Dreamed of owning a Bentley and now that I can touch a 15 year old one for around $30,000, I thought why not. Until watching your video and learning that the engine has to be dropped for almost every repair. Car Wizard, once again you shatter our dreams with reality. Thank you for saving me thousands.
I don’t see the problem honestly. You’re buying a $300,000 car for chump change. 🤷🏻♂️ so what if it needs $20,000 worth of repair. 🤷🏻♂️ that’s the beauty of it…. Now you can drive a $140,000 Maserati for 40k. Say it needs a new engine down the road. 20k. Ok, now you’re in it for 60k to drive a nice “exotic” ☝🏼 that’s STILL a small price to pay for a unique vehicle.
My 2003 S500L 4-matic needed new struts and I replaced all 4 of them with Arnott rebuilt ones for 3000 bucks. New compressor was 600 bucks. Now it needs a new valve block, the last original part of the suspension. But hey, the car is 20 years old...The ride quality is worth it. I really love driving that car, even after having the EQC400 4-matic for a year.
The only way you should EVER get a flood car is if you're going to use it as a race car only or you're planning on going through and rebuilding the WHOLE car from top to bottom.
I did a pre--buying inspection on an Altima flood car....NOTHING worked inside the vehicle and at that time complete harnesses were not available. I told the woman potential owner the story and that she should NOT buy the car...even though it was cheap. A week later here she comes with that car wanting everything fixed! Again I told her that I'd have to go to the junkyard and find a good harness, and all the electronic modules and swap everything over which would cost over 5x more than she paid for the car and at least 2x what the car was worth. Some people are just not very smart.
There is flooding, and there is flooding - and of course, the simpler the car the better. In 1988 I bought a 1985 VW Jetta 2dr that had been flooded - but only to a few inches over the carpets. So it smelled a little funky on hot days (even after taking the carpet out and pressure washing it, but I was too poor to replace it), and the starter failed soon after I bought it, but otherwise it was fine and I put 200K on that car. But a car like my mother's Camry that got flooded over the dash in Hurricane Ian - no f'ing way, it will never be right again. And an electronics-infested uber-luxo-barge - GOOD LUCK.
Have a 1992 Bentley Turbo R that I've owned for several years. The Car Wizard is right. This car has been a fine running machine, but buying even the best versions will STILL set you back AT LEAST $4-5 k per year in maintenance. If you must have one, have a qualified marque expert do a pre-purchase inspection. It is well worth the few hundred bucks to avoid a VERY expensive mistake. On my car, he provided me with a complete pre-inspection report which I reviewed with a qualified mechanic. After adding up the costs along with the purchase price, I found that making the car road worthy and enjoying it was STILL considerably cheaper than purchasing a new F-150 Lariat. Yes, the parts and labor are VERY expensive, but well worth it, and as far as maintenance costs go, if you have to ask, you really can't afford it.
I almost purchased a Gran Turismo a few years ago, and I thought exactly this: "oh, it can't be that bad, if something is wrong, I'll just fix it myself". I took a look at parts pricing and it looked reasonable back in 2019, but I can't imagine what those part prices look like now with inflation out of control.
I can attest to the crazy part prices. Three years ago I picked up a 2012 Grancabrio (the convertible Granturismo) and it's been reliable. Favorite car I've ever owned, I must say. But I did shoot myself in the foot by spraying underneath the front end to wash away salt from a bit of winter driving. Didn't know that the headlight ballasts are right underneath and I flooded the left front ballast, causing left headlight failure. So I call my Maserati dealer and say I want them to replace the left front ballast. The dealer proceeds to tell me they only sell the ballast with a new front headlight, I think the cost he quoted was close to $4,000. And of course you'd want to replace the right ballast and headlight at the same time, so you'd be talking almost $8,000. Fortunately you can buy the ballasts separately from Scuderia (about $400 each I recall) and replace them yourself (or have your local shop replace them). So far I've had no trouble with the convertible top. Sure wish I can a Car Wizard here in Pennsylvania, I've searched for independent shops and not found any close to the Wizard.
@@billspinner6092Gran Turismo is a great car just don't buy a bottom end priced one. Spend at least 35 on a good example. 2014 and later models are very reliable
@@rvfinder7997 Agree, I ended up spending $45K for one with 45K miles and in near-perfect condition. The F136 V8 from Ferrari is known to be solid, as is the ZF transmission. Like the Wizard and you say, a bargain price GT is going to end up biting you in the ass. A lot of the gremlins with these cars seem to be battery voltage issues; I keep mine on a trickle charger which virtually eliminated the random warning lights that would pop up from time to time.
I vividly remember 1983, at a Lincoln-Mercury dealership the labor rate was $75 per hour and it was posed on a billboard at the service garage entrance. Now keep in mind that was 41 years ago! I remember thinking, "this is highway robbery"! My reaction 41 years ago seems quaint and funny now.
Actually that was ragingly expensive for 1983. 75 bucks in 83 would be 237 today which is way more than most shops. Should have not bought the Lincoln and laid off the Fox News 😅
You buy a cheap used Bentley but when it breaks you have to buy expensive new Bentley parts and pay expensive exotic car labor costs to fix it. Thanks for the great logical advice Wizard.
Its crazy how often I have to talk people out of buying used luxury cars. My buddy who can barely afford bologna for dinner was looking at an 06 Mercedes S65 AMG V12 biturbo not running for 6k on marketplace.
Sounds like my neighbor. He can't afford a pot to pee in but will buy used BMWs, Porsche & Mercedes to impress his friends but can't afford to maintain them.
It’s one thing if you go into it with eyes wide open. If you know how much the maintenance and parts cost but simply would rather pay 30-40K for a used one versus 80-100K for a new one, that’s fine.
Yep. Learnt that on my 2006 Grand Cherokee. $1800 on an alternator and $900 on a key fob. And I knew the turbo was getting tired. When I got the quote for $2500 for suspension work it was time to ditch the old girl. Will never buy a GC again. Parts are too rare now that Mercedes scrapped all their parts which made the parts available so expensive.
I could not afford any of my cars when they were newer. My Maserati is actually pretty cheap and fairly easy to look after. If planning to use garages for maintenance then I sort of agree with what you say, but if you can do it yourself, then a Maserati is actually not that expensive - of course picking a ZF gearbox and fixed head version really helps keep those costs down.
Yup. I learned this working auto parts as a teenager. Can’t remember the number of times someone would come in needing a part for an exotic import car and having a total fit when the part price was ten times higher than a Chevy or something.
Luxury products: Overpaying for stuff that is NEVER worth it, just to show off. Crazy margins made with the wallets of wealthy or stupid people. That will always be a business model.
People don't understand the actual purpose of such cars. They are status symbols. You are not supposed to be able to afford them, unless you don't care what it costs to maintain them. Their purpose is exclusivity. Let's say a rich person wants to put his position in society on display. He goes and buys an exotic, because it is rare and expensive. The high price is the goal. He doesn't want to see another one on the road. A Joe Shmoe is not supposed to be able to get a fixer-upper and then actually fix it. This is why exotics are needlessly overcomplicated. This is how they maintain exclusivity. I'm a bit jealous of course, but I also realize they are engineered to be unfixable sh!tboxes, so fk 'em. Get a random classic convertible with good paint and you'll still look like a million bucks. It's a cheat code.
