A few questions from a potential owner

Hi all,

I've been surfing the board for a few weeks now, as I'm on a quest to find a new car for myself, and I've been doing some research on this board. It's an amazing place; a huge amount of information and very cool people.

I've read all about the foibles of the SVX, including the higher-than-average maintenance costs for everything and its propensity to mulch transmissions and wheel bearings. Regardless, I find myself coming back to the board to consider the car over and over again. So, I'd like to ask some questions:

1) For those who autocross the car, do you find that the automatic is a hindrance? I've been autocrossing for two years now, but always with a manual transmission; heck, I've never even *owned* an automatic, unless I count my wife's cars.
2) If I autocross, am I pretty much guaranteeing myself frequent replacement of the wheel bearings, or can they hold up if properly maintained?
3) Barring transmission failures and wheel bearing replacement, is the maintenance *really* that expensive? Bear in mind that I'm used to paying for maintenance on my 1998 BMW 328is, which isn't exactly cheap.
4) Am I going to be setting myself up for disaster if I only want to spend $3-4k on an SVX? I want to get out of my Bimmer payment and into a car I *own*, but it would be nice if the maintenance didn't add up to my $311/mo. payment. :-)

Thanks in advance for any advice or opinions you're willing to share!

-Brandon

P.S. Are there any owners in Maine? Just moved back here from Colorado, but I haven't seen any posts by anyone from Maine...

[mbtoloczko]

Your question about a possible correlation between rear wheel bearing failure and auto-xing is a good question. There are a few people on the board who have put in a full season of auto-x without rear wheel bearing failure. Maybe others can elaborate.

From what I've heard, the auto tranny on the SVX actually works pretty well for auto-x. SVXRide and newsvx both have lots of auto-x experience with the SVX, and I think both like it. You'll probably want to get an external cooler for it though to help keep ATF temperatures in check.

There are a lot of little things that can go wrong with the SVX. The factory brakes seem to suck. When I bought my SVX, I practially had to stand on the brake pedal to get the car to stop fast. Turning the rotors and putting on some high quality organic pads seems to have fixed that problem. Other problems include leaking/failing PS lines, failed water pumps, worn/leaking struts, failed alternators, failed a/c compressors, and and many things I've forgotten. Overall, the car does seem to require more maintenance than say a Toyota or Honda.

[dcarrb]

Originally posted by ExoDemon

4) Am I going to be setting myself up for disaster if I only want to spend $3-4k on an SVX?

I spent $3450 on mine at 104,000 miles, and have since dropped another $1500 or so on maintenance and repairs: Trunk and hood struts, PS and AC hoses, wheel bearings, half-shaft, timing belt, water pump, power antenna, front seals... stuff that, to my mind, most any car of comparable age and mileage would likely need. (And much of that expense was labor, as I'm not much of a mechanic). My only troubles have been a spell of hard starting (apparently remedied by a $15 temp sensor) and failure of the crank pulley, for which the highest quote I got for an OEM replacement was $194.

But it's a roll of the dice. I've been pretty lucky. You might spend as much (or much more) and promptly have the transmission tank. You just have to decide how much you like the car, and how much you're willing to spend on it down the road.

good luck,
dcb

in 6+ months of ownership of a well used SVX i can honestly say maintinance costs have not been too bad, the real trouble i have had is mechanics misdiagnosing issues i have had (not many really MAF malfunction and seal went out in power steering).

[Ron Mummert]

4) Am I going to be setting myself up for disaster if I only want to spend $3-4k on an SVX? I want to get out of my Bimmer payment and into a car I *own*, but it would be nice if the maintenance didn't add up to my $311/mo. payment. :-)




So for $3,732.00 (a year's worth of Bimmer rental), you could buy a new tranny, two rear bearings, two front rotors, & have enough left for a pair of nice lighted dice for rear view mirror.

