If you buy a $24-25K DeLorean, plan on spending $____ a year on maintenance/repairs

[Gregadeth]

So guys, what is a realistic number for the above? I'm interested in your opinions to get a general idea on how much to set aside. I realize there's no universal answer as there's so many factors involved, but any help is appreciated.

For the purposes of this thread, let's say the car has been driven fairly regularly and has had all the usual updates done and is a very good example. Assuming you can do most of the work on the car yourself if needed and you drive it several times a week, year-round. Exclude insurance, fuel, and oil changes.

[Jonathan]

I'll bite.

I saw the last line of your post and might have thought about saying $0.00, but for argument sake, I'll add to it my oil change costs.

$10.00 for the oil filter and drain plug seal (give or take a bit, I bought a 6 pack a while ago and also have to pay to ship it across the border).
$30.00 for the oil (including disposal of the old stuff)
$10.00 for an air filter

If you don't count insurance or fuel, that's it. $50.00.

Now, I still have a number of parts in boxes never installed and some others that I have put on when I get time, but these are all things that were either missing or deficient when I bought the car. If you start with a car that's closer to your description (which I would say mine is that now finally), you can get by with just the oil change costs. (ok, maybe some ATF, gear oil, pan gaskets, some weather striping adhesive, etc., etc.)

However, you are still maintaining a 33 year old car and even if you buy one in solid shape, it won't stay like that for more than a season or two. You might get to rebuild a transmission or shift computer, you might have some reason to go digging in the VoD because something got disconnected, you might start to have an exhaust manifold leak that you need to address sooner than later, or some bracket you didn't know was missing is now really missed because the piece of the car it was supposed to be supporting just let go.

That being said, I would budget at least $1,000.00 per year for things you aren't going to predict in advance.

What I think gets most new owners in trouble, at least in the way they feel good about or have fun with the car, is that they don't understand you can buy a really, really nice example and you are STILL going to pour money into it. There's really no way around it. You might get a couple seasons before you get knee deep in this, but that day will come.

I think this is why when you go see all the old classics at your local cruise night, the owners don't really drive them very far on average. Sure, there are exceptions. Even I drove my silly stainless car all the way to Ohio this summer. But generally you are going to need to fix things on them every season and that's enough to make many guys not stray too far away from the nest. Your $1,000 annual maintenance budget could get really inflated if you have some serious problems a long way from home.

So, $50.00 bare minimum for MAYBE the first season (or your 7th).
And more like $1,000 to $2,500 per season ongoing.

That's just my 5,000 cents worth of opinion of course. :)

[Dangermouse]

You have to pay to get rid of your old oil, Jonathan?

[Jonathan]

You have to pay to get rid of your old oil, Jonathan?

Yea, it's not much of a fee though ($0.50 per litre). Probably some law about it can't be free or something like that. Less than $4.00 for the DeLorean oil change.

It's a better option than Joe Neighbour pouring it down some drain somewhere. You'd think they would include it somehow in the cost of buying the new stuff, since whatever you buy you would think you need to throw out as well. You should see the charges they've added to buying new electronics here (TVs, computers, phones, etc.). We pay for those on the front end now to cover disposal. Guess that's better than making our Grandkids pay for all of the waste and mess (that's meant to be sarcastic... hehe).

[jackb]

I've averaged ~$1,000 per year of ownership.
It's tough to say exactly though. The word "necessary" can become subjective. Does the car *need* a certain part, or are you just upgrading?
One year I spent next to nothing, the next year I spend closer to $2,000. Additionally, scope creep can become a factor. You want to do some brake work, next thing you know you've installed stainless pucks, or lines, or hardware...
Bottom line though, I think a $1,000 per year budget is a good rule of thumb, with the balance carried forward each year if less is spent.

[TTait]

I've averaged ~$1,000 per year of ownership.
It's tough to say exactly though. The word "necessary" can become subjective. Does the car *need* a certain part, or are you just upgrading?
One year I spent next to nothing, the next year I spend closer to $2,000. Additionally, scope creep can become a factor. You want to do some brake work, next thing you know you've installed stainless pucks, or lines, or hardware...
Bottom line though, I think a $1,000 per year budget is a good rule of thumb, with the balance carried forward each year if less is spent.

Once the car is in good shape, I agree thats probably about right.

[djdogbone]

This has been my experience for my first year.



I'll bite.

I saw the last line of your post and might have thought about saying $0.00, but for argument sake, I'll add to it my oil change costs.

$10.00 for the oil filter and drain plug seal (give or take a bit, I bought a 6 pack a while ago and also have to pay to ship it across the border).
$30.00 for the oil (including disposal of the old stuff)
$10.00 for an air filter

If you don't count insurance or fuel, that's it. $50.00.

