Cost of ownership

[Guest]

I'm going to be buying a 944 in the next few weeks. Have decided on an S2 or Turbo. I've been doing my research, ordering back issues of Porsche World, reading on the net etc. I have a few questions that I hope you guys can answer.

I've heard that the turbo is more expensive to own than an S2, service intervals are shorter, and more to go wrong I suppose. How much more expensive are we talking about? I've got a decent enough budget, and should be able to buy an excellent example of either model as a starting point.

Which model is a better purchase for me? Given

1. I won't be driving it every day, and I don't need it to get to work.
2. I don't have a garage, which means the car will live outside under a cover, and I won't be able to do any serious work on the car myself.
3. I won't be modifying the car in any way, or buying a modified car.

Also, I'm going to need reccommendations of a good specialist in the Reading area.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

Paul

 

[Fen]

I don't think the Turbo costs any more to maintain than the S2; if you consider the cost of an extra few litres of oil and a filter at 6,000 miles significant then neither is the car for you. In fact I always had a 6,000 mile oil change done on my S2 even though the interval is officially 12k.

If you don't want to modify at all then buy an S2 is the basic rule. S2's are much nicer to drive than standard Turbos, not much slower (if at all), cheaper to buy etc. The downside is that they are prone to expensive camshaft problems that the Turbo doesn't suffer from and that they usually have a lower spec in terms of things like air-con and even leather seats. Don't let the cams thing put you off; either buy a car that has receipts for cam work (personally I'd want to see them recently replaced or have a specialist I trust look at them pre-purchase and pronounce them good; just a new chain isn't enough for me after having to replace them on both my S2s) or assume you will have a £1,500 bill immediately on purchase and take that into account when making an offer for a car.

My 944s always live outside on the drive. They can cope with it, but it's better to use them regularly to keep the damp and corrosion to a minimum.

Ray Northway is close to Reading and has a good reputation I believe.

 

[wjk_glynn]

I know it's US prices, but just for the record, my S2 costs me an average of $0.77/mile to run and operate over 5-years and 32K miles...

See http://www.weissach.net/WP0AB294XMN410197-History.html#TrueCostOfOwnership for details.

Karl.

 

[zcacogp]

Paul,

I did the same as you are considering about 6 months ago. Bought an S2 for occasional (2-3 times a week) use, which lives outside. I bought carefully (looked at 4 before buying) and had it inspected by a specialist: £200 well spent, IMHO. In practice, it looks like I bought a really good one - subsequent ownership and very careful inspection both on a ramp and mechanically has shown no rust at all and a very good 203 bhp.

Cost-wise, I have serviced it myself, once, and intend to do so every 6,000 miles. (The interval may be 12,000, but you can't be too careful.) A service was about £30 in parts, plus oil. I have also rustproofed it throughly (they do rust - despite galvanisation - it's something worth looking carefully for.) It had the belts and chain done 20,000 miles ago, so has a bit of life left in them yet, and the clutch is strong. Emissions show it is running a little rich, but nothing to fuss about, and it seems only slightly less economical than my old Mk2 Golf GTi (brilliant car.) Admittedly, I am getting through the tyres fairly briskly (!) but I don't expect to be meeting any nasty big bills in the next year or so.

Having said that, the advice is always to keep a grand or so in a bank account to pay for any unexpected nasties that may arise - looking at the history, it seems that these cars can produce 4-figure bills fairly easily, so go into it with your eyes open.

Northway seems to have a good reputation, although I live in London so it's too far to go.

Would I recommend it? Yes. Wholeheartedly.


Oli.

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: GTA

I've heard that the turbo is more expensive to own than an S2,

I've run a Turbo and S2 side by side for the past four years doing 30k p.a between them and I don't think there is anything in it. In fact currently the S2 has a slightly higher cost per mile because this year it has needed fuel pipes, brake lines, ECU, ABS ECU, water pump and belts as well as its routine servicing.

My personal view is that a Turbo only costs more to run if you start modifying it [8|]

 

[sawood12]

Although I believe you will get better fuel economy from an S2. I get around 330 to 350miles out of a tank but a mate of mine regularly knocks on the door of 400 miles a tank and sometimes over 400 miles on a long economic run. I reckon I could get 400 miles out of a tank on a long uninterupted run at sensible motorway speeds but i've not actually managed to prove that as i've not done a long enough run yet.

