The term "endless money pit" seems to be an all encompassing term. However, I think there is a slight nuance to this.
It could mean the following
1) Expensive Basic Maintenance
2) Breaks Down Often
3) Both Expensive Basic Maintenance and Breaks Down Often.
I am curious, which brands would you place into which categories? Because if it is just expensive basic maintenance, it might be more worthwhile than a care that breaks down often.
Breaks down often: Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, etc.
Expensive maintenance: Toyota Prius
Both:Mercedes, BMW, VW, etc.
Summary: Endless money pit= drains your wallet constantly with expensive repairs.
it all comes down to the bottom line: annual cost
And here's some more nuance
- all cars break down more with age.
- #2 will bite you eventually. It's a matter of how soon, and how long you keep your vehicle.
- When the vehicle gets to a certain age, #1 is going to become a deciding factor if you keep it.
- Also, how much you pay for maintenance depends on your mechanical abilities. Also your free time and source of income.
- also depending on the application, the vehicle benefit may outweigh the expense.
The answer is different for everyone. Complicated question.
I think the phrase refers to cars that constantly have issues, not necessarily expensive maintenance costs. Maintenance is interval-based work that's important for maintaining the condition of the car (oil change, brake pads, fluids, belts)...issues are a completely different story. In general, a properly maintained car should not have any issues, but sometimes a few issues come up here and there. An endless money pit is a car that has constant issues one after the other.
If you think about it, the ACTUAL cost of maintenance is not that different between different cars. Oil costs are basically the same, brake pads for different cars basically cost the same, same with the fluids, etc. The real cost is WHERE you take your car to get the work done (which is why I do my own work). For example, BMWs are expensive cars that target the "rich", so dealer service centers and other independent shops know that people with BMWs have the money for a ridiculously priced oil change (there is no special oil change process on a BMW...it's literally the same). The same applies for a brake job, etc.
I did a brake job on a Toyota yesterday...the parts basically cost the same as when I did a brake job on my BMW. And there is literally no special difference between the two brake systems...they followed the same exact process.
i have a van that runs against the trend for chryslers being a money pit. i bought a grand voyager here in oz on the cheap side. i knew what had to be serviced/maintained before i handed over any money. i have done what needed to be done to bring it my level of what i see as a reliable car. so far touch wood it has run without any major issues, it had almost 470,000 kilometres on the clock, i drive it everywhere and am not throwing money at it. this was a taxi sometime before i got it, it had an extensive service history up to 412,00 kilometres. only thing that has happened in 6 months is road damage which was a stabilizer mount torn off. sorry about going off track but mentioning something that seems to go against a common trend of money pit brands.