...
However, you are still maintaining a 33 year old car and even if you buy one in solid shape, it won't stay like that for more than a season or two.
..l
That being said, I would budget at least $1,000.00 per year for things you aren't going to predict in advance.

...
I think this is why when you go see all the old classics at your local cruise night, the owners don't really drive them very far on average. Sure, there are exceptions. Even I drove my silly stainless car all the way to Ohio this summer. But generally you are going to need to fix things on them every season and that's enough to make many guys not stray too far away from the nest. Your $1,000 annual maintenance budget could get really inflated if you have some serious problems a long way from home.

So, $50.00 bare minimum for MAYBE the first season (or your 7th).
And more like $1,000 to $2,500 per season ongoing.

That's just my 5,000 cents worth of opinion of course. :)

[David T]

This has been my experience for my first year.

A reasonable # is around $1,000 per year. That doesn't mean that is exactly what you will spend every year. For instance, you will only buy tires every 7 years but you have to figure if tires cost $750 and you divide that by 7 you should put away $107 per year towards tires. It is called amortization (spreading the cost over many years). There are yearly costs like registration, insurance, etc and maintenance. The better you maintain the car usually the less you have to do to it in any one year. There are the consumables like gas, oil, filters, brake pads, struts, and bulbs. Then there are the unexpected like clutch, hoses, door seals, malfunctioning speedo etc. Things do break and need to be fixed. If you keep up with them you don't get overwhelmed. Then there is the cosmetic stuff, waxes, cleaners, and such. Finally there is the discretionary expenses like an upgraded lock module, side stripes, license plate frames, etc.

[Dangermouse]

Yea, it's not much of a fee though ($0.50 per litre). Probably some law about it can't be free or something like that. Less than $4.00 for the DeLorean oil change.

It's a better option than Joe Neighbour pouring it down some drain somewhere. ).

Stateside, we can take it to our local jiffy lube oil change place and they take it for free

I presume they sell it on to the commercial oil recycling companies.

[DavidProehl]

So, $50.00 bare minimum for MAYBE the first season (or your 7th).
And more like $1,000 to $2,500 per season ongoing.


Agreed. I paid $23k for my car and have spent about $2,000 per year over the past 6 years without fail. Seems like there is always something needed to keep the wheels turning. My car was about 95% original parts when I bought it so I've slowing been freshening up everything with reliability upgrades.

[vps3922]

Yea, it's not much of a fee though ($0.50 per litre). Probably some law about it can't be free or something like that. Less than $4.00 for the DeLorean oil change.

It's a better option than Joe Neighbour pouring it down some drain somewhere. You'd think they would include it somehow in the cost of buying the new stuff, since whatever you buy you would think you need to throw out as well. You should see the charges they've added to buying new electronics here (TVs, computers, phones, etc.). We pay for those on the front end now to cover disposal. Guess that's better than making our Grandkids pay for all of the waste and mess (that's meant to be sarcastic... hehe).

Hi Jonathan,

Canadian Tire takes old engine oil. They usually have a collection shed right up front (at least in BC). Is this different in Ontario?
They even took my old coolant that Dave and I flushed from 3922.

Cheers!

Volker

[Jonathan]

Hi Jonathan,

Canadian Tire takes old engine oil. They usually have a collection shed right up front (at least in BC). Is this different in Ontario?
They even took my old coolant that Dave and I flushed from 3922.

Cheers!

Volker

Thanks Volker. Yea, same in Ontario. The Canadian Tire part that is. They charge for the service though is all. Or maybe they just charge me for the service. Might have had my George McFly shirt on that day or something? (j/k)

Like Dermot said, it's likely then sold to an oil reclamation company of some kind. Nice business model though. Getting your suppliers to pay YOU for the materials you need for your product/service. One man's garbage is another man's treasure... or income.

[Denverdelorean]

I owned my first Delorean for three years and spent about 4k in maintenance and upgrades. This included a new water pump, radiator, headliners, clutch master and slave cylinders, eyebrow fix, bumper repainting, and a couple interior bits and bobs along with AC repair. It was a decent driving $15k car when i bought it.

This current car, I have spent $7k in 4 months. I'll let you know the maintenance cost when i get to that stage of ownership :-P

[Gregadeth]

Appreciating all the responses - thanks everybody

[gamerguy51]

Depends on the one you buy, but my example, I've spent $500 on ac parts and tools since I didn't know ac beforehand but saved a heap fixing it myself...if you have tools already it'll save money too....haha