Cost of ownership/annual maintenance

[Destructo]

-Mods, feel free to close if this has been covered. I attempted to search, but with no results -

Hey everyone, I'm doing my due diligence here as I'm looking to get into a 2004 SVT Cobra.
I'm of the "You've got to pay to play" school of thought, but I'm curious as to what everyone is seeing for maintenance and upkeep of these.

I know they are Ford, but that doesn't mean they are cheap.

NOT INCLUDING, Fuel or tires, using the car as a 3 season weekend car, no major tracking excursions, but maybe a couple events per year, what are some estimates for cost of maintenance?

Out of the list of cars I'm considering this is one of two domestics, so I'm curious to see what I can dig up.

Thanks in advance!

 

[White_Snake]

i have owned 3 cobras. 04 vert, 03 coupe and another 03 coupe. My list of maintenance goes as follows.

2 Batteries
Fuel Filter
and wire running from battery to alternator.

Besides normal maintenance I have never had a major problem.

 

[97PacificGreen]

I only own a 97. But I need tires yearly and that's only with some spirited driving. And lots of time on weekends for detailing

 

[03cobra#694]

Gonna pretty much depend on the car, mods, etc. The way you're going to use it, it wont be bad at all.

 

[Fassssst]

My cobra has very low mileage ( but still 10 years old ) . But , aside from some modding , stickier tires , and regular maintenance , I have not had one single issue with this amazing car !!!

 

[hotcobra03]

my biggest issue was the driver side head...3 times...

the rest of the car has held up ok as a dd...

 

[Destructo]

Thanks guys!

I'd like to find a low mileage vehicle, not heavily modded that I can work on my own.

I have the garage space, and a daily driver so I can do maintenance myself, and go installing a mods a chance too.

Ideally I'd like to put long tubes, full exhaust, a KB Mammoth kit, and put in a new interior. I can't stand the look of it. It needs sparco buckets and some dynamat to preempt the assured squeaks and rattles that will come with it.

So we'll see now this pans out. Thanks guys, keep the answers coming if you don't mind. I appreciate the input and suggestions of my ideas if they are going to compromise the car in a serious manner.

 

[b_dike]

For the most part my car has been very reliable. Just a few parts needed replacing, but they where known weak points on the car.

Used Oil cooler- 400
Reman. alt- 85
FRPSx2- 150 (the second one was just in case)
used stock idlers- Free (only needed one after it blew out on me)
new gates belt- 65

Other than the new fluids that went with the oil cooler, that's it in 2 years.

And I use my cobra much the same as you've described. Occasional street race, and just one trip to the the local 1/4 track. Other than that it's a fair weather cruiser.

 

[MysticRob]

...NOT INCLUDING, Fuel or tires, using the car as a 3 season weekend car, no major tracking excursions, but maybe a couple events per year, what are some estimates for cost of maintenance?

Sounds like you plan to use it just like I do. I purchased mine with 76k miles, no mechanical problems, but an unknown maintenance history.

Not knowing the car's complete history I made the decision prior to purchase to go over the entire car and changed all fluids from the supercharger, engine, transmission, coolant, fuel filter, spark plugs, air filter, etc, until I knew there wouldn't be anything else required that wasn't due to mechanical failure. This probably cost me $300 total since I did it all myself and purchased most things off Amazon.com (best place for fuel filter, air filter, plugs, etc).

After that, the biggest costs will be insurance and gas, as I might drive it 1-2k miles a year, just like my recently-sold 84 GT 'vert. I've attended a couple local run gatherings and burned through a couple tanks of gas I otherwise wouldn't have, but with all the maintenance already done I likely won't even need an oil change this year. :beer:

Cost of ownership after that really comes down to unknowns, but they're mechanically very stout cars, so if you don't abuse them, they won't bite you in the ass. Buy it, weekend drive it, and you likely won't have any extraneous costs.

 

[mach1033]

If you keep the car basically stock then it's basic maintenance. You go putting a KB mammoth, upgraded fuel systems, tires etc etc then the cost of maintenance and time will go up. For me personally I don't mind it.