@@NafanyaZX lol, I think we all understand that they are exclusive. A luxury car is way more than just a status symbol. If I earn my way to being able to afford one, I would like to not have the piss taken when I need to repair it. If that manufacturer wants to rip me off, I will go elsewhere. If you think they are unfixable, you've clearly never heard of people like Mat Armstrong, Rich Rebuilds or Tavarish.
Thanks for showing the latch system on the Maserati Grancabrio. I own a 2015 and, as I suspected, it's the same parts that are on my E46 BMW that I have already replaced. The motor and those plastic sliders are available on Amazon for less than $300. If mine ever breaks, I can replace them within 3 hours.
Generally I agree - expensive new cars are expensive to keep them running even as old and cheap cars. but not always... Some of them like this Bentley are made from VAG (VW Audi Porsche Skoda, Seat) parts. Many of those parts are used in VW and in Bentley. For VW you can buy them for pennies when for Bentley same part will cost arm and leg when buying from dealer. I can guess with 99% probability suspension parts are same for Audi A8 or VW Phaeton, maybe Touareg as well. etc etc. Stupid move you can do is to buy 10 years old Bentley and go to Authorized Dealer for parts and service - then it will cost you arm and leg to keep it running. There are OEM makers like Bosch, Valeo, etc offering same product to many car makers. Yo can buy for example alternator from Bentley and pay for example 2000$ or buy new one from Bosch and pay 500$ (prices just just as example) . Or there is 3rd option - 2nd hand market. Lot of those parts can be purchased as used one again with fraction of new element price.
Check outa high lieage Miata. There tops still work. The fabric might be falling apart, but the mechanism will still work. Manual tops are the way to go.
Stop trying to impress people you will never meet by driving a heavily depreciated luxury vehicle you can't comfortably afford to maintain and repair just to try and pretend you are wealthy.
@@frasermitchell9183You may think you look good on the side road waiting for the recovery vehicle or bankrupting yourself on maintenance and repairs but everybody else knows you're a fake!
OUCH! I dropped $1500 on replacing the hydraulic motor and arms for my 2001 Chrysler Sebring Convertible Limited back in 2019. Cheap money compared to the Maserati. My top still works great. Remember when working on convertible tops. Don't just let anyone work on it, NOT even the dealer (unless under warranty). Go to a specialist!! Save time and money!! Plus they are the experts.
4 месяца назад+1
I used to own a Fiat X1/9. It had a removable hardtop which fitted neatly in the trunk. It took 5 minutes to unlatch and remove, and a simiiar time to reinstall. A brilliant design.
In the trade industry, the more expensive the item to install, the more you have to charge just for liability, let alone the extra detail usually needed.
I HAD an early 60's Maserati. The kind with the inline 6. I was pretty experienced with Alfas and the Maserati just had two more cylinders. This was before fax machines and the internet. Luckily my dad had a telex machine at work and was fluent in italian and we were able to work directly with the factory to change the car over from Lucas Fuel Injection to Weber DCOEs, of which I had milk crates full of the things...take offs from wrecked alfas. Anyway Maserati used shims to adjust the valve clearances, and of course you couldn't use Alfa shims, or Abarth Shims, or Aston Martin shims, or Jaguar Shims... I had full sets of those. Any of those DOHC cars from that period could be laid up for months just to get tune up parts. At least Maseratis from that time period shared a lot of mechanical components with more common european cars and since they did not have any official distribution in the US in the late 1970s they were pretty free with technical information if you could speak or write italian. I was never able to source replacement tail light lenses and by the 1980s I was on to the New New Thing and moved it on to another curator... SO AT LEAST YOU CAN GET PARTS--USUALLY...
About 8 years ago I bought a flooded Nissan Rogue as a parts donor. Copart listing said no start, no keys. The car arrived with just damp floors. I found the key under the carpet. Full interior detailing is all it needed. The car runs to date.
My first SL55 was an eye opener. 2k, here, 3k there, and then the tires! LOL, it was still worth it. Now I spend the extra money upfront for a better maintained example. Keep up the great videos!!
Excellent explanation of the cost reality, of owning an exotic! After owning numerous exotics(including several Ferrari's), and the associated "relationship" with my mechanic, I learned how much I LOVE Toyotas!!
I agree with that 100%. I drive a 2014 Toyota Camry. Love it, and the repairs are fairly cheep. Did the transmission fluid and filter at the Dealership last year at about $380 ish. Give/ Take. NOT $3,000. Had all new breaks and rotors and one caliper replaced again at the same dealership, $1,633 cash. NOT $5,000+. Air conditioner, again at a Dealership, so proper OEM parts, $2,500 including a new AC Compresser and two electric parts behind the dash. Works perfectly, zero leaks. The Compresser alone was $750... NOT $10,000 or whaver. I coud pay cash for everything.
def not 100% true - if you know what you are doing and what you are getting into - I found a really nice CLK55 AMG, with no ABC and the m119/722.3 drivetrain combination. Sunroof went out but I was able to repair myself (removing headliner) vs dealer who wanted 5k.
Car wizard I think you have out priced yourself. I’m a mechanic in Australia & my labour rates are the equivalent of $90 per hour which I think is pretty decent. I couldn’t dream of charging $200 per hour. I would be out of business in a week. I’m a specialist in European cars too & parts are expensive so I try & keep my costs lower for the customer.
I actually have a 2015 Flying spur and a 2014 Maserati GT Convertible. I bought the Masi new, but got the FS w/ 60k miles. Actually many of the parts can be found for low prices. I had the issue with my top closer motor failing. I got a replacement from ebay for $150. Labor was 1.5 hr. My FS had an issue with air suspension where the REAR would not go down. I did have to buy a laptop and the Rosstec software to talk to the car as regular OBD scanners dont work, and my local mechanic didnt have the software ( I live in Hawaii). Anyhow, we replaced the level sensors and check valves - cost about $600 total. My car already has replacement arnott struts, but if I did need to replace, there are many ebay parts I can use. My GT got replacment front suspension using ebay parts. Yes...these care can cost a bunch to maintain, but if your'e thrifty and avoid the dealer (or expensive indy) they can be true exotic bargains. The GT is super easy to work on, and the Bentley is a glorified VW haha.
You have a good woman to support your dream. Keep her. Those are on short supply . . . and she's low maintenance. No warranty though . . . or returns on that item. 🙂 On the subject of the platonic in the sunroof, high tensile strength epoxy would have fixed that portion of the problem. The gear are another thing. I know your shop does not do that but the owner has options that no one told them to explore. The cheap guy should have though. Great Channel
IIRC the latch part is the same both sides, take the almost intact one off, have it scanned and 3D print two of them. Even if the owner wants genuine ones have them scanned anyway. I have a library of CAD files for stupidly expensive parts like those that has saved a hell of a lot of money for my customers over the last 10 years or so since 3D printing became both cheap and reliable. I have the same for a lot of metal parts we can turn out on the 5-axis CNC mill.
Back in 2015 I bought an 04 Chevy venture. It had 50,000 miles on it and just needed a little bit of work. Still have that vehicle at 80,000 miles, and it runs great.
Hey Wizard great advice I've told the exact advice to someone that did the very same thing and boy did they regret it, those high end brands are so costly to repair honestly they really aren't worth it and that is sad. Great video, keep up the great work. Thank you.
