Porsche 911 cost of maintenance

There must be a car that costs more to own and operate, but off hand, I can’t think of which one that might be…A Ferrari maybe…

Just for chuckles, ask your friendly Porsche mechanic what the clutch replacement will cost…

Drive it in the SNOW??? Get serious…

Um, if you have to ask about the maintenance cost. . . can you really afford it? Would you be shocked at a $2000 tune up?

There’s nothing wrong with a 911 (my dream car) but they will be costly to maintain and the huge red flag as mentioned is this car needing a clutch after less than 30k miles.

This means the owner has been driving around with his foot on the clutch pedal all of the time (not so bad) or he’s been driving it clean into the pavement. (bad)
Price that clutch job and you may decide to walk away from this.

Check out the replacement cost of the engine – close to $31K. Everything that needs replacing on the 911 is going to be costly. In addition, because weight is of concern all parts are manufactured of light weight material; are sized to only handle the designed load; and will not tolerate ham handed mechanic technique. Thus, using a Porsche specialist is a wish choice.

On the other hand, I bet you would be paying a bundle to purchase this car, even though it is 11 years old. So you shouldn’t be bothered by the high cost of parts and labor to keep it up.

But, when you get out on Highway 1 between San Francisco and the Russian River, you will appreciate what a nice sports car the Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe is. Go for it – its only money which may well be worthless tomorrow.

Yeah, I would be shocked. Why don’t you break that down for us, you know, itemize?

We can start with 10 hours of labor stipulated, now how do you account for $1000 in parts? Just curious.

Reportedly, an admiring bystander asked Commodore Vanderbilt how much the huge new Vanderbilt yacht had cost.
The Commodore’s reply was…“If you have to ask, you can’t afford it”.

Just drop in at your friendly Porsche dealer with an itemized list for spark plugs, wires, filter, special oil, specials fluids, necessary gaskets, etc, etc.

Has your colleague replaced the tires? How much did these cost? How long do tires last on 911’s? Are they run-flats or do you have a spare? Stay away from run-flats.

@Docnick:

Yes, thank you for your helpful reply. I love you as one man loves another. What I was asking for was precisely that itemized list. Special oil? Special fluids? Gaskets are now part of a tuneup? Typically wires aren’t part of a tuneup, are they? Call it $100 for sparkplugs. Where does the rest of the $2000 come from (leaving aside the issue of not doing your own tuneups)?

Itemize now, or forever hold your piece[spelled that way on purpose].

The Porsche dealer will find a way to replace ignition wires if there are any. The word Tuneup is a generic term for work needed as a car ages. On my cars the transmission has a gasket, the valve covers have gaskets, the water pump has a gasket, etc.

I really meant if you are that curious, you should just pick up the phone and call the Porsche dealer. That’s what I do before my car needs work in order to get at an estimate what it will cost.

We are trying to help the OP here and warning him about the pitfalls of owning such a car. If OP asked for these things I might call the Porsche dealer, who is just down the road.

This is not an entertainment website, but I see career possibilities for you on Saturday Night Live!

Wow, I can TOTALLY relate! I’ve almost bought a Porsche twice: first time, a “bargain” from a co-worker (turned out, it needed a valve job: $8,000 at the Porsche dealer) and second time from a kid who trashed it (new gearbox - big bucks - can’t remember the price). Porsche clutches typically last 100,000 miles or so - and he’s already burned it out? Wow. Oh, another Porsche story: my son (back before the market went to heck) bought a “nice” Porsche - only problem: the “check engine” light was on - he took it to the dealer - the motor was WRECKED - kid who owned it before (doctor’s son & 16 years old!) didn’t change the oil & didn’t do the maintenance, so the motor was trashed! Conclusion: beware of used Porsches! The are complex, expensive (put aside at least $2,000 a year for maintenance) and, if not maintained by the book, will go bad quickly. A good, honest, book to read, if you’re serious about buying one is: “Porsche 911 Buyer’s Guide” by Randy Leffingwell - it will tell you ALL the pitfalls of ownership, not glossed over - if you STILL want to buy a Porsche after reading this book, well, at least you’ll know what you’re getting into!

“The only way to be certain you’re buying a solid car is to take it to an authorized dealer or qualified independent service facility for a prepurchase inspection. Make an appointment and expect to pay between $300 and $750 for this examination. A Porsche dealer service technician will provide you a printed list of problems and estimated repair charges for anything they find. You can take the list back to the seller and use it to adjust the selling price accordingly… Everyone consulted for this book also suggests you set aside a monthly ‘allowance’ to cover routine and not-so-routine expenses. If you save $250 a month, then when the annual minor and major service bills arrive for $2,500 to $3,000, you won’t feel it.” --from Porsche 911 Buyer’s Guide

@Docnick:

You backed up Bing on his/her casual assertion of a $2000 cost for a tuneup, then you twice suggested that I do the research to support the claim that I’m questioning. Why don’t YOU pick up the phone and call a Porsche dealer and get an estimate for a tuneup? Why do you get an estimate over the phone, and would you go to a mechanic who would give you phone? Maybe you would, if “tuneup” had a commonly accepted meaning, but according to you it means “anything”.

Or you could just make up an itemized list. I wouldn’t know the difference.

Where does “$2000 for a tuneup” come from?

Based on what I saw the single Porsche mechanic that worked next to me at my last BMW dealer do and charge I would not have any argument with someone that said this car will cost 2000.00 every 2 years (considering a low 20k in those 2 years)too maintain. Porsche mechanics don’t come at 100.00 any more (more like 175.00), not even KIA mechanics come at 100.00 a hour any more (at least not where I have worked.

1000.00 a year to maintain this car, I bet plenty of 911 owners would say “sign me up NOW” for that deal.

Edmunds says the mileage adjustment is $1340. If it doesn’t have a huge number of options, you shouldn’t pay more than $17K for it. This could be a perfectly wonderful car for occasional driving if the owner took great care of it and he is realistic about the value. Don’t use it as a daily driver.

A 911 owner that posted his costs had $3000/year in maintenance/repairs, so $1000/yr would be a screaming bargain.

If you’re going to worry about the cost of replacing the engine, you might as well never ever buy a car. Or leave the house.

Especially since, contrary to “Researcher”'s assertion, the replacement cost is around 10 thousand dollars, not thirty thousand. But hey, it’s on the internet, so it must be true.

PS when I checked a couple of years ago, Porsche mechanics charged $125 an hour, whilst “regular” mechanics charged $85 an hour - quite a difference. Also, $8,000 for a valve job versus $1,000 for the valve job on my Chevy! The Porsche dealer was charging “about $15,000” for an engine rebuild, versus $3,000 to have my Ford motor rebuilt - so, that’s what? Five time or so more expensive to fix than a domestic vehicle!

A quick search turned up a USED 911 engine from a recycler/junkyard for $9500. So $30k for a new/rebuilt engine installed sounds about right.

This is a terrific sports car, especially if you’re willing to learn to do a lot of your own repairs and maintenance. Parts are expensive, and mechanics usually charge full retail in addition to labor. On the other hand, it’s a small car, and mostly pretty easy to get around the engine. You’ll still need a good mechanic for stuff you can’t handle in your own garage, but this is a great car to work on if you’ve ever been so inclined. As others have mentioned, if it needs a new clutch at 30,000 miles, you should look elsewhere. I’d be concerned that the car has been driven hard and might have compression issues.