Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Have you ever taken the plunge and opted to run a once uber-expensive car, that now can be bought for peanuts?

Did the experience go well? Or were you put off the idea for good?

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[Riley Blue]

Two years ago I bought a 67,000 mile 2003 4.2L Audi A8 for £4650. It's been the best car buy I've ever made, very reliable, so comfortable and an effortless way to cover the miles. Only downside is its 25mpg fuel 'economy' but as that's about what my Riley does, I'm not complaining. Tax and insurance are roughly the same (£37 a year more) than my previous Audi, a 2000 A4 TDI so the A8 was really a no-brainer.
_________________
David

1963 Riley 1.5
1965 Riley 1.5

[ukdave2002]

In 1997 I bought an old 1982 911 SC coupe , loved it so a year later bought a new 911, loved that to but a huge difference in the 16 years between them. the 82 SC was just like a big go kart the 98 car much more conformable and refined but not as much fun as the 82 car althought it could be scary; not as everyone mentions the back end coming out, but the light front with no abs could easily lock up under braking on a wet motorway

Dave

[emmerson]

When I started buying Range Rover Classics they were cheap as chips, but very expensive to run (13/15 mpg!) Now they're increasing in value, but as I have no plans to change mine the value is only important for insurance.
As for being uber expensive, my current one was £42,000 in 1993.
But, as I've owned six of the things over the last twenty years, I guess that you could say that the experience went well, and continues so to do.
No regrets at all.

[badhuis]

A Jensen Interceptor cost twice the amount for an E-type back then. Apart from body panels which are expensive (but I did not need any), parts are cheap. OK the fuel consumption is horrible but hey....
The Jaguar 420 when new was not cheap as well, I bought it for very little money and am still running it almost daily for 9 years now. Parts are very cheap compared to parts for new cars. I did put an LPG system in it to keep the fuel bills acceptable.
Same for the 1984 Range Rover 2-door. Expensive when new, bought it cheap. It did not need expensive parts or repair bills yet (have it 5 years now).

I did scare away from a 60s Aston Martin 15 years ago which was a non-runner and had rust here and there. It was not too expensive to buy then but I thought engine parts would be expensive, and the rust could be hard to tackle. I was proved right when for a customer in 2012 I overhauled a DB4 engine (new cylinder liners / pistons / bearings) for which the parts and machining costs alone came up to 12k! An overhaul for a Jaguar engine (3.8 litre XK150 ) cost a fourth of the price.
_________________
a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[Rick]

Running three different V12 BMWs over the years might seem like a risky strategy, but to be honest they weren't bad, reliability-wise.

The first two were the E32 shape, the first being a 750iL which I think was an ex-motor show car. That one went very well indeed, helped by not having cats in the exhaust system. The only real fault it had was a leaky rear screen seal, which even the local BM dealer didn't think they could rectify.

E32 #2 was a standard wheelbase 750i, one of the last before the later shape cars came along. Again that was a great car, although it didn't feel quite as pokey as the older iL.

The final 750 was an E38 750iL, it also drove well but I preferred the E32.

Another supposedly risky buy in more recent times was a 1998 XJR. That was an amazing car.

I find myself drawn to large-engined cars, partly because at legal speeds the engines are hardly working at all, so are very under-stressed.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[Ashley]

I bought my neighbour's Boxster, it's 2005 and has done 58K. Porsche have serviced it from new, but her husband was suspicious of the horrendous charges Porsche make for doing anything, so by the time I had two new tyres fitted, all four wheels repainted, a new aircon condenser, four shocks, two new discs and pads, a brake fluid change, all new front suspension arms and a fix to the exhaust system, I've spend another £7k on an immaculate but not very valuable car. It's a lovely thing to drive and we had a good holiday in Framce with it last year, but Porsche's prices are about 50% more than Merc

[Vintage Crank]

Like Rick, I've always appreciated big engines, having owned a multitude of big Jaguars and 60s/70s American cars in my time. So when I was offered a 9 year old V12 Series 3 Jaguar Sovereign for £1100 I wasn't about to turn it down. No idea why Jaguar decided to use the Sovereign name for a brief period, rather than keeping it on the Daimlers but it was certainly their top of the range car at the time.

It didn't come without faults, such as dubious brakes (kind of important on a 150mph car!), but drove as beautifully as all big Jags do, even when they're worn out. I almost regretted the purchase when it came to changing the spark plugs though. V12s have a very full engine compartment and it took me 2 days to remove/refit the air-con, cruise control, injection system etc simply to be able to get to the plugs. And I'm not even going to describe the job of removing the rear diff cage to weld a crack in it!
_________________
Dave (Professional Procrastinator)

1927 Morris Oxford Saloon 14/28
1949 Ferguson TED20 tractor and other 1950s
1958 Series 2 Land Rover 88" and various 2a's
1969 Jaguar 420G

[Ellis]

A local individual bought a 2004 (I think) BMW 6 series 645 CI convertible in the dire January of this year for, in his words "less than the price of a new Dacia Sandero."

It drew my attention by looking in pristine condition and it certainly turns heads here.

How much were these new - £60 to £70 thousand pounds?
_________________
Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[goneps]

[Ashley]

Richard

I must say that I do worry that the Porsche doesn't have the build quality of my Merc, which is very much a German Rover and very solid. It was cheaper to put the Boxster right than buy a later one, but it's on probation, especially as it has had such a gentle life. It's a lovely car but very very pricey to run.