Servicing & running costs for 993? - Page 1 - Porsche General - PistonHeads UK

993s are a doodle to run if you get a decent one (any abused bag of nails will cost you a fortune). Assuming no major mechanical work needed, a major service should only be about 350 GBP from an independent. JZ Machtech charge 37 quid ex VAT per hour, which is superb. What's more, you can find salvage parts (this forum recently helped another 993 owner find a good replacement front bumper for less than half price, and even replacement s/h 993 engines are only about 4k) and factor parts (normally Bosch, from German and Swedish etc.). Rear tyres will wear out quite quickly, and they will drink petrol if you drive them with anger. Apart from that, a 993 should cause no problem. I'd go for the C2 to avoid the unnecessary cost and complication of 4wd. Rgds Domster PS Go for one past 1995 unless the wiring harness has been done, as this was a problem on the earlier cars. >> Edited by domster on Monday 1st July 09:40

I'm the same 993 owner with the second-hand bumper Domster was talking about... So far I've had one minor service, which came to around £230 at a good independent. Needs this every 6 months or so I believe, but I'm expecting the next one to come in at around the £300-£350 mark inc pads, etc. Haven't had to replace any of the tires yet but the independent dealier is quoting circa £550-£600 to replace all four tyres with N-rated replacements. Insurance, for an M-reg, LHD 993 C2, is around £1,200 for a 28yr old living in Edinburgh with a 4 years NCB (with Tesco). Petrol - can be a bit heavy. Costs around £55 to fill up an empty tank with super-unleaded, and a return trip to Glasgow (about 100 miles in total), uses around one third of a tank (sitting at about 90mph). Repairs (and I've had a few in the last couple of months - nothing to do with the quality of the car, more to do with the fact that there are a lot of scroates out there & I'm a crap driver in the wet) can be expensive, but as Domster says, if you hunt around, you can make significant savings. I ordered a second hand bumper from 911design.com and once it was re-sprayed, it looked brand new. So, owning a 911 can be an expensive business, but other than petrol, the day-to-day running costs are not massively different to any other car, particularly if you take depreciation (or the lack of it) into account. And the sheer joy of driving a true sports car will more than make up for the extra cost!

Domster, I've got an early 1995 993 and I'm interested in what the wiring harness probelm is that you mentioned? Is it a simple to fix to do? Thanks, Ian.

From what I've heard before, around 1k

A couple of members on this forum have had the harness done - gibbo and scottster. If your car is one of the ones affected, the symptoms manifest themselves in strange electrical glitches and misfires, although by the state of scottster's loom, it was lucky he didn't have a barbecued car... It is a fiddly job, more than a complicated one. You just have to replace the loom as a straight swap. I think the loom is about 500 quid, fitting is about the same again as suggested in the post below. Rgds Domster

About right, but I'd change the 'not complicated' part to 'bloody complicated'. Remember you have to replace all the wiring to the back of the alternator - that means removing it (as it's housed in the cooling shroud) and if anyone's done that they'll know what a bitch it can be. It takes a trained Porsche garage about 4 hours to fit the new one and about 2 to remove the old one. They're worth checking as are one of the only known serious probs with the 993. Can't remember what age car you are thinking of getting but it was fixed on 95' onwards cars.

Does anyone know if this applies of LHD cars as well (presumably it does)? I'm driving a LHD Carrera 2 registered in Berlin in '94 but to date (touch wood, touch wood), I've had no electrical glitches at all.

I really can't see how anything can go wrong with a static cable. Maybe they specced a too fine guage cable for the amount of current. Not what you should expect from porsche.

Yes it does apply to LHD, in fact more important for LHD cars as there are more early cars in LHD (as they came out in LHD first by a few months) - Mine's an early 1994 car too. The problem (briefly) is that yes, it is a static cable, but the insulation is of an inferior quality which breaks down in hot conditions (real clever in an engine bay) - It all cracks, crumbles and you have a whole engine loom (including the highest current carrying cable to the starter motor straight from the battery) which is shorting out. If you really need proof come and have a look at mine - a bloody mess which Porsche told me (and yes I have complained but need to do more if I wasn't so lazy) is just something you will expect on that sort of age car - not the attitude I expected from them. You can e-mail me off line if you want to know more about where to check and what part numbers to look at to see if you have the affected part. It's quite easy to check as the part number is in the engine fuse box. I spoke to the editor of 911&PW and he agreed to run an article explaining the problem, I really wanted to get at Porsche for telling me where to go but haven't written it yet.

VERY good idea, dealer labour charges now around £75/hr +VAT........ Most expensive problem with my 964 was new aircon condenser - £700 parts, £700 fitting, +VAT! Use the aircon atleast once a week to prevent this....

Sorry to hear that guys. Sounds like porsche are denying a design fault. It looks like it will need replacing every 6 years reguarly then - ouch. I guess it comes down to a supplier fault, bosch I guess. Best to part with a grand now and then rather than risk the car going up in flames. Edging towards 2k for aircon is a bit steep. I'd have been tempted to ditch it and save weight for the amount you use it, by the sounds of it.

Nah, no need to worry if it's changed/on a late enough car not to need changing as they changed manufacturer in 1995 and the new ones use the correct insulation. Don't just change it for the hell of it, check which one you have first.

I was wondering if any owners here can give me a rough idea of the servicing costs and general running costs for a 993 Carrera 2/4? The car would be for every day use (12,000 miles a year) and no track work. I would envisage a specialist doing the day to day work and a main dealer doing the servicing to keep the history up. Any advice, links to owners websites etc would be much appreciated as I see there are no FAQs here yet. Thanks in advance, Mike