 

[Destructo]

If you keep the car basically stock then it's basic maintenance. You go putting a KB mammoth, upgraded fuel systems, tires etc etc then the cost of maintenance and time will go up. For me personally I don't mind it.

Yeah, i don't expect to get away scott-free once I put a Mammoth kit (heck, that's 5K alone) on it and the accompanying modifications or alterations (exhaust, fuel, interior, probably another 5K EASILY). But those will come in time, and i'm thinking long-term project/cruiser/fun/street-terror.

I do have some questions about the Mammoth kit, but i'll post in the proper section for that. Don't want to derail this thread, as i'm sure others want to know what i'm looking for too.

I've dealt with German cars in the past, and the kicker for those were they were dramatic, expensive and finicky. I still love them, but I'd LOVE to get something with big horsepower, incredible sound, and some reliability (within reason) without having to worry about spending GOBS of cash on something that doesn't blow my mind.

As they say: "Fast, reliable and cheap, you only get two."

 

[mach1033]

Yeah, i don't expect to get away scott-free once I put a Mammoth kit (heck, that's 5K alone) on it and the accompanying modifications or alterations (exhaust, fuel, interior, probably another 5K EASILY). But those will come in time, and i'm thinking long-term project/cruiser/fun/street-terror.

I do have some questions about the Mammoth kit, but i'll post in the proper section for that. Don't want to derail this thread, as i'm sure others want to know what i'm looking for too.

I've dealt with German cars in the past, and the kicker for those were they were dramatic, expensive and finicky. I still love them, but I'd LOVE to get something with big horsepower, incredible sound, and some reliability (within reason) without having to worry about spending GOBS of cash on something that doesn't blow my mind.

As they say: "Fast, reliable and cheap, you only get two."

What kind of power are you looking for? Pump gas or race? 600 wheel HP is definitely fine when it comes to being reliable. I myself should have stopped there. It was plenty fast for the street and you could get away with running an open track tire versus a drag radial. You can run a high 10 second pass at the track on straight pump. Perfect street manners. Never over heated, stalled, high idle, failed emissions, no electrical bs etc etc. but not me I had to get a bigger blower to make over 700 HP lol and it went down hill from there :rolling:

 

['88347coupe]

Well Im making over 700 rw, and so far just a check engine light for a evaporitive emissions leak which was a solenoid canister purge valve. That could have happened to a stock car. I dont expect any problems, and I literally drive the car every day, 20-25 miles.

 

[mach1033]

Well Im making over 700 rw, and so far just a check engine light for a evaporitive emissions leak which was a solenoid canister purge valve. That could have happened to a stock car. I dont expect any problems, and I literally drive the car every day, 20-25 miles.

Was it a cheap build

 

[1Bad04Mystic]

Owned mine for about six years now, and I have never replaced anything but fluids so far. I do need a new set of drag radials and I am probably going to replace the factory battery, it seems like its getting a little weak

 

['88347coupe]

Was it a cheap build

The ****? Your making as much sense as Obama.

 

[mach1033]

The ****? Your making as much sense as Obama.

My point being is that it was not a cheap build along with all the supporting mods.

 

[P49Y-CY]

i bought mine brand new and have daily driven it since then, so now it has 109k. it is a heavy car, so the biggest maintenence items have been wear pieces like tires and brakes. also clutches. they also tend to eat tob's too.

so it will save alot of money if you are able to do the work yourself.

i have all my records, but off the top of my head i'd say an average estimate for annual maintenence not including gasoline might be in the $2k range, given an annual mileage of 15k.

 

[svtaddict]

bought mine with 12k miles on the ticker at about 20k miles oil pump decided to start eating itself so i upgraded my pistons and bolts besides that i end up spending about 100-150 every month modding little things here and there, oil, etc.

 

[dom418]

That's the beauty of the low tech design of these cars. Nothing major can break, especially with the interior gadgets, simple is better, less that can go wrong. As far as motor alternator and battery is about it.