I won't be trading the Boxster for a while, so this is more out of interest than intent, but having spent an afternoon looking at moters on the trader website I saw some tasty 15k-ish motors:
* E39 M5
* E46 M3
* CLK 500
* Audi S4
Do these motors realistically cost more to run than a Boxster or is that naive? The Boxster isn't particularly cheap to run IMO. I'm not talking about insurance, fuel & tax, which will obviously be higher in these group 20 monsters, just servicing & maintenance & provisional budget for service parts etc.
With the Boxster it seems to cost about 1k-1.5k a year using specialists, which I can stomach (just). I know the M3 needs valve clearances adjusted by BMW periodically @ quite a cost. I'm not fussed about using main dealers if I don't have to although it might be more appropriate with a 5 year old car like this than my 9 year old Porsche.
Interested to get views on this especially from anyone who has run one of these beasts
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 04/11/2007 at 20:59
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M5 - Anyday - who cares about anything else when you have that engine.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 04/11/2007 at 21:00
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Have you got any insight or experience on running one re costs, especially at 5-6 years old & with appropriate milage? One thing I'm 100% certain on is a proper inspection prior to purchase on any future buy esp. of a car of this type. Also do you think the M3 is the most likely to have been thrashed at some stage as the others are a bit more 'mature' in appeal?
Although I have to stress again that I'm asking more out of interest at this stage than as an imminant buyer, as in the late 90's some backroomers got annoyed whenI asked about a Porsche 928 that I wasn't that serious about buying.
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I know its now older, but the 96 E320 coupe we still have was quite an investment when we bought it at i think 6 years old.
We looked long and hard and managed to find a one comany director owner low mileage car.
It isn't quite in the same league as the vehicles youre looking at but our running costs even with group 19 ins have been remarkably low.
And the only reason for this is that we are lucky enough to have one of the longest established merc indy's to look after it (and others till recently) for us.
This chap knows more about mercs than you can possibly imagine.
All i can say to you is whittle down your choice then spend boring hours following threads on the various forums to learn all about the many vices these cars can have.
The only other thing i've really learn't is try to go for a coupe/convertible or one of the more unusual as against just a fast saloon, to tyr and keep the value/rarity up.
Its worked for us as similar cars to ours are fetching almost as much as we payed for it, but we do maintain very well, incl bodywork.
And yes M3 has some image problems and isn't always cared for in the correct way IMO.
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M5 - Anyday - who cares about anything else when you have that engine.
Alfa 156 GTA - Anyday - who cares about anything else when you have that engine. ;)
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You've missed a couple.
Jaguar XJR.
Daimler Super-V.
Scheduled 10K services can be had for £150 to £200 at an independent, £200 to £250 at a Jag main dealer.
One of the largest owners clubs in the UK with plenty of independent specialists around, cheap spares and loads of advice from fellow enthusiasts.
If you like getting your hands dirty, any special tools that you might need can be hired from the JEC.
I have a '99 XJ8 that I bought five years ago because I loved the XJ6 that my dad owned in the 70's. Mine is now like a favourite sofa that I can't bear the thought of replacing. Other than servicing the only replacements I've needed were a battery and a power steering fluid cooler (~£120 fitted).
Buy a copy of Playjag (www.jaguar-world.com) then go for a test drive.
Kevin...
PS. It's not German and will ride better than anything on your list. It's also better looking.
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Routine servicing on most cars, even 'super saloons', is these days limited to fluids, filters and sparks. It should not be significantly more than the 'garden variety' models. The real pain comes when some part unexpectedly fails. Then all of a sudden you can be into some very large sums of money......
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Yes Aprilla, that's exactly what I'm getting at - out of the cars I mentioned, do any of them have a higher tendancy to failure or known issues, for example, with the Boxster, you could say "Check the RMS, check the coolant tank & rad for cracks, check the hood for creases in the screen, make sure the spoiler goes all the way up & down, check the inside edges of the tyres for wear, check the wheel bearings aren't whining, and make sure it doesn't pop out of gear when you're driving it". If you checked all that, you'd have all the common failures covered (apart from the mid-shaft, which can't be for-seen). None of them have turbos to fail so that must be an obvious potential failure that is avoided. Would a V8 in the S4 or CLK be less stressed than a performance 6 cylinder etc.
Also, is it the case taht the CLK 500 and S8 use 'ordinary' CLK and A4 parts for example, where the M3/M5 has tons of specialised M-tuned extra-expensive bits that only appear in M cars?
Nice idea about the Jag, the old shape XKR looks very nice in black too
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I'd say all of them would be more expensive to run than a Boxster and, on average, pretty much all of them go wrong more often.
The E39 M5 is probably the first one I'd avoid unless you get it with a BMW used warranty. They may be great cars but can be hideously expensive to run once they start getting on in a few years and miles. Also, like any E39, they can get quite sloppy once they reach a few miles and the suspension has not been overhauled.
On the Audi's the gearboxes have a tendancy to go pop about 80k. Audi say they are sealed for life but actually need the fluid changing about every 40k if you want the gearbox to last. I've also known several Audi V8 engines to start burining through loads of oil at about 70k miles.
They're all nice cars but unless you do a very low mileage if you can't afford a newer lower mileage example think very hard indeed about it. I doubt any of them will get 20mpg.
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