How much has a car you've just bought gone on to cost you?

[Ari]

Just been told that the reason my air con isn't working on the car I bought four weeks ago is that it needs a new evaporator, at nearly £400 plus the re-gas plus eight hours labour to take the dash out to get to it and re fit it, equaling somewhere around £1,000.

Add to that the knackered heater blower and regulator that was replaced two weeks ago, new pads and discs on the front, a new tyre and a few other bits and I'm over two grand down so far and my "bargain" car isn't looking quite such a bargain.

On the bright side I've got plenty of ammo for the next "people who buy brand new cars are idiots" post. And in fairness it should (hopefully!) be a great car when it's all done.

So cheer me up, tell me what you bought and then had to spend a fortune on, oh and how much of course...

[Alfa numeric]

I hope you had a warranty!

I picked up my Elise R last week- so far it's had a new wishbone, new bushes on said wishbone, a new front indicator unit and a couple of replacement bulbs. Only some of which were picked up in the PDI. Luckily I've got 12 months warranty with it, I may need it...

[Ari]

Nope, private purchase...

[Hitler Hadrump]

I stopped adding up what my Herald was costing me, but it melted a big end bearing 250 miles after I bought it (my fault on two counts - I overtook a lorry on the motorway, also I went on the motorway). The engine was worn enough that I just bought a recon short engine for £500, plus heaps more money for bits and bobs to make it roadworthy again. I'd just put four new tyres on it (£130) the week before and had £100 of welding done to reattach the seatbelts to the car. Of course you can't just drop in a new short engine, you need headgasket, timing chain and tensioner, new this, new that, might as well do this while it's in pieces etc. New clutch kit was another, clutch hydraulics... I want to stop thinking about it now.

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm saving money on the insurance and tax, and I've never had to pay a mechanic for anything other than welding (which I'm currently learning).

All for an unremarkable 1960s shopping trolley

[Ari]

That reminds me, the road tax is due end of this month...

[Proxy]

What car is it?

Mine's been a bit of a pain since I got it in February...
Popped the bonnet a week or so after I got it to do my weekly oil check ... now the bonnet won't close properly - catch is broken or something and VW are asking a ridiculous price to sort it.
Offside heated wing-mirror doesn't work...
Windscreen washers stopped working 2 days after I got it.
Had the exhaust warning light come on twice as well.
Also, and this is one of the most annoying of all, the rev limiter & speedo lights don't turn off ... ever. Even overnight when the car's locked & hasn't been touched in hours.

[tr7v8]

I always check A/C works & never believe "it needs a regas " story. Discs & some pads are easy enough to check on most cars pre-purchase. After that there will always be a cost of a new car...
Having said that my new Jeep bought for £2300 cost me £100 for an ignition switch, £85 for a battery & its first MOT with me cost £230! I've now owned it for 2 months.....

[Ari]

Proxy said:

What car is it?

Mercedes SLK.

[Gizmo!]

The MR2.

Bought sight unseen off Ebay but after talking to the owner.

Took me two minutes to work out the clutch was knackered. £550 to a dodgy garage in Romford. Who didn't refit the exhaust properly when putting it all back together. So it partially fell off: £450 to a slightly less dodgy garage to refit a s/h one, plus another £200ish for a s/h cat (the original one was rusted at the joint). Then two new front tyres. Then it overheated for no obvious reason. Then it failed an MOT on brake balance and something else. So it sat on the drive for a while.

Total loss: about £2k: almost twice the purchase price. Bugger.

[Ari]

tr7v8 said:

I always check A/C works & never believe "it needs a regas " story. Discs & some pads are easy enough to check on most cars pre-purchase. After that there will always be a cost of a new car...
Having said that my new Jeep bought for £2300 cost me £100 for an ignition switch, £85 for a battery & its first MOT with me cost £230! I've now owned it for 2 months.....

In fairness I knew it needed the discs and pads and that was built into the price. Likewise the new tyre is what I would call a "service item", one less thing to replace soon.

You're right about the air con though, I just figured a re-gas would sort it. D'oh...

Oh well, you live and learn.

[Proxy]

Ari said:

Mercedes SLK.

Eek, I bet parts & labour isn't cheap on something like that...
Hope you get it sorted mate

[Zp]

In 2 years of owning my 996tt I've had to replace the following -


1x centre rad £497.00

3 x radiators (inc. centre rad AGAIN!)
1 x A/C condensor
Door microswitch
Total £1425.00

2x rear tyres £430.00

Clutch slave cylinder & accumulator
Front diff seal
Total £750.00

Turbo heatshields £404.00

RMS (engine out) £1110.00


st.
I've never added it up before.....

But hey, part and parcel of running a £100k car

Feel better now, OP?

[Ari]

Pah, that's £192/month. Chickenfeed!

[philmots]

Re the aircon not working... At least your roof comes down

I've been lucky - touch wood! My ST220 had a leak from a join in the pipe to the washer bottle, luckily a DIY repair involving tiny jubilee clips, albeit with skinned knuckles!

[Zp]

Ari said:

Pah, that's £192/month. Chickenfeed!

Good way of looking at it, thanks

[Ari]

Proxy said:

Eek, I bet parts & labour isn't cheap on something like that...
Hope you get it sorted mate

The good news is I have a very good ex Mercedes Independent sorting it out for me.

I dread to think what a main dealer would charge..!

[Hitler Hadrump]

I didn't buy mine sight unseen, but I had already decided I wanted to buy it and made an offer having only seen the front.

That it was solid underneath was pure dumb luck.

[Ari]

Zp said:

Ari said:

Pah, that's £192/month. Chickenfeed!

Good way of looking at it, thanks :thumb:

You're welcome!

Now compare it with what the car would have depreciated from new over those two years and tell us how much you've saved!

This is the theory I'm clinging (desperately) to. I've bought an older car which has allowed me to get a better car than if I'd bought new or close to, and the depreciation ought to be less painful. Stuff like this is the flipside of the equation.

Hadn't expected quite so much quite so soon however...

[Ari]

Hitler Hadrump said:

I didn't buy mine sight unseen, but I had already decided I wanted to buy it and made an offer having only seen the front.

That it was solid underneath was pure dumb luck.

Brave man! (Although I did the same, agreed a deal subject to seeing/driving the car).

[10AE]

Um, my Mazda cost me nothing more than insurance, tax and fuel. Just flew through the MOT with no advisories too. Despite trying, I can find nothing wrong with it.

The Peugeot needed a new windscreen (£100), number plates (£8), wiper blades (£11) and two tyres (£30). I need to replace the glow plugs too as it is a bit rough starting. That'll be £30.

I have had worse experiences, though. My 850 T5 I purchased in '05 needed a new engine after I'd done 3k miles / 3 months which came to just under £3k all in.