Honestly, I think I would be fine buying an older car like these knowing I'd have to put money into it. At least I know the work would have been done right by a shop like Omega.
Love watching your videos, we’re over here in sunny England our sons has started printing some car bit like those brackets on the soft top if possible it’s certainly going to work out cheaper I’m sure there’s a few places that could offer that service if you thought it was worth looking into. Keep up the good work regards Roy
The first Gens are great if you're a mechanic. I'm a hobbyist. The recommendation to buy a 2018 ignores the fact that the first Gen air struts are VW Phaeton. ~$350/ea. The coilover conversion is $2k. All first Gen cars need engine out for vacuum lines. The overlap of VW and Audi parts on the Continental is big. The car does amazing things and the w12 is ultra reliable. Yes, it costs money to fix. No, it isn't more than a Mercedes S class. The Maserati doesn't share parts with anything. The operative question is: can you drop the drivetrain in the Bentley or do you have a great independent shop that can? If not, don't buy a 12 cylinder car with two turbos, two ecus, and so on. I have two and two parts cars. Oil change is $180 bucks. Rear brakes are the A8 front brakes. Front brakes go 40-50,000 miles. Alternator is new for 4 grand or rebuilt for 900.
Something I was told by a mechanic, "I don't care how cheap they are selling it for. The parts will still be the same as the original MSRP." I'm in a high performance HHR SS and I'm looking at parts prices. They're fair priced. But I'm also looking at the do's and don't to make sure I don't fuck it up. I do see people in old Bentley's and I think "ooooooh you're going to get fucked when you need to repair that."
The only convertible I've owned with a reasonable top was the original Sidekick. Manual operation, R&R the top in 20-30 minutes, and they cost under $150. That was good because I averaged a new top every year. (Local crooks were too stupid to know the rear window unzipped until I confronted them.)
I have '14 Maserati GT that has been pretty fool proof. I talk to a lot of other owners on line that are really happy with theirs. I think the trick is look for reasonable miles, but not too low, sitting is as bad as high mileage, and good service records. The same dealer I bought mine from had a convertible, but the thought of a powered top on an Italian car caused me to not even look at it. But the basics of the car, the Ferrari V8 with the ZF auto are as solid as any modern drivetrain I can think of.
I can't afford those erotic cars. You need to talk about that pink Cadillac I keep seeing in the background. There is a reason why these cars are so expensive. They don't build and sell enough of them to get their production costs down. It is expensive to make 1000 of something. It is a lot cheaper to make a MILLION.
Had a very similar issue to the Maserati on a 640i BMW recently, a real pain and unfortunately in this case the customer had also caused more damage than a simple module replacement which needed rectified🙈
That is very correct on any expensive car no matter what make it is so some owners are tempted to go to motor factors where they can get new parts of dubious quality and wonder why 12 months later they have to do the job again. I have two Porsches one is 43 yrs old and recently had to purchase an iner tank fuel pump for it (I didn't know there were two) It cost me £680 GB plus taxes. That's without having it fitted and other ancillary parts ending with a bill of £2400 GB. If youwant an exotic car be pepared for exotic bills
The only way to come out ahead on cars like these is to do the work yourself. If you plan to have a shop do it, like Mr. Wizard says, break out a couple more pocket books.
I bought Porsche Cayenne with one headlight full of water, dealer wanted $4000 to fix it or he was gonna give me $4000 discount, I took $4000 discount, went home , watch a RUclips video and fixed it myself , opened the headlight , poured water out, dried it with a blow dryer, bought a tube of silicone and resealed the headlight gasket, got a new ballast on eBay for $100, and put it all back together, works like a charm … $4000 dealer repair I did for $105 bucks , $5 for silicone and $100 for the blast … I also have 2015 Mercedes S550 , I fix as much as I can myself … already saved thousands of dollars… with cars like those you have to be creative, if you’re lazy, don’t want to do your research and do some wrench turning, and you take it to the dealer to work on it, you better have a deep pockets , other than that , if you’re willing to invest some time and work , it’s pretty doable to own some of those cars …
This story reminds me of why I sold my 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo (930), which I loved but the repair bills were very expensive. I love my Lexus which is 23 years old and works perfectly.
When I was 19 I was looking at getting a used Mercedes s class that only $7,500. I’d saved my money from my first real job and excited to have a nice car of my own. My dad told me “if you can’t afford a new one,you certainly can’t afford a used one”. I ended up buying a Buick park Avenue they had and drove it for years. I saw the guy who bought the Mercedes broken down several times.
Well it depends. If it was an S-Class or E- Class they had frogs 🐸 headlights. Yes absolutely true for your father. But if it had any sort of Rectangular headlights. He was wrong. They were straight forward and they don’t break down near as often as they are overbuilt rather than under built like the newer post 2000’s era Mercedes with the round ugly headlights. They were junk and I’d never trade my pre 2002 Mercedes’ in for those piles of over complicated plastic garbage. BMW even more so after 2003’. Plastic garbage 🗑️ that cost hundreds to even diagnose. 😂
Buick’s are good reliable cars. And cheap to fix. Why do you think old people have them. Not because they are old fashioned looking but because the old people are cheap. Every old person I know hates to spend anything.
@@jasonknight5863 I think his thought process was more in the line of “this idiot is going to blow all his money on a car he can’t afford to keep running and then he’s going to come to me”. But man,that Buick was still the most fun I’ve ever had in a car. And it flew under the radar for police while still offering comfort and luxury. And the few issues I did have with it I was able to trouble shoot and fix cheap and fairly quickly. I pop the hood on my new car now and immediately remember why I lease.
I was tempted to get a Bentley but decided against it for precisely this reason. A buddy of mine was offering a Maserati GT for a reasonable price - same thing, worried about the maintenance. Ended up with a Jaguar XKR-S convertible, which is still expensive to maintain, but not exotic levels.
I had the chance to drive a 2015 Maserati GranTurismo S. It's an awesome car, drives and sounds amazing. Recently I saw a few for sale for under $30k and I'll admit I am super tempted.. But I've had to resist that urge. I spoke to a guy who runs a shop that works on these sorts of cars... Nearly everything you mentioned here he confirmed it's all true.. Parts are all very expensive and nearly everything is all special order. And unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of companies who make aftermarket parts.
I know of a lady who bought her dream car of a Rolls Royce. Long story short, she drove to the Rolls dealership and was quoted between $5,000 and $6,000 + labor for a brake job. She was shocked! Additionally her new toy needed a few more repairs she wasn't counting on. She was advised to park the car until she had the brake work done. The car sat in her carport for the rest of it's life. So much for driving her new toy!
@@SailingSVPipedream Yeah that was probably a long time ago before cars were computers on wheels that you can't yourself anymore without the dealer diagnostic and programming tools. Just watch Samcrac's latest video on his issues with an auction Austin Martin.
@@Weezedog I know what you mean and most cars newer than 2015 are a nightmare. However the Maserati Granturismo is not like that. I have a 2008 example (they are pretty much all the same electrics wise) and it is quite easy to work on. A $70 Autel scanner reads the modules. Mine was a project car and is now back to good condition. Forums, Google, RUclips provided many of the answers I needed.
def not 100% true - if you know what you are doing and what you are getting into - I found a really nice CLK55 AMG, with no ABC and the m119/722.3 drivetrain combination. Sunroof went out but I was able to repair myself (removing headliner) vs dealer who wanted 5k.
