Porsche Running Costs - 996 C4S
Discussion
As it seems to be a common question on the forum when people are looking at the possibility of buying into a Porsche I thought I would post up an estimate on my running costs over the last 10K miles.
Of course there is a huge possible variation in what you may have to fund depending on wear and tear and to a certain extent luck but hopefully this may give somebody some help.
Bear in mind also that my car is not a daily driver so if it needs something I can afford to shop around and wait on a deal if neccessary.
I shop aggressively for bargains (Scottish nature), where available and usually post up here for others....see my profile for threads on Mobil 1, Aircon condensors and PS2 prices.......and use an indie for mechanical and servicing work
I have split the costs into relatively routine and non routine, by routine I mean every year or less, so you should get an idea of what a few years of ownership may cost.
NON ROUTINE
600: Clutch and RMS (No flywheel)(You should get 40-50K miles out of a clutch)
1000: Discs and pads (Depending on driving every 10-15K miles)
500: New aircon condensors, pipe repair, mesh fitting and regas
300: Front end stonechips (Depending on driving and OCD maybe every 2 years)
ROUTINE
800: New tyres (N rated PS2 maybe 8-10K from rears and 15K from fronts)
2800: Super unleaded at 22mpg for 10K miles
500: Insurance (6K miles a year full NCB)
245: Road Tax
300: Major service including plugs/or brake fluid
100: Geo
50: MOT
So for about 10K miles a year before anything needs doing its around 4750ish routine and you should be looking at somewhere around another 1500-2000 on average for non routine upkeep.
If something big lets go.................well thats different.
Hope this may help somebody...................
Of course there is a huge possible variation in what you may have to fund depending on wear and tear and to a certain extent luck but hopefully this may give somebody some help.
Bear in mind also that my car is not a daily driver so if it needs something I can afford to shop around and wait on a deal if neccessary.
I shop aggressively for bargains (Scottish nature), where available and usually post up here for others....see my profile for threads on Mobil 1, Aircon condensors and PS2 prices.......and use an indie for mechanical and servicing work
I have split the costs into relatively routine and non routine, by routine I mean every year or less, so you should get an idea of what a few years of ownership may cost.
NON ROUTINE
600: Clutch and RMS (No flywheel)(You should get 40-50K miles out of a clutch)
1000: Discs and pads (Depending on driving every 10-15K miles)
500: New aircon condensors, pipe repair, mesh fitting and regas
300: Front end stonechips (Depending on driving and OCD maybe every 2 years)
ROUTINE
800: New tyres (N rated PS2 maybe 8-10K from rears and 15K from fronts)
2800: Super unleaded at 22mpg for 10K miles
500: Insurance (6K miles a year full NCB)
245: Road Tax
300: Major service including plugs/or brake fluid
100: Geo
50: MOT
So for about 10K miles a year before anything needs doing its around 4750ish routine and you should be looking at somewhere around another 1500-2000 on average for non routine upkeep.
If something big lets go.................well thats different.
Hope this may help somebody...................
Edited by 6C4GTS on Friday 29th July 10:40
Edited by 6C4GTS on Tuesday 9th August 17:25
Hang on a minute! I appreciate the usefulness of the post, and that it's one man's real world experience. However, £4500 sounds like an awful lot of money, whereas if you take out the fuel, MOT, and insurance (road tax was missed out in the first place for some reason), which of course are mandatory on any car you have, and the figure of around £1000 seems a whole lot more reasonable. 
Factor in road tax savings compared to a newer (£460pa) car, and low depreciation (again compared to a newer car) and with a bit of man-maths it's very easy to see how it's a lot cheaper than a new Mondeo.
I'm also curious about the brake consumption. Did you have a new set of discs & pads fitted and get through them in that mileage? Or did they corrode through lack of use?
Factor in road tax savings compared to a newer (£460pa) car, and low depreciation (again compared to a newer car) and with a bit of man-maths it's very easy to see how it's a lot cheaper than a new Mondeo.
I'm also curious about the brake consumption. Did you have a new set of discs & pads fitted and get through them in that mileage? Or did they corrode through lack of use?
Good list Baz.
Reference the brakes, were these OEM or otherwise ? Reason I ask is that discs and pads on my last car were Euro car part jobs when I bought it , and they corroded badly and ended up being replaced a lot sooner than they should have been. After about 10K if I remember correctly.
I had OEM fitted just before selling it and you could immediately see the difference.
Reference the brakes, were these OEM or otherwise ? Reason I ask is that discs and pads on my last car were Euro car part jobs when I bought it , and they corroded badly and ended up being replaced a lot sooner than they should have been. After about 10K if I remember correctly.
