I wish more people would realize this when they buy a BMW 7-series circa 2002-2006. Yes, they're cheap. ....Because when they break, it's to the tune of $3000 each time. Remember, kids--a $100,000 car has $100,000 car parts, even if you only paid five grand.
All of these cost are realative to the people performing the maintence. You go to a dealer and they will charge you astronomical prices for labor. Find another mechanic. Clutches should not be a common change unless something is wrong with the driver or the car.
The older 2005-2010 series BMW M6s have the same if not more ownership fees. These cars can be picked up for about $30,000. Most of them have expired warranties and when a transmission replacement is half the cost of the car it makes you think twice about owning one.
Doug is the type of guy to buy from Carmax then drive to the dealership of origin drink their customer only coffee and talk shit to them about the deal and warranty he purchased from Carmax
Well shoot. I was really going to buy one of these, but I'm not paying $700 a month for a car payment and and then another ~4k-5k a year just to own. Guess I'm going back to the Stingrays.
I bought a $48,000 new Ford F150 super crew with twin turbos and have driven it for 2 1/2 years and no repair costs, not even new brake pads. The Aston is cool, but it ain't a Ford.
my 911 never cost me a lick of trouble except oil changes which I did myself. And, I drove mine very hard. Put 3000 miles in the first month! lol, power slides, high speeds on average, etc. Was my daily driver for 10 years. Started right up, great highway mileage, very dependable.
Supercars usually mean big fuel bills but the turbo-diesel changes all that. The BMW 530d is one fine example but there are many others. If one goes to a good Motor Factor instead of the Main Stealer ones wallet with thank you!
The Cayman is a super nice car, it handles like a dream! Maintenance costs for Boxters and Caymans are very reasonable. Porsches(imo) are the only real super cars which you can use as a daily driver without worrying whether or not you will break down somewhere. I drove a 1991, 928S4 for about 5 years 24.000 Miles a year, it literally was a dream come true. Enjoy your Cayman!
I understand that Doug needs to quote dealer prices for the services. #1 - It's the only way to ensure a uniform cost basis across the country for purposes of the review. #2 - He may have been misinformed (although I doubt it) that it's a condition of the B2B warranty. However, as the owner of a (constantly breaking down) DB9 Volante, I can attest that the true operating costs can be significantly lower. Scudiera Parts and AstonBits whole-sale new and/or refurbished replacements at a fraction of AM's dealer network. A few examples . . I just replaced a tonneau cover regulator and clip that holds the wires in place. The dealer quoted $428 (including $35 in sales tax ). I purchased them new from Astonbits for $243 all-in. Plus, these cars are pretty basic; the engine, brakes and running gear are easy to access and any decent mechanic can perform regular maintenance and basic repairs. More examples . . Two AM dealers quoted $575 (plus tax) for an oil change. I had mine serviced at a local shop using an OEM filter from EBay and Mobil 1 European Blend (recommended by Aston) from Walmart for $160 all-in. I had a minor coolant leak from the lower radiator hose and the dealer quoted between $2,300 and $2,700. My local shop performed repaired it for $70 (yes - $70! The AM dealer GROSSLY exaggerated the labor involved (some might say 'lied') and claimed the radiator assembly would have to be removed and the fluid drained/replaced. Actually, a few clamps had come loose and simply had to be tightened. I also had my local shop replace the brake pads on all corners (with after-market units) for less than half of the dealer's quote. The list goes on and on.
+mipmipmipmipmip Coincidentally, I spoke with an AM technician earlier today while scheduling a recall/warranty repair on my car. I asked about the CPO policy and AM does NOT mandate that buyers use their service network to uphold the warranty. Like most auto manufacturers, they simply ask that you follow - precisely - their recommended maintenance plan and keep detailed records of the work. Note, there are only 32 authorized Aston Martin dealerships in the whole United States of America, with at least a dozen states that have none at all. It would be overly burdensome for AM to require someone living in Idaho to leave the state, drive through Wyoming and into Colorado just to get his car serviced. Plus, my point was really that, for most AM owners, the true cost of service and maintenance can be significantly less expensive (if you're patient and savvy) than Doug's quotes.
You should experience Mercedes-Benz stealerships, I had suspension creaking a while ago and they said it was my shocks, a $2000 NZD job (around 1400USD). Told them to get fucked and I decided to replace the cheapest suspension components first to hopefully narrow down the cause. Turns out it was just some $50 sway bar links that I did myself in an hour.