@@ghostrider-be9ek The majority of people 1. Don't know what they are doing and 2. Don't know what they are getting into. They rely on shops to fix their cars and are more Car Wizard's target audience. Even the shade tree mechanic is going to have a serious problem with modern computerized cars. Samcrac just recently couldn't get his salvage Austin Martin fixed because the replacement module was impossible to get and program, even after going through every connection he had. Yeah you may be able to fix some mechanical-only parts, but if it requires programming and dealer tools you will have issues.
these videos you make on staying away from 1% cars saved me from making that very mistake I was looking at some S class Benz and you saved me from myself
As I have told many people over the years as someone who has worked in auto parts and service: If you can't afford a new (fill in the blank), you really can't afford an old one!
'07 Toyota Solara......yeah, typical dull Toyota. But, convertible top is all electric, two latches and a button. Works like magic and fast up and down. The overall performance of the car should be so much better, but it is what it is, silky smooth and quiet. The engine has a little torque, that's it. I think it should be said that convertibles need a garage, don't even think about leaving it outside, or under a carport. The Maserati looks amazing, but my ride over to Home Depot this morning was still a lot of fun.
I've been in auto parts 30 years, we really don't get calls for Maserati or Bentley parts but we get lots of calls for Land Rover, AMG and BMW M cars. Brakes for a AMG are a lot more than normal Mercedes-Benz, folks got to know that when they buy them.
When I buy a used car, generally in the six to ten thousand dollar range, I always allocate an extra 25% for the repairs to bring it up to my standards which actually aren't that high. By the time that is done, there are no more surprises and I end up with a pretty good car.
Potentially parts on exotic cars could get more expensive as time goes on as they get harder and harder to find once the OEM stops making them and there aren't enough of them out there to justify an aftermarket company producing the parts the OEM doesn't make any more. Same as the Wizard pointed out for remanufacterers.
In Georgia there is only ONE dealership that sells exotics Lotus Lamborghini so only get parts from them even if you take it to the European garage place that services them! Parts for exotics are expensive because they are limited production so NO aftermarket
Decades ago the standard joke in American autos that the same part used in a Chevrolet that appears in a Cadillac will cost at least twice as much. You pay for the name so you can impress your friends and the public with your money.
Same thing with bicycles, if your budget is 3.000 dollars buy a 1.500-2.000 dollar bicycle and save some money, because new parts are expensive and you'll have to change them eventually, especially the fork (good ones are very expensive) and transmission parts.
Back in the 1970s I owned an old 3.4 Jag.. a piece of the stainless flexible exhaust broke. The Jag part cost £30 then, I got a piece of stainless pipe identical and welded in for £3. Parts prices are a rip off.
the problem is the price of parts .I was watching a British car resto show , where they had to replace the gear shift pump the exact same part in an Alfa Romeo box was about 1/4 of the Maserati boxed unit .
My mate has been saying for a couple years that he wants to buy an 04-5 Bentley. I’ve been explaining for years about Hoovies issues he had. I now have a video to send him hahaha
Isn't that little r129 been in the shop for months for the top? I bought an $80 seals kit and have been replacing them two at a time as i get the time. Nothing to difficult, just a lot of work.
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Dreamed of owning a Bentley and now that I can touch a 15 year old one for around $30,000, I thought why not. Until watching your video and learning that the engine has to be dropped for almost every repair. Car Wizard, once again you shatter our dreams with reality. Thank you for saving me thousands.
I don’t see the problem honestly. You’re buying a $300,000 car for chump change. 🤷🏻♂️ so what if it needs $20,000 worth of repair. 🤷🏻♂️ that’s the beauty of it…. Now you can drive a $140,000 Maserati for 40k.
Say it needs a new engine down the road. 20k. Ok, now you’re in it for 60k to drive a nice “exotic”
☝🏼 that’s STILL a small price to pay for a unique vehicle.
@@I_know_what_im_talking_about It's not a unique vehicle. It's some unreliable piece of junk on wheels.
@@jaapaap123 A combination of vanity and stupidity. I'd rather spend the money on restoring a Pontiac GTO or a Tempest.
@@garykeith1048 that's your money. Others have different preferences.
@@I_know_what_im_talking_about It is a problem when you only had $30k, not $60k..
😅
It’s the old rule, if you can’t afford a good one you certainly can’t afford a bad one.
😂
Same goes for wives.
Buying a used luxury car is like marrying a divorced, aged, ex-supermodel with a venereal disease..
Maserati is so much waste of money and time.
My 2003 S500L 4-matic needed new struts and I replaced all 4 of them with Arnott rebuilt ones for 3000 bucks. New compressor was 600 bucks. Now it needs a new valve block, the last original part of the suspension. But hey, the car is 20 years old...The ride quality is worth it. I really love driving that car, even after having the EQC400 4-matic for a year.
The only way you should EVER get a flood car is if you're going to use it as a race car only or you're planning on going through and rebuilding the WHOLE car from top to bottom.
It's a good idea to buy new one
I did a pre--buying inspection on an Altima flood car....NOTHING worked inside the vehicle and at that time complete harnesses were not available. I told the woman potential owner the story and that she should NOT buy the car...even though it was cheap. A week later here she comes with that car wanting everything fixed! Again I told her that I'd have to go to the junkyard and find a good harness, and all the electronic modules and swap everything over which would cost over 5x more than she paid for the car and at least 2x what the car was worth. Some people are just not very smart.
Another reason to get a flood car is for body parts to fix a wrecked car, if you can get the car cheaper than the parts
There is flooding, and there is flooding - and of course, the simpler the car the better. In 1988 I bought a 1985 VW Jetta 2dr that had been flooded - but only to a few inches over the carpets. So it smelled a little funky on hot days (even after taking the carpet out and pressure washing it, but I was too poor to replace it), and the starter failed soon after I bought it, but otherwise it was fine and I put 200K on that car. But a car like my mother's Camry that got flooded over the dash in Hurricane Ian - no f'ing way, it will never be right again. And an electronics-infested uber-luxo-barge - GOOD LUCK.
Or a lawn ornament
Those struts are not failing. They are performing exactly as designed-To bring in a steady flow of cash.
Not if you can't even buy them from the factory...
Funny comment, but it is insult to injury.
You ain't neva' lied.🤣
Have a 1992 Bentley Turbo R that I've owned for several years. The Car Wizard is right. This car has been a fine running machine, but buying even the best versions will STILL set you back AT LEAST $4-5 k per year in maintenance. If you must have one, have a qualified marque expert do a pre-purchase inspection. It is well worth the few hundred bucks to avoid a VERY expensive mistake.
On my car, he provided me with a complete pre-inspection report which I reviewed with a qualified mechanic. After adding up the costs along with the purchase price, I found that making the car road worthy and enjoying it was STILL considerably cheaper than purchasing a new F-150 Lariat.
Yes, the parts and labor are VERY expensive, but well worth it, and as far as maintenance costs go, if you have to ask, you really can't afford it.
I really like the Turbo R
Congratulations
honestly 4-5k/ year in maintence is a really good deal compared to the price of a new one.
$3k for a Bentley stamped air strut. Good chance it's the same exact unit as a Q7 or A8 which is a thousand. Do your research.
