Reality strikes

 So Zedster2 (my kit car was Zedster) passed the MOT with a couple of advisories; the usual dirty headlights and a leaking CV boot. In my naivety, I thought, OK, £150 to replace the CV boot....oh no, no, no....

The MOT place only has limited options to write so they put "rubber boot leaking" - in reality, what is leaking is a metal part of the driveshaft, a common problem as the cars get older and corrosion sets in. The problem is, the fix is to replace the entire driveshaft, at around £500 just for the part!! And the other one isn't much better.

I knew that old cars (not just Porsches) need work and I knew that a premium car like a Porsche would need more expensive parts but you always hope it won't happen to you...well, it has...and it will probably get worse.

So what do I do?

My kit car is compromised and is about 70% of the car the Porsche is BUT it is 10% of the cost - the driveshafts for my kit car cost me £120 (for both) and I fitted them myself. BUT if I had to replace the driveshafts on my kit now, it might take me months to get up the energy/enthusiasm to do it (and getting that hub nut off will be a bitch). BUT my kit has only done 22k miles - it will be a while before corrosion gets as bad as the Porsche is now. BUT driving the Porsche is just as much fun as my kit was and far more civilised.

Lot of 'buts'...

The dealer (Parrs Porsche, Crawley) did a 'free' health check and also advised:

1. Brake fittings (not the pipes, the bits they go into) are corroded and could do with replacing.

2. Gearbox mount is corroded and needs replacing.

3. Some delamination of some suspension part.

No idea of cost (they said they would get back to me with quotes) but it won't be a small number. I can afford the costs (as long as it doesn't get REALLY bad) but I'm naturally a tightwad and it grates spending this much on a selfish toy. Although I don't have to do any of this work now, I could just wait until I hear the driveshaft crunching or it fails an MOT?

So is Porsche ownership worth it? I'm normally good at these sort of decisions - totally flummoxed at the moment...head says cut my losses and sell it, heart says keep the badge.