I feel like it's sad to even admit this but this video really helped me. I can afford to buy a used exotic car but I honestly can't afford to own it. Technically yes, but to achieve my greater life goals, no. Thanks Doug.
I hear ya...these cars are "cheap" to buy but not to own :P Ya it kinda hurts your feels but nice having someone willing to tell you point blank you're going to blow damn near $7k/yr just to own one of these and it gets you reconsidering :)
@howitzer2839 Nope, but I'm a 100% debt free and about to start a business. The car will come in due time. Besides my dream car is a Lexus LC500 or a base model corvette. Nothing crazy anyways.
Replacing the clutch is considered usual maintenance and repair. just like tires, brakes, oil, filters, belts, etc...Non of those are 'life-time' parts, and should be maintained every XX,000 miles.
Well, yeah, no warranty in the world covers a clutch. It's a wear part, like tires or brakes. Otherwise I'd just go to the drag strip every Friday, do redline clutch dumps all night, return to the dealer on Monday, ask for another $5K clutch, and repeat the process each week.
Makes me wonder how easy it is to replace the brakes yourself. I've worked on consumer cars before, but not on higher-end luxury vehicles. On the consumer level cars, they're all mostly the same logic.
"Just because you can buy a $48,000 Aston Martin, doesn't mean you can afford to own one" What I heard : "You may not be able to afford to own one, but I can!"
All three of them? There's six of them. The old English trio was replaced after Jeremy hit one of the producers and England went into vaginal mode and fired him.
7yrs later and I'm literally looking at a local '09 V8 Vantage Roadster with 33,000mi on it for $34,500. #HARDPASS after watching this. Appreciate it DeMuro . lol
I owned an Aston Martin Vantage. Loved the car, yes it's expensive to keep on the road (service, fuel, tires...) but I never had any problem with it apart from normal wear & tear
Hmmm ... I guess your mileage may vary. I bought my '06 V8V in 2010 with 16K+ miles. Did a full dealer service: thermostat replacement, side marker bulb, nav screen lifter gear wheel: $1,800. After the shock wore off, I bought a garage lift for $2,200 and have since done all my own service; oil changes, brakes front and rear (easy) and I'm still running the factory clutch at 95K+ miles. Replaced spark plugs at 90K and have changed coolant once, brake fluid twice. On my 4th set of tires.. I have found this car to be as reliable and more fun to drive than anything I've had. It's been on five 1,800+ mile round trips, many 750 mile day trips. I daily-drive it most days with a few track days in there. I think it's a terrific car and no more expensive than my GS/SC400/430's were.
Doug I think it's time to Learn how to fix your own car , if you do that $6500 would of been under $1000, I show people how to do this with BMW everyday.
on a BMW - I had 2 7ers - you better should know that for they are 400,0 per month extra with all what's broken and needs a fix here and there. keep up the good work - and for all with 2 left arms: no BMW!
R SvSbg what lemon did you have that resulted in almost 5,000 dollars in maintenance per year? we’ve owned 3 BMWs for 5 years and i don’t think they have cost that much combined over the five years we have owned them.
The big elephant awaits you: DEPRECIATION. Just wait until you trade in your Aston Martin that you added 20k miles to. The $3800 warranty, the $5K clutch, the $1400 service, the brakes, the tires.... all of it pales in comparison to the $30K you will lose next winter. There's a reason why the car didn't sell for 7 months... the dealer had to wait for the perfect fool to walk onto the lot.
Hi Graham! Thanks for your commentary. I was trying to understand your comment from your perspective, but i couldn't get my head that far up my ass. This video clip is nearly 5 minutes long, and he only mentions depreciation in passing for 2 seconds, at the end. For a viewer like me to bring the conversation to the table is perfectly valid. All of the miscellaneous expenses that he babbles about for 5 minutes pale in comparison to the depreciation expense that awaits him. If he's creating a clip about the expense of Aston Martin ownership, the extraordinary depreciation should warrant far more than a passing, 2-second comment. It's going to make everything else look like peanuts. Yes - I previously watched the videos and know why he bought it.... he thought he was able to buy a Aston Martin on the cheap, and thought the bumper to bumper warranty would protect him from the notorious expenses of owning an Aston. You and he will soon find out that, financially, it was an atrocious decision. Please refrain from posting further ridiculous commentary.
