The cost of classic car ownership
Discussion
Its that time of year when all the Mots are due and I also do the yearly maintenance. I do a small service one year (clean plugs, change oil and oil filter and the next year a big service, all fluids including coolant, brake fluid, diff and gear box oil, new plugs and air filter, fuel filters ect). First in the bay this year is the Rolls Shadow 2 and its been 2 times since the last oil change and done only 393 miles.
This is just a quick schedule and costs ......
Engine.
Air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, new spark plugs, new oil, new antifreeze, new brake fluid , Reset timing and adjust all drive belts and top up air con
Gear Box and drive train
remove sump pan and replace filter and gasket, new grease nipples on all universal joints, new gear box oil and grease in uj`s. replace out put shaft oil seals in diff and replace one drive shaft boot and drain and refill drive shaft oil and diff oil.
Brakes and suspension.
Rebuild all 6 callipers with new seals, bleed nipples and dust seals. replace all brake pads including hand brake, replace all brake pipes including new pipe fittings, rebuild master cylinder, rebuild brake pumps, rebuild height control valves and solenoid and skim 2 brake discs.
Steering.
2 new rubber boots for ball joints, new nipples and re grease all ball joints, repack front wheel bearings with a higher spec grease, grease hand brake cable with silicon grease and grease all hand brake rods and leavers with lithium grease.
Electrical.
new horn relay, 2 interior light bulbs, 1 instrument light bulb and repair back door lock solenoid.
So how much for parts ??? A very reasonable £628 and my own time (free).
If you can work on these cars your self there as cheap as chips to run and I think costs this year including insurance, tax and mot will be around £900 and that's on a `big service year` with loads of extra work rebuilding most of the hydraulic system against last year at around £350.
Is it a Bargain ? compared to how much even a mundane new car losses in 3 years I think so.
will post yearly costs for the cars as they go through the yearly maintenance cycle, 1965 MGB roadster is next up and that dose around 3k miles per year.
Marc
>> Edited by m.lovell on Monday 15th May 21:08
This is just a quick schedule and costs ......
Engine.
Air filter, oil filter, fuel filter, new spark plugs, new oil, new antifreeze, new brake fluid , Reset timing and adjust all drive belts and top up air con
Gear Box and drive train
remove sump pan and replace filter and gasket, new grease nipples on all universal joints, new gear box oil and grease in uj`s. replace out put shaft oil seals in diff and replace one drive shaft boot and drain and refill drive shaft oil and diff oil.
Brakes and suspension.
Rebuild all 6 callipers with new seals, bleed nipples and dust seals. replace all brake pads including hand brake, replace all brake pipes including new pipe fittings, rebuild master cylinder, rebuild brake pumps, rebuild height control valves and solenoid and skim 2 brake discs.
Steering.
2 new rubber boots for ball joints, new nipples and re grease all ball joints, repack front wheel bearings with a higher spec grease, grease hand brake cable with silicon grease and grease all hand brake rods and leavers with lithium grease.
Electrical.
new horn relay, 2 interior light bulbs, 1 instrument light bulb and repair back door lock solenoid.
So how much for parts ??? A very reasonable £628 and my own time (free).
If you can work on these cars your self there as cheap as chips to run and I think costs this year including insurance, tax and mot will be around £900 and that's on a `big service year` with loads of extra work rebuilding most of the hydraulic system against last year at around £350.
Is it a Bargain ? compared to how much even a mundane new car losses in 3 years I think so.
will post yearly costs for the cars as they go through the yearly maintenance cycle, 1965 MGB roadster is next up and that dose around 3k miles per year.
Marc
>> Edited by m.lovell on Monday 15th May 21:08
Good deal, well worth the money. You probably should drive it more than 300 miles per year, better for the car and more enjoyment for you.
With only 300 miles on them, I'd say replacing the sparkplugs is not necessary but whatever.
Indeed changing not only the engine oil, failure to do this gives negative dividends known to all, but also the engine coolant and the brake fluid is some of the cheapest insurance you'll ever get!
I totally agree with you, buying late models and suffering depreciation is for people with weak or nonexistant wrench bending skills (not that I condemn these fellows - far from it, they are preparing "new old" cars for the likes of us!)
