I want to ask the hardcore Porsche guys here a question:
Porsche and 911 in particular are considered the pinnacle of automotive engineering excellence. But is there something you miss from other cars you have owned or driven? Is there a car brand that does something a little better? For e.g. steering feel of a Lotus or transmission shifts of a Ferrari or something like that?
I will leave out the obvious: I know Porsche is not known for luxury of a Rolls Royce/Bentley… So :)
I don’t get how maintenance is expensive? Yeah, if you go to a dealer it’s outrageous, but going to a dealer for a Civic is also outrageous. Indy mechanics pretty much level the field as far as maintenance cost goes…
You can get an oil change on a Civic for like $65 at any Honda dealership around here. The oil change on my Panamera was $685. Sure the labor rate at an Indy is half the dealerships, but a Porsche Indy is waaayy more than a Honda Indy.
Even if you take it to an Indy, the parts can be expensive and typically the labor hours is higher. You have to take the bumper off a Cayenne and Panamera to change the air filter, which is like 7 hours labor charge. A set of tires is like $2000 for most Porsches. Rotors and pads are $1300 for parts, add another $150 if you need new sensors.
I can get the oil changed for a 911 for $65 too if I use shit oil and shit filter at any jiffy lube. Same goes for tires. You can’t compare shit oil and tires to fully synthetic oil and z rated tires….
I dunno where you’re getting your rotors and pads for, but I just got all 4 rotors, and pads for $800 for my 911 2 years ago. Not some crap either, I got Pagid ceramic pads and Zimmerman rotors. I just bought rear pads 2 days ago cause they needed to be changed and the pads ($65) with sensors ($13) including 2 hours of labor to rebleed to entire brake system with fluid was just over $300. Brake sensors are $13 for a pair. Porsche brand ones are $26…so I dunno where you’re getting $150 for sensors and $1500 for brakes…. It took 2 years for the rear pads to wear out and I daily and track this car 3 times a year.
Those prices are slightly higher than that of a Civic using comparable oil, pads, and tires…but it’s not outrageously more.
Just to replace the OEM rotors on my Civic Type R would be about $800 - maybe a hair less. If I wanted aftermarket rotors from Girodisc or Paragon or something, it would be over $800 even without needing to buy the hats. We aren’t even talking about pads yet. I also track my car and those pads are ~$400 alone, and I’m not even up to the most aggressive compounds yet. Full synthetic oil change is about $100.
Your Porsche maintenance numbers sound questionable to me, but I’ve never owned a Porsche.