He specifically mentioned depreciation. You did not bring the issue to the table in any way, nor was there an elephant in the room, which seems to be what your original critique alluded to being the case. That you found fault with its lack of primacy is simply a matter of subjective appreciation. Both perspectives are equally valid. Going on and on about it for one uniquely long paragraph in a defensive vomit of pissiness is no way to spend your time. And generally speaking no one buys an Aston Martin or any similar high end car with the idea that it is a prudent financial decision, except perhaps an Aston Martin dealer or an exotic car rental company.
I have an Aston Martin V8 Vantage 2007 and it runs perfectly. I've never had to do anything. I bought it new from the dealership. THING IS A BEAUTY AND A BEAST
@Antionitonio Bianchinitio I owned a ‘94 Acura Integra GS-R for many years that ran great without any major issues. Then an ‘06 Acura RL that still drives like butter today. Now I own 2020 a Tesla model 3 Performance. Have never had any major issues. $0 in maintenance for the past 2 years. Everyone’s experience varies.
If he's burning through the clutch in a single year he's either a very aggressive driver or he doesn't know how to drive a manual at all. I'm hoping it's just the former rather than the latter. Either way easily adjustable by changing driving habits. I'm not saying there isn't a time and a place for a good burn out mind you.
+David Thompson while that's certainly true of a civic, it's not necessarily true of hi end sports cars or "super cars". I used to do side jobs for a guy with a Ferrari and a couple Porsches. It's amazing how fragile some of those cars are. a Lamborghini countach can wear it's suspension joints in couple thousand miles.
If you drive properly a clutch will last a lot longer than that. I had one in a Mustang 5.0 go 20 years and 240k. The car was not babied either but the clutch was engaged properly.
@@dragthatsht Porsches are not really fragile. I drive a 911, and it is SOLID. Never breaks. Other super cars break a lot, but Porsche are well engineered.
Much of those servicing cost is in labour and paying dealer prices for parts. If you are a mechanic with a bit of creative skill you can dramatically reduce the price of owning a car like this.
I owned an 2006 XKR, the one sharing platforms with the DB7 and EVERYTHING was costing aston prices. I managed to keep it on the road for years while in college making college money by turning a few wrenches and getting dirty. Then I repeated the same stunt a couple years back with a 911, costing me no more to maintain than a VW.
What about the cost of tools, the space to work on the car (like a heated garage in winter) the down time to work on the car after already going to work and the time with significant others like a girlfriend or kids? It's much easier said than done.
My view on cars like this has always been that if you can't afford to buy it new, you probably can't afford the running costs. And that is exactly why I don't own an Aston Martin DB7 despite having lusted after one for 21 years and now being in a position where I could afford one. Aston Martin is not a car for home mechanics to work on; your resale values will plummet if prospective buyers start seeing work that "yeah i did in mah back yaaard wi' jim bob. s'all goooood"
I should add I was 11 when I first saw one. It's not like I've been specifically saving for that car for 21 years. Other things have been higher priority!
I hear that statement all the time and I'm sorry, but it's nonsense. A large factor of being able to afford a car like that new is that you are wealthy enough to accept the depreciation. For this, you need to be willing to wave goodbye to a large chunk of cash knowing it is gone forever, plus accept the extortionate costs of dealer servicing to keep your warranty valid. It is far cheaper to buy an exotic car once it has depreciated and the price has plateaued and have it maintained by an independent marque specialist. If you buy right and get an appreciating classic you can offset some or all of your maintenance costs. You can always sell the car and get back a lot of the money you put into it. I couldn't afford to buy any of my cars when they were new, but as they are classics the finances work entirely differently. They can still throw big bills, you do need disposable income, but it's not comparable to the costs of buying it when new. You should take another look at that DB7 - if you have a good tech local to you go and chat to them about it, you may be surprised. I hope you get your dream car!
Doug - If you thought the running costs were going to be at the Honda Accord level... your goofier than you look. Waddle back to your Hyundai Elantra and quit whining.
Me thinks you would be foolish to consider buying one....if you haven't the where with all to run it! I have a modest, in comparison Jaguar XE and I investigated insurance and servicing cost before signing on the dotted line! I own a house and knew the rates payable before purchasing it! Conclusion - you don't buy a £100k when you only have £100k!🤔
Seems practical to drop in a Chevy LS motor and drive the heck out of it then when you are ready to sell drop the original engine back in! That is what I did to a Jaguar back in the late 70s but used a 350 w/ 400 trans and when I sold it, it had a low mileage original engine put back in! Come to think of it I still have that same 350 now used in my 1959 Apache!
