When buying an exotic or luxury car, many factors come to play. From the insurance to the cost of an oil change, it is not easy to determine true cost of ownership. To your surprise, many exotic cars are actually not that complex in nature and share many common parts underneath the shell with more common everyday cars. There will never be a way around regular routine maintenance and wear and tear but there are shortcuts when it comes to purchasing the parts for maintenance that are near OE spec. In this guide, we break down a lot of misconceptions and some of the true cost of ownership when it comes to exotic cars.
What is the true cost of ownership of an exotic car? The cost of ownership can vary tremendously between Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin and Lamborghini. An article to know what you are going to get into down the road, might be helpful before making your choice.
1) Ferrari
When buying an exotic, many factors come to play. From the insurance to the cost of an oil change, it is not easy to determine true cost of ownership. I will take you step by step through some important information regarding the various costs associated with buying an exotic car. Most Ferrari owners will agree that maintaining a Ferrari can be one expensive task. One key item to consider is that the older the Ferrari model, the more expensive, the more it is to maintain. A typical oil change on a Ferrari F430 will run you $500, and about $800 for a Ferrari F360 Modena, or $1100 for a Ferrari F355. This typical oil change needs to occur every 5000 miles or once a year, since most owners don’t drive their cars 5000 miles a year.
Other typical maintenance items include spark plugs at an average of $3000, belts every 15000 miles at an average of $4000 and finally the mother of all maintenance repairs the clutch which will be about $2500 for a 6 speed transmission and $6500 for the F-1 clutch. That makes the Ferrari one expensive machine to own but remember many owners will tell you that you shouldn’t own one if cost of ownership is something you must think of.
2) Lamborghini
Next up is the Lamborghini line which is divided into two segments, the Gallardo and the Murcielago. Both amazing machines are quite expensive to maintain and the Lamborghini cost of ownership is not be taken lightly. The Murcielago will run you about $2000 for an oil change, $4000 for plugs and the best part $12000 for an E-Gear Clutch. The Gallardo on the other hand is more docile and similar to the Ferrari 360 Modena at just $400 for an oil change, $2000 for plugs and finally about $3500 for an E-Gear clutch. The Lamborghini maintenance ranges heavily based on the line you select and should not be taken lightly as the cost of new transmission could cost you $50,000 if a replacement is needed and lets not even talk about the engine failing. Despite using Audi based parts, Lamborghini does a great job at making you pay big bucks for parts so don’t take a chance.
3) Aston Martin
We now can look at the Aston Martin line for cost of ownership which again can be expensive cars to maintain. Aston Martin maintenance is one of my favorites as we discussed earlier in our “Aston or Volvo” articles, the Aston Vantage is built off of the Ford line, it has relatively easy fixes and most parts are easily accessible for repairs.
The maintenance is quite painless at $200 oil changes, $200 belt changes and a wonderful clutch at $2500. Do not be fooled by the fact that these numbers are only typical of the Vantage and not the DB9 or Vanquish which will cost you about $800 for an oil change and about $5000 for an E Gear clutch. The maintenance is quite important on the Vanquish as horror stories are heard of transmissions costing upwards of $80,000 if needing replacement.
4) Porsche
Finally, we now come to the least expensive and most reliable exotic on the planet. The Porsche 911 Turbo is the most ordinary car to maintain, just about on the same level than Mercedes AMG models or a BMW M models, the cost of ownership of a Porsche 911 Turbo is about $300 for an oil change, $900 for spark plugs and finally about $2000 for a clutch.
So to wrap up, please keep in mind that exotics cost more than a payment and need to be maintained properly in order to run properly and not cause some serious horror stories. So please don’t buy your first exotic to be stuck without the ability to change its oil. True cost of ownership of an exotic car is now defined for you. You don’t have to guess, and remember that finding a great independent shop that specializes in your make and model will save you a lot of money over your dealer especially if you car is out of warranty.
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