Do the Q7 and the A8 have the same problem after 6 years?
Bentley is just a fancy VW group.
So definitely do your research & source parts that elsewhere don’t bother with Bentley spares.
They don't look anything alike.
They engineered right around that one.
You're very close. It's the Panamera air spring.
Same as a8
30k for a flooded car, genius move.
Sounds like he'll be buying a hellcat next
Especially since anything out of Ft Myers beach was not just flooded it was submerged in 10 feet of water for hours
😂
🤣
@@MB-rr1fb more like submerged for days.
I almost purchased a Gran Turismo a few years ago, and I thought exactly this: "oh, it can't be that bad, if something is wrong, I'll just fix it myself". I took a look at parts pricing and it looked reasonable back in 2019, but I can't imagine what those part prices look like now with inflation out of control.
I can attest to the crazy part prices. Three years ago I picked up a 2012 Grancabrio (the convertible Granturismo) and it's been reliable. Favorite car I've ever owned, I must say. But I did shoot myself in the foot by spraying underneath the front end to wash away salt from a bit of winter driving. Didn't know that the headlight ballasts are right underneath and I flooded the left front ballast, causing left headlight failure. So I call my Maserati dealer and say I want them to replace the left front ballast. The dealer proceeds to tell me they only sell the ballast with a new front headlight, I think the cost he quoted was close to $4,000. And of course you'd want to replace the right ballast and headlight at the same time, so you'd be talking almost $8,000. Fortunately you can buy the ballasts separately from Scuderia (about $400 each I recall) and replace them yourself (or have your local shop replace them). So far I've had no trouble with the convertible top. Sure wish I can a Car Wizard here in Pennsylvania, I've searched for independent shops and not found any close to the Wizard.
Maserati parts arnt bad compared to Aston Martin and Bentley.
@@billspinner6092modern headlights on any car are expensive still cheap than fixing rust from salty slush..
@@billspinner6092Gran Turismo is a great car just don't buy a bottom end priced one. Spend at least 35 on a good example. 2014 and later models are very reliable
@@rvfinder7997 Agree, I ended up spending $45K for one with 45K miles and in near-perfect condition. The F136 V8 from Ferrari is known to be solid, as is the ZF transmission. Like the Wizard and you say, a bargain price GT is going to end up biting you in the ass. A lot of the gremlins with these cars seem to be battery voltage issues; I keep mine on a trickle charger which virtually eliminated the random warning lights that would pop up from time to time.
I vividly remember 1983, at a Lincoln-Mercury dealership the labor rate was $75 per hour and it was posed on a billboard at the service garage entrance. Now keep in mind that was 41 years ago! I remember thinking, "this is highway robbery"! My reaction 41 years ago seems quaint and funny now.
when i bought a cadillac it was a hundred per hour at the dealer, I wrench as much as I can 🔧
$150 an hour if you worked on it before bringing it in. $300 an hour if you want to help us fix it.
$75 in 1983 = $237 in 2024
Actually that was ragingly expensive for 1983. 75 bucks in 83 would be 237 today which is way more than most shops. Should have not bought the Lincoln and laid off the Fox News 😅
$75/hour in '83 was crazy expensive! That should have been BMW pricing.
You buy a cheap used Bentley but when it breaks you have to buy expensive new Bentley parts and pay expensive exotic car labor costs to fix it. Thanks for the great logical advice Wizard.
Its crazy how often I have to talk people out of buying used luxury cars.
My buddy who can barely afford bologna for dinner was looking at an 06 Mercedes S65 AMG V12 biturbo not running for 6k on marketplace.
Sounds like my neighbor. He can't afford a pot to pee in but will buy used BMWs, Porsche & Mercedes to impress his friends but can't afford to maintain them.
It’s one thing if you go into it with eyes wide open. If you know how much the maintenance and parts cost but simply would rather pay 30-40K for a used one versus 80-100K for a new one, that’s fine.
Vanity.
Vanity.
He bought the wrong AMG!
If you can't afford to buy these things when they're newer, you definitely can't afford them when they're older!
LoL
Yep. Learnt that on my 2006 Grand Cherokee. $1800 on an alternator and $900 on a key fob. And I knew the turbo was getting tired. When I got the quote for $2500 for suspension work it was time to ditch the old girl. Will never buy a GC again. Parts are too rare now that Mercedes scrapped all their parts which made the parts available so expensive.
I could not afford any of my cars when they were newer. My Maserati is actually pretty cheap and fairly easy to look after. If planning to use garages for maintenance then I sort of agree with what you say, but if you can do it yourself, then a Maserati is actually not that expensive - of course picking a ZF gearbox and fixed head version really helps keep those costs down.
@@2DogsVlogsthat’s the diesel one?
@@2steaksandwiches665 Yes it was a CRD. Pre DPF model.
That pink Caddy in the background is awesome.
Yup. I learned this working auto parts as a teenager. Can’t remember the number of times someone would come in needing a part for an exotic import car and having a total fit when the part price was ten times higher than a Chevy or something.
now, you can just look it up online and not bother the poor parts counter people - who dont set the prices either
Check the convertible top on a Mazda Miata, up or down manually in 10 seconds or less and you can do it sitting in the driver's seat.
Buying these cars is the cheap part. Owning them is expensive.
Both of these are beautiful cars. I wish you would've shown the interiors like you usually do. I was really anticipating seeing them!
Even if it's a Maserati or Bentley, those parts prices are criminal.
They figure if you own that car, you can afford it. They aren't mass-produced parts.
I think a fair proportion of the Maserati owners are criminals too.
Luxury products: Overpaying for stuff that is NEVER worth it, just to show off.
Crazy margins made with the wallets of wealthy or stupid people. That will always be a business model.
People don't understand the actual purpose of such cars. They are status symbols. You are not supposed to be able to afford them, unless you don't care what it costs to maintain them. Their purpose is exclusivity. Let's say a rich person wants to put his position in society on display. He goes and buys an exotic, because it is rare and expensive. The high price is the goal. He doesn't want to see another one on the road. A Joe Shmoe is not supposed to be able to get a fixer-upper and then actually fix it. This is why exotics are needlessly overcomplicated. This is how they maintain exclusivity. I'm a bit jealous of course, but I also realize they are engineered to be unfixable sh!tboxes, so fk 'em. Get a random classic convertible with good paint and you'll still look like a million bucks. It's a cheat code.
@@NafanyaZX lol, I think we all understand that they are exclusive. A luxury car is way more than just a status symbol. If I earn my way to being able to afford one, I would like to not have the piss taken when I need to repair it. If that manufacturer wants to rip me off, I will go elsewhere. If you think they are unfixable, you've clearly never heard of people like Mat Armstrong, Rich Rebuilds or Tavarish.
Thank your Car Wizard, your style is straight and to the point. Thank you. The real world is Mr Carwizard .
Thanks for showing the latch system on the Maserati Grancabrio. I own a 2015 and, as I suspected, it's the same parts that are on my E46 BMW that I have already replaced. The motor and those plastic sliders are available on Amazon for less than $300. If mine ever breaks, I can replace them within 3 hours.
Generally I agree - expensive new cars are expensive to keep them running even as old and cheap cars.
but not always... Some of them like this Bentley are made from VAG (VW Audi Porsche Skoda, Seat) parts. Many of those parts are used in VW and in Bentley. For VW you can buy them for pennies when for Bentley same part will cost arm and leg when buying from dealer.
