Hi all,
I’ve always wanted a Porsche. I thought they were too expensive but looking online I’ve seen some that are very affordable.
What’s the catch? Are they super hard/expensive to maintain? What’s the main things to look out for on say a 2014 panamera or 2010’s boxter?
Any advice would be appreciated
I’ve got three different models. An ‘07 Boxster 987.1 base manual 153k miles; a ‘16 Macan S PDK 123k miles; and a ‘12 911 991.1 Carerra PDK with 35k miles. 987.1 is warm, dry weather only. Normal, regular maintenance, no major expenses. Original clutch, original IMS. The Macan is lousy weather, late fall through early spring daily. Normal, regular maintenance, no major expenses. The 991.1 is my southern car used when my wife and/or I spend part of our winters there. Fairly new purchase, runs like a top. I’ve been very fortunate apparently but I don’t beat on any of them and none of them has cost me any more than the MB’s, Jags and domestics I’ve owned before.
An older Porsche costs as much as a new one to maintain. It does not get cheaper with age. In fact, it’s likely going to be a higher cost because more has a chance to go wrong and it’s not under warranty. I suggest having a healthy budget for annual repair/maintenance and a pre purchase inspection so you know what you’re getting yourself into. It’s also Boxster, not boxter.
A lot of people have said these things elsewhere, but here are some things to be cautious about/aware of:
-
For most mass produced Porsches (panamera, cayenne, some 911/718 variants), the expectation you should have is that the car fully depreciates over about 10-15 years. So even if a 2014 panamera for 30k or 997 C4S at 60k or whatever seems like a good deal, just remember this car could potentially only be useable / worth anything to anyone for a few more years, and then that entire cost will be sunk. The opportunity cost would be purchasing a Toyota Camry or Lexus GX, respectively, that would have lasted you 10-15 more years. I think sometimes people forget this, but the statistics do not support the panamera, cayenne, or macan lasting longer than any other brand.
-
The maintenance costs do not depreciate with time or become equivalent to a 30k car like a Toyota. The cheapest ownership period is years 0-5 and then from there all bets are off.
-
People are often selling for a reason, ie “i don’t want to deal with X maintenance/repair issue.”
I may get a lot of downvotes for this, but if you are buying a new 150-200k car, I would tell you to expect it’s real cost with regard to depreciation, loan interest (if applicable), maintenance, etc. to end up being approximately 15-20k per year. That’s A LOT.
But your theory is contradicted by all the sales platforms and the prices they charge. What also speaks against it is that, according to Porsche, 70% of all Porsches ever built are still being driven. You also have to consider how the respective car is used and how the owners maintain it. If I use a VW or Toyota every day, even in winter with ice and snow and road salt, and then also save on maintenance, then the car will have reached the end of its service life after 10 or 15 years. But very few Porsches are treated like that.
You can look at caredge.com or whatever source you want. Idk where you live, but where I am people definitely treat their Macans and cayennes as daily drivers. No one treats these as anything THAT special. I don’t think these cars are treated well on resale. Panameras and cayennes get crushed on resale
-
Just buy a 981 series Cayman or Boxster and leave your worries behind. Very very reliable cars. Not only has my 981 Boxster Spyder depreciated very little since I took delivery 8 years ago, but I never had a single warranty repair and even now after 35k miles nothing has malfunctioned on the car.
I had a 2011 Cayenne with 120,000 miles. Serviced and maintained. I tried to give it away to a few of my associates. People looked, but nobody took me up on the free car because of the maintenance. Two months later the water pump blew and all the repairs would have been $4000. I traded it in for a new Macan GTS. The dealership sent it to the auction. It didn’t try to fix it up for sale.
Damn. That’s not even that old, or that many miles.
Well I could have fixed it for like $3000 at an independent service provider, but another thing can go bad. I love Porsche cars and they are mostly all great no matter the age. You need a budget to fix it and a reliable independent mechanic. Cost the same to fix an old Cayenne as a new one.
My advice is read a lot here and on Rennlist. Maybe go to a PCA or other car event and ask questions. Have a budget that includes maintainance and then take time to shop and drive different Porsches and see what speaks to you.
Then, use the shopping tips you’ve learned here and on Rennlist. Always get a PPI and use the info.
Then, prepare almost certainly to be a Porsche person because it’s hard to want to drive anything else after.
I mean when I fly into Ohio to do site visits I choose Columbus solely because they have Macans to rent.