With only 300 miles on them, I'd say replacing the sparkplugs is not necessary but whatever.
Indeed changing not only the engine oil, failure to do this gives negative dividends known to all, but also the engine coolant and the brake fluid is some of the cheapest insurance you'll ever get!
I totally agree with you, buying late models and suffering depreciation is for people with weak or nonexistant wrench bending skills (not that I condemn these fellows - far from it, they are preparing "new old" cars for the likes of us!)
I use a 1987 Jetta for work - community nurse, lots of stop starts to from and during work, doing approx 9k p.a. Insurance with 9 yrs (65%) NCB = £287. All fluid changes done for minimal costs and still await any big jobs ( owned for 20k, 2 yrs almost).
Bluey (Griff 500) bought a year back, originally insured for £400 at 3k p.a., upgraded to 4.5k for extra £115, which will be £515 renewal BUT I cant resist increasing to over 5k as I use it so often. Hence, without NCB, cost will be - same cover, f/c - around £1500 .....
If I change Jetta to no NCB, it goes up to £530 & Bluey gets the NCB, unlimited mileage cover, with Norwich Union it'd be £975...
When Vera (P6 V8) is returned welded & mot'd ( prob approx £1000 work) in a few months, she'll be (tax exempt ) c £130 for 3k p.a.
So MY question is: Who will insure me for all three cars, unlimited on 2, with Vera staying at 3k, for under a £1K total, with the NCB applied across the board?
It's the biggest cost in owning classic cars.
Half tempted to sell them all and buy an MG ZT 4.6 V8 for all purposes... but it aint the same is it
Bluey (Griff 500) bought a year back, originally insured for £400 at 3k p.a., upgraded to 4.5k for extra £115, which will be £515 renewal BUT I cant resist increasing to over 5k as I use it so often. Hence, without NCB, cost will be - same cover, f/c - around £1500 .....
If I change Jetta to no NCB, it goes up to £530 & Bluey gets the NCB, unlimited mileage cover, with Norwich Union it'd be £975...
When Vera (P6 V8) is returned welded & mot'd ( prob approx £1000 work) in a few months, she'll be (tax exempt ) c £130 for 3k p.a.
So MY question is: Who will insure me for all three cars, unlimited on 2, with Vera staying at 3k, for under a £1K total, with the NCB applied across the board?
It's the biggest cost in owning classic cars.
Half tempted to sell them all and buy an MG ZT 4.6 V8 for all purposes... but it aint the same is it
I insure with AON private clients. I currently have on that insurance a 1966 mgb roadster, 1972 BMW csl,1979 silver shadow,1983 Maserati Merak SS and a 1981 Porsche 930 turbo and the premium is circa £600 a year unlimited millage with I think up to 3 named drivers. Cars have to be Garaged, never been asked if alarmed (they all have cat 1`s fitted) and the excess is between £100 and £200. I think that's good for a round £70-£80k worth of cars. I also have a 1966 e-type, 1972 Dino (being restored slowly with out the wife's knowledge....)1996 Lincoln limo and a 1961 mg midget (and a couple of others) on a off road policy and that's around £300 a year including spares and fire and theft risk.
I`m lucky that I can maintain the cars my self and costs so far this year (for the cars on the aon policy) have been around £3000 including mot, tax and 5 big services and a couple of tyres on the mgb. Left to do this year is a new exhaust on the Porsche (exhaust came with car) so will need gaskets (£60)and the tyres are getting a bit old on the CSL (£500) and it needs a master cylinder rebuild (£50) so this year if nothing major breaks will be around £3800 ish or around £75 a week. Next year they will only need small services (do around 6k miles in total) so will tackle some improvements like the air con In the Maserati (£500 ish) the air con in the 930 (£350 ish)new hood for the mgb (£150 ish) and some new chrome wires and hub splines (£600 ish) for the mgb.
I think for £75 a week I would be hard pushed to have more fun I also offset the revenue for rental against that (the Maserati is due out for 3 days this year @ £280 a day, The Royce is booked out 3 times @ £180, the MGB is booked out for 5 days @ £140 a day and the CSL for 3 weeks on a film set @ £900 a week that will bring in a grand total off £4780 and maybe add 800 miles in total.