As to autocross, I've always felt that an automatic has an advantage. You can't miss a downshift. To autoX an SVX, put it in 1st & leave it there. It'll shift to second automatically right before the engine explodes. I've watched newsvx (Harry) cross his mint '97 for two years, & he's never warped a rotor, lost a bearing, or a tranny to my knowledge, unless he's hiding something.

Best wishes, Ron.

[n00b on demand]

Maintenence for me has been nothing major so far. Just the usual wear and tear items....tires....axle...and tranny fluid and oil changes. I also invested in a few other things like a tranny cooler for instance.

[Mr. Pockets]

I autocross as well, and honestly I wouldn't do it with an SVX. They can be driven fast, and I've been surprised by how well they scoot around a course. But it wouldn't be my first choice. The SVX is heavy and complicated and you're going to pay for more repairs. I'd rather put my money into tires and other necessities.

But that's just my call, based on my situation.

From a competitive standpoint, the SVX is in the same class (GS) as the Mini Cooper S - the supercharged one. I haven't seen the two cars go head to head, but I know which one my money would be on.

Don't get me wrong - I love my SVX. And I know which I'd rather take a 120mph+ road trip in. But a tight and twisty autocross course?

[Darksied-X]

Holy ish, a fellow May-nah!!! Welcome aboard!

Since the more seasoned members have chimed in with the tech and auto-x stuff, I'll stick with some Maine info, save for one thing. I would agree with Pockets, the SVX would not be my first choice for auto-x. I really only have my XT6 to base a comparison on, but I would take the 6 over the SVX anyday for auto-x. It's far more agile, relitively cheaper to maintain, and can be had with a stick more easily if thats what you want. But for everyday cruising, the SVX annihilates most anything else in it's price range.

As for the Maine scene, there really isn't one for the SVX. Though there are several Maine members on this board, Wiz and myself are really the only active ones (and I haven't even seen Wiz around in a while, for that matter). Most every SVXer I've met from Maine has basically had the "Meh, it's just a car, and your a zealot" attitude. But, if your seriously interested, Charlie's in Augusta had a '92 (or maybe it was a '94 )ast time I was there for about $4K, but that was a while ago. It did need a few things, but nothing major. I searched for one in Maine for about a year before I went to Jersey to pick mine up. There's just no decent ones around here. I live in Oakland, and work in Pittsfield, so if you'd like to check mine out this spring when I pull it out of the garage, I'd be happy to swing through Skow-town with it sometime.

Thanks for all the feedback so far.

Believe me, I understand about not being competitive in GS with an SVX; I used to autocross a 1993 Honda Prelude in GS, and those Coopers are *scary* fast. The thing is, I'm already in a class that I can't win with my current car and budget (SM), so I'm not too concerned about being competitive, but rather more interested in having fun. Fun is inversely proportional to bad wheel bearings and warped rotors, it would seem to me. :-)

I realized that in my original post, I didn't really explain what led me to the SVX as a possible solution to my problems. Aside from being in the right price range, I've always liked the styling of the car. I would like to get a car that's all-wheel drive, so that I can actually get out of my driveway in the morning during the winter. Finally, after years of driving underpowered four cylinder cars, I have really enjoyed the 6 cylinder torque in my BMW, and I don't relish the thought of going back to a four; even if it might be a fun little car like an Impreza.

Plus, everybody on this board seems to have similar priorities to mine: enjoy your car! :-)

Thanks again, and feel free to offer up any thoughts...

-Brandon

Hmmm, I may need to take a road trip to Charlie's, then... or at least give them a call. As with all things I do, much research is done before I even touch the real thing, so I've never even driven one yet. (!)

Thanks!

[Darksied-X]

Originally posted by ExoDemon
Hmmm, I may need to take a road trip to Charlie's, then... or at least give them a call. As with all things I do, much research is done before I even touch the real thing, so I've never even driven one yet. (!)

Thanks!

Call first, since it's been about 6mos since I've been there. But the car had sat there for about 9mos before that, so it may still be there.

