A standard scooby doesn’t have high service or failure rates. No higher than a Porsche 911 anyway. I would say they are even cheaper to service, but that is a separate discussion. I’m just going from experience of performance cars. Most jobs are £1k, so you only need a couple of little things and you’re well into that £4K budget. Performance car brakes and tyres don’t tend to last 30-40k miles. It’s clear you’re already budgeting that you’re not going to need brakes or tyres, which personally I think is a mistake. I’m just trying to help you go in to his with as realistic an expectation as possible. Too many people go into it with the same outlook as yours and are shocked at how much the cars swallow even without anything big going wrong. It is up to you, I’m just saying be prepared, because there is nothing worse than having an expensive lump of metal you can’t afford to fix.
More that I will need them every second year. Unless I catch the trackday bug And that’s how I look at it tbh, like another bike for occasional use to work and back and nice weekends. And having looked at a few now, when you check out the bills they tend to be 3-500 most years with a big (4k) one every 4 or 5 unless the car is doing over 15k pa.
My old 996 Turbo in Midnight Blue. It was sure footed, fast ( too quick really because of the confidence it gave you in all weathers ) , looked the business , but .............. I found it very uncomfortable. Maybe it was just the sports seats didn't suit me, but after a hour or so my right leg would go dead. Sold it after the second speeding ticket in the space of a couple of weeks
Very nice @HyperMac ! Regarding the cost thing. I got out of cars and into bikes a little while back because I thought it was a mugs game having a money bucket on the drive. I do agree that if you are not tracking it or driving it hard then you can definitely get away with it being a bit cheaper but even with the £5-10k Jap cars that I used to be into you would end up spending at least a couple of thousand a year to keep them going. I've only had mine since late summer and as said I've had a waterleak that would have cost a grand or two if it was not under guarantee and I have another two or three grand bill for tyres, brakes and discs on the way. I could continue to use the existing brakes for at least another twelve months if I was only using it on the road so that would just mean £1500 for tyres. If you don't spend this then it's jobs that are piling up and if someone is wanting to sell it then there's a fair chance there's going to be a few of them already needing to be done when you buy. All my mates with similar cars are spending about the same as they are tracking them as well but I reckon you should still budget a couple of grand a year. I promised myself I would live within my means and only get something I could use as intended but I am very definitely borderline doing that just now!
And my plan is quite different. But, use occasionally, if I don’t like it sell it and if I do then keep for an investment opportunity. I worked on a list last night, which included: 911, 888, 1098r. And reckon if 2018 works out like 2017 they may all be doable. Shit. I’m going the way of @Exige ranks of buying for the shed not to abuse
Haha despite it all I would 100% recommend you go for it as it's an experience you would never regret (unless you went bankrupt I suppose ).
I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m just saying be prepared for it to cost more than you’re allowing yourself to accept. It is a 20 year old car, so regardless of your plan, the car will not be 100% perfect for the whole time you own it. You can absolutely limit your tyre and brake spend. If you get a leak somewhere, it needs to be looked at... those are the surprises you can’t control, and as Royal said, the current owners may be selling because a few of these little jobs are due. Even if they are not, you would be on the lucky side of ownership if nothing needed replacing on a 20 year old car in a couple of years of ownership. I’ll stop bleating on. I’m just saying have that money ready and don’t be surprised if you use it.
I have a 99 911 carrera 4 996.1 in black Still had a 3 grand bill this year powersteering rack..stings a bit But normal servuce costs at a Porsche indie cheaper than my bike
If the market tanks I am sure it will eventually recover, so a good reason to hang on to it for even longer
How much (all in) does a TD cost in the 997.1GT3 @royalwithcream? I keep getting the itch to do one in mine but it the cost puts me off! TD's on the bike are expensive enough and I reckon you multiply by 3 or 4 in a 911. Also my mate did one in his Fezza 360 and fried his clutch. All in all the day cost him 6k.... yikes! The Mrs would kill me.
The Fezzas are super expensive, I wouldn't go near one to use properly unless I was minted. I've heard loads of stories of people having to replace clutches in only a few weekends tracking or racing. I've done a bunch of hard all day road driving but only done a day on the Nordschliefe and an evening on the Nurburgring Grand Prix track in mine before the winter came but the track time hardly seemed to affect it any differently to hard driving on the road. That was my main reason for going for the Porsche; they are as good a bet as anything available for using properly. My mate with the 911 Turbo has been thrashing his for two years now and it hasn't had a single problem other than a slight leak from one of the coolant hoses which was a quick job to fix. If you are on road brake pads and discs and driving like a racecar driver then I dont think it would cost you much at all as long as nothing broke. I've gone through quite a bit of rear rubber driving hard on the roads and the couple track sessions so those need changing at the back but I've hardly touched the pads. I'm only changing the pads and discs in the new year because I'm going to put stickier rubber on.
If it was a one-off, with no lap record breaking antics, can’t imagine it would cost much at all, certainly no more than a bike (except fuel) depending on if you use a set of tyres for a trackday in your bike
