Average annual running cost for 20 year old 'weekend car'?
Discussion
I'm thinking of buying a 20 year old car which will only do a few thousand miles a year. If you've got something from around the year 2000 +/- 10 years I'd be interested to know what you pay for servicing to get it through MOTs and keep it in reasonable condition? If you DIY it, what's that cost you in £ and time? Exclude insurance, tax, tyres and fuel.
For example, in my experience a Yaris or Mk4 Golf are around £250/year, but a V6 Alfa looks like it'd be around £1K/year.
For example, in my experience a Yaris or Mk4 Golf are around £250/year, but a V6 Alfa looks like it'd be around £1K/year.
Had my Honda s2000 for a few years now, weekend car, few k miles a year. Being a Honda it costs me servicing and consumables. In the last few years I’ve replaced a brake caliper the rest was mods or consumables. So I’d say around £20 quid a year on unexpected maintenance. But then again. It’s a Honda. Buy a more needy car and it’ll be much higher.
grudas said:
Had my Honda s2000 for a few years now, weekend car, few k miles a year. Being a Honda it costs me servicing and consumables. In the last few years I’ve replaced a brake caliper the rest was mods or consumables. So I’d say around £20 quid a year on unexpected maintenance. But then again. It’s a Honda. Buy a more needy car and it’ll be much higher.
So you spend £20/year on unexpected maintenance, but what about expected maintenance? £500/year? £750? I quite like the idea of an S2000, just trying to get a feel for how much I should expect to keep it in reasonable condition. I have a 2001 Impreza WRX on the drive as a weekend/occasional fun car. It's a bit of a shed. I've had it for 6 years, in the first year I spent about £1500 on various bits, every year since then it's cost me about £200 in maintenance (disregarding fuel, tax, and insurance).
It's pretty cheap to run, as things go. It now needs coil packs, which is probably knocking on for 4 figures. Assuming I get this done, the total maintenance cost over what would be 7 years is £3700, or just over £500 a year.
Edit: coil packs plus it's usual service.
It's pretty cheap to run, as things go. It now needs coil packs, which is probably knocking on for 4 figures. Assuming I get this done, the total maintenance cost over what would be 7 years is £3700, or just over £500 a year.
Edit: coil packs plus it's usual service.
Edited by Second Best on Wednesday 22 March 02:21
I run a 2007 MK I Mazda 3 MPS as a daily albeit I do very little miles a year.
Purchased in 2012 on 32k and is just about to tick over 70k
Insurance £180 per year
Tax £500/£600 per year
Fuel £734 (Tracked via fuely)
Unexpected Maintenance £200 (average over ownership)
Routine Maintenance £2-300 per year.
Cheap in my eyes compared to running something newer and having a regular car payment.
Purchased in 2012 on 32k and is just about to tick over 70k
Insurance £180 per year
Tax £500/£600 per year
Fuel £734 (Tracked via fuely)
Unexpected Maintenance £200 (average over ownership)
Routine Maintenance £2-300 per year.
Cheap in my eyes compared to running something newer and having a regular car payment.
2006 toyota elise
the day i keep track of costs on my car habit will be a dire day indeed, but the elise is not bad tbh. in the last 12 mths its needed a fuel pump, arb drop links and steering rod ends, plus geo after the latter works. there was also a smart repair done to the paint. i do my own spannering and have a 2 post, so few hundred quid tops. fuel pump is a PITA of a job requiring the tank to be dropped, that would have been spendy if paying for the labour.
i don't think i've ever had a 'big' bill on this car. even the complete suspension refresh can be done sub 1k
the day i keep track of costs on my car habit will be a dire day indeed, but the elise is not bad tbh. in the last 12 mths its needed a fuel pump, arb drop links and steering rod ends, plus geo after the latter works. there was also a smart repair done to the paint. i do my own spannering and have a 2 post, so few hundred quid tops. fuel pump is a PITA of a job requiring the tank to be dropped, that would have been spendy if paying for the labour.
i don't think i've ever had a 'big' bill on this car. even the complete suspension refresh can be done sub 1k
Have a chimaera and a mk1 golf, mine and the missus. Other than tax and insurance I don't know what you would spend real money on if you can DIY servicing yourself, they do so few miles that I don't even bother changing the oil every year. My last set of tyres lasted 6 years on the chimaera and I drive that like a t
t, I did plugs leads and dizzy on the golf this year and I don't think that it cost £50.
I think that I spent more on takeaways last year than I did maintaining a couple old cars that do a couple thousand miles each a year.
t, I did plugs leads and dizzy on the golf this year and I don't think that it cost £50.I think that I spent more on takeaways last year than I did maintaining a couple old cars that do a couple thousand miles each a year.
