Budgeting for an FD (newbie thread, be warned...!)

[gonzoninja]

Not to put a dampner on things but I would say double that. £300 a month should see you right. As I said before these car are getting old so maintenance is all the more required. I had a clutch hose go the other week and that cost £50 for a temporary repair so I could drive to work (not something to worry about if its your second car) and £60 for the proper pipe to be replaced.

Besides if you over-budget and you come under that\'s good cos you\'ve got more to spend, under-budget and you\'ll be left feeling stung.

[bluerx]

£300 a month...?

Gonzo mate, do you have in mind a saving type allocation towards a full rebuild in that as well, or does that go on top? I\'ve not reached a conclusion on exactly how i\'d like to go about it but I\'m definitely not gonna try and use the rex as a daily driver- i can car share, beg, borrow and steal before that Do you think this would have a bearing on your estimate?

[Tim_B]

I\'d say 150 - 200 would be ok, for a well looked after recently rebuilt standardish car.  I think thats roughly what mines cost so far anyway

[gonzoninja]

Sorry forgot to reply to this.

Based on an all in cost of:

Insurance (I was 26 when I got mine and had FULL NCB) and it was over a grand for the 10,000 miles. Guess if you\'re running limited mileage it will be less, dunno what no NCB will do

Fuel, A tank lasts me 250 miles, but I\'m not caning it like you will do if you only drive at the weekends (which is fair enough). One tank is about £65

Car tax works out at £10 a month.

Then general maintenance, remember Oil change every 3000 miles, Spark Plugs every 6000 miles. Etc Not so much of a problem if you are not driving every day. As I keep saying FDs are all getting a bit old and therefore bits are wearing out. I\'m getting to the point now where much as I love to drive the rex everyday, it just doesn\'t make sense.

Guess it depends what car you buy. It makes much more sense to buy a car with all the bits you are eventually going to have on the car in the first place, if you want a single turbo, buy it in the first place.

Defo go for something with a rebuild, and if possible get one with an Apexi ecu in it.

[bluerx]

Great stuff guys, thanks for all the info. I\'ll content myself to reading up and trying to get a bit booksmart before jumping in. It seems to me that having the know-how to put a spanner on one yourself (competently anyway), for small stuff, might be the difference between it being feasible or not- and I suppose thats all part of the fun.

Probably see you in a thread near here sometime soon. Thanks again

[gonzoninja]

Don\'t let me put you off.

Stuff like oil changes are really easy. It will stop you getting charged £40 at a garage to do it every 3000 miles. Which in my case is pretty much every 3 months.

Just changed the Spark plugs for the first time (myself that is, they have been changed before) last weekend, and that wasn\'t too bad.

But it\'s better to be prepared before rather than after. I wasn\'t, and within the first month of owning it the engine popped and I had to have a £4000 rebuild.

[bluerx]

Flippin \'eck, 12,000 miles a year in a stiff suspension sports car? Did you marry an osteopath?!

I\'m hoping it\'ll be a little less expensive for weekend pootling about, with repairs being less immediate, and generally lower wear and tear. I guess it\'s one of those things where you can only really plan for the worst case then hope for the best, like you say above. So, I\'m gonna work with that in mind, and then try and avoid bankruptcy...

Just out of interest GN (or anyone else)- insurance I have an idea of, but what sort of wallet damage does an FD perpetrate if driven on a daily basis?

[gonzoninja]

I don\'t find the suspension too bad on the rex, having said that it is uprated and one of the softest settings. My first car was an old skool mini cooper, THAT was rock hard suspension

Last years insurance for me at 29, Living in Guildford with off road parking, with full NCB and no other named drivers it was something like £850, which I don\'t think is too bad. I did have to punt around for that though after Adrian FLux quoted me more for last year than the year before!!! Got that quote through the Insurance Factory.

Hopefully having now hit the big 3-0 my insurance will come down a bit.