Report: Exotics expensive to own - Related news: Sky blue
The Times Online published a fun report this Sunday detailing the so-called "supercar nightmare" -- the cold reality that owning an exotic machine is much more than simply heading down to the local Ferrari or Lamborghini dealer, plunking down a few hundred grand, and driving off into the sunset. As wonderful and exciting as exotics and supercars may be, they're still just cars in the end, and cars cost money to own and operate. With exotics, the high price of entry is a signal that the other related costs are going to up there as well.
This isn't news to a lot of us, and most exotic car buyers are financially well-off enough that they are undeterred by the cars' total cost of ownership. It is fascinating to see how much some parts go for, though. To that end, here are a few of the prices the Times tossed out for consideration. It should be noted that none of them include labor...
- Lamborghini Murcielago front bumper: £8,206 ($15,620 USD)
- Maserati Quattroporte sideview mirror: £561.93 ($1,069 USD)
- McLaren SLR sideview mirror: £900+ ($1,700+ USD)
- McLaren SLR headlamp assembly: £2,869.28 ($5,461 USD)
In fact, if the parts weren't obscenely expensive, we'd probably be disappointed. Chalk it up to human nature. People are impressed by big numbers, whether they're absurd performance statistics or mind-blowing sticker prices. A $15,000 replacement bumper? It doesn't detract from anything. It only adds to the car's mystique.
[Source: Times Online]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Steven 3:07PM (9/04/2006)
Pay to play...
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ckm 3:34PM (9/04/2006)
It's not just supercars. The rear bumper cover on my car (Jag XJR) is $1700 and I've seen headlight assemblies on Audis for $1500 (Xeons). A lot of car companies make significant margins on spare parts, and I would guess that supercars are no different.
Besides, imagine the costs of producing a part for a vehicle of which there are only a couple of hundred examples. The cost of tooling could be in the six-figure range, which has to amortized over a very small number of cars.
Bottom line is that parts are supposed to return a profit for manufacturers and the pricing is also a function of the amount of cars produced. I don't think initial price has much to do with it. Except for Ferrari which charges whatever they want for parts, try $3000 for a battery...
Chris.
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Mustang 3:44PM (9/04/2006)
True, those costs do seem pretty extreme, but it's acceptable because of the limited nature of such automobiles. Besides that if you can afford to pay $250K+ for a car, a $1700 mirror isn't a big deal.
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Art 3:44PM (9/04/2006)
you try handmaking a bumper and selling it for 90 bucks...
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Mustang 3:47PM (9/04/2006)
I forgot to mention above that what i find to be a insane is the $600 Ferrari charges for the oil change on the Enzo. That oil must be magical, or have gold impregnated into it...LOL
But again, if you can afford a million dollar Enzo, i'm sure $600 for an oil change isn't going to bankrupt you.
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DPC car videos 3:51PM (9/04/2006)
Tires for the Bugatti Veyron are 50K and must be changed everytwo years even if you don't drive them.
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James Sonne 4:48PM (9/04/2006)
The front headlamp assembly on a Saab 9-5 is over $1,000. I would say that most of those costs are within a similar percentage cost of the vehicle as most normal car parts, maybe less.
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Dustin 4:42PM (9/04/2006)
$600 oil change for an Enzo? That's cheap.
You aren't paying for a jiffy lube oil change - the car is getting serviced - critical parts are inspected, the car is detailed, and the patron treated like a king/queen.
$600 for someone with a $1M car is porportionally cheap compared to someone who gets a Jiffy Lube "signature service" for $35 or whatever on their $15K car.
Repair parts?
Price a front spoiler for a Carrera GT then come whine to us...
Bottom line: the purchase price is just the cost of entry. You don't get performance like a F430 for the price of an Accord...
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MadeinDetroit 4:58PM (9/04/2006)
The cost of parts for a high volume vehicle (i.e. Impala, Taurus, Camry...) from manufacturers Service/Parts division are often nearly 7-8 times what the OEM paid to the original supplier. Just some food for thought
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Steve 5:04PM (9/04/2006)
Ferrari has recently introduced a power package to cut-down on service and maintainence costs. Others may follow soon.
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Big Teebo 5:33PM (9/04/2006)
And to think I balked at the $65 front license plate holder for my MINI Cooper S. It was a single piece of plastic!
