Z4-forum.com

Hi all,
So, I'm finally about to sell the TVR (even though I posted on here that I was going to sell it 2 years ago!) and need to employ a bit of man maths to get myself into a Z4M and keep the missus happy. What annoys her most about the TVR is the maintenance costs so I thought I'd try and get a rough comparison. I've read a few threads on the subject but I'm none the wiser really.

So I'm just looking for a comparison of the maintenance costs only (just servicing and upkeep - not including tax, insurance, fuel etc) average per year. I do about 3000 miles per year.

My TVR Has averaged out at £2023 per annum. Please tell me a Z4M will be cheaper to maintain than that!

Cheers, Stuart

You should plenty of change from £2k a year. I pay about £200 for an oil service, up to about £750 for an inspection 2. The car is easy on tyres (I have changed all four) and in 3 1/2 years and 25k miles of owning mine the only additional expenses have been new roof motor and relocation to boot (about £300) and a clip to fix the windscreen wiper (<£5).

If I had put £7k into the maintenance pot I would have about £4K left.

Good luck!

You are asking a "how long is a piece of string " classic
Put simply if you buy wrong then you could be in for £3k of routine maintenance in 12 months or buy right & you could get 2 years "free" motoring & the following 2 years for just a few hundred
Do your homework on intended car , make sure tyres are fresh (£550 ish for a set) & discs + pads are at least half worn (£200 a corner ish ) then make sure the ins2 was done within 10k-15k or ins1 very recently .
You don't want all the big 3 unless the buy price reflects .
Interim oil changes , brake fluid , coolant are peanuts for performance on offer . Rear diff seals are a known issue , again not big money to sort , £150/£200 ish but worth doing if weeping bad
Finally bottom end shells + bearings appear to be a looming concern for some after 60k-80k , its a £1k job to make sure all is well for the next 60k-80k
Best of luck

On a good ///MR you should get a lot of change form 2k a year. I do around 7k per year in mine and it's been about half that over 6 years thus far.

ins 1 £800 (Main Stealer)
oil & brake fluid £200
Ins 2 with diff & box oil £900 (Indie)
oil & brake fluid £200
4 x Vreds £500
2x Vred rear £300
2x Cheap fronts. £130
2x MPS Rear £320
2x MPS Fronts £ 246
2xMPSS Rear 320
4xMPSS £580
1xengine Fan £400
Front Discs & Pads £ 600
All Discs & Pads £800

All figures are roughly what I remember.

I've averaged about £400 a year including consumables at around 3k miles annually. That also includes doing the roof motor and abs pump. Both things to watch out for.

That compares to about £2.5K a year for a 993 and about 1.3k for the C63.

With servicing required only every other year, they can be run fairly cheaply if you get a good one. This will go up as they get older though and age related repairs are needed.

Thanks gents, very useful.

Mr wilks, your point is well made re how long is a piece of string However, I'm assuming the comparison is for a good car rather than a pup (a pup of a TVR it would've cost me a shed more than £2k pa to maintain) but very useful info, thanks. Btw, when you say 'bottom end shells + bearings appear to be a looming concern' £1k to fix - I assume that is cost to do preventative maintenance prior to the problem arising??

Seems that like for like, It'll be a fair bit less expensive barring disasters. I think I need to try a roadster and a coupe next....

Cheers

I’ve had mine 6 years and do 2-3k pa. Two oil services and an inspection 2 comes to about £1,100

New battery, ignition switch (used part £10) and O2 sensor another £200 all in.

Other than that a set of tyres and a s**t load of cash on mods

Toneycaroney wrote: ↑Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:20 pm Hi all,
So, I'm finally about to sell the TVR (even though I posted on here that I was going to sell it 2 years ago!) and need to employ a bit of man maths to get myself into a Z4M and keep the missus happy. What annoys her most about the TVR is the maintenance costs so I thought I'd try and get a rough comparison. I've read a few threads on the subject but I'm none the wiser really.

So I'm just looking for a comparison of the maintenance costs only (just servicing and upkeep - not including tax, insurance, fuel etc) average per year. I do about 3000 miles per year.

My TVR Has averaged out at £2023 per annum. Please tell me a Z4M will be cheaper to maintain than that!

Cheers, Stuart

You don't need man math for this problem, flowers, chocolates, and a nice meal should get you into the Z4M

The nice thing about the M is it will be far far more reliable with half the worries.

Literally everything is a worry on those cars the M is probably about as affordable as sports cars go as long as you buy well.

srhutch wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:46 am

Other than that a set of tyres and a s**t load of cash on mods and storage space to keep them for years in the cupboards before fitting them

Fixed that for you

pvr wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 10:36 am

srhutch wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:46 am

Other than that a set of tyres and a s**t load of cash on mods and storage space to keep them for years in the cupboards before fitting them

Fixed that for you

I've warned you once

srhutch wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 12:38 pm

pvr wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 10:36 am

srhutch wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:46 am

Other than that a set of tyres and a s**t load of cash on mods and storage space to keep them for years in the cupboards before fitting them

Fixed that for you

I've warned you once

I had a Chimeara but so worried about costs and reliability I couldn't sleep! I now feel my M is a more reliable (and cheaper) German version of a 'TVR'.
Hell of a noise though with the V8 . . .
In comparison - I can sleep much better with the M.
All these posts are on the nose - a great example of the knowledge and sign posting from owner/members on the Forum who can save you a fortune in M running costs - as can a good indi

Thanks all, very encouraging!
markalp, good suggestion but I fear it won't be enough
paulgs1000, Good to get a direct comparison and I really do know what you mean! I've heard the 'German TVR' thing before and I guess that's what I'm looking for - all the fun without the tantrums!
My next step, then, is to try and get a test drive and see what they are really like.

Cheers

Are you including warranty costs in your budget?