New boy

[Guest]

Hi guys,

Your experience and wisdom is needed to convince me to part with my hard earned cash and finally treat myself to my first 993 (first Porsche come to that!).

I've been running an entertaining Cooper S for the past year or so, but the little Mini is up for sale and rear wheel drive is beckoning!! However, in order to convince the wife, I need to let her know that running a 993 as a second car isn't going to break the bank.

What would you guys consider to be an average annual running cost for something like a C2S or C4S (excluding insurance)?

Running the Mini has been dirt cheap due to the excellent BMW TLC package (£100 for 5 years or 50,000 miles worth of servicing) so I don't expect to be in the same ball park.....

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Austin

 

[Guest]

Hi Maurice,

thanks for your words of wisdom. Based on your estimate, we're talking £19.23 a week - she won't be able to agrue with that (equivalent to a pair of shoes a month in her terms!).

If you wouldn't mind letting me have a copy of your check sheet, I'd be really grateful Maurice?

Witha bit of luck, I'll be able to update my profile with a picture of my new purchase sooner rather than later!

best regards
Austin

 

[Guest]

Yes but that is an average over years I think but it is how well maintained the car is when you buy it and you have to think these cars are 8 years old. I had my car inspected when I bought it and found about £3000 worth of costs - Clutch / Tyres / Discs / Shock / Wheel Refurb (I got the car reduced accordingly)

Last year I have had the clutch / front / shocks and mounts / wheels refurbed / 4 new rear tyres / 2 new front tyres / new spolier curtain / 4 wheel geo-alignment and servicing of course

This year I want to get the discs replaced all round / the rear shock changed / 4 wheel geo-alignment and another service.....thats without anything else being replaced..... and it will need to be.

The rear tyres last about 10,000 miles - thats £400 minimum then a service every year....

This car is in superb condition - the above costs are just maintanence. So try and find one that has had all the work done recently and with bills to prove it...

If you want to keep the car in the best condition I think you should allow for more than £1000 per year and hold some in reserve for problems.

 

[Guest]

Hi Will

Thanks for your comments. I'll certainly be doing my homework after hearing your experience when purchasing your current 993. Which looks the mutt's by the way.

Do most of the 993 owners you come across have a personal preference between using an offcially approved Porsche service centre over the independant specialists?

Cheers

Austin

 

[Guest]

Hi Austin,

Whilst £1k pa may seem a tidy sum to take care of the servicing... but what about all the MODS?!?! That's a slippery slope that could easily make the servicing costs less significant! []

Count so far:
new overmats
new stereo
airbox cover
exhaust tips
cupholders to replace the tapeholder
... and she's just gone 1 month old!

Of course, that flat six... priceless.

Cheers -

OH, and I forgot to add: PCGB membership, GT subscription, 911 & P-world subscriptions, ... ... ...

 

[Guest]

Most 993 people I know use a reputable independent - Where are you based ?

 

[38F3E1]

I agree with Will that it depends on the condition of the car when you buy it. I looked at what I thought would be typical costs over 5 years and here is what I came up with

Clutch replacement £1000
Tyres £2000
Major service with disks and pads £1500
Minor service £500 with four of them so £2000
Shock absorbers plus alignment £1000
Other £500

That gives about £8000 + VAT = £9400 for 5 years. Which works out at just under £2000 a year. The problem with this is that clutch, tyres, disks and shocks could all be due in the first two years unless there are records of them being replaced by the previous owners. This makes the car expensive during initial ownership.

Then there is insurance and tax of say £1000 a year. And depreciation.....

Not trying to put you off it's worth it IMHO. I would value feedback from others on my figures and see what I have missed or been overly pessimistic about.

Ian.

 

[Guest]

Ian I think that is realistic.

Don't forget the way the aircooled drink oil.....

New boy none of this is to put you off but make sure you realise what it will cost to maintain these cars... even my seller told me that...

I sold my SC back in the day when I was younger cos although I could afford the purchase of the car to keep it maintained to high standards was not something I could keep up with...

Girlfriend calls C2S "the mistress" cos of the time and money spent....

 

[Guest]

Its worth it though - fantastic cars.. and you could always use the "way they hold value" to get round your girlfriend.

 

[sjevans]

I agree with Ian's calculations but would add that owning such a car is like enjoying a dangerous sport. At any time it could kill you financially. Unlikely, but if the engine detonates it could cost you over 10K just like that. It is a joy of joys though and in my view worth the worry.

Stephen

 

[Guest]

Nice one guys, this is just the kind of feedback I was after.

I get the general impression that I need to take a step back and think about these figures before I pick up the latest copy of TOP MARQUES and take the plunge. It's a big step up from my current motoring, but the enthiusiam that you've all shown seems to make me think that it will indeed be worth the time and money.

Although I now feel like I'm planning to have kids!

Thanks to Maurice, Will, Ian & Stephen for your comments.......... I get the feeling I'll be posting more questions soon!

 

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: austin79

Although I now feel like I'm planning to have kids!

Don't let the little ones put you off... My recent acquisition of the 911 is my upgrade to a more practical car because of my little one!

I'll stick with the 2+2 for now until I really need the 4/5 seater. If you can afford one now, do so. As my other half told me when I was weighing up the decision between heart and head... "Better than waiting another 20 years when you're old, grey, and start worrying about the old knee because of the offset driving position and wishing for more power steering". Bless her.

 

[Melv]

Don't you wish you hadn't done that Maurice??? []

Whilst 993's are later and have hydraulic tappets, so servicing cheaper, my budget when I was running a 964C4 between four and ten years ago was £2-4,000.00 p.a.......

 

[sjevans]

I was quoted nearly £900 per year by the OPC for a warranty on my car.
Is there a cheaper option anywhere else? I would love the piece of mind but nearly a grand year is steep I thought.

Stephen

 

[Taverner]

Stephen,

I believe OPC now do their warranty for £720. Still quite expensive, they reduced it at the end of last year and now run the warranty scheme themselves rather than through a 3rd party as before.

I always wonder whether it is a worthwile annual expense, but I suppose it is all personal and depends on you attitude to risk.

 

[laura]

Charles would say forget the racehorse - a 911 has much more efficient brakes and steering - though you still get a kick from the back end! I love them both but the horse does have a small brain which can be much more scary!

 

[Guest]

Austin - if you find a decent car (and dont worry too much about low mileage - sometimes low CAN be too low with these cars), you should be fine. One with all the required document history will show you whats been done and what's outstanding (and you use that as a bargaining tool against the asking price - always start with at least 1000 for a new clutch).

And dont be afraid to move away from OPC care, the level of service your car gets will certainly not deteriorate - and your wallet will be grateful!

I was forunate enough to find my car had come out of its PPI with a wonky bonnet badge!!
Moved from OPC servicing to JZ in time for the last major service (900quid vs 400quid!!)

And in the 2.5 years since I have had to replace a transmission seal (60 quid) and the clutch, which I used to knock down the asking price by 1300quid, aside from 6 monthly servicing...

Of course, the problem with replacement parts is that you usually end up upgrading instead []
But thats another story altogether...

 

[Sundeep]

as it has been said, out of your total budget for your car keep a bit aside just in case.. as there a lot of things that previously owners 'live with' which you may want fixing... I did so when I ended up having to get a few things fixed unexpectly it wasn't so much of a wallet punisher.....

in addition feel free check out the www.911uk.com forum which has a fair few 993 owners in your situation as well........

 

[laura]

Maurice, that does sound really scary[&:]

 

[Shane Hodges]

Austin,

It can be quite scary when you tot up all the bills, but any high performance car is going to cost. In fact, non-performance cars do too - a work colleague has just had the front disks and pads replaced on his people carrier and it cost more than when I got mine replaced on the 993!

4 years of ownership has cost me:

Insurance, Tax and MOT £5,500
Servicing £1,800
Other repairs £2,500
Tyres / Geo £ 700
Oil and bits £ 850

I also paid £1,800 for a 2 year warranty which was good value when the OPC were generous with the repairs. In the last few months (when Porsche bought the dealership from HR Owen), it wasn't quite the same and I didn't bother to renew.

Re OPC v specialist. Next month will see the first non-OPC stamp in the book. I thought long and hard about it, but a 6k service at JZM v 12k at OPC (they don't do 6k) will save me approx £400 - that's two tyres! The service should be just as good.

Go and drive as many 993's as you can before you buy to get the idea of what feels and sounds "good" - enjoy.