Long story short, my 2009 S5 was totaled and I need to buy something new. I always wanted a porsche and I figure now is the time. I am looking at pre owned C4S's.

My only questions are:

How is reliability? It will be my daily driver.

What is maintence like?

Is it powerful enough to enjoy?

How will it be in the winter with proper snow tires on it?

 

How is reliability? It will be my daily driver.

I drive mine almost every day. If properly maintained it should be very reliable.

What is maintence like?

Maintenance can be expensive. Once the warranty is up on mine I will look into a good indy shop.

Is it powerful enough to enjoy?

YES

How will it be in the winter with proper snow tires on it?

While I mount winter tires on mine in the cold weather, I avoid driving it during snow storms or soon after. Not that the car would be a problem, it is the other idiots on the road that I worry about.

 

thanks for the reply.. when you say maintenance is expensive, how much are we talking? I expect it to cost more then the average car, but if its reasonable then Its worth it.

 

On average I figure about $100 a month, this includes oil changes (typically once a year), other service items (brake flush every 2 years) and tires.

 

how often do they require oil changes? I am trying to avoid getting another new Audi, and I am figuring I will lose less money in the long run buying a pre owned porsche over a new Audi.

 

2005-08 is every 20,000 miles and 2 years, but most recommend changing the oil at least once a year. For 2009 and later they shortened the interval to I believe around ~ 12,000 miles. Oil changes are around $250 through the dealer or $100 DIY.

 

I drive my car almost every day. I change the oil about 3 times a year or every 8,000 miles.

 

I drive 3-4K per year and change the oil yearly.

 

I change my oil every 5k miles. I park my car during the week because I take the train to work but on the weekends it's family car. The car is still under CPO warranty and this way it's looked over by the dealer service techs regularly so they can keep an eye out for anything that could be fixed under warranty before it expires.

 

Since I've owned my 05 C2, I've paid about $.05 per mile on total maintenance, including all scheduled services either done at a dealership or at an independent. The only unscheduled maintenance I've had to do was replace the front right crash sensor for the ABS system, which cost $400, after I started getting an airbag warning light. I've used it as a daily driver, with about an hour total drive time daily, plus I used it for four-or-so hour business trips about every few weeks.

Before I purchased it, it had the rear main seal replaced under warranty plus a few other smallish things done to it.

All in all, I've been very happy with the reliability and the maintenance costs.

 

Not a whole lot different than the S5 you're coming from in terms of Maintenance... Oil changes are a bit more, simply because it holds more oil. Other wear and tear items are quite comprable. A C4S with winter tires can certainly be an all-year-rounder. All the water-cooled cars are great regardless of ambient temp, just hop in and drive. Join us on the dark side... You won't regret it

 

That happened to us. Dealer picked up our NSX for service and totaled it on a mountain road between here and there.

Cindy said it was "your turn now" since the NSX had been her dream car, but I'd always talked about Porsches. These answers are based on two years of personal experience and a lot of pre-purchase research by a seriously **** R&D engineer.

Porsche is always one of the top few manufacturers in the annual ratings but those stats include the high-volume Cayenne SUV. The 911 in particular is the highest rated car in the world for long term reliability by J.D. Power.

The maintenance has been quite reasonable. Someone thought the oil change interval had been shortened on the models released in 2009, but that isn't the case. The interval right now is 20,000 miles. A lot of us change it more often, but there's no evidence we need to. We just like to. Cost of everything, including the oil change, a coolant flush, and changing brake fluid at my option, was about $750 at two-year mark. Nothing at all in between our purchase and then except my own choice to change the oil at 7,000 mile intervals. Dealers charge about 200 for that. I keep a case of the specified Mobil One in my garage but the car has never burned even half a quart of oil over that 7k interval so I haven't used any of it. Ditto coolant and we live in the California high desert.



Spoken as a retired race driving hobbyist in Formula Ford. Bloody damned fast would be a good summary. I did get passed by a Lambo at the track, but it was my first session in a new car and I still didn't trust the handling. Two years later he still might pass but he'd have to work for it.

We don't have a real Winter here, but occasional snow storms on Summer high-performance tires made me a startled believer in Porsche handling. Frankly, I doubt you need the all-wheel drive, but if you have that and winter tires you'll be fine anywhere south of the Beaufort Sea. About the idiots sharing the road, you have to make your own judgment, but it won't be your Porsche that lets you down. All those commercials about Porsches that show them in snow reflect real-world usage of us owners. Some 'do' snow, some won't, but no one ever complains of the car itself being a problem.

Gary

 

The recommended 20,000 mile interval for oil changes was lowered in 2008.

 

I can not comment about snow or maintenance costs ; but mine is an EXCELLENT daily driver and that includes lugging my hockey gear to the rink once a week AND fitting my golf clubs on the fold down rear seats about once a week.

I previously use to drive a Cadillac DTS for the couch like comfort and room, but I found that I really do not need the room and every day I can not wait to drive my new ride!!

There is plenty of power, but really the overall package will blow your mind. A porsche 911 is made like no other car, the combo of handling/power/build quality makes for a trully amazing daily driving experience!

 

You're right. The "minor maintenance" has stayed at 20,000 miles but the oil and filter change were reduced to 10k miles from 2009 onward with the DFI engines. 2008 models get a special schedule with two minor maintenances at 12k and 24k. That must be awkward for people who follow the book slavishly because the "major maintenance" still comes at 40k and you'd only be 4k into the oil change at 36k. Ah, the struggles of people who live by the book.

Sorry, OP. This never came up for me since I have them change the oil every seven thousand by my own choice. I just assumed the book changes coincided with the minor maintenances.

Gary