I'll just claim I got the comma in the wrong place

@ Eldinho - I didn't class the bent rod as a failure, as it was completely self-inflicted, and it didn't really fail - I could have carried on driving with it (it made a ticking noise at idle - at all other times it was quiet)

@ Welshbeef - over 400bhp AND I use Toyo Proxes, which I buy purely for grip, not longevity. I rarely loose traction, even in the wet - the tyre wear comes from the hefty torque figure and the (ahem) "enthusiastic" cornering

I've just been through my spreadsheet again - true failures on my car have been:

Braided brake hose (three times!)
Brick through the sump
Coolant hose of death (twice)
Crank sensor
Throttle cable
4th gear synchro
Throttle position sensor

all other expenditure has been preventative (eg, I knew it was going to fail, so I replaced it anyway)

Out of all the above, only the gearbox synchro could possibly be down to the state of tune - all other failures could have happened to a standard car (in fact I've since learned that 4th gear synchro is becoming a common problem on the six speed boxes, more so with Alfas for some reason)

...or that it's in yen

Consider this though...

over the same five years and the same mileage, a company car (diesel Vectra or Mondeo) would have cost me roughly

Fuel - £15,000
Income tax £8,500

so about half as much as the Coupe.

This option is currently available to me, but I've turned down the company car on two points

1) Don't want a Vectra or Mondeo
2) at the end of it all, I still own a 175mph Italian sports car

Good news is that I'll now be given a car allowance of about £4.5k per annum, so that will reduce the overall cost significantly.

Going back to the original question posed by this thread, I now budget next to nothing for the Coupe. All the mods are done and the car allowance covers the basic running costs (insurance, servicing and tyres). All I have to find is fuel for the daily commute (still a faintly terrifying £20 per day )

Very interesting replies my initial outlay with the coop was:-

£2300 for the car
£1800+ for new engine + fitting £600
New Oil cooler + Pipes £300

any thing else has been wear and tear items and preventative maintenance.

Rog @ Powerfiat has always been helpfull and warned me early on for items on the car that are wearing out. I have always followed his advice and got them done asap. This seems to help prevent on the sudden big bills that can occur

That's the key for 2 years of trouble free motoring with 20,000 miles a year ;)......

well so far any way!!

Well i have to say,i am in the same lucky position as welsh beef,i have not had to spend much on my car either,and i have owned it for 8 years next week any mechanical faults did not cost me a penny as i was insured for parts and labour with the AA for £80 a year,i only had a rad and oil cooler replaced anyway.now the car is past the 100k i am not able renew the warrenty.and i don,t put aside money for the upkeep,just spend when needed

Mmmmm...... the bill for my car for April/May 2008 is scary!!!

PowerFiat Overhaul for a second user engine, all belts, oil cooler, clutch, pro-alloy rad, wishbones, ARB's, starter button relay fix, thermostat and a few other bits and bobbs £2,425

(thank God that bill was paid by previous owner) .

Flights & Ferry to pick up and return to Ireland £200

Import duty £634

Motor Tax (12 mths) £468

New Exchange Turbo at Turbo Technics £422

Turbo Fitting & Service (2nd service in 400miles!!) £365

4 new Toyo Proxes (last month previous owner) guesstimate £400

Alloy refurb (last month previous owner) guesstimate £200

Front end respray (last month previous owner) guesstimate £250

Front end respray remedial works £30 (paint went dead)


Holy cr4p!! That £5,394.

alfa anyone?

http://www.leasingoptions.co.uk/offers/alfa-romeo-159-1.9-jtdm-16v-lusso-4dr-27939.aspx


£200 a month? probably a few catches though. peace of mind motoring.

Fuel economy will be rubbish and it will spend more time in the garage than on the road also the seats are horrible!

If I had a budget, I'd overspend.

you get a loan car if it goes wrong, you don't have pay for the repairs and the seats are no worse than a std 20vt. (in my opinion)

you think it would drink more than 20vt?? errr i don't think so.

And they look nice.

Just an example, im sure there are other cars for simular money.

So you pay £200 a month for a 159 and you get a different loan car

I never said fuel economy would be worse than a coop, I said it would be rubbish

I never said they don't look nice, although in red they don't

And in my humble and honest opinion the seats are worse than a 20vt's standard seats, they are flat, unsupportive, hard and too high

But as its just an example, lets leave it there

Zero. Just do stuff when it needs doing. Old csr, low value, pointless spending tons on it.

I don't actually set aside anything but I keep a figure of £100 per month in my head. In the 2.5 years I've had the coop it has cost around £2.5k (so that figure is about right) but that has included Bilsteins/Eibachs/Strut brace/all new belts/widget/HIDs and some (hopefully bomb proof) new front discs.

If I look at the stuff that's actually broken/worn (full set of tyres/thermostat/temperature sender/bump stops/handbrake cables) then it's probably not even £500 in that time and the tyres are still pretty good.

/me runs off to find a tree to hug.

Budget? Nothing. I don't have a bean left over at the end of the month so I just try to do what i can, when I can

Here's my totals all listed on my excel spreadsheet

Fixing £2330
Maintenaence £2740
Mods £2382
Running costs (Purchase, Fuel, insurance, Mot, tax) £20740
£11,800 of that is petrol and I've never commuted in it. If I'd spent half as many of my hours 'hunting' in my early years and spent that on mods, it would have 370bhp by now I'm now doing 1/4 as many miles and actually enjoying it more. Quality vs quantity...

Roughly £28,200 in 4 years and 53,000 miles= 53p a mile

I just get a new credit card when the old limit runs out.

Yes there are thats £199pcm exct VAT so add that VAT in and its £234pcm, also you do have milage restrictions basically it would be 10k or so a year.