[benebob]

Welcome to the board. As for your questions.

1. Slushbox good or bad for autoxing. For an average beginning autoxer the auto (esp some of the subie autos which redline then shift) are gonna post better times than most manuals will. Now as you get better that isn't always gonna be the case and if you then go to a manual at some point you're times will suffer as you aren't really in practice.

2. My wheel bearings are original in my 95. Has been through about 10 autoxs in the last 3 years. Find one that hasn't had nor needed the bearings replaced. It seems from everyone else's experience they post about that once they've been replaced you'll always be replacing them. Of course those who replace 'em and never have another issue tend not to post about it.
3. Mantainance costs.. Depends, parts are pricey, labor tends to be higher too as there isn't a lot of room to work with. If you can do your basic stuff yourself you'll be fine. No more $60 oil changes from the Bimmer dealer.

4. As for price, you get what you pay for. Personally, I'd try to bump it up a bit and get a lower mileage later SVX. Maybe $5-6k. You won't have the initial extra $500 to put into it like most older used cars just to get everything fixed/taken care of.

I'll also add my 2 cents about autoxing it. As has already been brought up. It isn't the most competative car in stock classes. Even less so in your street classes. After autoxing mine for a while I decided to move on to an XT6 for my autoxer for these reasons: Faster or as fast around most courses that don't have huge straight aways then an SVX, Cheap to maintain as parts are in virtually every yard, tires are smaller and cheaper and its in lowly H stock so instead of loosing to national caliber drivers by 2.5 seconds driving the Mini S I'm loosing to the standard mini by 1-1.5 seconds with national drivers.

That said we're currently preparing an SVX for E Prepared autoxing this year. If it isn't competative, at least it will be fun and in the end that is all that matters right?

[svxistentialist]

Originally posted by ExoDemon
Hi all,



4) Am I going to be setting myself up for disaster if I only want to spend $3-4k on an SVX? I want to get out of my Bimmer payment and into a car I *own*, but it would be nice if the maintenance didn't add up to my $311/mo. payment. :-)

Thanks in advance for any advice or opinions you're willing to share!

-Brandon

Hi Brandon, and welcome.

Can't add to the auto-x debate, except to say that the handling is entertaining, and the autobox will give you loads of push in 1 and 2. Expect it will do the job, but be heavy, and if you buy one with fragile drivetrain, then the costs will hurt.

Which brings me to the second point.

Buy the very best SVX you can afford.

Don't touch one that looks like it's been abused, or not properly maintained. Such a car will be a money pit.

When you have attended to the few things the guys mentioned, the car will be way more reliable than it appears from the boards. Remember, only the people having problems tend to write in or complain. The vast majority of owners sail merrily along, enjoying one of the best GTs ever.

The car is well built and reliable, aside from the Usual Suspects you mention. The "expensive to run" reputation you mention is only partially true. If things break, some parts can be surprisingly expensive. Standard maintenance items are not too bad.

Some of the younger owners who buy an SVX cheap and then don't do the maintenance, are outraged when something breaks, and the part is nearly as expensive as the car was.

As a BMW owner, you would not be surprised that something like a replacement headlight cost a few bucks more than you would like to be spending. The SVX is no different.

Which is why I say, buy the very best you can find.

Be objective, and don't fall in love with the first car you test drive. If possible, get Darksied to check out the car, or another member who knows them. This might save you grief and long-term $$.

Joe

http://www.patriot.sne1.com/usedinv2...icleStk=2P0246

1992 with 48,xxx miles? I sent them an e-mail to see if they have any maintenance records. While it's a little out of my original price range, it might be worth looking into if it's in really great condition, don't you think?

Of course, I don't actually HAVE the money right now (need my tax return and another check from my former employer), but maybe that's what parents are for. :-)

Opinions/thoughts/comments welcome and appreciated!

[MNYPNNY]

We lost another Coloradoan?