Average annual running cost for 20 year old 'weekend car'?
Discussion
I bought a 1996 C36 when it was ten years old, and 17 years later, I’ve spent about £9.5k on maintaining it, including having it painted, wheels done at least twice etc. so I’m thread average at £558 per year.
Needless to say, some of the expenditure wasn’t essential, but I consider it cheap to run when depreciation is applied to the equation.
For context, I’ve done 42000 miles in it in the time I’ve owned it.
Needless to say, some of the expenditure wasn’t essential, but I consider it cheap to run when depreciation is applied to the equation.
For context, I’ve done 42000 miles in it in the time I’ve owned it.
I have found it varies.
I have a 22 year old BMW that I purchased in early 2019.
There was a fair amount of initial spend during the first two years of ownership, as I needed to refresh / renew quite a few things (suspension components.etc) - this amounted to around £4k in the first year and another £4k in the second year in parts (some of the second year spend included modifications, so would have been avoidable if needed).
The past two years of ownership have cost relatively little, the car is stored over the winter months and only ever used in the summer when the weather is nice.
It's averaged around 1,000 miles a year in my ownership, last year the costs were as follows;
- Insurance - £400
- MOT - £40
- Oil & FIlter - £110
- Around £300 in fuel
I have this year needed to send the instrument cluster away for repair - expecting this back in the next week or so with a cost of around £200.
I have a 22 year old BMW that I purchased in early 2019.
There was a fair amount of initial spend during the first two years of ownership, as I needed to refresh / renew quite a few things (suspension components.etc) - this amounted to around £4k in the first year and another £4k in the second year in parts (some of the second year spend included modifications, so would have been avoidable if needed).
The past two years of ownership have cost relatively little, the car is stored over the winter months and only ever used in the summer when the weather is nice.
It's averaged around 1,000 miles a year in my ownership, last year the costs were as follows;
- Insurance - £400
- MOT - £40
- Oil & FIlter - £110
- Around £300 in fuel
I have this year needed to send the instrument cluster away for repair - expecting this back in the next week or so with a cost of around £200.
AlexGSi2000 said:
I have found it varies.
I have a 22 year old BMW that I purchased in early 2019.
There was a fair amount of initial spend during the first two years of ownership, as I needed to refresh / renew quite a few things (suspension components.etc) - this amounted to around £4k in the first year and another £4k in the second year in parts (some of the second year spend included modifications, so would have been avoidable if needed).
The past two years of ownership have cost relatively little, the car is stored over the winter months and only ever used in the summer when the weather is nice.
It's averaged around 1,000 miles a year in my ownership, last year the costs were as follows;
- Insurance - £400
- MOT - £40
- Oil & FIlter - £110
- Tax - around £150 over the months it was taxed.
- Around £300 in fuel
I have this year needed to send the instrument cluster away for repair - expecting this back in the next week or so with a cost of around £200.
I have a 22 year old BMW that I purchased in early 2019.
There was a fair amount of initial spend during the first two years of ownership, as I needed to refresh / renew quite a few things (suspension components.etc) - this amounted to around £4k in the first year and another £4k in the second year in parts (some of the second year spend included modifications, so would have been avoidable if needed).
The past two years of ownership have cost relatively little, the car is stored over the winter months and only ever used in the summer when the weather is nice.
It's averaged around 1,000 miles a year in my ownership, last year the costs were as follows;
- Insurance - £400
- MOT - £40
- Oil & FIlter - £110
- Tax - around £150 over the months it was taxed.
- Around £300 in fuel
I have this year needed to send the instrument cluster away for repair - expecting this back in the next week or so with a cost of around £200.
It's worth mentioning the sporadic nature of costs on cars at this age. On our old 996, maintenance was pretty good as far Porsche ownership goes (think about £1k per year) but if I'd have kept it longer, I'd have needed to get some paint on the front arches, probably a suspension rebuild somewhere down the line and clutches don't last forever. That's ignoring the outside possibility of a full engine rebuild, shudder. A 996 is maybe an extreme example but 20 year old cars are full of 20 year old components and typically will require more than just routine servicing from time to time. There is plenty of stuff that becomes to-do list type stuff that you just don't need to care about on newish cars. Brake lines, exhaust, radiators, hoses etc. And then there is rust. Admittedly you can do a lot of preventative stuff if your car is a garage queen but any serious corrosion or paint type issues can really cost a lot. Not trying to put anyone off, just trying to be realistic. If you keep a car short term, you can often get away with avoiding some of these big ticket items and just cover routine servicing. If you intend to keep it longer term, you tend to start to start to build up a to-do list far beyond regular oil changes.