I can guess with 99% probability suspension parts are same for Audi A8 or VW Phaeton, maybe Touareg as well. etc etc.
Stupid move you can do is to buy 10 years old Bentley and go to Authorized Dealer for parts and service - then it will cost you arm and leg to keep it running. There are OEM makers like Bosch, Valeo, etc offering same product to many car makers. Yo can buy for example alternator from Bentley and pay for example 2000$ or buy new one from Bosch and pay 500$ (prices just just as example) . Or there is 3rd option - 2nd hand market. Lot of those parts can be purchased as used one again with fraction of new element price.
exactly, I have Porsche Cayenne diesel, engine is same in VW Touareg and Audi A7, I just buy all the engine parts I need for Touareg
Check outa high lieage Miata. There tops still work. The fabric might be falling apart, but the mechanism will still work. Manual tops are the way to go.
right on , manual tops are the way to go
Stop trying to impress people you will never meet by driving a heavily depreciated luxury vehicle you can't comfortably afford to maintain and repair just to try and pretend you are wealthy.
The Italians call it "Bella Figura", or so my missus says, who comes from Rome
@@frasermitchell9183When all the dash lights come on and you can hear the beep, I call it an Italian Disco.
@@frasermitchell9183You may think you look good on the side road waiting for the recovery vehicle or bankrupting yourself on maintenance and repairs but everybody else knows you're a fake!
@@frasermitchell9183Pretending you are something you aren't?
Who are you kidding, most cars are bought with the neighbour's opinion in mind.
PDS Debt, sounds like the Companies offering to help you sell your underwater Time Shares
You are a treasure young man so refreshing and honest .
My friend recently purchased a used Audi. What the dealer wants for the 60,000 mile scheduled maintenance is more than half of what he paid for it.
hope the 'friend' did all their homework before settling into a monye hole
@@ghostrider-be9ek nope, I warned him, for some reason he likes German toys. Parody of quality, absolute junk.
OUCH! I dropped $1500 on replacing the hydraulic motor and arms for my 2001 Chrysler Sebring Convertible Limited back in 2019. Cheap money compared to the Maserati. My top still works great. Remember when working on convertible tops. Don't just let anyone work on it, NOT even the dealer (unless under warranty). Go to a specialist!! Save time and money!! Plus they are the experts.
I used to own a Fiat X1/9. It had a removable hardtop which fitted neatly in the trunk. It took 5 minutes to unlatch and remove, and a simiiar time to reinstall. A brilliant design.
I work at a place and there’s a guy devoted to his X/19. Drives it every day.
I am waiting on the vlog featuring that pink 59 Cadillac in the background. Miss the 66 Chevelle. Another great video.
In the trade industry, the more expensive the item to install, the more you have to charge just for liability, let alone the extra detail usually needed.
I HAD an early 60's Maserati. The kind with the inline 6. I was pretty experienced with Alfas and the Maserati just had two more cylinders. This was before fax machines and the internet. Luckily my dad had a telex machine at work and was fluent in italian and we were able to work directly with the factory to change the car over from Lucas Fuel Injection to Weber DCOEs, of which I had milk crates full of the things...take offs from wrecked alfas. Anyway Maserati used shims to adjust the valve clearances, and of course you couldn't use Alfa shims, or Abarth Shims, or Aston Martin shims, or Jaguar Shims... I had full sets of those. Any of those DOHC cars from that period could be laid up for months just to get tune up parts. At least Maseratis from that time period shared a lot of mechanical components with more common european cars and since they did not have any official distribution in the US in the late 1970s they were pretty free with technical information if you could speak or write italian. I was never able to source replacement tail light lenses and by the 1980s I was on to the New New Thing and moved it on to another curator... SO AT LEAST YOU CAN GET PARTS--USUALLY...
Can’t wait to see the pink ‘59
If they respray it first because dang, this is one gaudy eyesore.
@@tellyboy17 ...blasphemy...classic...
I'm two thirds of the way there, Wizard. There are 200k miles on my 2012 MX-5 PRHT and the top still works! The top is operated on a daily basis.
About 8 years ago I bought a flooded Nissan Rogue as a parts donor. Copart listing said no start, no keys. The car arrived with just damp floors. I found the key under the carpet. Full interior detailing is all it needed. The car runs to date.
My first SL55 was an eye opener. 2k, here, 3k there, and then the tires! LOL, it was still worth it. Now I spend the extra money upfront for a better maintained example. Keep up the great videos!!
Love the Caddy in the background! Love you 63 too!
Appreciate you putting out a video every week. I know it’s a lot of work.
Lol his videos are very low effort
Excellent explanation of the cost reality, of owning an exotic! After owning numerous exotics(including several Ferrari's), and the associated "relationship" with my mechanic, I learned how much I LOVE Toyotas!!
If you can't afford it new, you can't afford a used one.
I agree with that 100%. I drive a 2014 Toyota Camry. Love it, and the repairs are fairly cheep. Did the transmission fluid and filter at the Dealership last year at about $380 ish. Give/ Take. NOT $3,000. Had all new breaks and rotors and one caliper replaced again at the same dealership, $1,633 cash. NOT $5,000+. Air conditioner, again at a Dealership, so proper OEM parts, $2,500 including a new AC Compresser and two electric parts behind the dash. Works perfectly, zero leaks. The Compresser alone was $750... NOT $10,000 or whaver. I coud pay cash for everything.
Exactly. Most maserati parts are ferrari prices.yet I see people daily driving them..I'm a mechanic and drive mine 2 days a week.lol
@@williambaldwin9346next time put that money on a new jetta 2024 basically an audi loaded for 30k
def not 100% true - if you know what you are doing and what you are getting into - I found a really nice CLK55 AMG, with no ABC and the m119/722.3 drivetrain combination.
Sunroof went out but I was able to repair myself (removing headliner) vs dealer who wanted 5k.
That's total BS.
Car wizard I think you have out priced yourself. I’m a mechanic in Australia & my labour rates are the equivalent of $90 per hour which I think is pretty decent. I couldn’t dream of charging $200 per hour.
I would be out of business in a week. I’m a specialist in European cars too & parts are expensive so I try & keep my costs lower for the customer.
I actually have a 2015 Flying spur and a 2014 Maserati GT Convertible. I bought the Masi new, but got the FS w/ 60k miles. Actually many of the parts can be found for low prices. I had the issue with my top closer motor failing. I got a replacement from ebay for $150. Labor was 1.5 hr. My FS had an issue with air suspension where the REAR would not go down. I did have to buy a laptop and the Rosstec software to talk to the car as regular OBD scanners dont work, and my local mechanic didnt have the software ( I live in Hawaii). Anyhow, we replaced the level sensors and check valves - cost about $600 total. My car already has replacement arnott struts, but if I did need to replace, there are many ebay parts I can use. My GT got replacment front suspension using ebay parts. Yes...these care can cost a bunch to maintain, but if your'e thrifty and avoid the dealer (or expensive indy) they can be true exotic bargains. The GT is super easy to work on, and the Bentley is a glorified VW haha.
I wouldn't nomally pick a pink car but the Cadillac in the background is a beauty.
Good on you Wizard... Flying Spares and IntroCar have great parts and well done with the rebuild!
