Is DD-ing a 13 year old French-Italian coupe for a year expensive?

"duurtlang" (duurtlang)
09/20/2013 at 18:17 • Filed to: peugeot, 406, duurtlang

Owning either a French or an Italian car is supposedly a nightmare financially. October first 2012 I decided to find out for myself and I bought a 2000 Peugeot 406 coupe, built and designed (exterior) by Pininfarina in Italy. It became my daily driver. Here's an overview of the costs of close to a year of ownership.

In the list below I've listed the costs associated with the car. I'll exclude tax and insurance as those differ so greatly between countries they're irrelevant to the story. They're irrelevant to the quality of the car as well. I'll excluded car wash costs as well.

I bought the car, a Peugeot 406 coupe first registered in the summer of 2000, on October first 2012. It had 167k km (104k miles) on it. I'm the third owner. I paid €3000 cash.
The car has over 190k km now, so I've done over 23k (14k miles) in almost a year. Almost every bit of work done to the car was done by a mechanic who's a distant acquaintance or at a local garage. Both charged by the hour and this is included in the price I mention. I did do the wiper blades and the center armrest myself!

11-2012
Broken speedometer sensor: €100

2-2013
Refilled A/C: €100

3-2013
Tuneup. Filters, liquids, spark plugs: €165
Car came equipped without Cruise. I had it installed: €225

4-2013
Wipers. Unsure, I believe €40
Installed center armrest: €50

9-2013
Broken rubber exhaust clip: €5
1 liter of oil: €10
Yearly mandatory safety and emissions check: €35

Fuel for 23k km (14k miles):
€1495

Summary:
Total costs regular maintenance: €350
Total cost broken parts: €105
Total cost elective upgrades: €275

Total cost for maintaining and driving this car for 23k km (14k miles) including fuel: €2225 ($3008)

Not bad for a large-ish (midsize in the US) thirsty old French coupe, is it? And no, it's not a diesel.

DISCUSSION (20)

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > duurtlang
09/20/2013 at 18:23

Since I see your car here every now and then here on Oppo, I've started noticing them more on the street and I am beginning to like them.

Klaus Schmoll > duurtlang
09/20/2013 at 18:23

Well, didn't you forget to tell the audience a little secret about how "this fancy Euro-boy and his French-commie car beat those liberal-communist gas taxes my mate told me they have in Yurrup"?

Doug DeMuro > duurtlang
09/20/2013 at 18:25

Definitely not bad - and a lot of that was fuel which I would remove from the calculation personally. What do you reckon depreciation was like during that year?

duurtlang > Klaus Schmoll
09/20/2013 at 18:27

Ha! Yes, it's been converted to be able to run on LPG gas. It starts on gasoline and than switches to LPG in a few up to a few dozen seconds. LPG is about €1 a liter ($3.80 a gallon) cheaper than gasoline in the Netherlands, although you do need about 15% extra due to the lower energy content per liter.

duurtlang > Doug DeMuro
09/20/2013 at 18:34

Well, I did make a breakdown of the maintenance costs. €350 regular, €105 non-regular, €275 upgrades.

Depreciation is a tough one. I did buy the car for a mere €3000. Being 13 years old I'd say it's at or very near the bottom of the depreciation curve already, assuming it stays in the exact same condition. If I were to sell it 2 years from now with 250k km on the odometer and keep it in a decent condition I think I can sell it for €2000, with the depreciation being mostly due to the climbing mileage. It would mean €333 a year.

Klaus Schmoll > duurtlang
09/20/2013 at 18:37

See? Did you ever go nuts and calculate how much regular fuel/money for it you would have needed?

Doug DeMuro > duurtlang
09/20/2013 at 18:38

Kind of a deal for something that attractive...

Next, try an Alfa :)

duurtlang > Klaus Schmoll
09/20/2013 at 18:46

Without the LPG conversion, probably about €3250. So I saved about 3250-1500=€1750 in fuel alone in one year. I will have to add that tax on this particular car with an LPG conversion over an identical one without the conversion is about €300 a year higher in the Netherlands, so my net savings in a year are about €1450. Still not bad at all.

duurtlang > Doug DeMuro
09/20/2013 at 18:50

The mechanic acquaintance (who meticulously restored a very rusty 325ix E30 for himself last year) has a disdain for Italian cars. He doesn't even like French cars that much. I have to stay in his favor to be able to keep using his skills. If I were to get a kid I would seriously consider a 159 wagon though.

duurtlang > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder
09/20/2013 at 18:57

Get one while you can! They're great cars, as long as you know what to expect. It's certanly not a sports car, it's a GT. A great handling but FWD GT that seats 4 in comfort* and has a huge and cheap (excluding coupe-specific body parts) parts supply.

*) Rear passengers have plenty of leg room but limited head room. As long as they're not taller than about 185 cm (6'2"?) they'll be fine.

gavinski91 > duurtlang
09/22/2013 at 04:56

Question: I'm in Holland right now and want to buy a used license plate as a souvenir. Where would be the best place to get one?

duurtlang > gavinski91
09/22/2013 at 05:56

In the Netherlands plates stay with the car; when you sell your car the new owner will keep using the plates the car already had. If you want a real plate my best bet is a junkyard, although it could be possible a junkyard is required to destroy a plate. But that latter part is nothing but a guess, so I'd try that.

If I'm not mistaken I heard you mention Scheveningen. There's a cluster of junk yards in the nearby The Hague. http://goo.gl/maps/07ggS

-Amateur > duurtlang
09/23/2013 at 23:21

Oh I envy you so much! That is my favorite European car hands down. That styling is gorgeous to me!

Spasoje > gavinski91
09/24/2013 at 00:51

If physically getting the plate yourself in Holland isn't important for you, might I suggest eBay? Dutch plates are not a common sight in the listings, but collectors do list some from time to time.

NotSpanky > duurtlang
09/24/2013 at 01:17

I'm assuming it's a manual, being both European and this being Oppo - otherwise, the auto gearbox is a car killer at this vintage, as I discovered on my '98 406SV. And since the gearbox is what eventually kills most of them, finding a decent spare gearbox anywhere outside of France is nigh impossible.

Pity, despite being FWD, far less attractive than the coupe and a less than inspiring auto box (In my defense, I'm in Australia, 406SVs aren't that common in any form), it was still a great car, and the interior on the SV held up really well.

Still, gave me an excuse to get my E46 wagon.

duurtlang > NotSpanky
09/24/2013 at 02:57

It is the manual. I've heard about reliability issues of the auto boxes as well. Not that I would consider one otherwise. Still, the (manual) gearbox in my car is the biggest issue I've got with the car. The gearing is too short, which means it revs too high at highway speeds. Furthermore the box itself isn't very smooth, although that might be caused due to wear.

Hoccy > duurtlang
09/24/2013 at 03:27

That is one of the best looking cars from Peugeot, and I am amazed to see how good this looks 13 years down the road. Haven't seen one in a while, they are very rare here in the north.. Do you have the V6 or a regular 4-cylinder?

duurtlang > Hoccy
09/24/2013 at 03:41

I've got the 4. Looking back I should've gotten the 6, but the 4 isn't bad either. It just isn't very fast.

Kookanoodles > duurtlang
09/24/2013 at 06:12

Isn't the 6 a bit thirsty ?

duurtlang > Kookanoodles
09/24/2013 at 06:24

It probably is, but since my car runs on LPG gas (€0.63 a liter here) I don't really care. Added bonus is the less short 5th gear, which means lower revs at the highway and thus a (relatively) lower consumption. I doubt I'd pay more than €0.01 a km extra with the 6 cylinder.