Exotic car ownership?

C

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
Rather than further hi-jack Deanski's thread, I thought I would start one discussing exotic/high performance/high dollar automobile ownership.
My comment will be limited to second hand information from friends. The kind of vehicles I'm referring to are not something I would have any interest in owning even if I could afford them.
Some vehicles that friends of mine have owned and some of their experiences and comments.

1. Jaguar XJS, V12 - He loved the car when it wasn't in the shop. His back up driver was an MG. He often drove a rental.:) He felt the best money he ever spent was on an extended warranty.

2. Jaguar XKE - This person had two. One to work on, one to drive. We started for a car show one night and had to leave one, go back to his house and get the other one to go to the car show.
Both drivers of British cars referred to Lucas Electric as the "Prince of Darkness".

3. BMW 5 Series - Another great car that the extended warranty was well worth having. This person had something over $7,000 in warranty work done in 2 years.

4. Mecedes 560 - His wife's driver. She loved it, he was surprised when a tuneup was almost $500. He has since gotten used to it. She now drives a Jaguar in Iowa, another Mercedes in Florida. The car maintenance is the least of his expenses with her.:)

5. Mercedes 450 - This guy bought one a couple of years old at a very good price because of some legal entanglement. Classic example of owning something you couldn't afford. He was able to pay for the car with no problem, just couldn't afford to maintain it.

6. Porsche 911 - He loved everything about the car except owning it. No problems with the car itself, but anytime he parked it anywhere, he almost had to fence it off to keep people away from it. He kept it less than 6 months and sold it only because he became so paranoid about it.

Other than the guy with the Mercedes 450, the ownership of the cars was not a problem for financially.

While I have never owned a truly expensive automobile, my biggest disappoinments were a Cadillac Coupe DeVille and a Lincoln Mark V.
That's out of something over 50 automobiles I have owned and driven. About 50% new. Some I didn't care for as much as I thought I would and sold within 6 weeks to 60 days rather than drive something I didn't really like.

Charles
 
CharlesW said:
1. Jaguar XJS, V12 - He loved the car when it wasn't in the shop. His back up driver was an MG. He often drove a rental.:) He felt the best money he ever spent was on an extended warranty.
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My mom had a XJS V12 in the early 90's which she bought new. It was in the shop more than any other car I've ever seen. I think she went through 5 window motors in 3 years. The day after the warranty expired a bunch of tubing blew in the motor. It had to be towed to the dealership.

My friend's dad used to have an early 90's Testarossa. For certain types of maintenance the engine has to be dropped. I imagine that's quite expensive.

My last car was an Audi TT. Certainly not an exotic, but the maintenance costs were easily twice what it costs me now to maintain my Honda S2000. Major service on the car used to run about $560. I think minor services a/k/a oil changes they used to want $150. Once the TT was out of warranty and I was responsible for paying for service I dumped it.
 
just wondering what you consider an exotic car because my dad has a 2002 (i think) red XK8 and he loves it, he bought used but we looked at the service record, it has never needed more then a tune up, i know its still relitvly new but still. I love the ride and the feel and so does my father. It realy think the jags of the ne millinum will redeam themsevels and run for many years to come but will have to wait and see
 
Charles you hit on a very crucial point, the maintenance.

I had a friend that used to work at a Jag dealership, and he would say that anyone could afford to buy a Jag, but can you afford to maintain one. I would think thay would go with any of, the higher price tag vehicles.

Someone did an article a few months ago saying the same thing, you could get a used Ferrari for about $30K, but could you afford the few thousand dollars for a tune-up

"J"
 
That's why you should learn to turn your own wrenches. You can get everything you need to do a tune-up for any car for about $100-$150. The money you'll save in the long run will be tremendous, no matter what kind of car you have.
 
CharlesW said:
. . .
1. Jaguar XJS, V12 - He loved the car when it wasn't in the shop. His back up driver was an MG. He often drove a rental.:) He felt the best money he ever spent was on an extended warranty.

2. Jaguar XKE - This person had two. One to work on, one to drive. We started for a car show one night and had to leave one, go back to his house and get the other one to go to the car show.
Both drivers of British cars referred to Lucas Electric as the "Prince of Darkness".
. . .
Click to expand...

LOL, Charles!!!

All I can say is that my brother has made a very good living for over 20 years with his shop that repairs & restores British cars with "luckless electrics" :)
 
tubafeak said:
You can get everything you need to do a tune-up for any car for about $100-$150.
Click to expand...
Maybe you can get the tools required, but you still need the knowledge.
That's what I figure I pay my mechanic for. What he knows, not what he does.
Basic repairs/maintenance such as alternators, brakes, plugs & plug wires are even reaching the point that I'm not comfortable working with them. I quit replacing plugs on the first vehicle I owned that required removing motor mounts and tilting the engine to gain access to some of them. A supposedly simple gasket replacement on some vehicles requires removal of the engine.
(But not by me:))

Charles
 
Charles,

Just curious, what year Coupe de Ville? It wasn't the dreaded 4100 engine,was it?
 
Bill D said:
Charles,

Just curious, what year Coupe de Ville? It wasn't the dreaded 4100 engine,was it?
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lol
No it wasn't the 4100. It was a 1967 back in 1967. It had some version of their 427ci with a Rochester Quadra-Jet carburetor. The engine and driveline were great. Great car to drive. It had a 50,000 mile/5 year factory warranty and I told the dealer that the driveshaft had a string 50,000 miles long attached to the driveshaft. When it wrapped all that string around the shaft, it pulled pins from every corner of the vehicle and parts started to fall off. In retrospect, the electrics were the biggest problem, but by no means the only one.

Charles
 
CharlesW said:
Maybe you can get the tools required, but you still need the knowledge.
That's what I figure I pay my mechanic for. What he knows, not what he does.
Basic repairs/maintenance such as alternators, brakes, plugs & plug wires are even reaching the point that I'm not comfortable working with them. I quit replacing plugs on the first vehicle I owned that required removing motor mounts and tilting the engine to gain access to some of them. A supposedly simple gasket replacement on some vehicles requires removal of the engine.
(But not by me:))

Charles
Click to expand...

This is a very wise man.

Richard
 
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