2004 Nissan 350Z:
Routine maintenance is anything from around £200 for a basic oil/filters service to £500-600 for a ‘major’ service including plugs, coolant & brake fluid.
Insurance is around £200-250 per year. Est mileage is 'up to 3000 per year'. VED is currently £360
Fuel – I don’t bother keeping track – I put fuel in as and when needed, but only do low mileage.
Anything else – tyres, brake pads/discs, suspension components, exhaust etc I deal with as and when necessary. (Usually genuine Nissan components).
All I’ve had to replace in recent years is anti-rollbar bushes/drop-links.
It’s never failed an MOT.
Routine maintenance is anything from around £200 for a basic oil/filters service to £500-600 for a ‘major’ service including plugs, coolant & brake fluid.
Insurance is around £200-250 per year. Est mileage is 'up to 3000 per year'. VED is currently £360
Fuel – I don’t bother keeping track – I put fuel in as and when needed, but only do low mileage.
Anything else – tyres, brake pads/discs, suspension components, exhaust etc I deal with as and when necessary. (Usually genuine Nissan components).
All I’ve had to replace in recent years is anti-rollbar bushes/drop-links.
It’s never failed an MOT.
I had an S2000 as a daily, then the last 5 years as a weekend car, circa 1000 miles a year.
Annual service £400.
Tax was £300.
Fuel £250.
Ad-hoc items during the time.i owned it.
Clutch at 103,000, circa £700 fitted.
Brake calipers about £250 a pair fitted.
That was it in 10 years. Anything else was optional, repaint rocker cover etc.
As a weekend toy, I budgeted £1000 a year. Sometimes it was less, sometimes a little more.
It was worth it though. Sold it 6 weeks ago and every time the sun comes out, I miss it.
Annual service £400.
Tax was £300.
Fuel £250.
Ad-hoc items during the time.i owned it.
Clutch at 103,000, circa £700 fitted.
Brake calipers about £250 a pair fitted.
That was it in 10 years. Anything else was optional, repaint rocker cover etc.
As a weekend toy, I budgeted £1000 a year. Sometimes it was less, sometimes a little more.
It was worth it though. Sold it 6 weeks ago and every time the sun comes out, I miss it.
Puddenchucker said:
Routine maintenance is anything from around £200 for a basic oil/filters service to £500-600 for a ‘major’ service including plugs, coolant & brake fluid. Same
Insurance is around £200-250 per year. Est mileage is 'up to 3000 per year'. VED is currently £360 Same
Fuel – I don’t bother keeping track – I put fuel in as and when needed, but only do low mileage.Same
Anything else – tyres, brake pads/discs, suspension components, exhaust etc I deal with as and when necessary. (Usually genuine
All I’ve had to replace in recent years is
It’s never failed an MOT.Likewise
Long term keeper 2001 XJ8 now SORN'd but pre-Covid doing 3-4k each year in the summer
Insurance fully comp £125, six months VED £180, MOT £40. Ex Spanner Monkey so all DIY maintained.
Annual oil and filter change £40 and a fivers worth of Waxoil sprayed on the vulnerable bits. Back of a fag packet fuel cost of driving this rather than my shed over the same miles about £400.
Only spend in last 5 years has been a battery - £110, ABS sensor - £35 and spark plug O rings - £10.
Could do with a mornings clean and polish and a replacement headlining- £160. Tyres are starting to perish but have still got miles of tread left on them. They're about £160 a corner.
Insurance fully comp £125, six months VED £180, MOT £40. Ex Spanner Monkey so all DIY maintained.
Annual oil and filter change £40 and a fivers worth of Waxoil sprayed on the vulnerable bits. Back of a fag packet fuel cost of driving this rather than my shed over the same miles about £400.
Only spend in last 5 years has been a battery - £110, ABS sensor - £35 and spark plug O rings - £10.
Could do with a mornings clean and polish and a replacement headlining- £160. Tyres are starting to perish but have still got miles of tread left on them. They're about £160 a corner.
Even good examples of 20 year-old cars will need some work, so if you're anything like me you'll invariably spend £2-3k right away after a purchase following which it's just routine servicing until a big bill drops, which it will every 3-4 years.
And it really depends on the car. Cars with cam belts for example typically need £500-800 spent on a belt change.
And it really depends on the car. Cars with cam belts for example typically need £500-800 spent on a belt change.
2000 boxster S, i put aside £100 a month for running costs, which over the year is ~£250 on road tax, ~£250 on insurance, ~£200 on tyres (average) and ~£500 servicing/mots.
if you're thinking of doing trackdays in a weekend car my advice would be - dont skimp on decent brake pads. £250 for front pads may seem like a big outlay, but they'll last for aaaages, and the alternative is burning through and replacing cheap pads after every trackday, which is very tedious...
if you're thinking of doing trackdays in a weekend car my advice would be - dont skimp on decent brake pads. £250 for front pads may seem like a big outlay, but they'll last for aaaages, and the alternative is burning through and replacing cheap pads after every trackday, which is very tedious...
