Holy Cow! $31,412.00 in repairs over 10 years! This is good?

Post by **thecheat** » 02 Jul 2011, 06:28

I bought my dream car a while back, a 95 Taurus SHO, a few years old with an aftermarket warranty. I think I spent $2000 or $2500 for the warranty and it ended up covering about $8,000 in repairs over four years before I got rid of it.

That was mostly the (lousy) transmission being rebuilt twice and a head gasket leak. Didn't cover the crank sensor that went bad and didn't throw a code so the warranty company wouldn't cover it. I had to replace it myself, luckily it was only $100.

Post by **jt74** » 02 Jul 2011, 07:04

All of this needs to be put into perspective. I am in JRL's corner on this one. That being said, everything in the world works this way. To make a pizza costs about $2.15 yet we pay upwards of $20 dollars to scarf one down. The price of labor alone is insane when we take our cars to the dealership service center and not much better at an Indy shop and I haven't even begun to talk about the mark up for parts. This is what they do for a living and they are not shy about making you pay for the work.

Yes, we here in the forums WANT to tackle this work ourselves and so we save massive amounts of money. But, there are so many people in this great big world that can hardly change the batteries out of the remote control let alone turn a wrench so they pay someone else to do it. Some people are so busy that they don't have time to do it so ( because they can easily afford it) they pay someone else to do it. Look at JIFFY lube. wtf? They don't do anything that any normal person can't do with 16 dollars, a serviceable socket set and 20 minutes, yet they make MILLIONS doing what they do. It seems unfathomable to us because we love working on our cars but the majority of the world just pay the bill and forget about it until something else breaks.

Post by **holler1** » 02 Jul 2011, 07:09

thecheat wrote:I bought my dream car a while back, a 95 Taurus SHO, a few years old with an aftermarket warranty. I think I spent $2000 or $2500 for the warranty and it ended up covering about $8,000 in repairs over four years before I got rid of it.

That was mostly the (lousy) transmission being rebuilt twice and a head gasket leak. Didn't cover the crank sensor that went bad and didn't throw a code so the warranty company wouldn't cover it. I had to replace it myself, luckily it was only $100.

Volvos are expensive to fix, even doing it ourselves, due to parts costs, but they are quality cars overall and worth the trouble. In my opinion, the 90s Fords were a "lost generation". I was a Ford owner all my life until I bought a new 92 Taurus that was the worst car I ever owned. I swore off Fords for 15 years. Ford is finally "back", and I now have an 08 Fusion that is almost trouble-free. It isn't as fun to drive as the Volvo though.

Post by **Xilikon** » 02 Jul 2011, 07:15

holler1 wrote:
thecheat wrote:I bought my dream car a while back, a 95 Taurus SHO, a few years old with an aftermarket warranty. I think I spent $2000 or $2500 for the warranty and it ended up covering about $8,000 in repairs over four years before I got rid of it.

That was mostly the (lousy) transmission being rebuilt twice and a head gasket leak. Didn't cover the crank sensor that went bad and didn't throw a code so the warranty company wouldn't cover it. I had to replace it myself, luckily it was only $100.
Volvos are expensive to fix, even doing it ourselves, due to parts costs, but they are quality cars overall and worth the trouble. In my opinion, the 90s Fords were a "lost generation". I was a Ford owner all my life until I bought a new 92 Taurus that was the worst car I ever owned. I swore off Fords for 15 years. Ford is finally "back", and I now have an 08 Fusion that is almost trouble-free. It isn't as fun to drive as the Volvo though.

Parts costs is nothing compared to my 2007 Toyota Yaris or 2005 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS, not even talking about the work (Subaru tune-up is always in the 500-600$ ballpark for hardly any work at the dealer). The killer in Volvo case would be the labor cost, mostly due to the complications related to the technology used by Volvo.

As long as people are willing to pay them, they will always ask for big bills. The PO of my Volvo was a businessman so he always pay a lot but he doesn't care, which is to my benefit.