I had OEM fitted just before selling it and you could immediately see the difference.
With all of the wear and tear items it depends on your use.
If you do not dry out the brakes after washing the car and put it away wet you could ruin the discs in 2K, if you do a lot of motorway work would could maybe get 20K miles.
I haven't replaced my discs and pads since they went on 10K ago, they still have a good bit of life in them and 90% of my driving is B road and fast A road.
Debate is good! Who talked about buying a Mondeo??
Personally I think the costs are excellent value for the pleasure of the car.
If you do not dry out the brakes after washing the car and put it away wet you could ruin the discs in 2K, if you do a lot of motorway work would could maybe get 20K miles.
I haven't replaced my discs and pads since they went on 10K ago, they still have a good bit of life in them and 90% of my driving is B road and fast A road.
Debate is good! Who talked about buying a Mondeo??
Personally I think the costs are excellent value for the pleasure of the car.
Edited by 6C4GTS on Friday 29th July 10:50
OP is spot on based on my expreience over 2 years, my car still has original clutch at 47,000 and is still ok, also had new brakes before my purchase at 29,000 miles, and have got lots of mileage left,but I have always been light on brakes, something called anticipation which i dont think is taught nowadays!!
willmac said:
Good list Baz.
Reference the brakes, were these OEM or otherwise ? Reason I ask is that discs and pads on my last car were Euro car part jobs when I bought it , and they corroded badly and ended up being replaced a lot sooner than they should have been. After about 10K if I remember correctly.
I had OEM fitted just before selling it and you could immediately see the difference.
You bought anything yet?Reference the brakes, were these OEM or otherwise ? Reason I ask is that discs and pads on my last car were Euro car part jobs when I bought it , and they corroded badly and ended up being replaced a lot sooner than they should have been. After about 10K if I remember correctly.
I had OEM fitted just before selling it and you could immediately see the difference.
Forgot to ask, did you find out why your turbo left you on the hard shoulder?
6C4GTS said:
You bought anything yet?
Forgot to ask, did you find out why your turbo left you on the hard shoulder?
Funds depleted after house purchase and other stuff, so not much free cash for the dream car at the moment.Forgot to ask, did you find out why your turbo left you on the hard shoulder?
Meanwhile may look at a C4S believe it or not, at least for next couple of years. Being without Pork is no fun and need to get mobile ready for hooning next year !!
Was fuel pump that sh*t itself. Last time I sat in the car was when it got pulled onto back of recovery truck, what a way to go eh
6C4GTS said:
Callughan said:
Thanks for posting but all subjective as it depends on where and how you drive
Which is why it's always hard when a newbie asks about running costs.If other owners posted their estimates we may get a ballpark range to help some guys.
Do you keep a spreadsheet
Cheers guys, i'm in the market for an entry level 12-16k 996 (granted it won't be a 4 or 4S) but this info helps with my man maths no end ..... and is a lot less scary than I thought...
I reckon that I can buy a car, up to 16k and run it (ie tax, fuel, insurance) and still make c2k a year available for maintenence, so this makes that look reasonable.
I reckon that I can buy a car, up to 16k and run it (ie tax, fuel, insurance) and still make c2k a year available for maintenence, so this makes that look reasonable.
6C4GTS said:
Callughan said:
True there was a thread about running cost a couple years back which confused newbies(the ones who bother to do a search;)as the variance could be huge for the same model.
Do you keep a spreadsheet
That might get me divorced.......I have to hide it in my head!Do you keep a spreadsheet
dibblecorse said:
Cheers guys, i'm in the market for an entry level 12-16k 996 (granted it won't be a 4 or 4S) but this info helps with my man maths no end ..... and is a lot less scary than I thought...
I reckon that I can buy a car, up to 16k and run it (ie tax, fuel, insurance) and still make c2k a year available for maintenence, so this makes that look reasonable.
Assuming you don't buy a POS !I reckon that I can buy a car, up to 16k and run it (ie tax, fuel, insurance) and still make c2k a year available for maintenence, so this makes that look reasonable.
steve singh said:
Assuming you don't buy a POS !
Indeed, but now have a Porsche specialist on the payroll (by payroll I mean I buy him curries and beers regularly) who is assiting with said purchase ....So hopefully i stand a good chance of getting something decent .....
Still, fingers crossed.
dibblecorse said:
steve singh said:
Assuming you don't buy a POS !
Indeed, but now have a Porsche specialist on the payroll (by payroll I mean I buy him curries and beers regularly) who is assiting with said purchase ....So hopefully i stand a good chance of getting something decent .....
Still, fingers crossed.
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