Running Costs

[Alex225]

Well, I am having a debate with my other half about running costs of our cars. Yesterday she had to spend out £470 on her CLS350, not a small sum of money but she had quite a lot done for that. The car had an MOT, rear brake pads replaced for the MOT and a major service done including all filters.

My other half's bum squeaked at the cost and her thinking was suddenly, 'Maybe I should buy a cheaper car to run'. Now considering we use a decent independent garage who charge a reasonable amount per hour, they use pattern parts etc. My point to her was that, the work carried out wouldn't be necessarily cheaper. Ok so maybe a Ford Focus air filter would be £5 less or it may require a litre or two less but otherwise it's largely similar.

Tyres can be expensive but again the difference in tyre costs between a 17" wheel and an 18" are marginal.

Now I know that repairs, especially if you have to use new genuine parts can be expensive. I wouldn't try and imply that these kinds of cars are cheap to repair but overall her CLS has cost her less than £500 in repairs in nearly 3 years so the reliability versus cost is a consideration.

She's still not convinced but I think that makes sense. What you lot reckon?

 

[C43AMG]

Tell her to supply her own oil

 

[roviw1]

I would think that is a very reasonable expense, I would expect my Ford Transit van to cost only marginally less for that amount of work.
An MOT can be approaching £60, rear pads on your car could be £50 plus fitting so your full service is maybe likely less than £350.
A good option, as you mention, is to have a reliable independent garage to help you.
What she has is a lovely car to drive around in and not a run of the mill smaller saloon.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Funny you should start this thread today.

My Mrs found a receipt for a diesel Passat that I bought a few years ago while clearing out a cupboard this morning.

I bought it in haste to replace a troublesome 5 series that had briefly broken down going around Trafalgar Square one afternoon, I was actually quite looking forward to the basic simplicity of the VW.

I sold the Passat within 9 months due to it's, erm, basic simplicity!

It wasn't a bad car and servicing was refreshingly cheap but, Christ, it was boring. I drove it to Spain during my short ownership and at Spanish motorway speeds (rapido) it was very buzzy. Ironically it would suit me well currently and I'm wafting about in a LWB 7 series.

 

[Lennox]

You get what you pay for (original rrp). Simples.

 

[Deleted member 149005]

I’d say that was a bit of a bargain price for that work, even at a discounted MOT rate

 

[Alex225]

Tell her to supply her own oil

I have a mobile mechanic I used to give my S Class a major service when I first got it. Supplied my own oil and got it from a dealership on eBay for about £45ish. That said, the garage we used only charged about £55 for the oil. A bit more expensive but not really too bad.

I’d say that was a bit of a bargain price for that work, even at a discounted MOT rate

That was my thinking, I don't know how much of a different car you'd have to own to bring the price of that down drastically. Ok, maybe if you had a tiny little hatch back, filters and pads might be smaller and cheaper. So you'd knock maybe £30 off the cost of the parts, maybe £50 max if you supplied your own oil and it took less.

I'm of the thinking that cars cost money to own and run, I just don't think this CLS350 much like my last E Class has cost much to run at all. Quite the opposite in reality and especially for what they offer.

 

[Tonygw]

Unfortunately I have found Mercs tend to be a bit pricy to maintain. BUT they are also a nicer class of car than some. Buy another car is a lottery and you may be buying a load of trouble for a big intial cost to buy. As the saying goes better the devil you know. And at least you know its had the work done, another car might need that work on top of the purchase.

You can currently buy an early Bently continental GT for £12-15K but a set of front brake discs and pad will set you back £1K! Hell of a car though....

 

[219]

Well, I am having a debate with my other half about running costs of our cars. Yesterday she had to spend out £470 on her CLS350, not a small sum of money but she had quite a lot done for that. The car had an MOT, rear brake pads replaced for the MOT and a major service done including all filters.

My other half's bum squeaked at the cost and her thinking was suddenly, 'Maybe I should buy a cheaper car to run'. Now considering we use a decent independent garage who charge a reasonable amount per hour, they use pattern parts etc. My point to her was that, the work carried out wouldn't be necessarily cheaper. Ok so maybe a Ford Focus air filter would be £5 less or it may require a litre or two less but otherwise it's largely similar.

Tyres can be expensive but again the difference in tyre costs between a 17" wheel and an 18" are marginal.

Now I know that repairs, especially if you have to use new genuine parts can be expensive. I wouldn't try and imply that these kinds of cars are cheap to repair but overall her CLS has cost her less than £500 in repairs in nearly 3 years so the reliability versus cost is a consideration.

She's still not convinced but I think that makes sense. What you lot reckon?

Ask her which car she’d rather be in if she had a bad crash : the difference can be between surviving or not .

How much of a price do you put on your life ?

 

[Lennox]

Unfortunately I have found Mercs tend to be a bit pricy to maintain. BUT they are also a nicer class of car than some. Buy another car is a lottery and you may be buying a load of trouble for a big intial cost to buy. As the saying goes better the devil you know. And at least you know its had the work done, another car might need that work on top of the purchase.

You can currently buy an early Bently continental GT for £12-15K but a set of front brake discs and pad will set you back £1K! Hell of a car though....

Chap I know bought a w12 A8. High reliable until the exhaust cats needed replaced.

Apparently £2k each. And there are 4.

Quickly reset the error and traded it in.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I don’t

Well, I am having a debate with my other half about running costs of our cars. Yesterday she had to spend out £470 on her CLS350, not a small sum of money but she had quite a lot done for that. The car had an MOT, rear brake pads replaced for the MOT and a major service done including all filters.

