Poll on Major Service Costs for Mondial in 2012

Pretty scary stuff hearing about $10K to $12K majors on Mondials that can be bought for $22K to $27K! I know you can do the stuff yourself and many Mondy owners probably do what they can. Its just seems illogical to spend half the cars value on a major. Its almost like the printer & printer ink paradigm where people dont replace ink tanks, they just buy another printer and get new ink that way. Maybe not the best analogy but you get the idea.

I get the whole "they were $70K+ when new and need to be serviced as such". Still though, 50% of the cars value for a major seems out of balance. Doesnt that put a big damper on used Mondy ownership? Just wondering.....????

I still want one and will have one eventually but I intend to do the work myself/with help from trusted friends to mitigate the costs!

 

What you have to keep in mind Mike is that Mondial values most likely will go up I for one don't see them dropping much farther down so as you put money into the car you are keeping up the value of the car.

 

Thats a good point, Rob. I suspect, like many other 80's exotics, that they will gain appreciation as the years go on. My Esprit Turbo('87 HC, best year, IMO ) will hopefully see the same thing happen although it will never rival the F-car status. I know that.

Truthfully, I dont care - Im gonna have one(Mondy) anyways regardless and will just deal with it. I did learn with the Lotus that buying the BEST possible car and maybe spending more than planned has paid off big time! I plan to do the same thing when I get serious about Mondy shopping.

 

Mike I'm far from a wealthy guy and now that I've finally bought a Ferrari I don't really think about the $$ I'm just enjoying it. Just buy the best example you can afford and make sure you have a reserve put away. I paid over 30k for my S2000 new and its now worth probably half that but what it all comes down to is life is short!

 

This is exactly the issue IMO. But it isn't just for old Ferraris. Try to restore an old Ford Fairlane or Falcon that doesn't have huge aftermarket support. Or closer to home a Fiat thats been allowed to go. You'll spend nearly the value of the car if the entire brake system needs renewing. An Alfa can require even more passion, its probably not hard to spend 3X it's retail value, depending on model, on repairs if its not been properly maintained. It is almost all older cars where you can dump 50% of their value into them to bring them up to par. The key and hope here is that if you do this upfront you may end up with a car that is reliable and is still a Ferrari. I'm into mine for probably 2/3 of my purchase price, but I've put 18K miles on it in three years, 12K last year. The trick is to keep up on them. I had a 90s chevy caprice and everytime the tiniest thing broke I fixed it immediately. On that car if you let three things go you are getting close to the value of the car .

It's still an exotic. It's still a Ferrari. Just because they can be purchased for the 20's or lower doesn't mean people can afford them. I still tell young people who want a Ferrari and want to work on them to buy an 80's Fiat or Alfa. It's a good training ground and they are fun cars on their own.

 

Agree - mega dittos. I know its not logical at all

Its just too bad that the parts arent a little cheaper and access wasnt a little better. It would change the service game and make it more friendly. Either way, I dont care. Im gonna have one and it'll get everything it needs, everytime.

 

Exactly, but what does it really need???

Can someone get Dave H drunk and get a list of what is fluff and what isn't??? we need that list dave, we are all about lists.

dave jr

 

Ya gotta figure no matter how much you do its always gonna need something.

 

Most of us can buy these for cash. I treat this car as a depreciating asset, (even if it goes up in value, I didn't buy it on that basis). As such, I try to pay cash for depreciationg assets.

Now as to maintenance, I simply make a nominal "car payment" every month. For the cost of a nice Japanese car's payment, I bank $300/mo for maintenance. If I use $1000 the first year, I have $2600 left over towards my 5 year major. If I get hit for $2000, I still have $1600 left over (and after 5 years, I still have enough for what most consider a major). Those costs are generally for someone else to do the work, although I am capable of doing some of it myself (just not anxious, as my time if better spent on other things).

True, I could get hit with something major and unexpected, but generally, if you budget properly, over the long haul, the cost should not bad. My car was well cared for, and so far, other than minor items I haven't gotten around to addressing, it has been a joy to drive.

Regards,
Jerry

 

When you do what I'm going to be doing in about a half hour which is, to go home go in the garage and tinker with the car and get in it sit there look around at the interior and suck up a bunch of real leather scent and if the weather clears up go for a blast, the purchase price, maintenance costs, depreciation don't even enter your thoughts!

 

They way I see it is buy the best example and start from there, unless you have time, knowledge and cash to buy somthing on the wild side and make it an adventure.

 

I don't quite get this plan, how about this... I have an open visa with a 10k credit line for anything major just for this car. It sits in the wall safe for the what if.

For everything else, just pay as you go.

 

You have the cheaper parts you wish for now... see where it has brought us? You may not be paying any less but be damn sure, they are cheaper for someone. Time to turn this thinking around and start longing for Better parts, "cheap" never once has offered "value", get back to thinking like your grandparents when quality was a quest.

I have spent the last three days on the phone and Net, with two very sharp engineers, one on the east coast and one on the west, trying to fix the dumbest, most irritating problem these cars have. It came about some 10 years ago and when it did, it was overnight, and has been with us since that day. How did it happen? The quest for cheaper parts and now we are all faced with the problems and there is no original part (that actually worked!) left anywhere to reverse engineer. I will be invested some 24-28 hours to identify the fix, another few thousand to stock the part and some 80 hours to fix the cars I recently did that are having the problem. Why? Because someone way up the food chain figured they could save some money on a $0.80 (YES, that is 80 cents) part. I offer up that "engineered fix" part, priced with a payback on my investment in mind, it turns into a $100 part, and then I get shreaded on the Net for being a cheat.... by the very folks looking for cheaper parts. See why no one trys to actually fix these problems? Damned if you do, damned if you dont. In this case I am better off keeping the fix to myself, never seeing a payback but being the only one able to offer up work where this problem doesnt exist. Greed? No, self preservation, there is no return on investment, just the ability to keep from getting drug through the mud.

Its a Ferrari, save the cheap parts shopping for the Ford Truck, cheap here will cost you 3 times as much next year.

Quite possible BUT... if the basics are done properly once, then you are building on a solid platform and what "it needs" will decrease over time. If not, you are feeding the SOS to a dying horse.

 

Dave FWIW I for one am glad there are guys like you out there finding solutions and who just plain old give a you know what about these cars.

 

Speaking of "out of this world"... here's our club sticker in the International Space Station.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Nice!

 

Oh... Now YOU did it.

I will now be in good company on the FNA lawyers Christmas Card List! What should be an honor will have them peeing blood. PS VERY COOL!



Thanks Rob... it gets frustrating somethimes when I costs me so blasted much to do it

 

COOLEST POST ON FCHAT !! I'll assume its for real.... what's the story?

 

I think I know what part you are talking about, we may have spoken about it a couple years ago when I was working on my service. When my next service comes up I may give you a call.

Tough call, keep it to yourself or take a beating in public. Word will likely spread among those of a like mind. Maybe you are better off sharing it with other shops? I don't know.

What is the value proposition on a car that leaks a little oil as compared to one that doesn't leak. My car doesn't drip, but it's also not dry. My goal is dry because of the right parts, not a slathering of goo and a prayer.

 

Thanks guys. Yes, the SSC/ISS photo is the real deal. Our friend Willie (F-Chatter captwillieb 328gts) accomplished this phenomenal task and he has the Certificate of Authenticity. The sticker itself flew on Space Shuttle Atlantis, mission STS-132. The launch date was May 14, 2010 and it returned on May 26, 2010.

Maximum speed attained - 17,500 mph.

Oh, and I can't take credit since the photo is a repost.

 

Very cool