(BTW adding comments doesn't work in FIrefox. Did Aston Martin make that as well?)
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Keith 7:32PM (9/04/2006)
On the flip side, a unpainted (but otherwise 100% complete) rear-view mirror assembly for a 1997-2001 Camry can be had for
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Phred 8:21PM (9/04/2006)
So a pair of SLR mirrors costs more than my entire car.... Wow.
(BTW Big Teebo, I just added this comment in Firefox.)
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cheezedog420 12:20AM (9/05/2006)
The costs make perfect sence to me... Its all in the volume of parts sold, and how they are assembled.
Lets break a few bubbles. The front bumper of a Ford Focus, and Lamborghini Murcielago are made just about the same way. A heated sheet of plastic like material is put into a cool mold, that forms the shape of the bumper. The energy of putting the sheet, the cost of the sheet, and the molds cost about the same, (Time, effort, and energy wise.)
But the front bumper of a Lamborghini costs so much more because the mold is not used as much. So while the Ford Focus bumper costs less, it only because the cost of tools, and design is made up by production volume.
Of course, there are major diffrences between a Lamborghini, and ford. The important one being, since you have more time to build a Lamborghini, you can afford to spend more time and effort into making a single part for a Lamborghini. That and something called mystique of ownership. :-p
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Richard Warren 9:25AM (9/05/2006)
Duh! Now tell us something, we don't already know.
Build a few hundred cars a year (or even a few thousand) build and stock a few replacement parts, it's gonna cost, no two ways about it.
Priced a Scion headlight capsule? 385 dollars retail, with no bulb or socket, how a bout a caddy capsule at 697 dollars.
Guys, it's all overpriced.
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Lotus Elise 9:50AM (9/05/2006)
You know, I was just thinking about this a few days ago while doing some research on a new daily driver. I've got a 2005 Lotus Elise that I've had serviced twice (1,000 mile & 7,500 mile services) at about $300~ a service. I didn't think this was terribly out of line for a dealer service (only dealer experience before the Lotus has been with Volvo / Mercedes dealers) although it is pretty high for what I consider an "oil change with benefits".
Anyway, I'm looking at info on Subarus this weekend and I come across a long term review where they list service charges. It was kind of a reality check to see that a 1,000 mile & 7,500 mile service on a Subaru Legacy GT were each less than $50 or so. That made me stop and think "Damn, the Elise really DOES get an overpriced oil change". It still doesn't really compare to servicing a Ferrari or Lamborghini but it does show what niche cars / dealers can demand in the way of pricing. I'll continue to have it serviced at the dealer as much as possible for ease of warranty/paperwork but I'll probably bitch & moan a little bit more now.
I've actually got some photos of its trip in to Midwestern Automotive Group Lotus for it's 7,500 mile service, you can see them here...
http://www.fleur-design.net/lotus/
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Lotus Elise 10:00AM (9/05/2006)
d'oh, meant to add a bit to this as well...
"$600 oil change for an Enzo? That's cheap.
You aren't paying for a jiffy lube oil change - the car is getting serviced - critical parts are inspected, the car is detailed, and the patron treated like a king/queen."
Thats a very good point although it should be pointed out that not everyone coming in with an "exotic" (quoted because not everyone refers to the Elise as an exotic) will get treated as royalty. We had our 1,000 mile service performed at Lotus of Atlanta and you would have thought we had come in off the street asking about some new tires for our Pinto. The whole experience was like pulling teeth, it was complaining and fighting on their part the entire way. Services that should be covered under warranty were complained about, were not going to be covered under warranty, etc.. (head light adjustment, window adjustment, etc)
The 7,500 mile service at Midwestern was the exact opposite though, we really did feel like roayalty after we left. Our service advisor had a smile on his face the whole time, we had a nice loaner (brand new Saab 9-3 vs the smelly beat up Taurus in Atlanta), got to walk around the place, every request of ours was met with "we'd be happy to", etc... Just an absolutely great experience.
So yeah, while you'd think that someone coming in with an "exotic" would be treated well you have to keep in mind that some places will forget that. I think it would be great if people in service positions (wether it be at Kia of Louisville or Bugatti of Beverly Hills) would be nice and helpful with their customers regardless of the person's automotive buying capacities.
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john 4:03PM (9/05/2006)
That article was geared toward Camry and Accord owners.
Exciting cars are a novelty to them.
Aston Martin rules.
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