opus

I have seen a number of low priced 1999. In fact, there is one for sale near my area. While I can afford the car, I am not certain I can afford the repair cost. Maintenance cost is non-issue. Rather than asking people for reliability or problems, I thought I'll do a poll on repair cost.

Tell me your total repair (excluding maintenance) cost of your MY99, 00 or 01 over the last three years.

Edit: just to clarify, please excluding wear and tear items such as battery, tires, brake pads/rotors, oil changes, xxK miles service, etc.

spaceman_spiff

60k service & new rotors & brake pads is what I have paid for. The 60k service I had done at a local indy that came recommended. I changed the rotors & pads myself, because I think you come to know/appreciate your car more.

red911c2

I had my 2000 996 for almost 3 years and the ONLY money I put into it (other than 2 oil changes, wiper blades, new tires, and the 15k service) was about $200 for fixing something with the 3rd brake light, which was found during the PPI when I sold her.

PLUS, I had one of the LOW MILEAGE cars that everyone seems to tell you to avoid. FYI, it had 8,200 miles on it when I bought it in 2004 and it had around 16 or 17k on it when I sold it in 2007.

Wellardmac

The only thing my 996 has cost me (besides maintenance) is a MAF that needed replacing 2 weeks after I bought it. I'm now 3 years into ownership and have had nothing to deal with. This is the most reliable car I've ever owned.

nycebo

Agreed. I bought a low mileage 2000 in 2005 (had 5200 miles) and haven't spent a penny more than just for some wear and tear items until just this year when the coolant tank needed to be replaced. It's a good thing that you didn't include mods in the above question because I've gone overboard in that direction.

Chuck Jones

Had to replace the coolant tank and coolant cap; replaced the air ducts under the front that direct air to the brakes....low cement parking lot stops are death on those. Replaced the CDR220 radio due to the common failure of the buttons peeling and becoming tacky. The rest of the money spent was elective for SSK, Plenum, CAI, PSS9s, brakes and wear items....that sort of thing that guys spend on their cars not because there's anything wrong, just that irrepresible urge to "mod". Less than $750 on actual repairs for failed parts.

I won't count the fact that a dash fire totalled the car...that was an unforseen anomaly that doesn't happen very often....falls under the "**** happens" statute.

opus

Chuck, what caused the dash fire?

The car I am looking at has 62,000 miles on with Champion 19" rims (235/35 and 315/25). It seems a huge rim size to me considering the OEM was 17 (18 optional). Would you be concern with that size of tires/rim comb?

Keep voting on the poll...I am hoping to get to some statistically valid numbers here.

BruceP

Great thread. This hand wringing obsession about engine failures completely obscures how ridiculously easy to keep these cars are. Here's a sports car that by any reasonable measure, let's say 'semi-exotic' (high performance, limited production, all that) that starts and goes reliably, requires little more than oil changes and tire pressure checks most of the time, for which parts are not ludicrously expensive, and which owners can still work on themselves if they want to. That is a big part of the heritage of this brand, and I think it's impressive they've managed to maintain it into the 21st century. Credit where it's due.

opus

To those who voted cost over $10,000, please post your year or PM me your year. I will keep everything confidential as far as the who.

Ubermensch

Radio died ~200
Coilpacks failed (not sure I'd call this maintenance since they only had 50k miles on them) ~300
Alternator died ~200
RMS ~800 (includes labor which other items did not due to DIY)
Seat Heater ~100

chsu74

Car bought with 66K now at 77K - last 10K miles

MAF - $400
Belt - $40
Throttle Body = $600 used racing part.
2 oil changes - $240 total
rear tires - $700
wiper - $50
PSS9s - old shocks worn out - $2700

tooloud10

Not for those of that, uh...have had complete engine failures.

I checked the "over $10k box" for my '99 C4.

porsche-t

Fixed the RMS leak in my '99 - clutch pack wasn't bad but I had them replace it along with the new shift for $1300.00

jpseven

I punched $1,000-$1,999 mostly due to the having the top separating from the plastic window on my '01 C4 cab. The repair looks to be about $600 although new top with plastic around $1,900. Otherwise in 3+ years had to replace the alternator (+/- $600 at dealer) and coolant resevoir ( +/- $500 at stealer/dealer (both seem to be a trend on the 996). These were both done by the dealer under CPO warranty, although the coolant resevoir wasn't suppose to be covered. Otherwise, just routine maintenance.

redridge

Total repair costs... $30 for a broken console hinge. The year before that $280 for a leaky coolant tank... the rest were normal maintenance and wear and tear stuff, oil, tires etc...