Porsche Owners Thread - If you own one or just like or hate them! :)

[helpimcrap]

Exactly - tells a story, right? In the last 6 years he's spent at least £16,000 keep it on the road excluding tyres etc!

I'd have thought money chucked at car meant it was looked after as every bill paid for rather than zero spent which instead of reliable to me would mean the owner is selling a knacker.

I'm probably not that far away from that figure in 4 years of ownership and mines only on 78k now, I bought it on about 65k. It's no secret that these things can throw expensive bills and even the mk2's are getting on now.

I'm under no illusion these things are expensive - I'd expect nothing less. The idea of a £6k engine lost me a bit as I was thinking 'it can't be the same as an RX-7 engine and be that cheap surely!?'.

Another one.

Noted lol.

As fox said, its cost the owner a fortune to keep it running and a new engine is not £6k so its probably had is fix or something.

I had a Gen 1 997 in the now year I owned the car it had no end of little things go wrong, finally it needed a new engine at the cost of £17k. Lucky I had a warranty.

If you have a £15 to £20k budget and you really want to be in a Porsche a high milage Gen 2 Cayman is the way to go, rock solid engine and greenly more reliable. You may even find one with a warranty.

Thank you for confirming - £17k that is more like it! Thinking a 997 will be too much for a decent example but a nice 996 is achievable with sub 100k miles. I prefer the look of the headlights on the 997 however overall care is a greater priority and the IMS and bore scoring issues i'll be looking out for. I'll also be getting PPPI done as these seem good value considering the depth they go into. If I buy from a dealer some offer really good warrantees too. The cayman looks ok but I dunno... It's not a 911. I'll never be able to do this ever again so I'd like to go for it.

 

[Gibbo]

I'd have thought money chucked at car meant it was looked after as every bill paid for rather than zero spent which instead of reliable to me would mean the owner is selling a knacker.



I'm under no illusion these things are expensive - I'd expect nothing less. The idea of a £6k engine lost me a bit as I was thinking 'it can't be the same as an RX-7 engine and be that cheap surely!?'.



Noted lol.



Thank you for confirming - £17k that is more like it! Thinking a 997 will be too much for a decent example but a nice 996 is achievable with sub 100k miles. I prefer the look of the headlights on the 997 however overall care is a greater priority and the IMS and bore scoring issues i'll be looking out for. I'll also be getting PPPI done as these seem good value considering the depth they go into. If I buy from a dealer some offer really good warrantees too. The cayman looks ok but I dunno... It's not a 911. I'll never be able to do this ever again so I'd like to go for it.

17k is the figure from Porsche, fitted by Porsche.

You can get a 997/987 with future proofing from Hartech so it won't score the bores or have IMS failure for £8000-£12000 and 1-2k in labour.

I'd go the Hartech route everything as the engines from Porsche could still fail, the Hartech one won't fail.

 

[Vince]

snip... Thank you for confirming - £17k that is more like it! Thinking a 997 will be too much for a decent example but a nice 996 is achievable with sub 100k miles. I prefer the look of the headlights on the 997 however overall care is a greater priority and the IMS and bore scoring issues i'll be looking out for. I'll also be getting PPPI done as these seem good value considering the depth they go into. If I buy from a dealer some offer really good warrantees too. The cayman looks ok but I dunno... It's not a 911. I'll never be able to do this ever again so I'd like to go for it.

I wouldn't be totally put off by the stories of reliability woes. At the end of the day if you know what you are getting yourself in for and plan accordingly then you can't go far wrong.

I have this problem where I listen mostly to nobody and ignore sound advice, plenty of people on the forums told me I was mad, some even tried to talk me out of it but I bought with my heart not my head. If I was doing it again and didn't know what I know now, I would spend the time getting the car looked at before I threw money at any car.

edit: Forgot to mention that any warranty on a ten to eighteen year old car is likely to not be worth the paper it is written on.

 

[RSR]

Its going to be a lot more than 6K for a new engine on a 911, i'd recomend Hartech for costs on engine rebuild as they are one of the only people id trust.

Also I wouldn't discount a Cayman without driving one, granted its not a 911 but what are you buying the car for the dynamics or the badge?

