We Are One - The cost of a daily driver over a year.

[Timmy2TARs]

So it's the Cerbera's first anniversary with me today and it's been my daily driver for the past twelve months come rain, shine, fog and snow!

I've kept a log of ongoing costs and here's a summary of the entire year. Hopefully it's useful for anyone considering a Cebera as a daily driver.

Fuel

Month	Cost	Litres	Gallons	p/ltr
NOV-06	£ 222.26	238.31	52.42	93.27
DEC-06	£ 280.52	301.59	66.34	93.01
JAN-07	£ 253.60	278.00	61.15	91.22
FEB-07	£ 152.95	170.72	37.55	89.59
MAR-07	£ 293.68	316.59	69.64	92.76
APR-07	£ 316.91	322.58	70.96	98.24
MAY-07	£ 332.16	330.57	72.72	100.48
JUN-07	£ 239.97	237.08	52.15	101.22
JUL-07	£ 210.37	210.04	46.20	100.16
AUG-07	£ 334.29	303.81	66.83	110.03
SEP-07	£ 228.34	227.82	50.11	100.23
OCT-07	£ 278.77	267.05	58.74	104.39
NOV-07	£ 100.01	95.22	20.95	105.03
Total / Average	£ 3,243.83	3,299.38	725.76	98.43

Fuel Economy

Odometer Start	Odometer End	Annual Mileage	Gallons	mpg
10523	23821	13298	725.76	18.32

Servicing and Maintenance

Month	Expense	Cost
APR-07	6000 Mile Service at Henley Heritage TVR	£1,694.23
	(i) Replaced: radiator, ECU temperature sender, w/wiper park switch (all under warranty) (ii) Replaced: w/wiper blades, washer pipe section, n/s/f top ball joint, fan connectors & terminals, rear brake pads & handbrake cable, both throttle potentiometers.
	Front Tyres: Goodyear Eagle F1s	£304.56
	Rear Tyres: Goodyear Eagle F1s	£332.76
APR-07	MoT	£50.35
MAY-07	Alloy Refurb - Complete set of wheels refurb - all four 18" spiders done with Wicked Wheels.	£305.50
SEP-07	12000 Mile Service at Henley Heritage TVR	£2,022.87
	(i)Checked & adjusted valve clearances, (ii) Removed and repaired cracks in exhaust. Added centre mount. Replaced mount rubbers and bobbins. (iii) Replaced: gear box mounts, rear diff bush, expansion tank hose. (iv) Refurbed spider to remove flat spot.
OCT-07	Replacement rear tyre: Goodyear Eagle F1	£188.00
	Tyre fitting	£21.15
	Wheel balancing	£21.00
Total		£4,940.42

Insurance

Month	Expense	Cost
NOV-06	Insurance switch from previous vehicle for remainder of policy	£173.63
DEC-06	New Registration Number alteration	£14.50
JAN-07	Annual Cover with A-plan, with 2 years NCB and 10% TVRCC discount	£1,199.00
MAY-07	Temporary cover for 2nd driver	£35.00
Total		£1,422.13

Miscellaneous

Month	Expense	Cost
DEC-06	Antifreeze	£13.99
"	5L Mobil 1 0W 40	£45.99
MAR-07	Coolant	£12.00
MAY-07	5L Mobil 1 0W 40	£45.99
SEP-07	Steve Heath Fuses	£17.99
Total		£135.96

Thanks to TVR for a great little motor!

Highlights have been the trip to Le Mans, the weekend in Derbyshire for the Chatsworth House gathering, a couple of PH hoons, and of course Fighting Torque where I was lucky enough to win the set of Toyos (still to be delivered!). Undoubtedly the availability of advice and knowlege on this site has been endlessly useful via a series of strategic lurks and searches

Lowlights - the 10 years of saving it took me to buy the car.

[lee.]

Good God man are you mad! youll get us all in trouble advertising how much they cost to run. "its ok dear hes got his sums wrong, there quite cheep really"

Phew! think i got away with it.

[BLUETHUNDER]

Very nice car.But to be honest from the figures given,it doesnt make a viable every day car based on those costs.I cant believe the prices of the services.(says me who spent nearly £4000 on his last year.)There must have been a lot more done other than a service carried out?.One things for sure every day you drove it,i bet is still got the wow factor from those you passed by

[thegreengoblet]

lee. said:

Good God man are you mad! youll get us all in trouble advertising how much they cost to run. "its ok dear hes got his sums wrong, there quite cheep really"

Phew! think i got away with it.

Tim
Bloody nice motor btw.

[BCA]

BLUETHUNDER said:

But to be honest from the figures given,it doesnt make a viable every day car based on those costs.

Same daily driver useage over six/seven years are in my profile... cant face breaking down the details, but overall costs are logged there (everything in detail is on dads psion!)

[BLUETHUNDER]

You could have bought another two for that money

[Far Eastender]

I think the days of '3 grand a year to run' are over. 4 large one's might be more accurate. I think it's great that you can run a Cerb as a daily driver and would love to do so myself.

Great looking car by the way.

Edited by Far Eastender on Sunday 11th November 01:14

Edited by Far Eastender on Sunday 11th November 01:14

[Timmy2TARs]

Thanks chaps.

I was always confused by the 3k pa figures. Surely it would depend on the mileage and whether or not one or two services were needed. I've also been fortunate in that nothing major has gone wrong, although I am renewing my warranty next week... just... in... case...!

For a car that gives so much, I think the telling figures are the mpg - just over 18 which whilst isn't brilliant, is acceptable. It all works out at 73p per mile, and I bet that is a lot less than some cost when they are just sitting in the garage for most of the time. I could have halved the servicing and petrol costs by not using it everyday and only doing 6000 miles... pence per mile would likely be in the 90s.

For those with enquiring wives... sorry for letting the cat out of the bag, but - get out there and use them. It's cheaper per mile!

[Cyclone1]

I always thought that the "£3k" was a back-up slush fund "just in case" anything major was to fail.

Petrol / Oil and tyre costs should be expected but are dictated by the amount of driving you do and how hard you drive the car.

Servicing costs are pretty much the basic cost of owning a Cerb although in the example above I think you've been over charged, a good Indie would have done the same for less. I cetainly wouldn't have paid the prices you have for what you have had done to your Cerb.

Very nice example though.,.......

Jules.

[BCA]

BLUETHUNDER said:

You could have bought another two for that money

You've got to consider the useage our car has had in those figures - this is a Cerb thats used to go to and from work, then at weekends its sprinted/hillclimbed/speedtrialed and trackday'ed!

at 72k miles old and mechanically original except for the clutch - its still scaring the latest most powerful production cars out there...

Worth every penny.

[Buffoon]

Well done that man. Trying to use mine as daily driver but failing badly, as it has been off road for 3 months or so, and cost great deal more than any sane man can stomach.

Your insurance looks scary, three times more than mine.

Lovely car though. Should not be tucked away in garage, keep up the good work.

[SimonSparrow]

Mine isn't used daily, it depends on work etc. but I have done about 48k miles in it over the last four and half years, as its my only car.