I think the important question is how much of YOUR income would be spent. You know what you are going to be spending, used or new. Than, if you drive it daily putting 12 to 15K miles/year on it figure about $1000 dollars a year to maintain(tires, oil changes). Than add the optional equipment. Here, people do a lot of mods. The ones I have done have not been too expensive, but everyone is different. The same with insurance, it varies too much state to state and depends on the coverage. I live in NJ....high rates, but I am insured as a classic...cheaper insurance but big restrictions in driving. This is OK for me because it is a 3rd car. Trade in/sale at the end....tough subject....I know it is gonna hurt, I guess that is the price you pay for this car. But I have a great car that I enjoy and I hope to keep it a long time.

I think you need to do some research on YOUR situation and needs etc, than decide from there. Good luck.

 

This is the wrong board to ask... I think we spend a bit more on our porsche's than other boards, we love to mod them...

I live in NJ, I drive my 996 everyday... Cost to own is not as bad as a ferrari, but not as good as a bmw or honda...

I pay over 2-3k for the 996 for insurance on my 996, about $500 more than I paid for the boxster.
800-1000 for snow tires a year
1000-1200 for regular tires a year(they only last 10,000 miles)
$250 for an oil change every 7500 miles
I've put about 7k in mods/upgrades this year, next year I expect to do the same...

Let's not even talk depreciation, My car is about a year old and I don't even want to think about it, because it you do, you shouldn't buy a new car, get a 10year old one.

On a good note, it get's better mileage than my wife's Audi wagon and most of my co-workers SUV's. So in the end, my gas bills aren't so bad.

As for percentage of income, never thought about it...I don't cringe when I write my payment unlike my mortgage payment. I think I pay more for kindergarden than my porsche, but I put a bit more than half down on the car (I was putting in a pool at the same time and didn't want so much cash tied up in the car) Also My wife sets my budgets(I have a lot of expensive hobbies and would be very overboard without her), otherwise I think there would be new Ferrari and a larger saltwater fish tank in my future and I love that new LG Plasma they measure in Feet, not inches.

If you are concerned that you can't afford the car, then you should have buy a slightly older one and kept more cash for repairs, or buy a boxster 's' and kept the extra cash for repairs, 80% the performance for a lower price and it's still a porsche.

One question for Neil.Scheneider, what's the limits on classic insurance, I have another porsche(my future track car) I would love to put that under to lower the rates since it is only going to be driven to and from the track..

 

Corey,
pretty limited, 5000 miles a year, no work or school,needs to be garaged, and I don't think you can track it without written permission.

 

Thanks... I'll check into it... Do also know anything about getting an emissions excemption so I don't have to keep bringing it in for inspection every few years.

Back onto the orig topic....

I fogot to mention some other costs....

Clutch(have heard some as little as 25k miles and some 60k miles, they don't last as long as say a honda clutch no matter how good you are) $2000
Brakes(no rotors) DIY-$200 Dealer $400-600
Brakes(w/Rotors) $1200-2000 based on info from other boards, I never had to do this...
30K service $600-1000
60k don't even ask...

So these are not cheap cars, but "Porsche, there is no substitute"

 

Porsche is the slowest depreciating production car on the road

 

what road do u drive on? i want to be on that road when i sell my car

 

Slowest Depreciating, are you kidding... After about 5-7 years they stabalize better than most cars which accounts for a good 5 year %loss, but until then your on a one way elevator ride down...

also it hurts more when you lose 25k a year vs. 3k a year on a honda.

I'll use my boss's 2002 turbo as an example...
Paid around 140k...
2 years later, got around 90k when he sold it, for a car with about 8k miles...So net loss 50k for 2 years, that's about the cost of a new honda per year.

...and a regular 996, similar situation.(I don't even want to look mine up)

 

Cost of driving the cars other then tires is not expensive, they do not break down often either. Oil changes are $185 a shot at the dealer and tires go every 8-10k rear and every other set you do fronts. Thats about it

Car cost vs income...who knows

ON THE SUBJECT OF DEPRECIATION....WORST CAR I HAVE EVER OWNED...see my older thread "The Porsche Con Job"

 

the depreciation sucks

 

corey you cannot compare depreciation on a P versus a Honda if you base it on those numbers, it has to be based on %. Although i am not saying it is better than Honda cause i haven't checked it and don't care since I love driving the P.

 

Percentage wise for the 1st few years a honda does have much less depreciation than a porsche. Porsches only only catch up after 5-7 years and then it does hold it's value well.

 

WOW! You couldn't have put it any better!!!
Btw, love the quote in your signature!

 

PLEASE DON'T TALK ABOUT DEPRECIATION!!!!

It depresses me even though i don't plan on selling my car ever. I hurts me everytime i see people selling Turbos for way below what i paid for my C4S or when I find out that i could have had a low mileage GT2 for what i was willing to pay for a Turbo... My damn principles are tooo expensive!

ARGH!! i'm gonna go cry

 

Did any of us buy this car as an investment? When I began to looking to buy my car I gave it a lot of thought. I realized it would depreciate big $, but that is because the initial cost is also high( relative to a honda/acura). I always wanted to own a porshe and you gotta take the good with the bad( and there is a lot of good)

I did two things to make myself feel better about the purchase, well three.
1.Got a good deal on a used porsche.
2. Took a home equity loan.
3. Planed on keeping the car.

I have no regrets as yet.

 

40000000%

And I loved it.