Annual Running Costs

Hi All I am looking at purchasing a 996, I will be spending £18-£20k, so probably 10 years old, and do around 6,000 miles per year. If I purchase a good example what sort of servicing/repair costs should I be budgeting for? For example I currently have a Lotus Elise (12 Year old series 1) and the most I have ever spent in a year on servicing, repairs and tyres is around £1,500 and the best £500, using a good indy. It is the million dollar question, but it would be interesting to hear what others spend or budget for. My concern is that it is still a £60-£70k car so will I be looking at 3 times the cost of upkeep? I want to go into this with my eyes wide open. I have heard lots of horror stories, but I can find equally as many horror stories about running a Lotus when in reality it is not that bad. Many thanks for any advise. James

If you do a forum search then you will find a fair few posts on this topic. If I remember rightly the consensus seems to come in at about £2,000 per year average. You might like to read this post (as an example) http://www.911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=53005&highlight=annual+costs Of course, this depends on a great many factors so its almost a "how long is a bit of string?" question and factors that affect it include: Will you have / buy a warranty and Will you use OPC or independent garage? And so on. The point aboutit being a £65,000 car is correct. Servicing for my 2001 C2 is only a little more than I was paying Audi for my previous car but any parts needed are usually more expensive (i.e. just done brake disks and pads all round which was over £1k)

personal costs Hi James was in exactly your position a year ago bought a 996 C2 with 56000 on the clock for about your budget which was serviced and sound (OR SO I THOUGHT) so far have done 6000 miles in 11 months costs 1 years road tax £190 insurance £500 ish as part of a multicar policy (total 900 for all three) servicing £400 for a minor service other unexpected but known problem areas on this car £350 for new coolant resevoir fitted inc cap £300 for new coil packs £200 s/h mufflers to replace cracked originals (thanks Daniel) £200 fitting of the above and various bolts replaced and drilled out on the manafold and cat joints £1000 for the air conditioning condensers both replaced and the reciever dryer unit and a regass in total the car has spent 4 seperate days off road at JAZ in wembley to do all the above on varios occations i think this is reasonable and the car has (touch wood) nothing needing doing to it no expense spared (if you dont count using an inde for servicing) i make that £3140 for a years motoring and tinkering i could have not bothered with the airconn for a few months yet as it wasnt until it was serviced a few weeks ago that i was told it wasnt working i hadnt noticed i also was a bit unlucky with the condensers as a stone took one out and the other rotted out i dont know which failed first most of the above may be already sorted or known problem areas which occur t this sort of age i would also think i will need a new battery in the next year and maybe a few micro switches for the doors windows or maybe a new ignition switch form looking at lots of posts here these seem to all fail at about 10 years old and are troublesome but not too costly to deal with dont regret my choice of car shes lovely and so much fun hope you take the plunge and enjoy cheers tim

I've bought a 2001 996 with full service history that was well looked aftered. I knew the clutch was on its way out and I knocked this off the asking price. So I've had it for less than a year and done about 6k. Costs.... Clutch (Porsche wanted £1300 but they price matched a Indy) - £900 Indicator stork & Coolant plate - £250 Coils (Indy) - £300 Gear Selector - New £175 but bought one from ebay for £50 Things still to do.. Ignition switch - £15 (from German & Swedish) Ignition Barrel (Not sure if i neet it) - £229 2 tyres at £211 each - £422 Service - £300-400 Discs - £300 Front bumper (someone hit me while parked) - £16 ebay Rear bumper (someone hit me while parked) - £ still looking for one Spraying - £400 So I would say it is quite expensive but you can shop around and even haggle with porsche. Also porsche charge less per hour for a older car. Find yourself a good indy and you can save loads.

Cheers all for your replies, very useful to hear how owners are getting on. So really I am looking at budgeting £2k per year, plus a contingency of say around £3k. I do know a good indy, who service Porsche and Lotus which is very handy for me so that is already sorted. I will speak with them before taking the final plung and will see if they can inspect anything I am thinking of buying. If I do go for it I will use it as a daily drive and give up my Elise and my wife's Honda Civic which will help cover the cost, but also keeping the main family car. James

James, when I bought my car 2 years ago, after studying 996's and getting a general feel for what will need replacing, my car had been fitted with new brake discs and pads & tyres all round, new radiators and a new clutch and RMS/IMS seals within the previous 12 months. Last year I did 6000 miles and the car required a yearly service (no oil change requirement) but it did need a brake fluid change. I went to an indy for the service and requested them to change the engine oil & filter in any case. They also renewed a vario cam seal and changed the brake fluid, they put the car through the annual MOT test. Including parts, filters, oil, fluids and VAT, this came to £324 for the service. This year will be more expensive simply because of the servicing regime alone. My point is, if you can find a car that has already been fitted with the 'expensive' consumables all well and good, but if you still like the car and there is no evidence of the inevitable work being carried out, use that as a bargaining tool to negotiate a better buying price or at least be prepared for imminent spend. I don't want this post to sound like I'm being smug as the car's not cost me a fortune in maintenance, I'm merely highlighting 996's don't necessarily cost you supercar bills in servicing alone. Hope this helps and assists with your decision to but a 996, budgeting for around £2k per year would be very wise. They're great cars :thumb:

Have had my C2 2002 for 10months now. Costs so fare Big serivce 2000 4 new tires 1000 oli sensor plus labour 100 inssurance 1500 small paint job 300 New sport exhaust upgrade 400 grand total 5300 pounds worth every penny

Thanks Nick, good points on negotiating price and a good check list to see what has been done.

That is not actually too bad as £400 was an upgrade, plus I have had an insurance quote for under £700 (so you must be younger than me) ld: So the bill is down to £4k. The thing I do notice is how no one seems to resent spending money on their cars.

I am 37... but live in absolut the city center, thus the high premium... use to be 400 pounds a year... :roll: