Remember, Porsche is an exotic German sports car that is far more satisfying to drive than most other cars on the planet. Porsches have always been expensive cars. They were expensive when they were new. Therefore, cost of the original OEM Porsche engine and transmission parts is not cheap. Even though (due to depreciation) you may have bought your 20, 30 or 40-some year-old used Porsche 911 for a very reasonable price, properly rebuilding the engine or transmission will cost some money. Remember to, that there is no free lunch, if you want to drive an exotic German sports car.

One of the biggest differences in a Porsche 911 is that the car chassis can drive for hundreds of thousands of miles if properly maintained. There are other 911s out there, still on the road with 400,000 or 500,000 miles on them. This is hard for some people to understand, but it’s true: you can drive these cars for decades. That’s where the value comes from -- people keeping the car long-term after properly rebuilding the drivetrain. It also takes time to properly perform a 911 engine rebuild and do the precision machine work required.

If you are worried about the costs of a 911 engine rebuild, here is one good way to look at it. If you like your car and want to keep driving it, spreading the cost out over time is a good way to look at your investment in your new engine. If you drive your car for another 5 years and spend (for example) $9000 rebuilding your engine, that cost, amortized over 5 years, is only about $190 per month. And your car will probably drive for another 10 to 15 years with a rebuilt engine. To be able to drive a great car like a Porsche 911 again for that long is a bargain, especially if you already own the car!

P.S. If you get a really, really low estimate from another shop, run for your life. There is something very wrong because it’s impossible to do a proper 911 engine rebuild for $3000 to $6000.