 

[Davyboy]

I've spent £11K in 55 months - so £200 per month.

 

[wizard]

I REALLY don't want to know .... 10K+ [] over 3 years []and more to come (soon) ..... [&:][][][][&o][&o][&o]

 

[cdickinson]

I budget £200 per month for everything except fuel - and it's working out about right. (balances out over a couple of years)
However, I don't do many miles - about 3k per annum!

 

[berg944]

£3,000 in 3 years........under £100 a month........everything except petrol.

I do all the work myself.

Only about £20 a month more expensive than the wifes Hyundai coupe!..........untill you put depreciation into the equation then its about £30 a month cheaper[]

Keep this a secret or everybody will want one[]

Kevin........you owe me[]

Mike[:'(]

 

[rob.kellock]

My lux has only cost me around £40 per month on average for maintenance and less than £20 per month for insurance plus petrol - and that includes 2 services, belts changed and an MOT (passed, no advisories!). 10000 miles in 15 months. It's probably worth more than I paid for it too! I have never had a car that's been cheaper to run (including depreciation).

 

[Diver944]

Our S2 has been £11000 in 104 months and 80k miles so that's £106 a month []

The Turbo has been £21000 in 62 months and 55k miles so that's £338 a month [][:-]

 

[Hilux]

£338 a month [][:-]

Thats nothing, its only £10.90p per day, where can you rent a 5+ sec to 60mph 160mph + motor for that money?

Mines nearly 6K in two years - £58 per month about £2 per day.....................problem is I dont drive it every day so you really need to price per mile in my case so I wont even go there [&:][&:][&:]

The wife had better not see this so dont e-mail me please [8|][8|][8|]

 

[Gordon Attar]

ORIGINAL: Davyboy

I've spent £11K in 55 months - so £200 per month.

Ouch..... hope mines not anywhere near that expensive,

my original 944 S2was just over £50/month over 4 years and 65k, my 964 was £75/month over 3.5 years and 25k, the 993 Turbo is running at £80/month over 20 months,

,

 

[edh]

ORIGINAL: Hilux

Mines nearly 6K in two years - £58 per month about £2 per day........[&:][&:][&:]

The wife had better not see this so dont e-mail me please [8|][8|][8|]

Let's hope she doesn't check your maths Paul []

Mine's running at £3500 in 18 months - almost £200/month (plus a £1000 bill for re-modelling the rear o/s after a slight brush with the armco at Rockingham). I hope it's going to get cheaper in the long term but somehow I doubt it....

 

[Davyboy]

Worth bearing in mind that this includes around 500 laps of the ring, many of them on R rated tyres. That takes it's toll on bearings etc. It also adds considerably to brakes and tyres!

I calculated recently that it adds up to about £31 per lap (including fuel) [:-]

Ouch..... hope mines not anywhere near that expensive,

my original 944 S2was just over £50/month over 4 years and 65k, my 964 was £75/month over 3.5 years and 25k, the 993 Turbo is running at £80/month over 20 months

 

[RC18B 911 turbo]

my car is £288 a month and that's just the insurance not sure for the rest yet

 

[sawood12]

Well taking out usual costs like routine maintenance, insurance etc. I think that i'm still below what I would have spent if I had bought one of the latest batch of hot hatches which was my original plan before I decided to bite the bullet and go the 944 route, though I think by the time my KW has been paid for, the clutch and cylinder head gasket have been done (assuming i'll cop for them), some bodywork has been tackled and noisy transmission bearings have been sorted I think I would have overtaken that milestone. Not cheap these Porsche's!!

 

[edh]

I'm sure the costs increase dramatically when you use the cars regularly on trackdays - but I don't think I would have bought a 944 turbo just for road use, so for me it's an economy measure because it replaced 2 cars []

 

[wibble]

Some of the figures quoted are a bit scary, but then most of you are trackday boys[]. I am fortunate that I can run my car at w/e's only. I would estimate maintenance costs to be £100/mnth, which includes my own labour for minor work.