I think I averaged about £3-4k a year over the ten years I had my '96 RX-7. Some of that was upgrades but the majority was fixing stuff - two engine rebuilds, lots of rust, brakes, suspension bushes, dampers, etc etc.
I got about half that back in appreciation when I sold it.
My current '07 C55 is probably averaging around £2k a year, although that's been driven up by a rather expensive rear brakes rebuild just recently.
Gad-Westy said:
It's worth mentioning the sporadic nature of costs on cars at this age. On our old 996, maintenance was pretty good as far Porsche ownership goes (think about £1k per year) but if I'd have kept it longer, I'd have needed to get some paint on the front arches, probably a suspension rebuild somewhere down the line and clutches don't last forever. That's ignoring the outside possibility of a full engine rebuild, shudder. A 996 is maybe an extreme example but 20 year old cars are full of 20 year old components and typically will require more than just routine servicing from time to time. There is plenty of stuff that becomes to-do list type stuff that you just don't need to care about on newish cars. Brake lines, exhaust, radiators, hoses etc. And then there is rust. Admittedly you can do a lot of preventative stuff if your car is a garage queen but any serious corrosion or paint type issues can really cost a lot. Not trying to put anyone off, just trying to be realistic. If you keep a car short term, you can often get away with avoiding some of these big ticket items and just cover routine servicing. If you intend to keep it longer term, you tend to start to start to build up a to-do list far beyond regular oil changes.
Exactly this. Mine is going to need sills in the next couple of years - saving has already started!The full running costs for my Elise, which is just coming up to 20 years old, are in my profile. I've recently been averaging around £1100 a year in total for about 3500 miles a year with a breakdown of roughly:
Insurance: £200 (full comp, £150 excess, estimated 4000 miles a year including commuting)
Tyres: £50
Servicing/Repairs/MoT: £200
Tax: £200
Fuel: £450
So with your exclusions it's just the £200ish. Last year that figure was closer to £400 (new gear linkage, track-rod ends and central locking ECU); the year before it was about £250 (new battery, a lambda sensor and 3 years' worth of oil, filters, etc.). The two years before that were nothing except the MoT itself (because I was using service components bought in bulk the year before that).
However, I do all the servicing/repairs myself which keeps the costs down. I'm also not precious about appearance so haven't bothered to fix any of the huge number of stone chips, etc. it's picked up over the years. I could probably have spent another £500 a year on it if I wanted to keep it perfect. It does currently have a VERY annoying rattle from somewhere inside the dashboard which I need to spend some time tracking down and the driver's door still doesn't lock with the central locking, I think the wiring loom has failed somewhere between the control module and the door so I need to dig that out and splice a new piece of cable into the loom.
The counter to that is that over the last five years or so, its value seems to have gone up by about £5k, which would easily cover getting it back into perfect condition. However, I'm under no illusion that values are going to continue to rise at that rate!
Insurance: £200 (full comp, £150 excess, estimated 4000 miles a year including commuting)
Tyres: £50
Servicing/Repairs/MoT: £200
Tax: £200
Fuel: £450
So with your exclusions it's just the £200ish. Last year that figure was closer to £400 (new gear linkage, track-rod ends and central locking ECU); the year before it was about £250 (new battery, a lambda sensor and 3 years' worth of oil, filters, etc.). The two years before that were nothing except the MoT itself (because I was using service components bought in bulk the year before that).
