Switching gears… Porsche True Cost of Ownership

After a long hiatus from blogging I’m going to attempt to get back into it.  For now I thought it might be interesting to document what it costs to buy and more importantly maintain a “cheap” Porsche.  Many people including myself want to buy a Porsche.  The associated price range for the car itself is varied.  My target car was a 997.1 or a 997.2 with a purchase price of $40k – $50k.  

With this price range there is a large number of cars to choose from.  As the price goes up the mileage of prospective cars generally goes down while the year goes up.  As a rule each year newer brings withit roughly $5k higher price.  Overall I’ve noticed that the lower mileage Porsches command a higher price since they are essentially garage queens, driven on weekends and babied by their owners.  

Car Profiles:

• Low mileage (under 20k) babied – Potential Problems: IMS Bearing (High), Rubber & Tire Rott (Med.), RMS Leak (High)
• Mid mileage (20k – 40k) daily / occasional driver – Potential Problems: IMS Bearing (Med.), RMS Leak (Low)
• High mileage (40k – 80k) daily driver – Potential Problems: Suspension (Low), Brakes (Med.), Clutch (Med.)

I ended up purchasing the car specked out bellow which falls into the high mileage range:

2005 Carrera S (997.1) 59k Miles

Options: Power Sport Seats, Heated Seats, Bi-Xenon Lights + Washers

Purchase Price: $37.5k

Immediate Maintenance: Replace Suspension due to left rear shock being blown: $500 used suspension, Labor: Free/DIY

Preventive Maintenance

• Replace Clutch, RMS, IMS with LN Engineering upgraded bearing
• Resurface Flywheel, Replace Pilot Bearing
• Replace worn tie-rod ends, replace clutch master cylinder due to torn boot
• Oil Change, Rebalance Wheels, Perform Alignment

Total Cost Including Labor: $4,100.00

Total cost to get the car sorted and ready for the daily commute: $41.6K

Still in the works, knock out the 60k service which will include the following:

• Replace Serpentine Belt
• Replace Spark Plugs
• Replace Air Filter & Cabin Filter
• Oil Change (already completed within preventive maintenance)

Wholesale Porsche Parts Sources: Sun Coast Parts or Auto Atlanta Porsche Parts