Fast car ownership horror stories.
Discussion
Hello there.
I was slightly dubious about putting this on PH. But no amount of googling can even come near the wealth of real life experience, hardship and tribulations that the collective members of PH have been through.
Right, now for the interesting bit. In the next year or so I am looking at possibly coming into a considerable amount of cash through investments I made quite a few years ago. I have been doing the usual of 'oh yes i quite fancy one of them when the time comes' as at the moment I am your average Joe on average wage and have never really owned anything of note. Not that this depresses me as I am happy with life in general.
What I am trying to say is please tell me your horror/scare stories regarding fast car ownership costs so i keep my feet on the ground and don't go mental and buy the Gallardo/evofq400/996/gtr-r35/r8. I am desperately trying to convince myself a diesel BMW (albeit a quick one) is the sensible way to go.
Flamesuit donned and fire extinguisher on standby (many thanks in advance for replys though)!
I was slightly dubious about putting this on PH. But no amount of googling can even come near the wealth of real life experience, hardship and tribulations that the collective members of PH have been through.
Right, now for the interesting bit. In the next year or so I am looking at possibly coming into a considerable amount of cash through investments I made quite a few years ago. I have been doing the usual of 'oh yes i quite fancy one of them when the time comes' as at the moment I am your average Joe on average wage and have never really owned anything of note. Not that this depresses me as I am happy with life in general.
What I am trying to say is please tell me your horror/scare stories regarding fast car ownership costs so i keep my feet on the ground and don't go mental and buy the Gallardo/evofq400/996/gtr-r35/r8. I am desperately trying to convince myself a diesel BMW (albeit a quick one) is the sensible way to go.
Flamesuit donned and fire extinguisher on standby (many thanks in advance for replys though)!
just remember that if you have just gained a lump sum of cash, you will need to pay for the upkeep of the car.
All the cars you mentioned will be extremely expensive to keep running. so only go down that route if you know you will have a constant income to support this.
personally if I had a boat load of money, i'd get me a nice classic that will appreciate rather than depreciate. something really nice, a pantera, or something similar
All the cars you mentioned will be extremely expensive to keep running. so only go down that route if you know you will have a constant income to support this.
personally if I had a boat load of money, i'd get me a nice classic that will appreciate rather than depreciate. something really nice, a pantera, or something similar
te off a shovel as it has an awsome sounding stonking great V8 up front & is cheap to insure as it qualifies for classic insurance................... 
... 
I Know you say you'll have the money to buy them, but where is the money to run them going to come from. To give you an idea Evo's eat clutches, a handfull of launches can see one destroyed in a day, and at a grand or more a time to have a new one fitted, it can get pretty expensive when you add it to the short service interval.
There is a thread on the GTR owners board, about a new GTR that had a minor bump (less the 10mph) that ended up costing 0000's to get sorted out. Will try and find it.
ETA http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/127250-accident-dont-do... - 11K to repair.
There is a thread on the GTR owners board, about a new GTR that had a minor bump (less the 10mph) that ended up costing 0000's to get sorted out. Will try and find it.
ETA http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/127250-accident-dont-do... - 11K to repair.
...and by the way if you see your mom this weekend.I'm in the same position as the OP and have been massively indecisive about what I want to do, especially as it's coinciding with me wanting to give up motorbikes for a while.
I think I might do what I did with the 340R and run something nice for 6 months over summer, sell it on, buy a depressobox to run for another 6 months and then do it all again.
I think I might do what I did with the 340R and run something nice for 6 months over summer, sell it on, buy a depressobox to run for another 6 months and then do it all again.
Not a horror story, but a story of some big bills on the Morgan (this car is now better than new!)
Gorgeous cars - but everything apart from the engine and drivetrain is bespoke, and in the case of the early series Aero, no longer in production.
New balljoints? £500 a pair fitted
Suspension rose joints? Similar - each
Aircon condensor? only £150, but £500 including custom pipework
Replacement power steering? £1000
New Hood? £6,000
Dropped doors need adjusting every year
Handbrake needs to be attended to every year
But the killer, the utter killer, is bodywork. Irreplaceable - so it goes back to the factory to be re-beaten/formed and repainted. Vandals have just cost my insurance company over £10k.