However, I do all the servicing/repairs myself which keeps the costs down. I'm also not precious about appearance so haven't bothered to fix any of the huge number of stone chips, etc. it's picked up over the years. I could probably have spent another £500 a year on it if I wanted to keep it perfect. It does currently have a VERY annoying rattle from somewhere inside the dashboard which I need to spend some time tracking down and the driver's door still doesn't lock with the central locking, I think the wiring loom has failed somewhere between the control module and the door so I need to dig that out and splice a new piece of cable into the loom.
The counter to that is that over the last five years or so, its value seems to have gone up by about £5k, which would easily cover getting it back into perfect condition. However, I'm under no illusion that values are going to continue to rise at that rate!
Edited by kambites on Friday 24th March 09:42
Our household has a 1998 E36, 2003 Holden Ute, 2005 Monaro and a 2008 Commodore, so almost everything falls in to your 20 year old weekend car category 
Do the work myself, would agree ignoring VED / insurance / petrol (thankfully) even with regular use they really don't cost much, the odd track rod end, drop link or whatever is ~£30 ish, pads £35 ish, discs maybe a few hundred, so yeah, £500 / year for each car would comfortably leave plenty of change.
Do the work myself, would agree ignoring VED / insurance / petrol (thankfully) even with regular use they really don't cost much, the odd track rod end, drop link or whatever is ~£30 ish, pads £35 ish, discs maybe a few hundred, so yeah, £500 / year for each car would comfortably leave plenty of change.
Porsche 986 Boxster (2001) has cost me around £2000 in the last 12 months on repairs service and MOT with me buying some parts but fitting them myself.
Insurance is around £200 then VEL around £300.
I think it did around 2000 miles in the last 12 months so it's cost me £1 per mile plus fuel.
I do question whether it's worth it when its sat in my garage out of sight all winter but when I get back in it I just love the thing, couple of road trips into Europe planned this year.
Insurance is around £200 then VEL around £300.
I think it did around 2000 miles in the last 12 months so it's cost me £1 per mile plus fuel.
I do question whether it's worth it when its sat in my garage out of sight all winter but when I get back in it I just love the thing, couple of road trips into Europe planned this year.
My daily is a 17 year old Subaru Legacy 3.0 and my fun car is a 20 year old clio 172. I like a bit of driveway tinkering.
Some things were common between the two. At this age suspension is at the end of it's life, so if you're in the market for a car of this age among the usual service history look for things that have had money spent on bushes, shocks etc.
The other thing is rust. There are a lot of cars of this age where it's an issue.
Generally the mechanical bits of naturally aspirated cars of this ear are fairly tough, but the more complicated things are the more risk you get (turbos/superchargers).
So if you're thinking about a fun car, finder the owners club forum, find out the common issues, and keep an eye on the club "For sale" pages. The reader's cars threads on her can also be a useful insight into ownership experience.
Some things were common between the two. At this age suspension is at the end of it's life, so if you're in the market for a car of this age among the usual service history look for things that have had money spent on bushes, shocks etc.
The other thing is rust. There are a lot of cars of this age where it's an issue.
Generally the mechanical bits of naturally aspirated cars of this ear are fairly tough, but the more complicated things are the more risk you get (turbos/superchargers).
So if you're thinking about a fun car, finder the owners club forum, find out the common issues, and keep an eye on the club "For sale" pages. The reader's cars threads on her can also be a useful insight into ownership experience.
Jamescrs said:
Porsche 986 Boxster (2001) has cost me around £2000 in the last 12 months on repairs service and MOT with me buying some parts but fitting them myself.
Insurance is around £200 then VEL around £300.
I think it did around 2000 miles in the last 12 months so it's cost me £1 per mile plus fuel.
I do question whether it's worth it when its sat in my garage out of sight all winter but when I get back in it I just love the thing, couple of road trips into Europe planned this year.
My 2005 Boxster has cost on average £1200 a year on maintenance over the last 6 years I’ve had it. Some years it’s been £2k, others £500. It’s also a pretty much 50:50 split between regular service/ consumables and age-related issues (e.g. coolant pipes last year).Insurance is around £200 then VEL around £300.
I think it did around 2000 miles in the last 12 months so it's cost me £1 per mile plus fuel.
I do question whether it's worth it when its sat in my garage out of sight all winter but when I get back in it I just love the thing, couple of road trips into Europe planned this year.
