What's it for?

[wolfie]

Then again, most "supercars" aren't all that useful...

Yep, more horsepower (in some cases, double) than my truck - and less towing capacity than my car.

The thing that really made me goggle was the cost of tires. $30,000 for a set of tires, and after the third set you need to buy a whole new set of rims at a cost of $120,000 because the tires are glued to the rims.

Wow - one set of tires for that thing would buy me around 6 sets of tires for my truck (11R22.5 tires ain't cheap - and my truck takes 10 of them). I've read that when running flat out, the tires on the Veyron are good for around 15 minutes - and a tank of fuel for around 12.

[Nunavut Pants]

I know a guy who drives a Ferrari. Not a new one, but an older 308--similar to the red one Tom Selleck drove in Magnum, p.i. Nice car, but expensive as hell to service.

You ain't kidding! A friend's husband owned a 308 for a while. It evidently ran about $10K per year in maintenance and repairs. And that was a few years ago, where $10K could actually buy a ("poverty-spec") econobox!!

To say that I was astonished would be an understatement.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Yeah, I feel that way about a lot of those "go fast" luxury cars/supercars like Lambos, Ferraris, and whatnot.

The little boy in me thinks "I WANT one of those 'cuz it looks cool and goes real fast!"

The guy in me thinks "I WANT one of those 'cuz I'll be the envy of everyone!"

The grown up in me thinks "I can't afford one of those. The maintenance costs would bankrupt me. I'd be terrified that someone would steal it. And when the hell am I ever going to be able to drive it at anything like top speed?"

[taxguykarl]

You forgot about the insurance for one of those....if you have to ask you can't afford it. Here in Chicagoland you would be crazy to drive that in the winter when the roads are either snow-covered or salt licks--not good for the undercarriage.
Come to think of it, Illinois other season, construction, is also not a good time to drive one of those.

[protege]

You ain't kidding! A friend's husband owned a 308 for a while. It evidently ran about $10K per year in maintenance and repairs.

A lot of that is because there's very little in the way of aftermarket support. Ferrari is extremely strict when it comes to replacement parts. They have a reputation to keep, and insist that any new bits have to come from the factory...never mind that any specialists have to licensed by the company.

Anyway, when my friend's 308 broke down last year, a new cylinder head ran about five grand I've bought entire cars for less than that! Five grand for a head not including valves, springs, and other hardware. At least he did the machining and other work himself. Still, that's a lot of money to drop on a car.