Why do people buy expensive cars and not maintain them?
Discussion
Bit of a rant, but whatever...
I've been car shopping recently and have been looking at a few cars on the used market. They are all expensive cars new, and still expensive on the used market. Each of them had huge problems caused by a simple lack of bothering to look after it.
Car 1
Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Brake pad warning light on, engine pissing oil all over the place, last service was in 2012. Wanted nearly 50,000 euros for it.
Car 2
Jaguar XKR 4.2 2008
Saw this one a couple of years ago, it's still for sale...
Bought brand new, only one owner. Was serviced for the first 2 years, then the history skips a couple of years. Major rebuild in 2013 to the tune of 12,000 Eur. Since then car has been serviced once. Checked the oil, was as black and thick as tar. Walked away. Wanted 28,000 eur for it.
Car 3
Lotus Evora S
Just came back from this one. 2012, last serviced in 2015. Oil residue over the engine, jet black oil in the engine, engine management light on ('they all do that'), heavy clutch, and wouldn't let me take it for a test drive unless I put down a 2000 deposit and committed to buying. Going to guess that the clutch was f
ked too. Wanted 44,000 EUR.
There have been a few more, and all have the same pattern. Expensive car, bought by someone who clearly has money, and all have a distinct lack of service history and care put into them.
I just don't get the mentality that is happy to buy a car that costs the same as a small apartment, but won't bother changing the oil every year, or doing basic maintenance...is there something I'm missing here?
I've been car shopping recently and have been looking at a few cars on the used market. They are all expensive cars new, and still expensive on the used market. Each of them had huge problems caused by a simple lack of bothering to look after it.
Car 1
Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Brake pad warning light on, engine pissing oil all over the place, last service was in 2012. Wanted nearly 50,000 euros for it.
Car 2
Jaguar XKR 4.2 2008
Saw this one a couple of years ago, it's still for sale...
Bought brand new, only one owner. Was serviced for the first 2 years, then the history skips a couple of years. Major rebuild in 2013 to the tune of 12,000 Eur. Since then car has been serviced once. Checked the oil, was as black and thick as tar. Walked away. Wanted 28,000 eur for it.
Car 3
Lotus Evora S
Just came back from this one. 2012, last serviced in 2015. Oil residue over the engine, jet black oil in the engine, engine management light on ('they all do that'), heavy clutch, and wouldn't let me take it for a test drive unless I put down a 2000 deposit and committed to buying. Going to guess that the clutch was f
ked too. Wanted 44,000 EUR. There have been a few more, and all have the same pattern. Expensive car, bought by someone who clearly has money, and all have a distinct lack of service history and care put into them.
I just don't get the mentality that is happy to buy a car that costs the same as a small apartment, but won't bother changing the oil every year, or doing basic maintenance...is there something I'm missing here?
Hoofy said:
More likely they can barely afford the car in the first place so have no spare cash to maintain it.
This. When I was looking at c63’s first 4 I viewed were with half history/needed new disks and pads/ tyres etc people buy them then sell on just before it costs any maintenance. Muzzer79 said:
Some people view maintenance as a cost when things break, rather than a preventative measure to stop things breaking.
Basically, if it stops working; fix it. Otherwise, drive it
That's the Shed mindset. Basically, if it stops working; fix it. Otherwise, drive it
A car is nothing more than a tool to do a job with and it can be applied equally as well to a £50000 car as a £500 one. Not giving a s
t is very liberating G13NVL said:
This. When I was looking at c63’s first 4 I viewed were with half history/needed new disks and pads/ tyres etc people buy them then sell on just before it costs any maintenance.
Buyers always seem to wander what the trick is when I sell, as it’s normally an immaculately maintained unmarked car with low mileage.My problem is that you just can’t get much of a premium at all for an immaculate one over a bit of a snotter. If you advertise at a couple of thousand over the beaten up version you get no viewings.
mike74 said:
We are largely now a nation of debt ridden ''ten bob millionaires'' all living beyond our means... driving around in cars we can neither afford to buy outright or maintain properly is just one aspect of it.
People living beyond their means has always been a thing. This and a combination of "ill fix it when it breaks" like a washing machine WyrleyD said:
OP. You could of course buy my meticulously main dealer serviced 2010 Jaguar XF Portfolio S with just 87000km on the clock, it's for sale.
Cheers, but I'm looking for a coupe or roadster before kids come along and ruin my chances for driving fun cars 
XF is the 'sensible' choice later on in life Properly wealthy people can afford to buy something, not look after it and then take the hit when they sell it or if it breaks.
Plebs who buy this sort of car obsess about maintaining it, keeping the mileage down, changing the oil every ten minutes and hang around it in carparks in case anyone parks near it.
Plebs who buy this sort of car obsess about maintaining it, keeping the mileage down, changing the oil every ten minutes and hang around it in carparks in case anyone parks near it.
I had this when I bought my impreza around 8 years ago.
Most of them were 2 years overdue cambelts (I wouldn't buy one where the cambelt could fall apart on the eay home) , were lucky to have had an oil change in 2 years and most were advertised as FSH but none had been done on the 6month intervals as specified by Subaru and generally had a couple of years gaps before a stamp. I eventually found one from the RB5OC that had been serviced at the correct frequency.
Most of them were 2 years overdue cambelts (I wouldn't buy one where the cambelt could fall apart on the eay home) , were lucky to have had an oil change in 2 years and most were advertised as FSH but none had been done on the 6month intervals as specified by Subaru and generally had a couple of years gaps before a stamp. I eventually found one from the RB5OC that had been serviced at the correct frequency.
Evanivitch said:
On the reverse, why do many people maintain their cars far more then the manufacturer's recommended intervals?
People do strange things for many different reasons. You can't explain it in one answer!
I'll be doing an oil change far earlier than needed, it's just had a valve cover replacement, so I'm changing the oil as a precaution rather than waiting the 6000 odd miles it tells me to on the dash. So sometimes there's valid reasons.People do strange things for many different reasons. You can't explain it in one answer!
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