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

[se13allmylife]

Don't know how new car prices are in the US , but here in the UK what I paid for my 95' 850 works out to less than what a work collegue paid for two months finance on his '09 Ford Focus and that's not allowing for depreciation . Incidentally , I had less (needed) work done over a year too . I'm not sure i'd go to that level but i know i have spent a fair amount on repairing sheds in the past because it was easier to find £2000 spread over a year than the lump sum i would have needed as a deposit . As so many have said if you can d.i.y it makes a big difference and personally i feel all cars need parts sooner or later and there is no other car ( i've had over 100 different euro models in 25 years) i'd rather plough my hard earned into !

[jimr2345]

What did you do?
Blow up the motor, the trans and about everything else?!
NOBODY can spend that much money on mechanics on one stupid Volvo and you were a total fool to do so if you really did this.
You can buy the best 850R in the world for 10-12K

Hell I didn't do it - LOL - The previous owner did! it boils down to 200.00 a month in repairs if you minus the body work.

He got ripped off by a muffler shop and paid 3150.00 front to back. He knows nothing about cars but apparently has $$$!

[jimr2345]

I gotta second Jim on this one... did you hand off every single repair to a shop that overcharged you or what?

Yes he did. LOL

[jimr2345]

JRL, it isn't polite to call people fools. Anyway he said his friend paid those costs, didn't you read the post?

jimr2345: You said "less body work" so it was in an accident? Did you deduct those repairs? Its listed separately up there.

Body work was 8000.00 - about half was covered by insurance

Funny how these things work. My car was evidently a cash devouring hole for the previous owner, but I have spent less than $500 in repairs over the three years since I bought it from her. In three years I have had a bad coil, a sticking brake caliper, one worn engine mount, and a loose electrical connection on the starter. That's it in three years for an 11 year old 149k car.

Now I have had some maintenance items that any car would have like worn rotors and oil changes, so did you separate maintenance items from repair items??

No - I just added all the bills. That in it's self took long enough!

[jimr2345]

I've not had any body work done on my ride, but I'll guess 8 grand is some serious repair work due to an accident. That also tells me that a lot of those repair costs were probably from a shop charging a lot of hours for repairs.

On the other hand, it sounds like you might have a car that won't need a lot of maintenance in the near future!

Still, 23 grand works out to about $194.64 a month over the ten years. If the R is running well, I'd pay that monthly note

I paid $2000 cash for it. But still, the repairs and maintainence were 23k! No car should cost that much. But he had several shops and the dealer do the work. He is not inclined to work on cars.

[jimr2345]

I'm sorry
Spending that much on a 15 year old car (doesn't matter who's money was spent) if that's a total of actual dollars spent, that's just plain nuts!

(Apologies for the comment), but seriously, it just doesn't make sense to spend that kind of money.
I would still like to know where all the money went to and what for.... out of inane curiousity

Hey - I feel the same way you do! It's nuts. I saw him today and gave him the figures - he about fell out of his chair! I am going to put it all on a spread sheet and post it so you can all see. Maybe Ill scan all the bills and upload them to photobucket! LOL

You guys will get a kick out of it!

[jimr2345]

If any car requires that much repair work its time to retire it. If you plan to own an older vehicle you need to know how to do the work yourself. $20k in repairs would have been better spent on a new loan/lease.

So is the car in good running order now?

Well I just got it passed emissions - cost me $350 and I had a guy do the plugs, wires, cap and rotor. I did the easy stuff. I have worked on cars for over 30 years. I got divorced a few years ago and live in an apartment so I don't have anywhere to do repairs or I would be doing them! BTW - I love my apartment! Wouldn't live anywhere else.

Today, I lost the rear motor mount and I noticed that the top mount bushing is split. When you come to a stop, it shakes like hell. So, I will go back to my back yard mechanic and have him do it.

Other than a few dings, it in awesome shape. I post some pics when I can.

[jimr2345]

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.

Thats where I'm at. I would be lost with these guys!

[Matty Moo]

Living in Michigan, you really don't see that many foreign cars for the most part. I'd say less than 10% total. If you own a foreign car and don't work on it yourself...you're going to get raped when it needs something. I could care less since I work on my own, and the only new cars I buy are Domestic anyway.

I've had my Platinum for over 2 years and have put about $1k into it. PCV, timing, front suspension, brakes, ignition parts, fuel pump and some other odds and ends. Almost all new, some used.

At the only Indy shop in this part of the state, I'd have easily spent close to $8k on the same repairs. This place has about 20 bays and is always busy. People pay because they don't have another option and most of them don't work on their own cars.

[cn90]

Actually, this is not unusual at all.

Form some luxury car owners (BMW, Mercedes, Volvo etc.) and who are not DIYers, they typically spend $1-2K per year at dealer.
So $30K over 10-year span is somewhat excessive but not unheard of!
Sometimes people have other things going on in their life, so instead of shopping for a new car, they just keep pouring money into their "favorite" Volvo.