 

[Vince]

Its going to be a lot more than 6K for a new engine on a 911, i'd recomend Hartech for costs on engine rebuild as they are one of the only people id trust.

Also I wouldn't discount a Cayman without driving one, granted its not a 911 but what are you buying the car for the dynamics or the badge?

Porsche always try and push you down the new engine route. Mine had a cracked head and some other issues and I ended up DIY'ing it with a mechanic friend. It's not rocket science (edit: being a 4 cam chain driven engine it's not exactly a walk in the park either) and they can be rebuilt. Rebuild parts are eye watering though, even things like the head bolts were about a tenner each (24 of them), gaskets were bloody expensive, everything we touched was rusted to death and I waited months for parts.

If you are interested helpimcrap I can dig out all of the invoices for stuff I have replaced in the last 3 years to give you an idea of what you could end up spending.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I'd have thought money chucked at car meant it was looked after as every bill paid for rather than zero spent which instead of reliable to me would mean the owner is selling a knacker.

A looked after moneypit is still a moneypit - old Porsche can cost serious money to keep going as the example you have found beautifully illustrates.

 

[Dr House]

I agree with RXP, I would have a Gen 2 cayman over a Gen 1 997 or 996 any day of the week especially if you can find a S PDK.

Actually they are probably more fun to drive than more normal 911's including the 997.2.

I don't know if its in my head but I felt like most the 997's that had engine failures had them between 20 and 40k miles. Its not the engine failure that worries me so much but just the little bits and bobs the need fixing from time to time. You could be luck and not need to fix anything but my one had god knows how much work done, form memory 6 coil packs (or something like a coil pack that cracks because it gets wet), some sort of sensor, AC radiator, some pipes and clips, a few oil leaks, a coolant leak, new suspension spring along with what ever got damaged when the spring went, something on the gearbox (no idea what) and finally a new engine. All in under 1 year. I assume maybe £22k+ at OPC prices. Which I know you will not pay but why not spend the extra at the onset on a better car and then get most of the extra money back on resale.

The car was only worth £32k.

 

[Dr House]

911's hold value well, you are not going to lose a lot in depreciation, I sold my 997.1 for 31.5k, its now coming back up for sale 3 or 4 years later at £32k, Same goes for all the 997.2's I sold, they are all worth around what I sold them for if not a little more.

Having said that my 991 is up for sale now and it looks like I will take a 4k bath on that one. That will be the first time I have ever lost money on a 911. I had it for 10 months and put 3 k miles on it.

 

[Housey]

That one was listed at £105K..

If you are up at that level, go find a Turbo S, spend a few grand more and get something quicker than almost anything on the road A to B. They are out of this world fast, GT3 beating fast on some tracks too.

 

[RSR]

If you are up at that level, go find a Turbo S, spend a few grand more and get something quicker than almost anything on the road A to B. They are out of this world fast, GT3 beating fast on some tracks too.

They are far too quick for me, it's the quickest car I've driven by a long way! It's scared me how quick it went from 50/60 to well over 100 which felt like less than a second. Even brushing the accelerator peddle the car took off like a scalded cat.

I think the natural progression is a 4S or 4 GTS for me but I am happy with the Cayman GTS at the moment. As that's properly fun to drive but it's had a few scary moments lately, especially in the wet.

 

[Housey]

Leave, don't say anything...just leave!

Too fast should NEVER be spoken by a petrolhead, it's against the Petrolhead law...I think.

 

[RSR]

Leave, don't say anything...just leave!

Too fast should NEVER be spoken by a petrolhead, it's against the Petrolhead law...I think.

LOL

 

[helpimcrap]

Noted cheers.

edit: Forgot to mention that any warranty on a ten to eighteen year old car is likely to not be worth the paper it is written on.

That's a fair point. If I did I'd be very specific and detailed with what and how. This is one of those times I am genuinely going against family and friend advice and just buying it more with my heart but also investigating a lot.

Its going to be a lot more than 6K for a new engine on a 911, i'd recomend Hartech for costs on engine rebuild as they are one of the only people id trust.

Also I wouldn't discount a Cayman without driving one, granted its not a 911 but what are you buying the car for the dynamics or the badge?