My other half's bum squeaked at the cost and her thinking was suddenly, 'Maybe I should buy a cheaper car to run'. Now considering we use a decent independent garage who charge a reasonable amount per hour, they use pattern parts etc. My point to her was that, the work carried out wouldn't be necessarily cheaper. Ok so maybe a Ford Focus air filter would be £5 less or it may require a litre or two less but otherwise it's largely similar.

Tyres can be expensive but again the difference in tyre costs between a 17" wheel and an 18" are marginal.

Now I know that repairs, especially if you have to use new genuine parts can be expensive. I wouldn't try and imply that these kinds of cars are cheap to repair but overall her CLS has cost her less than £500 in repairs in nearly 3 years so the reliability versus cost is a consideration.

She's still not convinced but I think that makes sense. What you lot reckon?

On this occasion I don’t think you even need to rely on the ancient science - or is it an art? - of man maths.

If you used the same garage it’s difficult to imagine that work to cost much less than £400 even on a 20 year old Ford Fiesta.

So the difference is possibly the equivalent of a couple of takeaways over the course of a year, and for me it is worth it.

I suspect major repairs is where the big difference would be, but that’s where luck and good maintenance come in.

 

[Dazsw]

MOT, rear brake pads and service with filters wouldn't cost nearly £500 on a Focus, Fiesta or an average car.

More like £200-250 max, where I live anway.

 

[Deleted member 149005]

That was my thinking, I don't know how much of a different car you'd have to own to bring the price of that down drastically. Ok, maybe if you had a tiny little hatch back, filters and pads might be smaller and cheaper. So you'd knock maybe £30 off the cost of the parts, maybe £50 max if you supplied your own oil and it took less.

This - our daily drivers (2 Mazdas) costs c£250-450 per service + consumables such as brakes + £50 MoT

 

[350cls]

The servicing has been covered above, so that would be a saving on a smaller engine car and make/model.

You then have the fuel costs and I have run a CLS 350 and it's a beautiful car. But the fuel economy and the road tax costs is rather on the high side. It's the comfort factor that outweighs it for me. Test drive the cheaper to run brands and your wife may have a different outlook.

 

[Mr. B]

I find cars are like women in that they are very unpredictable and they are certainly wired up differently . If you look after them they are content and can give you years of pleasure. However when things start to go wrong they are both very very expensive.

 

[unimog]

Unfortunately I have found Mercs tend to be a bit pricy to maintain. BUT they are also a nicer class of car than some. Buy another car is a lottery and you may be buying a load of trouble for a big intial cost to buy. As the saying goes better the devil you know. And at least you know its had the work done, another car might need that work on top of the purchase.

You can currently buy an early Bently continental GT for £12-15K but a set of front brake discs and pad will set you back £1K! Hell of a car though....

Its all relative these days, I think everything is generally more expensive to maintain. Timing belts on most cars can be an absolute nightmare, and clutches/dual mass flywheels seem to be big unexpected hits on pretty much any manual car built after 2000.

Interesting you quote the Bentley, I have mentioned that on another thread. A friend of mine did buy such a car, as summer rolled into Autumn he began to have starting problems, turned out one of the starter motors had failed, which is an engine out job to fix. And whilst the engine is out the recommend repair list is huge, simply because you can't get at stuff. It was more than he paid for the car in the end. You of course get a lot more for the car (resale) if the intensive maintenance is done by a reputable specialist, but still, a car that needs £16-17K worth of work every 80k miles is an expensive proposition!

 

[350cls]

I find cars are like women in that they are very unpredictable and they are certainly wired up differently . If you look after them they are content and can give you years of pleasure. However when things start to go wrong they are both very very expensive.

As long as it is a good ride that's all that counts!! The car the car ofcourse

 

[Deleted member 149005]

Whose wife, when asked what car they drive, says a blue one...

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

MOT, rear brake pads and service with filters wouldn't cost nearly £500 on a Focus, Fiesta or an average car.

More like £200-250 max, where I live anway.

I dare say the OP could have found somewhere less expensive closer to him too though, or he could have done it himself, or skipped the service and just done the brakes and MOT, all valid ways of reducing cost.

However assuming the same garage, for the same scope of work, would the difference be enough for the OP to justify incurring the cost of changing cars, and the risk of taking on an unknown quantity?

Unless the OP needs to release capital in the car - or insurance is especially expensive given his circumstances - then it will take a long time to make a meaningful reduction in costs based upon scheduled maintenance.

 

[219]

Its all relative these days, I think everything is generally more expensive to maintain. Timing belts on most cars can be an absolute nightmare, and clutches/dual mass flywheels seem to be big unexpected hits on pretty much any manual car built after 2000.

Interesting you quote the Bentley, I have mentioned that on another thread. A friend of mine did buy such a car, as summer rolled into Autumn he began to have starting problems, turned out one of the starter motors had failed, which is an engine out job to fix. And whilst the engine is out the recommend repair list is huge, simply because you can't get at stuff. It was more than he paid for the car in the end. You of course get a lot more for the car (resale) if the intensive maintenance is done by a reputable specialist, but still, a car that needs £16-17K worth of work every 80k miles is an expensive proposition!

But then the people who lease cars now pay that sort of money , or more , on a car that they never own and end up handing back .

At least with the Bentley , it is yours and an asset you can liquidate if you fall on hard times .