who drive a lot have a 2nd car.

PS. The other thing is that you ATTRACT more attention, specially in Canada! people always love to race you down, don't hesitate to get into your lane and intimidate you, and in general I'd say elevates road rage of others.

ADias

Ah... the great salted north! Nah, I would not drive a nice sports car in salted roads.

Edgy01

These cars are built to be driven as daily drivers. Many of them are in Germany. Even through the winter. They use some fairly nasty stuff to control the snow and ice there but it doesn't stop the Germans!

winkingchef

Of cars at this performance level, a Porsche 911 is *the best* car to drive 35,000 km/year.
Porsche is what happens when you gather all the Germans together with a scrap of passion.
The car is expressive to drive, but still built to invade Poland and keep going.

For example, I drove nearly 15,000 miles last year on various epic road trips and only changed the oil twice and the tires once.

I personally think the electronically adjustable seats with lumbar support are the most comfortable seats of any car I've ever driven (the GF agrees).

petee1997

I have no idea what the maintenance cost will be but I can tell you about the life of the tires. 35,000kms will use up two sets of rear tires and one set of fronts. Go to tire rack for tire prices. Tires, taxes and installation, expect to spend approximately $2,700.00 per year.
I can't speak to the maintenance cost because it took me five years to drive 18,000kms on my last Porsche.
If I were you, I would buy a small commuter car as a DD and keep the P car as a fun car for the next fifteen years. That may best your cheapest option.

niche35m

Thank you. All valid points for doing it and for not doing it.

On one hand, enjoy it, the car was meant for this and the German's drive in this weather. Don't be **** and drive it for as long as you can and when she goes, buy another one.

On the other hand, maybe daily drive it from April to snow season, then put her away until April 1.
Decisions, decisions.

Those tire costs are Nasty! Ouch.

A few more quick questions... do oil changes and brake jobs HAVE to be done at the Porsche dealership
1) if still under warranty?
2) what if car is out of warranty?

cbzzoom

You absolutely can drive the car 35km a year. But I'm not sure you want to. For one thing, the cost per mile is a bit high, due to gas mileage, cost of tires, brakes, etc. It would actually be *cheaper* to buy a Porsche plus a whole other cheap commuter car than to just buy the Porsche.

Also, while the ride of the 997 is cushy for a sports car of this level, it would get old on highway commutes, especially in traffic.

Salt is no problem for these cars. If you drive in salt every year you will rust your exhaust in 10 years and everything else will be fine.

If my commute was really fun - like windy country roads - I would consider driving the 997 every day, but if it's just straight highways with some traffic, I would not.

Absolutely not. I don't know about Canada, but in the US there is a law that specifically makes it illegal for them to deny a warranty claim because service was not done at the dealer. You can do it yourself, or have a cheaper indie do it. Just document it well so you can prove the required services were done. In fact most people agree you should do services much more often than Porsche requires (the long factory service intervals are an unfortunate side effect of some German laws).

alexb76

Well, because basically we cannot make a definitive conclusion on your question.

• Can you drive a 997 as daily for 35K a year without much issues... yes!
• Is it wise to do? probably not.

I'd say if your daily commute was a bit shorter and you didn't encounter salty roads or snow that much, it is wiser decision... while if you're not worried about the cost of maintenance, tires, and that potential *major* repair (albeit rare), then go ahead!

I personally wouldn't do it without a 2nd car, would buy another fun car along with the 997 and cut the milage between the two. The E46 M3 is now a GREAT bargain, or if you wanna make it your winter drive, get an Audi Quattro, S4 or even a newer A4.

unclejosh

My gone but not forgotten 2007 C4S was my daily driver for 3 years and 55,000 miles. It was a secure all-weather fun commuter. I put BilsteinPSS10s on it which helped alot and a set of Tubis. The car was lowered slightly and corner balanced.

The car handled great and commuted well, and I did business on my commute using my mObridge Bluetooth set up.

My only comment would be be prepared for new tires ever 10,000 to 14,000 miles depending on alignment and how you drive. I bought tire insurance because as you know, on the AWD car ya gotta replace them all if worn...........

I think that if you got the means to run a C4S as a daily, its a FabFun car !

We have limited time on the planet, so lets put down the miles/Kms in a fun ride...

ADias

On a 4WD tires have to be replaced in pairs, on the same axle, in general, but not all 4 tires.

And the axle replacement is governed by a max circumference diff (left-to-right). If one installs a new set of rears and gets a puncture in one at 2k miles, it may not be necessary to replace the other - it depends on actual wear.