They don't lose money and by renting them out for a few days a year in the summer for the odd wedding, birth day present and special occasion I get them for free.
Marc
I`m lucky that I can maintain the cars my self and costs so far this year (for the cars on the aon policy) have been around £3000 including mot, tax and 5 big services and a couple of tyres on the mgb. Left to do this year is a new exhaust on the Porsche (exhaust came with car) so will need gaskets (£60)and the tyres are getting a bit old on the CSL (£500) and it needs a master cylinder rebuild (£50) so this year if nothing major breaks will be around £3800 ish or around £75 a week. Next year they will only need small services (do around 6k miles in total) so will tackle some improvements like the air con In the Maserati (£500 ish) the air con in the 930 (£350 ish)new hood for the mgb (£150 ish) and some new chrome wires and hub splines (£600 ish) for the mgb.
I think for £75 a week I would be hard pushed to have more fun I also offset the revenue for rental against that (the Maserati is due out for 3 days this year @ £280 a day, The Royce is booked out 3 times @ £180, the MGB is booked out for 5 days @ £140 a day and the CSL for 3 weeks on a film set @ £900 a week that will bring in a grand total off £4780 and maybe add 800 miles in total.
They don't lose money and by renting them out for a few days a year in the summer for the odd wedding, birth day present and special occasion I get them for free.
Marc
I run a 1932 austin seven special, a 1971 morris minor, a 1974 triumph gt6, a 1989 3.6 xjs and a mazda mx5. This little lot insured as follows Austin, morris and triumph on one policy for £130 (unlimited miles on the morris and triumph, 3k on the austin), the jag costs £260 for 3000 miles and the mx5 is £230 for unlimited miles. All repairs are done myself. the austin and morris are tax free, the rest cost full price. And the worst bit is £200 a year for MOT's. I have run all these cars for less money than my mate has run his poverty spec zafira.
arh - where do you live in Hants; major town? (Merseyside for me, penalised premiums) and how old are you (am 45 myself) ? Who's the policy with? (cos I've yet to get anyone prepared to insure all three of mine on one policy). I send emails and have yet to get a reply during work hours that suits and they have rung back when busy but left no return number for me for later.
marc - all I got from AON was "we'll ring you back when you asked us to"... but they aint, yet
>> Edited by shadowfax on Wednesday 31st May 18:40
marc - all I got from AON was "we'll ring you back when you asked us to"... but they aint, yet
>> Edited by shadowfax on Wednesday 31st May 18:40
shadowfax said:
arh - where do you live in Hants; major town? (Merseyside for me, penalised premiums) and how old are you (am 45 myself) ? Who's the policy with? (cos I've yet to get anyone prepared to insure all three of mine on one policy). I send emails and have yet to get a reply during work hours that suits and they have rung back when busy but left no return number for me for later.
marc - all I got from AON was "we'll ring you back when you asked us to"... but they aint, yet
>> Edited by shadowfax on Wednesday 31st May 18:40
I live in fleet, which is a good area for insurance. All are insured with footman james. I am 42 years old, and have been driving since 1981 and never made a claim or had an accident.
Give footman james a call they have always provided excellent service for me and I would recommend them to anybody.
Thanks ARH - I am currently with Footman myself for the Griff and am olderat 45, but it looks like it's the postcode lottery striking again.
Marc - tried AON. Bizarrely, as my vehicles combined values is only around £15k, I would be unable to have the 3 (multiple) cars on the same policy, and it would cost nearly £2K on separate policies, with the Griff limited to 5K max. However, If I had a fleet which took value to over £40K, then maybe I could get cheaper insurance with unlimited miles. Getting rather
er this insurance lark, ey?
Marc - tried AON. Bizarrely, as my vehicles combined values is only around £15k, I would be unable to have the 3 (multiple) cars on the same policy, and it would cost nearly £2K on separate policies, with the Griff limited to 5K max. However, If I had a fleet which took value to over £40K, then maybe I could get cheaper insurance with unlimited miles. Getting rather
er this insurance lark, ey? Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff