Man maths - What can you run for £5-6k a year?

[superhans88]

Given that it's costing me not much less than that to keep my old Focus going these days, it got me wondering what the true cost of running something a bit interesting would be.. I figured that with money being so cheap these days (15k loans at 3%),could it be possible to slip into something tasty but with low depreciation and not be too financially ruinous?

Specifically, I've been thinking about late 996/early 997 Porsches which are now loosing value at about £1k-£2k a year.. so man maths as follows

- £2.5k Fuel (12,000 miles/30mpg)
- £1k Tax/Insurance/MoT
- £1k Misc maintenance
- £1.5k Depreciation

= £6k.. (Assuming minimal interest on bank loan)

Is that realistic? Any other examples?

[Jimmy Recard]

With maintenance you could be lucky or unlucky - it could cost very little or it could cost 10x your £1000 estimate

[FN2TypeR]

Jimmy Recard said:

With maintenance you could be lucky or unlucky - it could cost very little or it could cost 10x your £1000 estimate

Exactly this, it'll all look sweetness and light until something like that 997 lunches a clutch or eats its gearbox - at which point you will cry because your maintenance budget will just have been rinsed.

[edc]

You'll not lose much if any in terms of purchase and sale price for most 986/996 these days.

[trickywoo]

£1k a year on maintenance would go most years and every now and again you'll have a bigger bill so I'd allow £2k a year with the leftover building up an allowance for a big bill.

[mike74]

It's really costing you £5k-£6k a year to run an old Focus?

You're already having your pants pulled down without getting into a more exotic and costly car.

[P700DEE]

I think you fuel consumption figures may be optimistic but the rest works OK. I ran a 4.2 S Type for three years, depreciation was £1K (bought £3K, sold £2K) fuel consumption was mid 20s, Tax £285 PA, servicing even with issues (AIRCON, radiator, gearbox service) less than £1k PA, insurance business for the 20K PA was around £350PA so well within spec. You could buy a decent XK/XKR and early X100s are going up rather than down in price.

[deckster]

Anything interesting enough to be worth buying, and cheap enough to be affordable, is going to have maintenance well over £1k/year on average. I've had my 996 just under two years and have spent over £5k just on general maintenance, and that's without any particularly big-ticket items. Probably another £3k-ish coming up as well although that includes some bigger things like new exhaust and clutch. Some years you're lucky and it all ticks along, some years you're not and there's £2k or more of unexpected work needed. And then there's the ever-present chance that your IMS explodes or you get bore scoring and need to rebuild the engine - you're looking at about £10k if that happens.

Either way, your £1k/year will just about get you a service and essential stuff like brakes - you should have another couple of grand per year budgeted for the bits which are inevitably going to wear out sooner or later. Of course if you have the tools, skills, and time to do the spannering yourself you can save a lot of money.

On the plus side, as said the 996 is unlikely to depreciate much if at all - prices, on the whole, are pretty stable and perhaps even going up for good, low mileage examples. And when all's said and done, having a 911 on the drive is never a bad thing

[Momentofmadness]

Unless you're a gambler / gifted mechanic, then budget £1K for an annual warranty too?

[S10GTA]

You're doing something very wrong if it cost you 6k a year to run any focus.

[superhans88]

S10GTA said:

You're doing something very wrong if it cost you 6k a year to run any focus.

I did say 'not much less than..' which in man maths terms probably within a couple of grand! Granted, I'm doing 20k p/a just now which is soon to stop (thankfully) and have splashed a good whack on suspension work and a couple of wheel bearings this year. All in, it's going to cost £3-4k to run any shed if fuel is at least half that.

I suppose the general point I'm making is if depreciation is minimised, it could cost less than you think to actually own something interesting for a couple of years.

[edc]

Momentofmadness said:

Unless you're a gambler / gifted mechanic, then budget £1K for an annual warranty too?

Little point on a 986/996 as most maintenance is wear and tear and age related. These are 12+ year old cars now.

[SWoll]

superhans88 said:

I suppose the general point I'm making is if depreciation is minimised, it could cost less than you think to actually own something interesting for a couple of years.

And as suggested, it could also cost an awful lot more. If you rely on the car as a daily, and your budget is what you suggest I'd caution restraint.

[maxdb]

£1k maintenance seems really low on a car like that. If it was me then I would be looking at around £4k to cover the maintenance side. Big jobs could be more than this though.

[edc]

Rule of thumb budget for most 986 owners and 996 is basically the same is £2k first year and £1k each year after. OPC and many Indys list prices for the minor and major service at circa £300 and £400.

[PDP76]

Look at the original price of these cars. Those cars still come with the associated running costs and they can be ruinous. I have a friend with a V10 M5 collecting dust at the moment because the gearbox threw a wobbly and doesn't want to work.

[Ahbefive]

A friend bought a lovely 996 Carrera. Prior to him buying it it had a £10k engine rebuild as the engine died from a split liner.

Budget that possibility in. Porsche engine rebuilds are very expensive compared to most other cars.

[Matt UK]

superhans88 said:

Given that it's costing me not much less than that to keep my old Focus going these days, it got me wondering what the true cost of running something a bit interesting would be.. I figured that with money being so cheap these days (15k loans at 3%),could it be possible to slip into something tasty but with low depreciation and not be too financially ruinous?

Specifically, I've been thinking about late 996/early 997 Porsches which are now loosing value at about £1k-£2k a year.. so man maths as follows

- £2.5k Fuel (12,000 miles/30mpg)
- £1k Tax/Insurance/MoT
- £1k Misc maintenance
- £1.5k Depreciation

= £6k.. (Assuming minimal interest on bank loan)

Is that realistic? Any other examples?

Yeah, I'd go with your numbers - but only if I had £10k just sitting the bank in case I needed it.

If I literally just had the money each year you mention, then no. What do you do when the car throws you a bigger than expected bill? Put it in a credit card? Sell it as a non runner??

[Scootersp]

Go for something powerful/fun but with fewer possible issues and lower 'marque' tax than a porsche?