Running costs

Oh, body damage, yes it would be huge.

But I thought we were talking about general running costs, which would usually just include general wear and tear items.

Anything body wise means you've probably been vandalised or crashed, meaning it'd be an insurance job?

Btw, I've been talking about the S1 Elise, as that's what I know, although, I can't imagine the S2 is all that much different.
 
If you take it to Lotus then yes, it'll probably cost you a fair bit but there are loads of much cheaper (and better) specialists out there.

If I recall correctly I think I paid £50 labour to get my front pads replaced and oil changed (self supplied parts). They are really simple cars so most jobs are pretty quick. The only one I can think of which isn't is to replace the radiator as that's a clam off job.
 
[TW]Fox;15336216 said:
Repair costs are astronomical - the bodywork is a single peice clamshell which if properly damaged requires complete replacement at huge cost, writing the car off more often than not.
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That's one of the things that I disliked most about my Elise. Due to the clamshell design, replacement/repair is very expensive so you tend to get a bit paranoid about where you leave it. Car park bumps can be fatal.

You wouldn't want to leave it in Clifton as the probability of some crap driver nudging your bumper is very high so you're likely to come back to a cracked clam (Cliftonites seem to use their bumpers to judge when to stop)
 
Thing with the lotus is stuff fails no matter how old they are. Lack of the correct attention and you can have a 5 year old one off the road.
 
can't see why folks have Boxster S at top of list, tyres/brakes etc cost but a lot of stuff is relatively cheap

servicing / insurance

fuel consumption not that bad too
 
I'm not sure why the Mercs are so low down. Have you seen their service and parts prices at the main dealer? This whole idea is flawed in any case unless we put some more parameters round it.

As mentioned before, fuel consumption will play a big part, but depending on the driver so will insurance. The difference for an old git like me between all the cars is probably a few hundred quid. However for a younger drive it will be '000s. Peerzy on that ordered list of yours, the Mustang, and probably the S2000, are going to shoot way above some of the BMWs for a young driver as the insurance hike will be a massive part of the running costs. For me not so and the fuel/servicing will be the major factor.
 
I don't know, American specalist policies and some of the assumptions insurers make about cars like that usually result in pretty low premiums - certainly much, much lower than the equivalent BMW (or even the S2000, I'd hazard a guess), anyway....
 
BigT said:
I'm not sure why the Mercs are so low down. Have you seen their service and parts prices at the main dealer? This whole idea is flawed in any case unless we put some more parameters round it.

As mentioned before, fuel consumption will play a big part, but depending on the driver so will insurance. The difference for an old git like me between all the cars is probably a few hundred quid. However for a younger drive it will be '000s. Peerzy on that ordered list of yours, the Mustang, and probably the S2000, are going to shoot way above some of the BMWs for a young driver as the insurance hike will be a massive part of the running costs. For me not so and the fuel/servicing will be the major factor.
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Thinking about it I do suppose to Mercs should be higher, parts are more expensive than BMW from what I've read and other variables should be the same as the BMW's.

Personally I'd discounted fuel consumption as a major factor because thinking the difference between the best MPG (one of the hot hatches at about 30MPG~) and the worst car (Mustang or something else at 18MPG-20MPG) wouldn't be big. Thinking about it 12k for 3 years would be a big difference.

Rotty said:
Monaro, VXR8, 630i , Jag

on all of those depreciation woulld prob be higher than the entire cost of running the Boxster
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Depreciation is not being taken into account for this as it's not a cost/bill you are going to have to pay out - it's money you are going to lose.
 
Dolph said:
Perhaps in the US, but not in the UK, the prodigious thirst of the V8 combined with relative scarcity of parts and so on will mean running the stang isn't cheap, and the insurance won't be either.
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Not at all, owning a Mustang can work out much cheaper than many cars on that list. I agree petrol is not going to be cheap but that’s the case for anything with a bit of kick in it these days. To be honest I've only noticed a small difference in petrol cost over the 330ci I used to have.

Standard serviceable parts (plugs, filters, etc) are cheap as they are just standard ford items. As for the serving itself you can either do it yourself (nothing too complex and no advanced computers/electronics) or take it to one of the many specialists who rates are very reasonable (no fear of main dealer hourly charges).

If you need specialist parts or custom bits for upgrading then sourcing them from the states is simple, quick an no more expense than getting modified parts in the UK for UK sold cars.

Finally insurance, again cheap; assuming you are looking at a limited mileage policy (no one buys these to rack up 1000s of motorway miles) then there are a lot of custom/American car insurers that offer good prices, even for young drivers who wouldn't get insured on a large amount of cars in that list.

I know 21-25 year olds who are paying less for their stangs than they would for a basic saxo. :D
 
GSXRMovistar said:
Not at all, owning a Mustang can work out much cheaper than many cars on that list. I agree petrol is not going to be cheap but that’s the case for anything with a bit of kick in it these days. To be honest I've only noticed a small difference in petrol cost over the 330ci I used to have.

Standard serviceable parts (plugs, filters, etc) are cheap as they are just standard ford items. As for the serving itself you can either do it yourself (nothing too complex and no advanced computers/electronics) or take it to one of the many specialists who rates are very reasonable (no fear of main dealer hourly charges).

If you need specialist parts or custom bits for upgrading then sourcing them from the states is simple, quick an no more expense than getting modified parts in the UK for UK sold cars.

Finally insurance, again cheap; assuming you are looking at a limited mileage policy (no one buys these to rack up 1000s of motorway miles) then there are a lot of custom/American car insurers that offer good prices, even for young drivers who wouldn't get insured on a large amount of cars in that list.

I know 21-25 year olds who are paying less for their stangs than they would for a basic saxo. :D
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Sooooooo tempting! Would need a plate to get an insurance quote and doubt many American specialists would be pleased with me phoning them up having not bought the car yet!

Did a confused.com quote for all the cars (bar the top 3 - Mustang is obviously specialist only and didn't have time to find a reg for the C350 and XF 4.2).

insurance.jpg


350Z the most expensive, my Bravo the cheapest. 130i cheaper than an ST. 335i less than £1000!
 
I was keeping my thoughts largely to myself until the huge table of insurance costs appeared.

What is the point in this thread? I mean you actually went through and did a confused.com quote for every car involved? I mean... why? It can't be so you can narrow down your next car choice as you've got £50k cars and £10k cars in the list :confused:

Your insurance costs don't really show much - I actually insure a 530i Sport (Same insurance group and cost irrespective of age and value with my insurer) and its £300 a year cheaper to insure than a 335i M Sport is with them.
 
[TW]Fox;15355631 said:
I was keeping my thoughts largely to myself until the huge table of insurance costs appeared.

What is the point in this thread? I mean you actually went through and did a confused.com quote for every car involved? I mean... why? It can't be so you can narrow down your next car choice as you've got £50k cars and £10k cars in the list :confused:

Your insurance costs don't really show much - I actually insure a 530i Sport (Same insurance group and cost irrespective of age and value with my insurer) and its £300 a year cheaper to insure than a 335i M Sport is with them.
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Nah it started out as talk in the office. It takes 30 seconds to check each one on confused, the details all stay the same just replace the reg and click get quote.

"A Honda S2000 thats gonna cost nothing to run it'll never blow up and only old people buy Hondas so cheap as chips to run"

"You need to be a millionaire to run an Elise!"

etc... and I was trying to prove to them that they have the wrong ideas in their head.

I'd consider a couple of those as 'next cars' but not for a while yet.

Interested me to see that the same engine through the BMW lineup costs different amounts.

Point of this thread - is it actually that expensive to run some of these cars? Some people in my office really did believe that an Elise/Mustang was such an uber rare expensive car that you really do need to be earning £100k+ to afford one.
 
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