ineedfc

iTrader: (3)

just kinda curious what kind of money every one spends a monthly basis maintaining the condition of a 19+ yr old car.
please state year and make of your vehicle too
my 86 gxl was about $40 per month

PnoyRx7

iTrader: (3)

1987 rx7 base . i spend about 50-60 a month.

K-Tune

iTrader: (26)

does gas count?

PnoyRx7

iTrader: (3)

if it does then im up to like 200-250 a month

satch

iTrader: (1)

$50 to $100 per year.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

300WHP 87 T2, i spend about $10 a month on maintenance, daily driven about 200 miles per month.

patman

iTrader: (3)

600whp 87 TII 20B. $15/ month, as I buy a set of plugs every couple months. I change the oil often too and use expensive oil, but I get it for free. Add $5 for a filter maybe.

I assume this isnt counting tires, as I burn trough the rears pretty quick.

Add to that maybe $200 a year on semi-maintenance related upgrades like delrin diff mounts or urethane bushings.

Evil Aviator

I have been averaging $250/month on my daily driver. Anybody who says they spend less than $100/month is not driving their car, treating the car as a disposable item and milking every last drop out of it, or in complete denial.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

like anything accounting related, it all depends how you categorize and allocate things. if you start amortizing what you spent on a new motor as "maintenance" then that number goes up. If you amortize the cost of tires (as has been mentioned already), it goes up. If you amortize the cost of replacing/fixing 20 year old electronics or interior parts, it goes up.

patman

iTrader: (3)

I don't see how it can be this high unless you have an unreasonable definition of 'maintenance' costs.

Lets break it down:
Oil+Filter-$30, every 3 months ...............................................mon thly total $10
Plugs-$20, every 6 months............................................ .........monthly total $13
Brakes-$50 once a year.............................................. ............monthly total $17
Coolant, Tranny, axle fluids change, once a year $60.............monthly total $22
Fuel filter- $12, once a year.............................................. ............................$23
Wipers-$25, once a year.............................................. .................................$25
Tires-$500, once every other year(not in my case, but normally)..................$46
Belts/hoses, $40 a year if youre ****.............................................. ..............$48
Add $5 a month for dumb crap like bulbs/fuses/etc.......................................$53

Thats all the routine maintenance I can think of. As far as non routine maintenance, that depends heavily on your car. I rarely ever have to do any because nearly everything on my car is upgraded and in good shape. Like I said, I spend maybe $200 a year on upgrades that can reasonably be classed as maintenance, but other than that I'm stumped where this huge number comes from unless you are paying a high wage to someone to do everything for you.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

huh? go take accounting 101 my friend

patman

iTrader: (3)

50/12=4.x im too lazy to round. 20/6=3.x

10+3=13+4=17

I dont see the problem with this?

Oh, I see, you didnt realize that my monthly total column was cumulative maybe?

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

only things i have bought for my car in the last 3 years was coolant, water pump, leading plugs, oil filter and oil and some good but used rear tires for $80 installed(275/40R18 BFGs). i will admit i only drive about 3-4 miles on most days to and from work across town. granted some stuff is about due like drive belt and my craptastic SSautochrome manifold is starting to crack after 5 years of daily use(course if i invested in a cast iron HKS/Greddy it wouldn't be an issue, however this one only cost me $40 where those cost $200 used to $500 new) and i also plan to install a pinion snubber to solidify the rear end(whopping $7).

forgot i did have to replace a fuse about a month ago, ~$1.

i modify cars all day so i don't feel the need to continually mess with my own car, this about maintenance anyways and not modifications. i will admit that i did do quite a bit of work on the car about 5 years ago+ so my figures have been a little exaggerated. modifications do also take care of maintenance so it's not always easy to draw a line, most of the things never needed to be touched like the tranny back to axles is 100% original but it was blown when i got the car and paid for it accordingly.

jackhild59

iTrader: (7)

Hmmm....

I have owned my S5 vert for about 5 years now.

Here is a list of what I have accomplished on my car.

This have installed new leather, a new top, complete paint and bodywork (single stage top-of-the-line PPG), full maintenance (fluids, filters belts-2x and hoses-2x, plugs, 4-wheel alignment), shifter bushings, C's short shifter, MOMO Aluminum ****, clutch (centerforce DF) clutch hydraulics, eibach pro-kits springs, Tokico blues, TII wheels + P225/50x16 summitomo htz, fixed electronics (switches, etc), rebuilt the passenger window regulator, rebuild the window switches then added relay mod, replaced all the speakers with Blaupunkt components, replaced/upgraded the Headrest speakers with coaxial speakers, refinished much of the interior surface (doorpanels, dash parts to match the 'newness' of the leather, custom Griffin aluminum Rad, Mark VIII cooling fan, catalytic converter, exhaust (local shop), resurrected the A/C system back to R12, invented the Taurus 130 amp alternator mod, etc etc.

I did *everything* myself with the exception of the exhaust and the alignment. I bought *everything* in parts cheap: I waited patiently for good deals on the forum, on Ebay, prowled the pick-n-pull yards etc. I bought used good condition, be-built the electronics myself (RIP Icemark), made my own supplied air paint booth so I could shoot the paint in a dust-free environment etc, etc.

