One of the main things that has held me back from making another car purchase are the costs involved with maintaining a high end car. Now that early 00 Ferrari 360s, many near new Aston's and 05's+ Bentley GT's can be had in the mid to upper 80K range the temptation grows. But many of the cars I see read how well they were cared for and how the 30K service was done already even though the car has lets say 12K miles and a new clutch to boot..... shocked at how many low milega ecars out there have adverstised new clutch etc. I guess it is the norm.. One of the reasons I went with the 997 was the Porsches reliablity. Just curious, are there any other reliable cars out there that even come close to the Porsches and in that either exotic or semi exotic space?

Less looking for the one off person who drives their ferrari and has 50K trouble free miles but cars that are known to actually hold up quite well. Or should it just be accepted that when one is paying more for a car they will be sacraficing quality/reliablity for looks/performance etc?

All replies welcomed and and your comments on what else is out there besides a porsche that won't have you spending 5K on a 12K mile check up and anotgher near 7-9K on clutch at XX miles and so on. Thanks all

 

If you don't fancy a real exotic then wait for Audi R8's to come down in price. With the new V10 version hitting the market there are bound to be a few early V8's coming onto the used market. Or just buy a used previous generation GT3 or GT2.

 

New? Probably not.

Uses. The Acura NSX is extremely reliable and other than the fact that they eat tires, they cost next to nothing to own as long as you don't have an accident.

When I sold mine, it was 10 years old and the only problems I had were a dead battery (before I got a trickle charger) and a bad O2 sensor. Once warmed up, I beat the living snot out of that car and it never even had a hiccup.

 

I have heard good things about the late model Lambo's. The fact that the R8 shares many of the same technologies should be telling.

Jason

 

My buddy has a 2006 Gallardo.. Other than his yearly $800 service it needs nothing. He did get a crack in the windshield once and paid $3k for a new one... but other than that trouble free at about 9k miles to date. As mentioned, shares a lot of parts with Audi.

 

You actually nailed it with that one, I love the 02+ NSX (new front end) ..... It was my first choice over the Porsche, but wanted back seats as I have a child/family... that very well maybe my next car.... any others? Good call....

 

Theres a super nice low mile black NSX in this weeks Autoweek. One owner, babied, low miles.....might be worth finding.

 

I would have guessed this as well. Regarding clutches, its the driver and the use. Not too many "poor" clutch designs.

What about the Ford GT? Does the Viper count?

 

I did not think of that... The Ford GT and later generation Vipers are probably fairly reliable. However, I have heard horror stories about the early gen Vipers.

Jason

 

My vote is for the R8. I plan on swapping my 997.2 for one the moment they hit the 90k range which will be late this year I believe.

 

Another very unlikely car is the Maserati Coupe 2002-2007. I owned one for over a year without any problems. They managed to work out a lot of the kinks from the old 3200GT in Europe. It was a great car with an incredible sound.