The reason I had to get rid of my Porsche Panamera. The air suspension went out and it was going to cost $18K to fix.
You have a good woman to support your dream.
Keep her. Those are on short supply . . . and she's low maintenance.
No warranty though . . . or returns on that item. 🙂
On the subject of the platonic in the sunroof, high tensile strength epoxy would have fixed that portion of the problem. The gear are another thing.
I know your shop does not do that but the owner has options that no one told them to explore. The cheap guy should have though.
Great Channel
I really like your blunt honesty.
IIRC the latch part is the same both sides, take the almost intact one off, have it scanned and 3D print two of them. Even if the owner wants genuine ones have them scanned anyway. I have a library of CAD files for stupidly expensive parts like those that has saved a hell of a lot of money for my customers over the last 10 years or so since 3D printing became both cheap and reliable. I have the same for a lot of metal parts we can turn out on the 5-axis CNC mill.
30k for a flooded car is another level of stupid 🤣🤣
10 grand tops
Cosmetically it was perfect.
AIR SUSPENSION ON AUDI RS6
DESIGNED TO EMPTY BANK ACCOUNTS
Audi repairs are 👎. Awful to work on . Plastic engines
Fixing the top on the mazeratti costs more than my entire eclipse spyder😅
Back in 2015 I bought an 04 Chevy venture. It had 50,000 miles on it and just needed a little bit of work. Still have that vehicle at 80,000 miles, and it runs great.
I'm excited to see more of that 59 Cadillac soon!
Hey Wizard great advice I've told the exact advice to someone that did the very same thing and boy did they regret it, those high end brands are so costly to repair honestly they really aren't worth it and that is sad. Great video, keep up the great work. Thank you.
Honestly, I think I would be fine buying an older car like these knowing I'd have to put money into it. At least I know the work would have been done right by a shop like Omega.
Wizard is speaking the tough truths
Love watching your videos, we’re over here in sunny England our sons has started printing some car bit like those brackets on the soft top if possible it’s certainly going to work out cheaper I’m sure there’s a few places that could offer that service if you thought it was worth looking into. Keep up the good work regards Roy
The first Gens are great if you're a mechanic. I'm a hobbyist. The recommendation to buy a 2018 ignores the fact that the first Gen air struts are VW Phaeton. ~$350/ea. The coilover conversion is $2k. All first Gen cars need engine out for vacuum lines.
The overlap of VW and Audi parts on the Continental is big. The car does amazing things and the w12 is ultra reliable. Yes, it costs money to fix. No, it isn't more than a Mercedes S class. The Maserati doesn't share parts with anything.
The operative question is: can you drop the drivetrain in the Bentley or do you have a great independent shop that can? If not, don't buy a 12 cylinder car with two turbos, two ecus, and so on. I have two and two parts cars. Oil change is $180 bucks. Rear brakes are the A8 front brakes. Front brakes go 40-50,000 miles. Alternator is new for 4 grand or rebuilt for 900.
Something I was told by a mechanic, "I don't care how cheap they are selling it for. The parts will still be the same as the original MSRP."
I'm in a high performance HHR SS and I'm looking at parts prices. They're fair priced. But I'm also looking at the do's and don't to make sure I don't fuck it up. I do see people in old Bentley's and I think "ooooooh you're going to get fucked when you need to repair that."
The only convertible I've owned with a reasonable top was the original Sidekick. Manual operation, R&R the top in 20-30 minutes, and they cost under $150. That was good because I averaged a new top every year. (Local crooks were too stupid to know the rear window unzipped until I confronted them.)
I have '14 Maserati GT that has been pretty fool proof. I talk to a lot of other owners on line that are really happy with theirs. I think the trick is look for reasonable miles, but not too low, sitting is as bad as high mileage, and good service records. The same dealer I bought mine from had a convertible, but the thought of a powered top on an Italian car caused me to not even look at it. But the basics of the car, the Ferrari V8 with the ZF auto are as solid as any modern drivetrain I can think of.
I can't afford those erotic cars. You need to talk about that pink Cadillac I keep seeing in the background. There is a reason why these cars are so expensive. They don't build and sell enough of them to get their production costs down. It is expensive to make 1000 of something. It is a lot cheaper to make a MILLION.
You mean the 60k caddie back there, just a heads up from a classic owner we get that same tax added
never seen a erotic car, whats that?
How erotic!!!
@@jacobpoucherhas built in “features” to pleasure the driver.
The only thing erotic about those cars is when Wizzy is excited when he gives you the bill.
Had a very similar issue to the Maserati on a 640i BMW recently, a real pain and unfortunately in this case the customer had also caused more damage than a simple module replacement which needed rectified🙈
Thanks for the videos. Appreciate your direct, honest approach
I am so happy I got rid of the Porsche and bmw, replaced with Acura and gmc Sierra. Oil changes aren’t causing convulsions and they just work
Agree. Sold the BMW for a Tesla and now with 125k miles and zero maintenance, I haven't looked back.
GMC is junk.
17 years on this 07 Z33 roadster, 68K miles, original top works perfectly. Does. Not. Skip. A. Beat. 😎
Love the 59 Cadillac in the background!!
Dave on DDE also had suspension issues on the Bentley. Crazy that they have so many issues for the amount you're paying
MOST MERCEDES HAVE BRAKE PADS DOWN TO BARE METAL
BUT VALETTED EVERY MONTH.
That is very correct on any expensive car no matter what make it is so some owners are tempted to go to motor factors where they can get new parts of dubious quality and wonder why 12 months later they have to do the job again. I have two Porsches one is 43 yrs old and recently had to purchase an iner tank fuel pump for it (I didn't know there were two) It cost me £680 GB plus taxes. That's without having it fitted and other ancillary parts ending with a bill of £2400 GB. If youwant an exotic car be pepared for exotic bills
The only way to come out ahead on cars like these is to do the work yourself. If you plan to have a shop do it, like Mr. Wizard says, break out a couple more pocket books.
I bought Porsche Cayenne with one headlight full of water, dealer wanted $4000 to fix it or he was gonna give me $4000 discount, I took $4000 discount, went home , watch a RUclips video and fixed it myself , opened the headlight , poured water out, dried it with a blow dryer, bought a tube of silicone and resealed the headlight gasket, got a new ballast on eBay for $100, and put it all back together, works like a charm … $4000 dealer repair I did for $105 bucks , $5 for silicone and $100 for the blast … I also have 2015 Mercedes S550 , I fix as much as I can myself … already saved thousands of dollars… with cars like those you have to be creative, if you’re lazy, don’t want to do your research and do some wrench turning, and you take it to the dealer to work on it, you better have a deep pockets , other than that , if you’re willing to invest some time and work , it’s pretty doable to own some of those cars …
This story reminds me of why I sold my 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo (930), which I loved but the repair bills were very expensive. I love my Lexus which is 23 years old and works perfectly.
Great informative video, Mr and Mrs Wizard ❤
When I was 19 I was looking at getting a used Mercedes s class that only $7,500. I’d saved my money from my first real job and excited to have a nice car of my own. My dad told me “if you can’t afford a new one,you certainly can’t afford a used one”. I ended up buying a Buick park Avenue they had and drove it for years. I saw the guy who bought the Mercedes broken down several times.
If that S class was older than 1997 it wouldnt be that bad
@@jomaoliveira7949 Parts still aren't cheap and some stuff you can't do at home.