Beware the running costs. Full service is £600, annually. Cheap. But there will be £1k's worth of other stuff to do at least, every year.
Upsides?
This is, by a country mile, the best car I have ever owned, and I never want to sell it (except at this time of year, when the bills come in). It isn't the fastest out there, nor the very finest handling (although it's pretty damned up there), nor the most expensive - but it is a classic four-wheeled sense of occasion, with modern dynamics. And the noise - sweet Jesus, the noise
It has been pretty reliable - it let me down once with an immobiliser issue, within 2 weeks of buying. Brands Hatch Morgan replaced all the relevant electronics, just to make sure, free of charge.
One thing that lessens the wallet crunching that these cars can deliver - the dealers. It's more like belonging to a friendly club than taking the car in to have it serviced. Awesome - and a significant reason for keeping it. Porsche were simply not the same.
Oh - and tiny, and I mean tiny, depreciation. So overall costs between this and the Ferrari I nearly bought? Even if the 360 had been mechanicaly completely perfect and required no work, it would still have cost me more over 3 years.
Gorgeous cars - but everything apart from the engine and drivetrain is bespoke, and in the case of the early series Aero, no longer in production.
New balljoints? £500 a pair fitted
Suspension rose joints? Similar - each
Aircon condensor? only £150, but £500 including custom pipework
Replacement power steering? £1000
New Hood? £6,000
Dropped doors need adjusting every year
Handbrake needs to be attended to every year
But the killer, the utter killer, is bodywork. Irreplaceable - so it goes back to the factory to be re-beaten/formed and repainted. Vandals have just cost my insurance company over £10k.
Beware the running costs. Full service is £600, annually. Cheap. But there will be £1k's worth of other stuff to do at least, every year.
Upsides?
This is, by a country mile, the best car I have ever owned, and I never want to sell it (except at this time of year, when the bills come in). It isn't the fastest out there, nor the very finest handling (although it's pretty damned up there), nor the most expensive - but it is a classic four-wheeled sense of occasion, with modern dynamics. And the noise - sweet Jesus, the noise
It has been pretty reliable - it let me down once with an immobiliser issue, within 2 weeks of buying. Brands Hatch Morgan replaced all the relevant electronics, just to make sure, free of charge.
One thing that lessens the wallet crunching that these cars can deliver - the dealers. It's more like belonging to a friendly club than taking the car in to have it serviced. Awesome - and a significant reason for keeping it. Porsche were simply not the same.
Oh - and tiny, and I mean tiny, depreciation. So overall costs between this and the Ferrari I nearly bought? Even if the 360 had been mechanicaly completely perfect and required no work, it would still have cost me more over 3 years.
By the way, on Morgans (which I know you weren't considering) the later cars (airbagged, US Federalised etc) are less race car underneath, so reputedly less nervy and high strung; mine has no damping in the drive train, race spec rose jointed suspension, no ground clearance etc etc - and it needs care.
£55k buys you a Series 3, and I'd have one over an Aston or Gallardo any day. In fact, I nearly did - went looking for Gallardos 2 years ago, drove some, loved them, drove my car, fel back in love, decided to upgrade to an Aero Series 3 (in fact talked to the factory about building my own Series 4 new)...and then spent the extra money on a house refurbishment. Gay.
£55k buys you a Series 3, and I'd have one over an Aston or Gallardo any day. In fact, I nearly did - went looking for Gallardos 2 years ago, drove some, loved them, drove my car, fel back in love, decided to upgrade to an Aero Series 3 (in fact talked to the factory about building my own Series 4 new)...and then spent the extra money on a house refurbishment. Gay.
pimping said:
What I am trying to say is please tell me your horror/scare stories regarding fast car ownership costs so i keep my feet on the ground and don't go mental and buy the Gallardo/evofq400/996/gtr-r35/r8.)!
The Evo is not expensive to run compared to the supercars in that list. The only real horror stories you get with the Evo is AYC pump failure which can cost up to £3k to replace but other than that (and clutches) consumables are relatively inexpensive and overall reliability very good. Six month services are usually just fluid changes and cost less than a couple hundred quid. The only real downer is the piss poor fuel economy.I'd like to get a GTR after the Evo but the running costs, like the performance, are in another league.
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