How to run a Porsche 996 on the cheap !!!

IT IS POSSIBLE LOL ! I was just watching a topic about mpg and a gut reckoned it only cost £1500 a month to run a 911 ouch If your carefull can be done a lot cheaper I have had 5 porsches in the past bought carefully kept for about a year and hardly cost me anything ! READ ON - Buy a car in miserable weather end of winter find some with recent service, tyres and dont be set on just one spec/colour! make half a dozen silly offers on cars watch ebay , pistonheads go to see car straight away before others, take cash and one will always be desperate ! Ok I know you might be lucky to get a car needing nothing but in a year you may need say 2 tyres £120 see my thread on cheap tyres ! independant specialist service say£500 which would be an oil change and some brakes my insurance was £370 (42 year old guy 6 points) after a bit of shopping around car tax £220 All this adds up too £100 A MONTH TO RUN A 911 i HAVE NOT FACTORED DEPRECIATION AS AFTER OWNING 5 PORSCHES i HAVE LOST HARDLY ANYTHING £500 BETWEEN THE 5 NOT FACTORED MPG AS A 20+MPG SUPERCAR IS not a massive issue My cars have been great ran lovely sold easily My Current car a facelift immaculate 3.6 cabriolet 42k miles cost £20k after hard dealing ( bought in the snow) I challenge you to find another for less than £22-23K i confident I will get £20k in 10 months prices are levelling out and nice low milage facelifts getting slim I know a lot of guys will say if you cant afford to run a Porsche properly you should not have one ! but sorry that is Bollo--s my cars are serviced washed each week and safe that said I drive hard and enjoy them. I have a small business work hard and love my 911 just dont see why I should get ripped off just because its a Porsche Fairplay if your loaded want the ease of Porsche dealers etc fine not knocking that But for the rest of us that Love Porsches but just have not got money to throw away IT IS POSSIBLE TO RUN A 911 WITHOUT A 2ND MORTGAGE I know I am going to get grief over this but hey guys just pointing out its possible with just a lil planning effort and the satisfaction is tenfold Cheers Carl

I'm sure it is possible based on your experience to-date to run a 911 on the cheap, however there are a lot of cars out there with 6 plus owners on a car less than 4-5 years old. Can only assume some owners buy the car then sell as its not for them or alternately thrash the car to a inch of it's life, then sell it leaving the big repair bills for some unfortunate owner in the future. I'm not suggesting that you fall into this category but there are others who do. I've been a treasured owner now for just over a year and have been taking advice from a number of members on this site prior to purchasing my car. Most of the members seem to treasure and cosset their cars but also use the performance responsibly. In general if something needs fixing on my car or just doesn't look quite right, it gets repaired. With prices falling and insurance companies appearing to be more accommodating to younger drivers by offering low premiums and high excess's, I sometimes feel the marque is being devalued and cars in the future may be poorly maintained and costly to run.

Fair point John I know what you mean but I do whatever needs doing to the car & let it get up to temp before driving hard etc . But I just shop around for it a few years ago I was quite happy paying £30k+ for a used porsche in the knowledge my money was safe ! but some damage already done to brand I think an excellent 911 facelift or immaculate 993 is where the safe money is around £20k In no way i condone flogging on a knackered car after abuse ! Just seems easy to get fleeced if you dont ask the price about 6 years ago I went to Porsche Silverstone got quoted £500 bog standard 12k service took it to a porsche dealer in Bournemouth exact same service Official Porsche dealer £260 ( i think since porsche have standardised there pricing but worth a few calls) I had a nice wekkend on the coast inc hotel petrol and food with money I saved ! Just winds me up when people get ripped off so In these current times I was just pointing out a way to ease the costs... Carl

I do agree with you Carl, I shop around for everything, (i went to poundsaver today to buy cleaning products), ok Im not loaded but havnt got money to throw away. Have you ever been to Reading Porsche? thats why they cost so much per hour. I paid 26 quid for an MoT last month, same standard. Little things like that all add up, and if you are willing to get your hands dirty, even more. Carl how are getting on with your new 'cheap' tyres?