Post by **jt74** » 02 Jul 2011, 07:20

Don't even get me started with Fords. The Exploder is the worst car/ SUV ever made. Electrical problems, fuel system problems. POS! The only car worse is a Ford Escort. Fix Or Repair Daily is no joke.

BigRed · Post by **BigRed** » 02 Jul 2011, 07:32

I'm selling my '99 A6 quattro & have pulled old invoices to document maintenance & repairs. I was taken back by how much it's been in 5 years/50K miles. Over $6K!

I'm in the market for a '96/'97 855 Turbo/T-5 now. I'd think $2K would be enough to replace everything I did on the Audi & then some.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

Post by **RyanGLT** » 02 Jul 2011, 07:53

jt74 wrote:Don't even get me started with Fords. The Exploder is the worst car/ SUV ever made. Electrical problems, fuel system problems. POS! The only car worse is a Ford Escort. Fix Or Repair Daily is no joke.

The Escorts YOU have had were that bad? Cause I could go on about the wonders of the 244k 1988 Escort I sold a few years ago, only needing a fuel pump. My mother's ZX2 she had for a few years was also completely trouble free for the lease period... and they've been making millions of them for a LONG time.... So I'm just going to have to disagree.

Explorers on the other hand...I'm right there with you.

Post by **bronxnativ** » 02 Jul 2011, 09:47

holler1 wrote:
thecheat wrote:I bought my dream car a while back, a 95 Taurus SHO, a few years old with an aftermarket warranty. I think I spent $2000 or $2500 for the warranty and it ended up covering about $8,000 in repairs over four years before I got rid of it.

That was mostly the (lousy) transmission being rebuilt twice and a head gasket leak. Didn't cover the crank sensor that went bad and didn't throw a code so the warranty company wouldn't cover it. I had to replace it myself, luckily it was only $100.
Volvos are expensive to fix, even doing it ourselves, due to parts costs, but they are quality cars overall and worth the trouble. .

Totally agree; but as we all know, it's still cheaper than a new car payment plus full coverage insurance that you must have when financing through a bank. 2006 was the first "spanking" new car I ever owned (toyota). That car payment with insurance was about $500 a month. I was willing to pay this price for the piece of mind of not breaking down for at least three years. The car departed in 2008 (due to the economy tanking) and I have not owned a new car since. The headaches about used cars is that you never know what can happen next. It generally hits you when you least expect it and can less afford it.

Overall, I'm content with my 96 850. Have done a few minor repairs in the six months I've owned it (mostly maintenance and parts that are now old). I may have spent just under $1000 and that's just me being meticulous with the car. Can't afford for it to break down as I have a young child; so I generally fix the problems as soon as they come up.

Next task is the fuel filter, 02 sensor, CV joints (both sides) and sending back the rebuilt ABS module to Matty Moo for inspection/repair or replacement. It's been an ongoing thorn on my side for awhile. It's been time to get it done and over with.

Kirby J · Post by **Kirby J** » 02 Jul 2011, 11:18

1999 v70 160K

Purchase price $1600 Dec 2009
Parts and labor to get it (almost) right

New wheel 150
Front brakes 200
Xemodex 700
Ball Joints, front struts 600
Tires 300
Couple of fuel relays 45
AC work 35
plugs, filters, miscl. 100

Insurance check when it was hit by a tree in May of this year 1575, Negligible damage.

Still drives great and looks fair at 186k.

BTW, I am still looking for a silver hood for this car somewhere around Nashville TN

Kirby J

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 02 Jul 2011, 13:56

I think the moral to this thread is that if you can't wrench the car yourself or you have a huge trust fund, don't buy one.

Over the last year I think I have spent around $1000.00 on all 4 of mine. I spent around $1000 / per car when I first bought them for Stage Zero stuff as I bought them but that has been amortized over the years and miles. The lions share of the money went to the new shocks, struts, and spring seats on the '94 along with a new axle from Marty at RAXLES.

Even with 260k on the clock that is one of the best cars I have ever owned.

...Lee

Holy Cow! $31,412.00 in repairs over 10 years! This is good?

Re: Holy Cow! $31,412.00 in repairs over 10 years! This is g