Speed costs money: how fast can you afford to spend?
One of the often-overlooked factors in buying an exotic car is the cost of maintenance: even if you can afford the price of admission, can you afford to write checks when service is due? Take the Ferrari 308, for example. You can find plenty of examples in the $30,000 to $35,000 range, but a 15,000 mile service will set you back around $5k. Need an engine rebuilt because you didn’t do the required maintenance? Best plan on spending $10k and up at your Ferrari shop.
Ferrari’s may be expensive to maintain, but they look like sensible economy cars when compared to the Bugatti Veyron. Britain’s Autocar did a piece on Veyron ownership costs a few months back and the numbers were staggering. Let’s start with a “routine” service, which will set you back roughly $20,000.00. There’s no word on service interval, but let’s assume that your Bugatti dealer wants to see you back annually. I’m not guessing they publish a 10% off coupon for service, either.
You’ll go through tires on a somewhat regular basis, especially if your Veyron sees track time. A new set of rubber (which you can’t buy at Pep Boys) will drain your bank account another $36,000.00, and I’d plan on at least one set per year. Still interested? At every fourth tire change, the wheels must be inspected and stress tested for cracks. Let’s hope your dealer doesn’t find any, because each wheel has a price tag of roughly $11,000.00.
Used Veyrons have hit eBay at the $1,000,000.00 price point, a depreciation of roughly 40% from new. Even if they eventually depreciate to the point of attainability, not many of us will ever be able to afford the costs of Veyron ownership.