What's the average amount of yearly maintenance for a semi-daily driver?

[Redsquall]

I owned a DeLorean 10 years ago–in only had it for a couple years and sold to start a business. I bought it from a person who kept in good shape aesthetically but I need to upgrade some parts like the slave cylinder, Etc. So I don't really know that I have experienced from the year-to-year maintenance of a daily driver type DeLorean - I want to get a clear picture of what that involves from you guys here on the form. How would you describe the yearly maintenance requirements for a semi daily driver (like maybe driving it once or twice a week)?

Thanks

[kajcienski]

There would be absolutely no way to predict this as realistically bad things can happen to a 30 year old car, and do no matter what. I am super obsessive about preventative maintenance and only drive my car about 700 miles a year, and last year alone meant a new radiator, brakes, antenna, and an odd electrical anomaly. If by some miracle that is not an issue, count on gas, brakes, alignment, and oil change to name a few.

[sdg3205]

It will cost as much as you want it to.

Less if you don't want to address an issue (say, a dent from that prick at the mall or a failed power mirror direction) or upgrade a part and just change the oil and filter.
More if you go above and beyond regular maintenance and throw some rad performance upgrades at her.

[Jonathan]

The magic 8-ball says: "more than if you drove it daily."

Driving these cars less costs you more than if you drove the car more. Costs that go up with more mileage are oil changes, brake pads and some fluids or filters. Those are not the expensive ones.

If your car is in "great" condition (whatever that means), count on $1,000 per year in maintenance costs. The cars are 33+ years old and areas on the car are going to break or need attention, regardless of what you start with.

There is a ton of randomness in this for all the cars out there. You could spend $500 per year or $5,000. This could be the box of chocolates rule for not having a better name for it. Think of how much you spend on your daily driver that is now out of warranty and has started to need brakes and other service jobs. Then add all the costs associated with fixing the problems on the DMC you actually bought. And don't forget the surprises you'll find by some PO. Those are the fun ones!!

[DMCMW Dave]

If your car is in "great" condition (whatever that means), count on $1,000 per year in maintenance costs. The cars are 33+ years old and areas on the car are going to break or need attention, regardless of what you start with.

There is a ton of randomness in this for all the cars out there. You could spend $500 per year or $5,000.

$1000-$2000-year is a good amount to budget AFTER all the long-storage issues are updated, and this assumes you are starting with relatively fresh cooling, brake, and fuel systems and have blessed (i.e. inspected) the engine block and frame.

If you just start driving an unrestored/unmaintained car and fix things as they break, you are in for a few very expensive first years. And there is always the wild card of engine rot. That's hard to predict without taking things apart, and of course is an expensive repair all at one time.

[David T]

$1000-$2000-year is a good amount to budget AFTER all the long-storage issues are updated, and this assumes you are starting with relatively fresh cooling, brake, and fuel systems and have blessed (i.e. inspected) the engine block and frame.

If you just start driving an unrestored/unmaintained car and fix things as they break, you are in for a few very expensive first years. And there is always the wild card of engine rot. That's hard to predict without taking things apart, and of course is an expensive repair all at one time.

The $1-2K per year is on the high side for a well sorted car. Unless you are budgeting for the big items that you don't need often like tires,clutch, battery, tune-ups, struts, etc. The amount is also affected by how much you do yourself and if you have to buy tools. Of course it doesn't include insurance, plates, or gas. Wearable items like brake pads don't cost much and last a long time. You also have to keep up on your PM (preventive maintenance) which is mostly inspection, changing fluids and filters and greasing. If you fix things as they break it can be expensive for a while till you "catch up". Besides being unbudgeted you will get stuck everywhere and maybe add towing to your expenses. You may even become so discouraged with your unreliable car that you stop using it.

[Redsquall]

Stuck somewhere a common occurrence for a car that has been updated and taking care of?







The $1-2K per year is on the high side for a well sorted car. Unless you are budgeting for the big items that you don't need often like tires,clutch, battery, tune-ups, struts, etc. The amount is also affected by how much you do yourself and if you have to buy tools. Of course it doesn't include insurance, plates, or gas. Wearable items like brake pads don't cost much and last a long time. You also have to keep up on your PM (preventive maintenance) which is mostly inspection, changing fluids and filters and greasing. If you fix things as they break it can be expensive for a while till you "catch up". Besides being unbudgeted you will get stuck everywhere and maybe add towing to your expenses. You may even become so discouraged with your unreliable car that you stop using it.

[DavidProehl]

My experience has been about $2k per year, with the last year probably being the cheapest for me around $1k. I still have a few things that need sorting out, but I agree with Dave that $1-2k per year is normal.

For what its worth, as a vendor Dave should have records of how much his "average" customer spends. If he says $1-$2k, believe it.

[David T]

Stuck somewhere a common occurrence for a car that has been updated and taking care of?

No. on a rolling restoration. A well sorted car can be VERY reliable. As for what a vender would see as the average cost, that includes labor. If you are handy and can do a lot of your own work it could be 1/2 of what Dave S would charge. Most owners could do the PM stuff and a lot of the "light" work like replacing struts, bulbs, etc.

[DMCMW Dave]

The $1-2K per year is on the high side for a well sorted car. Unless you are budgeting for the big items that you don't need often like tires,clutch, battery, tune-ups, struts, etc..

Yes, that's what "average" implies. Some years you buy gas and change oil. Another year you do a clutch, or an automatic trans, and break the budget. For most people it's a pleasure-use car and it's not a bad idea to level out the budget i.e. save for a rainy day.

In my experience, (again an average), labor is 2/3 and parts are 1/3 unless you hit the odd ones. Stainless repair is, for example, 90% labor, where an engine replacement is 90% parts.

[Jonathan]

Well, Dave S's experience speaks for itself, and the 2/3's and 1/3 idea for labour and parts is scary accurate for me and my car.

I did not have a very nice first year with my car and was well over $10k in parts and labour after purchasing it just to get it half limping out on the road. I had no clue what I was doing on day one so I had paid a mechanic to help me sort it out. Yep, the parts to do that were about $3k+ and labour was somewhere near $7k. That's when my DIY car ownership life started. Way too expensive to try to keep that original approach going.

In the seven years since that first year, I've spent about that same amount... total. Around $11k in those seven years. It's averaging about $1,600 per year yet this past year (2014), if you don't count the parts I got for jobs that I haven't even done yet (engine mount kit, interior trim, etc.), then my new, out of pocket expenses for 2014 were less than $100. Really just oil and filters and using parts I had already purchased.