Yearly Maintenance

I'm looking into buying a car soon, I am in between two cars: 03-04 M3 coupe or a Porsche 911 coupe 01-02. I am just trying to figure out how much in yearly maintenance I will spend. How many miles do you usually go before needing to buy new tires with the 911? Do you need to take them in for preventative maintenance like the M3's? Maybe someone who has owned both can give me an idea of which one is cheaper...seems like the 911 is more reliable.

I'm on 20,000 miles on my tires, and they are still going strong. This seems to be on the high end, as many people seem to get less miles. Yes I do drive fast and hard on them- they just have lasted for whatever reason. Preventative maintenance on the 996 is every 10,000miles. I spend maybe 1000bucks a year on various things like oil changes, brake pads, and such. Overall a very reliable car and I haven't had any major issues.

Thanks ElTorrente...I had an E36 M3 for a few years..and after the CPO expired seemed like I was spending tons of cash on it. I read the E46 M3 is twice as expensive...I'm definitely leaning more towards a 911.

Don't forget, maintinence is free on BMW's for the first 4 years/50k miles (the numbers may be a bit off but something like that) The two biggest issues on the M3 are the engine recall and the SMG reprogramming sessions. oil changes/etc are very reasonable (100~) at a bmw dealer. Early 996s suffer from potential RMS failure (cheap fix), but that can lead to engine failure - which can be quite expensive. Oil changes run around 150-200 depending on the dealer. Other things are the same for each car depending on how hard you drive, the most obvious, tires. Additionally, bringing your own oil/replacement parts to a dealer helps avoid the markup at this very frequent 'service'. Just need to find one that cooperates (there are plenty out there). Also there is a huge DIY community for both cars and you will find that you can do quite alot by yourself if you have even the most basic knack for automobile maintainence. Total operating costs should be similar, with the 996 being not more than 10%-20% more expensive simply because Porsche parts/labour is at a premium.

Thanks Moogle...good information! I love both cars...I had an E36 M3 already--just having something different might be nice. With the RMS, is it pretty easy for a Porsche dealership to spot it if you bring it in for an inspection? Also, I have read PPI over and over again on the board, but what does it stand for?

PPI = pre-purchase inspection.

Yes, RMS is very easy to diagnose. There is even a specific tool that checks for it.

The special tool helps check the cause of it, after the transmission and flywheel are already removed.

I spend about $3000 in the last 20 months.....BUT....included is a 60K service $850 and a flat tire which made me buy 2 new rear tires (($700) the other costs were 7500 miles oil change $185 and new brake pads about $400 All in all pretty cheap considering the 20K miles I put on the car!! and the joy I had putting those miles on my P. If you don't need the space of a bmw,,get a P...but if you need to bring passengers (more than 1) and some luggage...get a BMW...the new ones (hardtop cab's) look amazing!! and 4 years no maintenance...I have a X5 and love that part!

Maintenance on a 996 is on the same level as a Toyota Corolla, Oil every 15K miles, filters at 30K and plugs and main auxiliary belt at 60K. Brake fluid flush every 2 years. These are extremely simple cars to maintain. The only thing different from a Corolla is tires life. Expect to get between 10K and 25K on the rears, and double that on the fronts. I change my rears every 18 months, and the fronts every 2nd time I do the rears. Last rears on my 02 996 went 23K. As for clutch and brakes, The car will easily go 60K on brakes, and 150K on a clutch, but if either are abused, then the replacement interval can be drastically reduced. I spend about $100/yr on maintaining my 996, but then again, I do the maintenance myself. Those with soft palms or the mechanically inept can expect to pay up to $1500 for the exact same thing to have a dealer or someone else do it.

Toyota won't make you do a expensive oil change one a year regardless of mileage. I doubt that Toyota requires brake fluid changes either. Of course the oil and brake fluid is more expensive too. I am not complaining, but things are bit more obsessive with this car than models aimed at other markets. Anyone with experience maintaining an out of warranty BMW or Mercedes would not be surprised at all.

Not true. All manufacturers have a annual oil change recommendation if the base mileage is not met. Bi-annual brake fluid flushes are an industry standard as well. While Porsche does not have a recommended mineral oil, the cost of the Porsche recommended synthetic oils are exactly the same as those recommended for the Toyota. Toyota recommends Dot-3 brake fluid and VW and Porsche recommend DOT-4, the price differential of the 2 types is negligible. Porsche uses the same mineral based power steering fluid that VW uses. A close look at the maintenance requirements and intervals of both marques will validate this.