The realities of ownership...

[Ru2S7]

My first 12 months of ownership were pain free. Apart from some oil, a service kit and an MOT, the mechanicals have been solid, and the wallet has barely been touched. Now that it's belts time i booked her into Promax and asked them to check the water pump and under the cam cover. Turns out the water pump has seen better days (to be fair it's 11 years old) and needs replacing. The cam chain has stretched and worn grooves into the pad, to the point that it was only the grooves keeping it on! Therefore new pad and chain required. Distributor and rotor arm are corroded, so new ones of those too. And now it's leaking oil (recent patch spotted on my drive) and they're not entirely sure where from, so some stripping is required. I don't have her back yet so i don't know the final total, but i know it's not gonna be pretty [&:]

The play in the gearshift, the engine mounts, high clutch and fuel lines will have to wait for another day. As will the new tyres, chip and wheel refurb i was planning []

She's still worth it, just need to make sure the lady doesn't see the bill.

At least it feels like i've achieved a rite of passage into the club.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Welcome to my world! [][]

I'd worry about the fuel lines? [8|]

Mine has advisories on the engine mounts, all four tyres, handbrake, and some other bits and pieces.

I try to chant this mantra every night before I go to sleep. My 944 isn't depreciating by £1000 per month, so I'm better off than with a new car! [&o]

 

[Ru2S7]

Thanks Paul. I had just been reading your 'should i be worried' thread and empathising with you.

To be fair, the fuel lines, together with the clutch, mounts and gearshift, are all jobs that will need doing, rather than must be done now. I read you paid nearly a grand for your new lines, which isn't far off what i was quoted. Gulp!

 

[zcacogp]

How much it costs to run a 944 is a question often posted on here. The general rule is around £1000/year for a Lux, £1500/year for an S2/turbo. Some years you will be up, some down, but it's not a bad metric.

You can get the figures down (a lot) if you do the spanner work yourself; I suspect I'm around the £700/year mark over the last 9 years with my S2 doing all maintenance myself, and intentionally keeping bills as low as possible as I am tight. (I'd add that this doesn't mean a lesser car, merely that you do more shopping around and importing parts from abroad.) Last year I spent nothing at all other than fuel, tax, insurance and £30 on service parts. This year I have already spent £200 on brake parts, £320 or so on rubber trim and an AFM and another £300 or so on belts and other bits, and I'll need two tyres before the winter as well. It'll make up for last year's parsimony.

BUT, in the McNulters Words of Wisdom, compared to the depreciation on something modern that is even half as much fun, it's very cheap indeed.


Oli.