A Facebook marketplace ad for second-hand luxury Porsche SUV has gone viral over one detail demonstrating why it is “worth less than a Commodore” of the same age.
The “extremely well maintained” 2008 3.6-litre V6 Porsche Cayenne is being sold for $14,000 by its Melbourne owner — who noted in the listing he had spent $15,000 maintaining the car over the past two years.
“[That’s] the thing that’s actually wild about Euro cars,” popular auto influencer and Holden enthusiast CommodoreMan said in a TikTok video highlighting the ad.
“This Porsche Cayenne, I actually think it looks reasonably modern, $14,000, 2008 model. What’s wild about this is if somebody that doesn’t know about cars sees this, they will think that you actually have a lot of money. What’s funny though is a V8 Commodore from this era is actually worth more.”
He added it was “no shade to this particular car, it is all of the Euro cars from this era”.
“And I’m sure it is nice but there is one thing that will turn me off permanently from these cars — $15,000 spent just in the last two years on maintenance, that means they have spent the entire value of the car just in the last two years maintaining it, fixing it, keeping it on the road,” he said.
“I don’t know about you but that’s awful.”
European car brands like Porsche, BMW and Volkswagen have long had a reputation as being more expensive to service and maintain than Japanese and Korean counterparts like Toyota or Hyundai.
A number of factors contribute to the higher cost, including more expensive parts shipped from further away, and generally pricier dealership servicing.
The seller of the 2008 Cayenne said it had been fully serviced by Porsche up until 190,000 kilometres. “In the last two years about $15,000 [spent] on the car for full maintenance,” he wrote.
“All service is up to date. All fluid, spark plugs, filters, transmission, tyres, brakes, rocker cover gasket, rotors, aircon, belts, everything is done. Next service 225,000 kilometres.”
One TikTok user commented, “Nothing cheap about a cheap Euro car.”
Another said, “Euro car bills are just an extra zero or two added onto a normal car’s repair bill.”
One described their experience driving a 2019 Abarth. “Last service was $2600, pads and rotors $3800, clutch and plate replacement $8000,” they wrote. “Bought it for $27,000.”
But one Porsche fan hit back, “Bulls**t I’ve spent $5000 on my Cayenne in four years, it’s because simple people get shafted by the mechanics.”
CommodoreMan replied, “More than my Toyota has had spent on it in 20 years.”
Stuart Charity, chief executive of the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA), said parts and labour were the two main reasons why servicing and maintaining European vehicles was more expensive.
“And particularly in dealerships — there’s a high propensity of owners to take their cars to dealerships,” he said.
“Their charge-out rates are higher and they also put a premium on parts. The good news for car owners is you don’t have to take your car to a dealership and find genuine parts to maintain your warranty, the ACCC has confirmed that.”
Mr Charity said it was “a bit of a myth the car industry has put out there”, with dealers using the “fear and doubt” tactics to “strongly encourage you to come back to their dealership” for regular service.
“You can take it anywhere, provided they are skilled, qualified tradespeople using fit-for-purpose parts and they’re servicing the vehicle in accordance with the vehicle specifications,” he said.
There are around 30,000-35,000 independent mechanics in Australia, and Mr Charity estimated some 4000-5000 of those would specialise in European cars.
In 2021, parliament passed a law requiring car companies to provide dealer-level information and diagnostics to independent repairers.
“They’ve got all the data-sharing tools but difference is they’re a lot cheaper, so there are big savings to be made,” Mr Charity said.
Research by RACQ published last year confirmed that European brands were typically the most costly to keep on the road.
The motoring body’s 2023 Vehicle Operating Costs report analysed the monthly and annual expenses of owning 94 different vehicles — chosen from the top-selling models in each class — based on the car being purchased with a five-year loan, travelling 15,000 kilometres a year and adding repayments, registration and insurance, fuel or electricity, tyres and battery, service and repairs.
Of the 94 vehicles, the cheapest was the MG3 Core Auto light hatchback with annual overall running costs of $8734, while the most expensive was the Nissan Patrol Ti-L 4x4 V8 wagon on $29,387.
But the report found European brands did generally have markedly higher servicing costs.
The Volkswagen Polo 85TSI Life, for example, had annual servicing costs of $687, more than double the cheapest light car to service, the Toyota Yaris Ascent Sport on $292 per year.
The Volkswagen Passat 162TSI Elegance four-door wagon cost $787 annually to service, versus $306 for the Toyota Camry Ascent, while the Volkswagen T-Roc 110TSi Style small SUV cost $700 compared with just $301 for the equivalent Toyota Corolla Cross GX.
The notable exception was Subaru, with some models beating out European equivalents.
Subarus are known for having higher-than-average servicing costs — and far higher than other Japanese brands — due to their unique boxer engine design and all-wheel-drive system leading to greater tyre wear.
The Subaru Impreza 2.0i-L was the most expensive small car to service on $742 a year, slightly ahead of the Volkswagen Golf 110TSI. By comparison, the Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport 1.8 Hybrid was the cheapest in the category on $292 a year.
The Subaru Forester was also the most expensive medium SUV with annual servicing costs of $786, although in the large SUV category the Subaru Outback’s $778 annual cost was beaten by the Kia Sorento GT-Line’s eye-watering $901-a-year bill.
Out of all 94 cars, the Polestar 2 electric vehicle had the lowest servicing costs of just $81 a year, or $6.75 a month.
More broadly, RACQ’s research found increased competition and government incentives meant some EVs were now cheaper to own than their petrol counterparts.
RACQ’s motoring editor Ged Bulmer said in the popular medium SUV category, an EV was cheaper than nearly all the internal combustion powered counterparts in its class.
“The BYD Atto 3 was the third cheapest out of a group of 13 medium SUVs on the Australian market, costing $1154 per month to own and operate over a five-year loan,” Bulmer said.
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“We’ve come from only having expensive European EVs on the market, to now having much more competitively priced models, with even more heading our way in the months ahead. EVs tend to have lower servicing costs and with record-high fuel prices, the overall ownership costs of some EVs have come down over the past 12 months.”
The Albanese government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), coming into effect on January 1, 2025, will put caps on total carbon emissions permitted across a manufacturer’s fleet, meaning they will be required to sell a greater proportion of cleaner, greener vehicles like EVs and hybrids or face penalties.
frank.chung@news.com.au