I'm guessing the terms of the "Unlimited Mileage Bumper to Bumper Warranty" mandate all service and repairs must be performed by the dealer. Seems like less of a good deal. That does seem like a lot of money annually for mandated general maintenance. Can you elaborate on some of the warranty stipulations? That might make a good video.
The only real warranty stipulation is that I have to keep up on those annual services -- and that I can't track it. I may do a video on it in the future though -- you're right that it might be interesting. The document is like 15 pages.
Cool, so it sounds like you could shop around for tires and brake service and not necessarily be at the mercy of the dealer. I'm interested in those real cost of ownership questions when it comes to an exotic or semi-exotic car.
Be careful with bumper to bumper warranties. I bought one and it was bumper to bumper but unfortunately i didn't read the small print that said bumper to bumper as you walk round the car.
+Doug DeMuro You can't track it? What? Did they think it was an H1 or something when they sold it to you? The only track that car would ever see, under normal ownership, is the valet area of Churchill Downs.
Doug has been on record plenty of times in the past as saying he likes cars, not car maintenance. It's an opinion that seems shared by most of the Jalopnik contributors.
I do all my basic service on my own if I'm able to and never have a single issue. Only a fool throws away money paying someone else to perform basic service. Belts and hoses are easy as hell as well as alternator and water pump. He's basically waving everyone off from owning an Aston Martin based off the idea that he just owns em he doesn't fix em. I bet I could perform half of the jobs he's stating in the video and save myself thousands of dollars.
another good video, Doug. It's what makes buying cars like this dangerous when you are the third guy. First guy has money to burn and trades as soon as factory warranty is up. The second guy may shortcut repairs and service cause he didn't realize how expensive ownership is. Then the third guy gets the real shaft. It's why I get, and keep on my own cars, extensive service records. No records, me no buy....
He's no different from how he shows himself online. (I'm the tall white guy in the red shirt on the left next to the Land Rover firetruck. The guy from the Land Rover Firetruck video also brought two other Land Rovers and his dog is sooo cute.)
This is why I will always buy a Japanese or Korean relatively cheap car. If you're going to splurge better get something like a Land Cruiser, theoretically it's at least more reliable and doesn't require that much service.
Josh Pickles The whole point of luxury is that it's better in every way, therefore it costs more. Like taking a luxury holiday means having a private jet take you, it doesn't mean sitting in a broken down private jet on the runway for 3 extra hours or dealing with mechanics. Luxury wasn't always like this, the products actually used to be better and therefore cost more but not anymore, now you're paying for some imaginary value, basically a BS sales tactic.
matt9c1 I didn't miss any point "dude". Read my previous comment. You're paying much more for the car, for that you need to get all the perks of normal cars and on top of that performance and/or luxury. Servicing it often is extra work, making it worse than a Ford or Renault. There are still good luxury vehicles out there, thinking of Mercedes G-wagon. Come to think of it, Land Cruiser actually is luxury as well given it costs over $100k with options.
+infiltr80r you're comparing a new full size toyota suv with an used english 2 door sport car. The fact that the land cruiser costs 100k 1) doesnt make it luxury. It's expensive. A toyota will never be a luxury car. It's a toyota. I could make the same point with a Man or Iveco truck 2) doesnt make any sense to compare two completely different categories.
Just wondering, do you purposely buy a car that was in a poor shape, for the sake of the video's? Or is this really what you should expect as annual cost when you own a car like this?
i have a 12 year old small hatch that is worth 4.5k were i live and a new clutch is 1600, 1/3 of the car value, so 5k for a 45k car is only 1/9 of the value of the car...
My Porsche clutch is about the same, as he says in the video. It's insane, so that's when I got REALLY good at not riding it. Or driving in traffic. Or both.
What does it mean to ride the clutch? So you keep it in neutral or in gear all the time? ie. if you're at a red light, is it bad to keep the car in first gear and hold the clutch in?
CmanCorporations no riding the clutch means when you drive, your left foot lays on top of the clutch pedal and and its pressed in a little thus the clutch slips and wears quickly . Also it is recomended to put it in neutral rather than hold clutch pedal down eg.long stops
Yes, it's bad to keep it in 1st at a light with your foot on the clutch, but not necessarily for the clutch itself. There is a bearing that presses up against the pressure plate when your foot is on the pedal. So if the pedal is down, that bearing is running and it doesn't need to be. Replacing that beating is just as much work as a clutch job, so you don't want to be eating them up. However... Plenty of motorcyclists leave their bikes in 1st at a light so if someone comes up from behind about to rear end them, they have SOME chance of dumping the clutch and laying on the gas to avoid being killed. I don't see that practiced often, but it should be IMO.