Insurance £150, VED £30pm. It does about 1500-2000 miles a year. No idea on fuel, I just stick £50 when it needs it. This year it needs 4 new summer tyres so that’ll be expensive, I’m also pondering sorting the AC out so it works.
On the plus side depreciation has been nil (actually in profit) and we’ve not needed to pay for a regular second car that would hardly get used.
My 2002 996 cost me £20k over 10 years and 60k miles excluding tax and insurance.Its about right for an old 911, they are not cheap to run if you want to keep it tip top.Recently swapped it for a 3 year old FK8 typeR with 4k miles on, so looking forward to a few years of small annual running costs.
911Spanker said:
Surely there's no real answer to the question? We all have different cars, maintain them in different ways, use them differently and have different standards of what "level" we want our cars?
Exactly that was my first thought. My 20 year old "weekend" cars in the past have been supercharged Minis. Easy to work on, parts are plentiful and there are a good range of specialists out there for jobs I can't do myself. In the grand scheme of things I didn't spent much on running them apart from fuel and mods. Currently looking at 996s which I guess from a fuel/tax/insurance point of view will be similar but parts/servicing etc will be through the roof vs a Mini.-Pete- said:
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 .
That prompted me to check how much I've spent since 2013 on my Alfa 3.0V6 Spider. Whilst having a mental note of some of the big bills over the years I'd never added it all up.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 .
Anyway your guess is bang on (excluding petrol and insurance). Over 10 years and 12k miles it has cost me on average £960 per year.
caiss4 said:
-Pete- said:
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 .
That prompted me to check how much I've spent since 2013 on my Alfa 3.0V6 Spider. Whilst having a mental note of some of the big bills over the years I'd never added it all up.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 .
Anyway your guess is bang on (excluding petrol and insurance). Over 10 years and 12k miles it has cost me on average £960 per year.
-Pete- said:
hanks. And is it worth it?
It certainly has been. Had a lot of fun and 2 or 3 road trips to Europe with it. Of course, you have to be patient with the usual Alfa electrical gremlins 
but it's never let me down.What perhaps is more telling is that when I got my big toy a couple of years ago I thought I'd sell it as I really couldn't see me using it vey much. For the first time ever my wife forbade from moving it on.
DaveyBoyWonder said:
911Spanker said:
Surely there's no real answer to the question? We all have different cars, maintain them in different ways, use them differently and have different standards of what "level" we want our cars?
Exactly that was my first thought. My 20 year old "weekend" cars in the past have been supercharged Minis. Easy to work on, parts are plentiful and there are a good range of specialists out there for jobs I can't do myself. In the grand scheme of things I didn't spent much on running them apart from fuel and mods. Currently looking at 996s which I guess from a fuel/tax/insurance point of view will be similar but parts/servicing etc will be through the roof vs a Mini.shirt said:
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 risk is upgrade-itis. Retrimming the interior, fitting a supercharger, buying a set of ultralight forged alloys, upgrading components and getting everything powder coated during the suspension refresh... 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
Next big bill will be a respray.
It varies considerably
2004 Smart Roadster was about £80 servicing and £1100 in repairs -owned for 12 months in 2020.
1982 VW T25 is about £100 in servicing and about £400 for repairs - owned 10 years but threw it's gearbox last year at £1700.
2007 BMW 330i - about £200 servicing and £100 in repairs per annum. Owned for 6 years.
2009 Nissan Note - £150 servicing and £0 in repairs - owned for 9 years.
All still owned or sold recently. Smart and VW do a max of 3000 miles per annum. Others were daily drivers at about 8000 miles per annum.
2004 Smart Roadster was about £80 servicing and £1100 in repairs -owned for 12 months in 2020.
1982 VW T25 is about £100 in servicing and about £400 for repairs - owned 10 years but threw it's gearbox last year at £1700.
2007 BMW 330i - about £200 servicing and £100 in repairs per annum. Owned for 6 years.
2009 Nissan Note - £150 servicing and £0 in repairs - owned for 9 years.
All still owned or sold recently. Smart and VW do a max of 3000 miles per annum. Others were daily drivers at about 8000 miles per annum.
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