What is the most money you paid for service on your vehicle?

[CloverKnollFarms]

$1000 for a new a/c compressor. We spend very little to maintain our vehicles, and they are usually 100k plus mile cars. Simple stuff like brake pads, rotors, wheel bearings etc, I just do myself, so it's very affordable

 

[2manyrocks]

I had a boss who I suspect was yaking on his cell phone instead of paying attention to his driving. He ran into the guardrail in the middle of the interstate in his Mercedes. Destroyed guardrail. He wasn't hurt. Mercedes was repaired and kept going.

From what I understand, everything about a Mercedes is pricey, but apparently they are solid cars.

 

[ruffdog]

$1000 for a new a/c compressor. We spend very little to maintain our vehicles, and they are usually 100k plus mile cars. Simple stuff like brake pads, rotors, wheel bearings etc, I just do myself, so it's very affordable

^^^Same here. I've been doing my own maintenance and repairs my whole life and saving money doing it. We don't drive much now so the need for repairs have lessened quite a bit.

 

[ultrarunner]

My brother had 350,000 miles on a 300 turbo diesel the last year before trap oxidizers...

He never did anything to drivetrain.

The kicker is when he finally sold it he got a very good price to a guy that used fryer grease for diesel...

 

[Sigarms]

To be young again... lots of credit for doing the work himself... consider it as on the job training...

Sometimes brains and looks skips a generation. I got skipped. One of the jobs he's looking at in the AF is cehicle maintence. He's actually using the tools I bought him for his car and used them to help his buddy work on his car.

But, per vehicles, what I explained to him is what he puts in or on the car is not always what someone else is looking to buy which doesn't help the resale value.

I don't see middle age people flocking to his car if he ever wants to resell it, and for what he put into it per his first major service bill, not many teenangers have the money to spend on that kind of car.

Reality is European cars aren't worth the parts costs alone IMO.

 

[MossRoad]

About 2-3 years ago our 2013 Impala roasted an engine. A cam sequencer failed, it threw off the timing, the pistons ate the valves, and that's that. $2500 for a junkyard lower mileage (I use that term lightly) engine installed by my mechanic.

Same year, our 2012 Malibu that the kid was driving had a cam sequencer fail on the echo tech 4 cylinder. Same deal. Throws off the timing, pistons eat the valves, metal goes everywhere, and poof! I took the valve cover off, removed the spark plugs, rotated the engine over by hand and only about half of the rocker arms moved. Toast!

That was right around $4K with 1 year warranty used engine. Both cars are still being driven daily, so cheaper than car payments.

 

[2manyrocks]

Maybe that Mercedes isn't so bad in costs after all?

 

[MossRoad]

...Yet another reason why my wife not only wants to downsize the house and property, but only wants no more than two cars LMAO.

We've almost always had a pair and a spare when it comes to cars.

Comes in handy some times. Not just for us, but if family flies in to visit, we can loan them a car. If someone else in the family needs to have their car in the shop for a few days, we can loan them one of ours.

And it's kinda nice sometimes to just say, "Which car do you want to take today?"

 

[2manyrocks]

You just need a two seater power trac equipped with a cab plus a/c and heat.

 

[MossRoad]

You just need a two seater power trac equipped with a cab plus a/c and heat.

Hmmmm.....