Doug, I hope that after you're done with the aston you continue your streak of warranty miracles. Its always entertaining to see you play the warranty game so well to your advantage, you are the car warranty god.
The Aston is special and looks/ sounds brilliant. The E92 is just another BMW, if you ask me i would much rather pay the extra to own a car that beautiful, not perfect but its flaws can be overlooked
Numbers are NOT everything, and while i would probably buy another car with that money, were i in love with Aston Martin, i wouldn't give a damn about performance numbers. It's like buying a a Corvette C2... it costs as much as a C7, and it's a shit car in comparison... but i bet you wouldnt give hell to anyone about buying one. Because it's a fucking beauty.
Great conclusion. That's the reason I didn't buy a used S-Class, even though I had the money. Sometimes I miss it, though. "Cheap" luxury and sports cars are the bait for beginner drivers.
Would love to hear about someone who made the mistake of buying a old 'supercar' because they could afford the price but then bankrupted themselves in maintenance...there must be a fair few of them?
+Kevin Yankovoy IF Toyota would build a 2016 Supra it would be equal to the performance of a new Aston. The 1998 Supra was very fast in its day with great reliability.
+bhajan biju Pardon? Would you like to explain to me what you have against me and what Doug's subscribers have to do with this. Doug makes great videos, he deserves more subscribers but I don't get why you're so upset?
This may sound expensive but I work for a subaru dealer and honestly that's not too bad, especially when you consider the cost and intended use of this car when it was new, especially because anyone who can competently work on an aston probably charges $200/hr in labor, so this car really isn't bad to own I don't think, I mean a clutch for a Ferrari is like $25,000 lol
I stongly considered buying one of these used or any of the older Aston Martin's under 60k about a year ago. Alot has changed in the last 8 years since this video was filmed. Alot more of these have more miles and alot more years on them. Most warranty companies are not going to offer any kind of warranty options for these anymore at all. If you could find one that would it would probably cost so much you would never consider buying it. Aston's are not common in the midwest at all. I'm in the St. Louis, MO area and I see Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, Bentley's etc every now and then.......However, I have seen maybe 1 Aston in my life ever in St. Louis area ever and I have lived here my whole life. There are very few places that even service these in the Midwest. In the present day if you want a used one to ride and drive like it should it's going to need maintenance and replacement parts. According to the "Car Wizard" Aston Martin's have some of the highest maintenance and parts cost of any sports car in the last 25 years. In fact the only high end sports cars (not hyper cars) that may be higher would be older pre 360 Modena Ferrari's or older Lamborghini's. That's because the engine had to be dropped to service them. You can get a used older LC500, older base 911 Carrera, Older Z06 for the price of a nice one of these but the maintenance and parts cost would be exponentially cheaper. These are sweet exotic cars though if you have an extra 15k-20k put away for fixing and maintaining it.
I''ve taken my '88 928 S4 (white paint,leather&carpet)on road trips of over two-thousand miles every summer for the last six summers & haven't had problem number one...most trouble free car I''ve ever had
This is why I couldn't keep the love of my (car) life, 540i. My current SC'd G35 is not as refined or exotic as an Aston or even a BMW but I've put 50k miles on a 25k mile car for just one clutch. And oil... And gas...
I like what you say on video it doesn't mean you can buy it means you can own one ..also maintenance intervals based on mileage and coast $ is a buyer homework ,,I recommend to say it on the beginning of the video .also before you buy a car like this take it to the dealer for a professional Diagnostics ,they will give you one of the most reading you need? timing and clutch index other word how much is lift on your clutch as a % ,,,,Good wake up call for budget people ....Good video
I always tell people that the purchase price is simply the price you have to pay for the right to maintain the car. It's the quid you have to give the bouncer to let you into the club. But it no way guarantees a good time.
Wow and to think I was going to buy one of these. I'll just say it, what a piece of shit car. Absolute and total rip off. This is why the Tesla Model 3 is the greatest car available on the planet. I have paid $0 in the last 11 months for maintenance. Zero issues. I have Free Supercharging. My car got 2 power boosts (.8 seconds shaved off 0-60), RU-vid/Netflix, Video Games, Sentry Mode (360 camera surveillance mode) and dash cam all FOR FREE in over the air updates. I would never waste my money on an AM.