This is a hobby car-a toy. Patience and timing is part of the process. I have a 3 car garage and can take my time, leaving the Vert apart if necessary. I never have to rush a repair/upgrade to get it back on the road. For example while doing the paint and bodywork, the car was essentially off the road from July through October; clutch took a month of garage time -waiting for parts and for time to work.

Along the way I put about 18,000 miles on the car. I spent around $3900 on repair, restoration and maintenance. I keep every receipt. I paid $1100 for the car.
So, not including insurance or inspection fees that makes 5000/60=$83.33 per month.

What a bargain!!! I spend more than that on my cell phone bill.

Snoopy240

iTrader: (19)

I choice to be in denial.... and I have good reason to.

I would say, when my car was running, around 250 a month...
Now that its not, around 100 +/- a month to get it back running.

Pele

iTrader: (28)

Radiator and water pump are maintenance.
Shocks are as well.

What kind of brakes are you using at $50 every 6 months?
New Hawk pads alone are between $50 to $80 PER AXLE...
Then you've got rotors or machining of rotors...
How often do you change the brake fluid?

Re-greasing or replacing of wheel bearings.

You get alignments regularly? Bushing replacements?
Clutch is a wear item...

Front and rear eccentric/crank seals.
Transmission input and output shaft seals.
Differential pinion and axle shaft seals...
CV axles.
Tie rods ends and ball joints...

There's lots of stuff nobody considers because it's not regular stuff that you do monthly.

This is not just on the RX-7, but it's on ANY car on the road.

Engine ancillaries... Starter, Alternator, power steering pump, A/C compressor...


Anything shy of major overhaul of the engine, transmission, differential, or body work is maintenance.
I choose not to keep track of it simply out of irresponsibility and because it's going to be the same with any car... It's part of owning a car.

patman

iTrader: (3)

Well, I guess that explains the high numbers. That list is just ridiculous. If you have to replace these type of parts with any frequency, you are doing something wrong.

Anyway, this thread is pretty silly, so I'll leave this as my .02 and quit trying to argue.

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

when my car was NA it cost me squat to maintain even when I drove it daily. A few oil changes, coolant and a thermostat once a year and thats about it.

You dont change belts every year, you dont change trans and rear diff fluid every year, even if you did thats about $20 in fluids.

If you drive alot maybe throw a set of pads in there.

Upgrading things at will is not maintenance

ineedfc

iTrader: (3)

it helps if you know your **** and have tools too that cuts cost waaaaay down.
and i don't think this thread is silly i find it interesting that people can need to spend $100 or more on maintenace.

Pele

iTrader: (28)

No, you don't replace those parts with any frequency... But it's still general upkeep, which is the definition of maintenance.

These items should still be kept in mind when owning and depending on a car.

Remember that these cars are 20+ years old and have all that much more exposure to elements, use and abuse, idiotic previous owners and shoddy mechanics... Things will start to go wrong soon.

I know plenty of people who've bought cars and found that the water pump or some tie rods and ball joints needed to be replaced. That kinda charge put them outta commission for a while because they were living paycheck to paycheck...

These are the people who shouldn't be driving because they'll try and skimp on the cost by running the brakes a little longer and running the pad's metal backing into the rotor... Or running a tire until it's bald and cords are showing...

These aren't parts you upgrade, but they're needed to be replaced when keeping the vehicle in operational condition.

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

taking out a perfectly operating clutch fan to put a electric fan in is not maintenance, that is upgrading.

removing brake pads and rotors with plenty of life on them to put something else in is also not maintenance.
Taking a perfectly operating exhaust off to put a free flow is also not maintenance.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

i do consider A/C, power steering, cruise control heater etc all to be luxuries. the only thing i still have is somewhat of a heater(200k+ and i'm sure there is alot of crap in there blocking flow) so nothing to repair on the rest of the items. the T2 drivetrain was built quite stout and most of it rarely fails. and anyone who changes rear brakes in less than 50k miles either drives the track daily or has an issue with their brake system, regular race driving is also not "regular maintenance".

i also only change the oil when it becomes dirty to the point of changing and/or the months just get too long on it. 3 months for oil to break down is just a way to get you to buy oil more frequently, just like the arguments that synthetic is superior. sometimes i wonder if people actually believe the oil companies.. but the answer is obvious.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

rx7's are great, they have to be about the cheapest cars to run in the history of mankind.

the current FC isn't really a daily, but here's the skinny as far as maintenance has been

last year i did the 60k (car has 74k), thermostat, air mix motor (used), wiper inserts; maybe i spent $250.

all the light bulbs, belts, hoses, engine etc etc are the ones it rolled out of the factory with.

this year, i'm looking at tires, upper and lower hoses, another $250 (i have the tires, just need to mount/dismount)

it was my daily last year, this year not as much

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

the engine is the weak point for maintenance, sometimes you get lucky and get one that lasts for 180k+ but the odds are against you in that aspect even if you do do regular maintenance. that is where i see the costs rise a bit unless you pick up a car with a rebuilt engine or do all the work yourself and can get by doing it for under $500.

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

It's hard to tell since I lump in gas costs and upgrades with scheduled maintenance and repairs. All I know is that it must be much less than $175, so maybe $100 for scheduled maintenance and repairs. I DIY for the maintenance but not the repairs. From what I understand my total budget is about half as much as the average person (most own a newer car and don't DIY), so I'm happy enough.