Noted - Hartech. I'll look into a Cayman however it doesn't do the same for me.

If you are interested helpimcrap I can dig out all of the invoices for stuff I have replaced in the last 3 years to give you an idea of what you could end up spending.

Thank you for that. You don't have to as I'm getting an idea of things and feeling better about it and it sounds like a lot of hassle for you.

A looked after moneypit is still a moneypit - old Porsche can cost serious money to keep going as the example you have found beautifully illustrates.

Yeah but the quality of a Porsche and how it would be looked after is different to a Ford/Vauxhall and even BMW/Audi/Mercedes that had no bills. I'd expect higher bills than all of them but similar bills albeit more expensive and some instances to do with it being a performance car rather than a family car or a rep mobile.

I agree with RXP, I would have a Gen 2 cayman over a Gen 1 997 or 996 any day of the week especially if you can find a S PDK.

Thanks - it is something I will look into but I am stubborn. Too much sometimes.

 

[Housey]

LOL

Too late, men in white coast coming, leave your keys are the door.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Yeah but the quality of a Porsche and how it would be looked after is different to a Ford/Vauxhall and even BMW/Audi/Mercedes that had no bills. I'd expect higher bills than all of them but similar bills albeit more expensive and some instances to do with it being a performance car rather than a family car or a rep mobile.

I have no idea what this means. Nobody is saying 'omg it costs more to service than a Mondeo'. We are suggesting that some of the bills are monster. Are you suggesting that you are cool with the idea of the sort of bills the guy in the advert had experienced?

If so, then fine, but if you've got that kind of money to throw around and not care why on earth would you consider a 200,000 mile 996? Buy a better one?

I know it gets trotted out a lot but surely if you can't do better than a 200,000 mile one then you really can't do one at all. People who don't care if they get a £6000 bill don't buy 200,000 mile cars.

 

[helpimcrap]

I have no idea what this means. Nobody is saying 'omg it costs more to service than a Mondeo'. We are suggesting that some of the bills are monster. Are you suggesting that you are cool with the idea of the sort of bills the guy in the advert had experienced?

If so, then fine, but if you've got that kind of money to throw around and not care why on earth would you consider a 200,000 mile 996? Buy a better one?

I know it gets trotted out a lot but surely if you can't do better than a 200,000 mile one then you really can't do one at all. People who don't care if they get a £6000 bill don't buy 200,000 mile cars.

I'm just saying that £6k bills are 'expected' with a performance car. A Mondeo with that kind of bill would be a new car.

A high mileage car doesn't scare me if it well looked after - by that I mean noticing and replacing bushes etc because you can feel or hear them (preventative maintenance and mechanically sympathetic). Porsche drivers might have more money than sense on occasion but I feel they seem like a more passionate bunch dare I say. I've replaced bushes on my Focus because I've 'felt' it go wrong. *touch wood it's never let me down as I've always replaced things when I've noticed them going and it's never failed MOT etc. Not the same thing I know but I know people who drive cars and fail to notice warning lights or the engine knocking seven shades out of itself and going bang. That scares me. I get your point though so I'm not ignoring it, I just see it in a different light. Maybe I'm got the blinkers on.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I'm just saying that £6k bills are 'expected' with a performance car.

I don't disagree.

But if you have the ability to shrug these bills off then you surely have the ability to not purchase a 200,000 mile old 996 and can instead buy a much nicer Porsche in the first place.

 

[Dr House]

I'm just saying that £6k bills are 'expected' with a performance car.

If any of my cars hit me with a 6k bill I think I would be physically sick.

 

[crinkleshoes]

They are far too quick for me, it's the quickest car I've driven by a long way! It's scared me how quick it went from 50/60 to well over 100 which felt like less than a second. Even brushing the accelerator peddle the car took off like a scalded cat.

I think the natural progression is a 4S or 4 GTS for me but I am happy with the Cayman GTS at the moment. As that's properly fun to drive but it's had a few scary moments lately, especially in the wet.

You'll learn how to use it though...

 

[[ui]ICEMAN]

If any of my cars hit me with a 6k bill I think I would be physically sick.

I've been pretty lucky with most of my cars, but my F430 threw a $70k bill right at the beginning of ownership