Newbie Q: Average Maintenance costs

[dozy]

Hey,

as I am getting ready for this new adventure, I have a question. If you were to average out the cost of maintaining your Spider, what does it come up to? I know there are months when it needs almsot nothing, and then the top blows off, clutch starts slipping and the hazzrd button jumps from the dash (all in the same month). But I am looking for a sense of what to expect as a monthly item in my budget.

This will be my first vintage car, but I plan on taking it slow and learning how to fix it myself. At least the basic stuff and maintenance. So labor costs should be 0 (or better said the cost of a six pack )

Thanks y'all

Dozy/

[htchevyii]

That's a tricky one. I'm a bit anal, so I probabily spend more than necessary. In addition, I spent thousands before ever driving either car, so my maintance Is fairly low now. If I average it all out, I could have bought a nice Miata and been ahead, but what fun would that be?

[kilrwail]

Over 31 years, the monthly average is $32, plus gas and oil. Your results may differ!

[So Cal Mark]

it really depends on the condition of the car when you start driving it, and how hard you want to thrash it on a daily basis

[dozy]

Well, I plan on driving it right away. Unfortunately I do not have the time or resources to do a full restoration. I am meticulous in my maintenance, but I cannot strip it down and rebuild it.


I wish I could as I Would love to have this car for decades. But for at least a few years it will have to work on repairs maintenance and gradual upgrades (preemptive repairs)...

This will be my primary driver (I hardly ever drive, though). My Mazda gets about 6k miles a year, this will get even less. I do plan on going to the mountains (well hills - we do not have mountains here in C. Texas) once in a while, but mostly it will be a city driver, driven gently and around potholes. I think I will get AAA though - just in case

I hope that helps.

Dozy

[JimM]

Asking for the average maitainence cost on a type of vehicle is like asking the average maintainence cost for a woman to keep the house looking good. It will differ with each one. Also, you have to take into account the "driving restoration" being done to your car. I was lucky enought to find one that doesn't require a lot of maintainence to keep it on the road, but the restoration is going awfully slow due to funds ie: $20 seat covers instead of reupholstery, etc, etc. I would rather have a great running little car than a great looking one, although a 124 looks pretty good no matter how rough. Over the last year I believe it cost me in the neighborhood of $300 to maintain my car, but this does include some repairs of the po's flubs. It also includes the cost of the smog test we have to pass here in sunny CA, and the registration that just jumped to $72 per year(up from $26). But ..............the cost of driving in the hills with the top down on a beautiful day----PRICELESS!!!

[mdrburchette]

Let's see....I've got $10,000 in receipts over 15 years. So $10,000 divided by 15 years divided by 12 months is $55.56 a month.
The receipts include restoring the car so not a bad price for so much fun.

[dozy]

JimM,

now worries my superspidey sense will guide me in making sense of it all! I am trying to see the spread of experiences, hear some of the "month-from-hell" stories so I get ready for the ownership of a vintage car.


As I said in my intro, this will be my first old car. I have always bought almost new. However, it is time to change that. My heart has decided. My mind still has questions making sure I will not bankrupt myself buy buying one of these ! (Which seems to be far from the case, based on the responses so fa).

Dozy