My tyres are great thanks look lovely in my workshop ! I had to leave my car at a bodyshop today a novice 18 year old girl reversed into me in her ford Ka I was not a happy bunny but minimal damage so could be worse off plus the insurance company offered me a new S class while I waited or £80 a day whilst I wait for repair we have 2 other vehicles so I chose the money should pay for my next service so my Porsche got even cheaper to run now lol ! I think servicing ought to be done by experts so they could point out any unknown defects but I would choose to do them myself if straight forward pads or the like and induction & exhaust mods I'm thinking of! I would get my hands dirty with that sort of thing but that's part of the satisfaction of running these cars plus this forum is fantastic at offering advice if you get stuck ! Carl

oh dear, I best she was sh"ting her self when she saw it was a porker, poor thing :wink: glad to hear it wasnt to bad and your not out of pocket as these things normally go. agree with the service side, got to be someone who knows these 'beetles', there are strange beasts. Pads and disks Id do myself, not hard and satisfying to do.

remember not driving it saves even more money, budget for 4k miles a year or even less

I think that the idea of owning a Porsche where it's running cost is minimal is a grand idea, but the reality is usualy different. My take on it is that if you own them for any length of time, and in this example the last 3 of the 5 Porsches we've owned we have had 5 years or more... and you drive them regularly; you just cannot escape the fact that they do cost relatively more to run than most other cars. I can understand how someone might buy a car that's just been serviced, new tyres, pads, etc... own the car for 18 months to 2 years, sell it and find the cost to be minimal, assuming no unexpected repairs. But if you own the car for any length of time where you have no choice but to go through a tyre change, pads, service, etc... and the odd repair... the reality of it is that you just can't get away with running such a car on the cheap... sure you can shop around and get better pricing from various places. But inherently they are expensive cars to own. As a side note re dealership pricing, yes they are higher... but I've found in my case this extra cost to be well justified. The level of service they offer not just duriing the visit, but in also going out of their way to assist me when things go wrong is well worth the extra cost... Kiwi

John B wrote: I'm sure it is possible based on your experience to-date to run a 911 on the cheap, however there are a lot of cars out there with 6 plus owners on a car less than 4-5 years old. Can only assume some owners buy the car then sell as its not for them or alternately thrash the car to a inch of it's life, then sell it leaving the big repair bills for some unfortunate owner in the future. That is why I looked around for a recent new engine fitment complete with 2 year OPC warranty when I chose. (fitted the week I bought it) I can now only blame myself if things go wrong as I alone drive it (well her indoors very occasionally). But as I treat it properly, warm up the oil etc and ran it in for the first 2000 miles, I am hoping not to have the same issue which broke it. (no 6 cylinder).

Doesn't work for me as I am not the type of bloke to take advantage of people in desperate circumstances. Having spivs pitch silly low prices is about the most irritating experience I have ever had when selling cars.

spiv ?? spiv??? excuse me I do not take advantage of anyone ? if I offered to buy your car at a price to low for you then you just refuse no hard feelings! I dont waste peoples time with 2 hours of test drive & tyre kicking I state my offer before I leave the house some people want a quick sale everyones happy ! all I was doing was pointing out that in these current hard times it does not have to cost the earth to own and run a Porsche ! Sorry but I was just trying to offer some helpful advice with others that has worked for me . Personally I cant stand idiots that think there car is worth 20 % more than market value and wont entertain any form of offer because its beneath them ! but the laughs on them when 6 months later there car has not sold its depreciated another few grand they have spent £500 on advertising and end up trading it in at a massive loss with a dealer ! Personally I try for a couple of weeks to sell my cars at a nice price but then I accept what people are willing to pay ! Carl

I heard you the first time "make half a dozen silly offers on cars watch ebay , pistonheads go to see car straight away before others, take cash and one will always be desperate !" Sounds to me like spiving sellers with silly offers and then tucking someone up who is desperate. Tell me which bit I've got wrong ?

sorry dont why it came up 3 times? Some people are desperate for a sale does not mean I am conning anyone ! If a seller has come across another car they want at a great price need to raise cash fast for a business venture Pay off a gambling debt lol whatever the reason they want money fast and happy to get it for whatever reason ! There adults they make there own choice I am not holding a gun to anyones head!!

Perhaps you are looking at it from a trader's perspective, which is always at odds with the private seller. I'm not talking about targeting a car advertised at 20% over its value and then looking to cut a deal near the real value, because with your game you wouldn't be contacting those people anyway. I'm talking about sellers who pitch it fair and then get phone calls from spivs offering you 20% less than it's genuine market value. "I got cash waiting - innit." They are known as spivs where I come from, or chancers, or c**ts. Taking a car off someone clearing a gambling debt???? Sounds desperate to me. Carl, you haven't convinced me.

Well I think we will have to agree to dissagree Before we fall out , I am not a trader, I dont buy a car to make a profit just to enjoy the car for a year or so and try not to lose a fortune ... Well at least we can agree we both have good taste in Cars and leave it at that . Have a good evening Carl