worst ratio of cheap to buy, expensive to run?

[BERGS2]

it seems at the moment with the various uncertanties in the economy (read impending economic meltdown) and the like, that it would seem a great time buy some rather exotic metal.

However, the recieved wisdom is that if you were to buy a car that was £80k new a decade or so ago, that has now depreciated to maybe £15-20k, it will still have £80k running costs.

what is the worst example of said phenomena?

bentley continental for 18k

a lower cost 997?

or - is running a well maintained example for a couple of years a relatively risk free exercise?

What is cheap, different, and relativey bulletproof?

i'm genuinely interested in any experiences - I seem to recall horror stories of those Bentley belt changes requiring engine removal or summat, and the 997 of that era still having the bore score / IMS/RMS issues hanging over it with the potentail of rebuilds round the corner....

its all a bit of a lottery - my first 911 had cost its prior owner £5k for a rebuild - but every other potentaily scary bill throwing car i've had since has (touch wood) not thrown up anything outside of regular servicing.

So - is it a good time to buy something a bit crazy? (without the need to a £10k war chest) ?

[Julian Thompson]

BERGS2 said:

it seems at the moment with the various uncertanties in the economy (read impending economic meltdown) and the like, that it would seem a great time buy some rather exotic metal.

However, the recieved wisdom is that if you were to buy a car that was £80k new a decade or so ago, that has now depreciated to maybe £15-20k, it will still have £80k running costs.

what is the worst example of said phenomena?

bentley continental for 18k

a lower cost 997?

or - is running a well maintained example for a couple of years a relatively risk free exercise?

What is cheap, different, and relativey bulletproof?

i'm genuinely interested in any experiences - I seem to recall horror stories of those Bentley belt changes requiring engine removal or summat, and the 997 of that era still having the bore score / IMS/RMS issues hanging over it with the potentail of rebuilds round the corner....

its all a bit of a lottery - my first 911 had cost its prior owner £5k for a rebuild - but every other potentaily scary bill throwing car i've had since has (touch wood) not thrown up anything outside of regular servicing.

So - is it a good time to buy something a bit crazy? (without the need to a £10k war chest) ?

Being honest with you - and you know this deep down - there is no such thing as a heavily depreciated, cheap, high end prestige car that can be run risk free. The fact that they were all mega money in the first place puts parts costs up a lot and it would definitely be ill advised to buy one without said war chest and contingency plan. You just know that Sod’s law means that those without the funds set aside to fix it will be the ones who have the problems!

[joropug]

I have always avoided cars with common faults plastered over the web and I'm sure I have missed out on so many great cars.

I'm going to take a plunge on whatever I buy next, not Bork factor plunge but something I really want.

A Range Rover of some description, S Class or 7 series I think I want next but at the same time something more exotic or sporty is calling too.

[BERGS2]

Julian Thompson said:

Being honest with you - and you know this deep down - there is no such thing as a heavily depreciated, cheap, high end prestige car that can be run risk free. The fact that they were all mega money in the first place puts parts costs up a lot and it would definitely be ill advised to buy one without said war chest and contingency plan. You just know that Sod’s law means that those without the funds set aside to fix it will be the ones who have the problems!

i hear you & yes, the 'sods law' impact of the bork potential is strong.

just interested in the 'spread' if you like, of the risk.

i.e what happens to the £16k bentleys that need £10k of repairs (for example)?

there must be some stats of number still registered to see what is still alive?

broken for parts? high end banger racing?

[BERGS2]

what about running one of these?

at least the electrics would be pretty straightforward...

[joropug]

BERGS2 said:

i hear you & yes, the 'sods law' impact of the bork potential is strong.

just interested in the 'spread' if you like, of the risk.

i.e what happens to the £16k bentleys that need £10k of repairs (for example)?

there must be some stats of number still registered to see what is still alive?

broken for parts? high end banger racing?

A surprising number of E60 M5s were subject to fires when I worked in an insurance company. Interestingly when the keys were sent off for analysis they had gearbox faults logged. Weird that.

[joropug]

I too was looking at the bentley saloons - was thinking a wedding trip (£200 ish) once a month would go someway to offset the running costa for little effort and could be a nice little earner if you are lucky.

[samoht]

BERGS2 said:

what is the worst example of said phenomena?

Back in 2012 I bought an RX-7 for under £5k, which was the going rate at the time. I've certainly spent many multiples of that on repairs over the eight years since, so in terms of the ratio of running costs to purchase price, it's got to be among the highest.

However the ratio I personally care about is the ratio of total cost to total enjoyment, and on that basis it's been great