A car for those with very deep pockets

A car that costs more than most homes and will go almost 400 miles per hour will always turn heads, whether it’s driving by or just parked. How many times have you said that if you won the lottery, you’d buy a Bugatti Veyron?

This is a car so many car folks lust for.

So let’s say you hit it big and have the $2 million to plop down to drive one home, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe that’s part of the reason you see them parked so much like this one a friend spotted while on vacation in Florida.

So the usual items that come with buying a car are oil changes, brakes, shocks, tires, and other maintenance items that come up. The cost of owning this ride can make your eyes water. Let’s start with the most basic item, oil and fluid changes. Bugatti recommends all fluids have to be changed each year and that costs a hefty $25,000.

Why? The car has 16 drainplugs and they are not easy to get at. A highly trained mechanic will have to take out the rear wheels and brakes, as well as the lining on the rear fenders along with the one underneath the back of the car.

But wait, there’s more! It will cost $6,400 to replace each individual turbocharger and around $9,000 in labor to replace a pair. An air cooler is $9,000, there are two of them. You would get off easy on the camshaft adjusters at about $800 per piece, but since the engine has to be taken apart, the labor costs are a killer at around $21,000.

How about tires? The car will do 0-60 in under three seconds and you know you’re going to do that often to impress your friends. Bugatti advises all Veyron owners getting new tires once every couple of years and a fresh set costs $38,000. We didn’t pay that much when we purchased our 2017 Jeep Compass.

Well as long as you’re getting new tires, you might as well get new wheels, right? They have to be replaced every 10,000 miles and that will set you back $50,000.  I’m not a math whiz but, you’d be looking at around $100,000 in maintenance costs in just a couple of years of ownership. But then again, how can you put a cost on fun?

Check back next Friday for another one of my car spots and have a great weekend.