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Sounds good in theory, buy a high mileage luxury car cheap... well, there is a reason people get rid of their luxury cars, and its usually not becasue they just want the latest and greatest. The audis have big tranny problems, actually the fix is simple, but you need to go to a dealer to do it, and they will charge 2500. Also, they need all sorts of belts and filters more often than your other cars.
A Bentley cheap, sure try getting service for that beast.
A ferrari cheap, from the 70's. DIY, sure I'll just get the parts from my local junk yard.(eyes rolling)
A phaeton, beautiful car, A8 parts and maintenace schedule, not bad, but will still set you back more than if you just purchased a new Ford/GM/Toyota/Hyundai.
Lincoln town car, sure, if you can find one that hasn't been beat to the ground, when was the last time you saw one of those in good shape.
Gee Kyle, ever worked on a car before? Just so you know, the 308GTS in your article requires a cam belt service every 30k miles that costs $8k at the sign of the prancing horse. A Bentley is even more expensive to fix, and that ancient dusty Rolls Royce Silver Shadow that seems so cheap? Fuggettaboutit, you don't even want to know. In fact, the only cars on your list that could be serviced by a decent home mechanic with average skills are the Corvette and the Alfa GTV. And while we're on the subject of a Corvette, why the ZR1? If the object of your game is to simply appear well off, then a garden variety Corvette looks identical and costs half as much as the ZR1. Finally, of all these cars, only the Lincoln would be affordable to have someone else repair. So basically, you are advising people to go out and buy a very old and complex automobile that they will have no hope of being able to afford to repair when it inevitably breaks. And it will break, because other than the Vette and the Town Car, every vehicle you listed is almost laughably fragile. Kyle, respectfully, I think you missed the boat on this one.
The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow ran from 1966 to 1980.
It is a wonderful car. The 1973 is the the least expensive to buy.
Every car has an entry level year or model. Buy the buyer guide book.
BUT...
As in any older car , you need to shop and buy only the nicest one you can find.
The car is very high maintenance ! ! ! And expensive.
A complete dealer done brake job can cost over $15,000.00 .
The hydraulic system is very troublesome. It has accumulators that need to be replaced every three years or NO brakes !
Doing it yourself will save you money but special tools and the know how slow or stop many. Accumulators can be replaced
in a matter of a weekend . at a cost of under a thousand each. Oh , there are two ! Brake pads can be changed in less than an hour but they too are a hundred bucks each ! It seems every part is few hundred or more. There are used Rolls parts out there.
And not that hard to find. Although you may shriek at three grand for stolen hub caps !!
When it comes to DIY work R-R can be a great challenge. Most of the owners I know are retired automotive engineers.
The flip-side of all this fuss is you don't see another Rolls out on the highway very often.
Manly because they simply didn't make many. The company was started in 1904 but
the 100,000th Rolls-Royce to roll of the line is only a few years old.
Toyota makes a million a year ! So seeing another is rare .
You will also get the "MUST BE NICE" comments at the traffic lights.
People ask "how much is it worth?" question a lot. Never tell them !! They get upset.
Just say "you can buy a house for less".
Your way of thinking must change to British..... Picnics , Thumbs-up , and great parking spaces !
So with enough depth in your pocket you may have one too.....
So enjoy your Proper Motor Car ! !
