http://www.forbes.com/2008/05/05/car...hisSpeed=15000

And I'm sure they didn't mean the Sidewalk in particular.

 

anyone else fail to see how an average of ~$200/year seems expensive? the H3 on the other hand...

 

Anyone price changing an alternator?
I'm not surprised MINI is on the list.

 

Thats....really not that expensive.

 

That's all? 15,000 mi/yr x 5 yrs = 75,000 miles
75,000 miles @ 35 miles/gal = 2,143 gallons of Prem Gas
2,143 gallons of 93 O @ $4.25/gal (this year) = $9,107.15
Starts to mak a mere $1,093 look cheap.

 

Calc in depreciation on the avg car and it's like a JCW upgrade is free....

 

Heh... I'll be dancing a jig if I ONLY have to spend $1,100 in repairs in the first 5 years... Since that would only be about 10% of my mod & accessory cost at that point...

 

35 mpg is a theoretical figure in my car... 25 is aspirational every other week!

 

I wanted to use MINIs numbers but I did an avg of what people on the other thread said they were getting. Sorry

And then again 365 x 5 = 1825 driving days possible
And $9107.15 / 1825 days = Less than 5 bucks a day to ride an E ticket ride like mine? YOU BET'CHA !

 

Notice they didn't say cost to maintain and repair.

For example, lets say you follow the dealer guidlines
and nothing else, that's zero over 4 years.

Now I don't know how long to change a timing belt in
a modern civic/whatever but it used to be 60k miles.
Anybody priced a timing belt on a modern car lately?(1)
ADD THAT INTO THE EQUATION MR FORBES


(1) We did actually. $1400 on a VW.
Actually worth the ride from NC to NJ, twice, to have
a friend do it on the cheap. Even with gas what it is now.

 

what motor was that on? most VW timing belts are easy to get to

 

2000 passat V6.
i read the book on it.
not possible by me with current tool set.

that price was for the waterpump, flush, etc.
what you are supposed to do at 105k miles.

my friend at work has a jetta 4 cyl. (not sure of size).
He had his waterpump fail. but luckily even though
he bought it used it still had some warrenty on it.
so the dealer charge ends up being $1600 but free to him.

maybe people here just think they can get more
when it is a VW (?)

 

The MINI uses a timing chain, the first gen's at least.

 

We're hoping to get the mini suv when it comes out.

 

I find the MINI to be a pretty simple car to work on, especially given the packaging of the engine in the compartment. Few special tools are needed for generalized repairs, and for the more involved stuff, the front end of the car is designed to swing away for easier access. Granted, removing the modular front end adds some time to the job, but for the DIYer it's no big deal. In fact, with the MFE removed, it makes access much easier than if one had to work down in the confines of the engine bay. It just looks a lot more involved.

Now, one contributing factor in some of those costs might have to do with the parent company's service charges. BMW is not exactly a discount leader in that respect.

 

hey the_red_car, our cars are nearly identical! '04 mcs, cr/w, and mine has the white kosei k1's and window tints also!

 

Treason! Off with his head! You know the rules... no truth-saying on that topic is allowed (nor is talk about spare parts profit margins... $50 for a painted plastic tow hook hole cover...)