>From: Cregg Cowan <cowan@erg.sri.com>
>Reply-To: Cregg Cowan <cowan@erg.sri.com>
>To: triumphs@autox.team.net, Rich@Scotti.com
>CC: cowan@erg.sri.com
>Subject: Miata vs TR4 cost (was New car vs. old car pollution: stats)
>Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 14:12:06 -0700
>
>Hi Rich,
>
>I don't have anything against Miata's, but one part of your co-worker's
>response
>begs for clarification:
>
> >1) My total cost over the last ten years is less than the cost of new
>parts
> for a TR4 during that period.
>
>Assuming his "total cost" includes the Miata purchase price, I don't
>understand
>how that total can be less than parts for a typical TR4 over 10 years. I
>can only
>conclude that he's not comparing his costs to those for a typical Triumph.
>
>Perhaps he's comparing costs to a frame-off restoration (which we all know
>costs
>more than the value of the car), or to a race car?
>
>Just Curious,
>Cregg Cowan
>71 TR6
>
Having lived with my TR4 for 15 years minus the 3 I spent rebuilding
it, I spend somewhere ~$500 per year on average. If I didn't keep
messing with it I probably could get away with a bit less...
I spend a bit more than that for the family hauler, (a 1995 Eclipse
GST) which goes to the dealer 3-4x per year for various oil changes,
etc. This year I had the <60,000 mile visit to that dealer that cost
~$550 alone. Then there were the new set of tires last spring.
I could drive a Miata... But why? I see Miatas all the time.
Why drive something for fun that everyone has? Besides, I can't "mess"
with it and don't really understand what goes on underneath the bonnet
(at least not without hooking up a computer).
Hell, I drove "the beast" to work yesterday... The reaction I got from
the guy outside of the coffee shop pointed up why exactly I drive the
car... I haven't seen ANYONE walk into the back of a parked truck
looking at a Miata lately.
As far as reliable... Well, my friend is till trying to figure out why
his Miata overheated in Chicago traffic while following me up to the
vintage races last summer... Last winter a lady where I work needed a
jump to get her new Buick started... I started it with (wait for
it...) Yeah, the TR4. You can't buy moments like that!
I'll not throw stones at what Mazda did... They took a great British
car and made a modern knockoff of it. It's great for those people who
want sports car panache without the "sports car dues"...
I think I hear my cubicle calling me...
Greg Petrolati Champaign, Illinois 1962 TR4 (CT4852L)
That's not a leak... My car's just marking its territory...
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