Well it depends. If it was an S-Class or E- Class they had frogs 🐸 headlights. Yes absolutely true for your father.
But if it had any sort of Rectangular headlights. He was wrong. They were straight forward and they don’t break down near as often as they are overbuilt rather than under built like the newer post 2000’s era Mercedes with the round ugly headlights. They were junk and I’d never trade my pre 2002 Mercedes’ in for those piles of over complicated plastic garbage. BMW even more so after 2003’. Plastic garbage 🗑️ that cost hundreds to even diagnose. 😂
Buick’s are good reliable cars. And cheap to fix. Why do you think old people have them.
Not because they are old fashioned looking but because the old people are cheap. Every old person I know hates to spend anything.
@@jasonknight5863 I think his thought process was more in the line of “this idiot is going to blow all his money on a car he can’t afford to keep running and then he’s going to come to me”. But man,that Buick was still the most fun I’ve ever had in a car. And it flew under the radar for police while still offering comfort and luxury. And the few issues I did have with it I was able to trouble shoot and fix cheap and fairly quickly. I pop the hood on my new car now and immediately remember why I lease.
I was tempted to get a Bentley but decided against it for precisely this reason. A buddy of mine was offering a Maserati GT for a reasonable price - same thing, worried about the maintenance. Ended up with a Jaguar XKR-S convertible, which is still expensive to maintain, but not exotic levels.
convertable top on my '66 corvette I've had for years has never broken
Still in a world where a new pickup is six figures-$30000 in repairs does not seem so bad to drive a slick car.
I had the chance to drive a 2015 Maserati GranTurismo S. It's an awesome car, drives and sounds amazing. Recently I saw a few for sale for under $30k and I'll admit I am super tempted.. But I've had to resist that urge. I spoke to a guy who runs a shop that works on these sorts of cars... Nearly everything you mentioned here he confirmed it's all true.. Parts are all very expensive and nearly everything is all special order. And unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of companies who make aftermarket parts.
I know of a lady who bought her dream car of a Rolls Royce. Long story short, she drove to the Rolls dealership and was quoted between $5,000 and $6,000 + labor for a brake job. She was shocked! Additionally her new toy needed a few more repairs she wasn't counting on. She was advised to park the car until she had the brake work done. The car sat in her carport for the rest of it's life. So much for driving her new toy!
I would have advised her to look for an independent mechanic not taken joy in seeing somebody's dream get heartbroken.
Trying to keep up with the joneses
If you can't afford a luxury car new, you definitely can't afford it used.
Wrong… I had an XJ6 as my second car when I was 18. Cheapest car I ever had. Trick is fix it yourself.
@@SailingSVPipedream Yeah that was probably a long time ago before cars were computers on wheels that you can't yourself anymore without the dealer diagnostic and programming tools. Just watch Samcrac's latest video on his issues with an auction Austin Martin.
@@Weezedog I know what you mean and most cars newer than 2015 are a nightmare. However the Maserati Granturismo is not like that. I have a 2008 example (they are pretty much all the same electrics wise) and it is quite easy to work on. A $70 Autel scanner reads the modules. Mine was a project car and is now back to good condition. Forums, Google, RUclips provided many of the answers I needed.
def not 100% true - if you know what you are doing and what you are getting into - I found a really nice CLK55 AMG, with no ABC and the m119/722.3 drivetrain combination.
Sunroof went out but I was able to repair myself (removing headliner) vs dealer who wanted 5k.
@@ghostrider-be9ek The majority of people 1. Don't know what they are doing and 2. Don't know what they are getting into. They rely on shops to fix their cars and are more Car Wizard's target audience. Even the shade tree mechanic is going to have a serious problem with modern computerized cars. Samcrac just recently couldn't get his salvage Austin Martin fixed because the replacement module was impossible to get and program, even after going through every connection he had. Yeah you may be able to fix some mechanical-only parts, but if it requires programming and dealer tools you will have issues.
these videos you make on staying away from 1% cars saved me from making that very mistake I was looking at some S class Benz and you saved me from myself
As I have told many people over the years as someone who has worked in auto parts and service: If you can't afford a new (fill in the blank), you really can't afford an old one!
'07 Toyota Solara......yeah, typical dull Toyota. But, convertible top is all electric, two latches and a button. Works like magic and fast up and down. The overall performance of the car should be so much better, but it is what it is, silky smooth and quiet. The engine has a little torque, that's it. I think it should be said that convertibles need a garage, don't even think about leaving it outside, or under a carport. The Maserati looks amazing, but my ride over to Home Depot this morning was still a lot of fun.
I've been in auto parts 30 years, we really don't get calls for Maserati or Bentley parts but we get lots of calls for Land Rover, AMG and BMW M cars. Brakes for a AMG are a lot more than normal Mercedes-Benz, folks got to know that when they buy them.
When I buy a used car, generally in the six to ten thousand dollar range, I always allocate an extra 25% for the repairs to bring it up to my standards which actually aren't that high. By the time that is done, there are no more surprises and I end up with a pretty good car.
Potentially parts on exotic cars could get more expensive as time goes on as they get harder and harder to find once the OEM stops making them and there aren't enough of them out there to justify an aftermarket company producing the parts the OEM doesn't make any more. Same as the Wizard pointed out for remanufacterers.
I’ll stick with my Toyota Corolla, parts are plentiful and relatively inexpensive
Don't buy toyota car s
@@kingsmoin4899 Are you dumb?
@@kingsmoin4899 why not?
you’ll stick with a corolla , because that’s what you can afford , not by choice lil man
In Georgia there is only ONE dealership that sells exotics Lotus Lamborghini so only get parts from them even if you take it to the European garage place that services them!
Parts for exotics are expensive because they are limited production so NO aftermarket
Decades ago the standard joke in American autos that the same part used in a Chevrolet that appears in a Cadillac will cost at least twice as much. You pay for the name so you can impress your friends and the public with your money.
Same thing with bicycles, if your budget is 3.000 dollars buy a 1.500-2.000 dollar bicycle and save some money, because new parts are expensive and you'll have to change them eventually, especially the fork (good ones are very expensive) and transmission parts.
so what about that pink cadillac in the background?
Back in the 1970s I owned an old 3.4 Jag.. a piece of the stainless flexible exhaust broke.
The Jag part cost £30 then, I got a piece of stainless pipe identical and welded in for £3.
Parts prices are a rip off.
What's up with the pink Cadilac behind ya Wizzard???
the problem is the price of parts .I was watching a British car resto show , where they had to replace the gear shift pump the exact same part in an Alfa Romeo box was about 1/4 of the Maserati boxed unit .
My mate has been saying for a couple years that he wants to buy an 04-5 Bentley. I’ve been explaining for years about Hoovies issues he had. I now have a video to send him hahaha
Very good advice 👌 I'm not going to buy no exotic cars for sure
Isn't that little r129 been in the shop for months for the top? I bought an $80 seals kit and have been replacing them two at a time as i get the time. Nothing to difficult, just a lot of work.
"I can buy this car... couple of grand n' I'll be in business!" "WRONG!" Putting Hoovie on blast like that, lol! 😂😂😂
Very good video Wizard. Thanks.
I have an older Porsche that needs TLC. Looking at $6300 w/ used parts for just a few things lol