I'm lucky - or unlucky - enough to have a few weekend cars, a fairly diverse bag. I'm a male, mid 40's living in rural-ish Oxfordshire.
2002 996 C4S - I do about 4k miles a year in it.
Insurance - £254.00
VED - £360.00
Parts/Consumables/Servicing/Preventative Maintenance (all outsourced - engine out this year for a hefty service, new coolant lines, brake lines, clutch, flywheel etc) - £2806 per annum (owned for 4 years)
Fuel - £1518.00 last year
1992 205 GTi- about 2k miles a year.
Insurance - £158.00
VED - £295
Parts/Consumables/Servicing/Preventative Maintenance £220 (all by me on the driveway - owned 20 years)
Fuel - £545.00 last year
1971 Citroen Dyane 6 - 4k miles per year.
Insurance - £54.00
VED- nil
Parts/Consumables/Servicing/Preventative Maintenance (all by my on the driveway) - £195.00 per year (owned for 4 years)
Fuel - £614.00 last year
Also have a 1991 Mini 1275, 1982 Citroen GSA, 2004 Clio 182 and 1999 Volvo V70 T5 tow pig, but they don't do enough miles to warrant inclusion!
2002 996 C4S - I do about 4k miles a year in it.
Insurance - £254.00
VED - £360.00
Parts/Consumables/Servicing/Preventative Maintenance (all outsourced - engine out this year for a hefty service, new coolant lines, brake lines, clutch, flywheel etc) - £2806 per annum (owned for 4 years)
Fuel - £1518.00 last year
1992 205 GTi- about 2k miles a year.
Insurance - £158.00
VED - £295
Parts/Consumables/Servicing/Preventative Maintenance £220 (all by me on the driveway - owned 20 years)
Fuel - £545.00 last year
1971 Citroen Dyane 6 - 4k miles per year.
Insurance - £54.00
VED- nil
Parts/Consumables/Servicing/Preventative Maintenance (all by my on the driveway) - £195.00 per year (owned for 4 years)
Fuel - £614.00 last year
Also have a 1991 Mini 1275, 1982 Citroen GSA, 2004 Clio 182 and 1999 Volvo V70 T5 tow pig, but they don't do enough miles to warrant inclusion!
Edited by Justin85 on Wednesday 22 March 09:28
2004 Toyota MR2 Roadster. Some of the spends already listed seem very frugal imho. I have had the car 6 years now and I have easily spent £1500 a year on it virtually every year on maintenance, tax and insurance.
I do basic servicing and any straightforward mechanics myself as the main reason for purchase was to have something easy to 'fiddle' with, but I make a point of pre-emptively attending to one or other systems every year. It does around 2k miles annually and in my keep has had clutch, tyres, full brakes, full suspension, full exhaust (manifold and cat), subframe and arms, power steering pipes, bumpers resprayed, in-car system modernised, aged and cloudy headlights replaced (surprisingly £500 a pop on this car) etc. Also, as certain smaller parts become discontinued and breakers less available, I end up ordering from Japan which involves factoring in postage and duty.
I do basic servicing and any straightforward mechanics myself as the main reason for purchase was to have something easy to 'fiddle' with, but I make a point of pre-emptively attending to one or other systems every year. It does around 2k miles annually and in my keep has had clutch, tyres, full brakes, full suspension, full exhaust (manifold and cat), subframe and arms, power steering pipes, bumpers resprayed, in-car system modernised, aged and cloudy headlights replaced (surprisingly £500 a pop on this car) etc. Also, as certain smaller parts become discontinued and breakers less available, I end up ordering from Japan which involves factoring in postage and duty.
cant see how you can put a number on it , one year you might get away with almost nothing , then when it needs 4 tyres and a cambelt service its £££ then you get under it to fit the cambelt and find theres 2 weeks work derusting and painting some suspension parts or something
i try to stay on top of it all , will order parts when i have a bit of spare cash etc
i try to stay on top of it all , will order parts when i have a bit of spare cash etc
I have a 2004 Z4 for the summer but sorn it over the winter and a 33 year old Land Rover 90 that I use year round but 1000 miles if that. Insurance is very low on both and cost minimal to look after really - I put £130 a month into a seperate account incase at some point I need to call on it but nothing serious as yet touch wood.
I would suggest just do it while you can before its only electric!!!
I would suggest just do it while you can before its only electric!!!
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