If you take the plunge, I'd be interested in hearing your experiences Dean. I went through a similar feeling and
really wanted an S4 Esprit, even now I look enviously at them. What killed it for me was the realisation that it wouldn't go into the garage we had at the time and I'm not sure it's a "driveway-maintenance" sort of car.
I would check out the actual cost of spare parts and make my decision there. Whatever the mechanical task is, if a man has done it then you can to. Ok, a bit glib and you may have to invest in tooling or do some research but at that point you decide whether it's a specialist job or buy the gear you need. When I looked at an S4 I was happy that I would be able to sort it out myself. (if it would have gone into the garage that is ! )
Drifting off topic to a different car but similar problem, a few years ago I was debating a Porsche Cayman. In the UK the strong message is that these are dealer cars and cost a bomb to maintain which put me off for a while. In the end I decided it's only money (and half of it is the wife's
) so we bought a one owner car.
The bills are staggering, the guy had it serviced at Porsche and was spending a ridiculous amount every year. IIRC there's one bill for £600 just to UPDATE the sat-nav maps. I think the car cost him £45k and there were bills making it over £60k for 4 years ownership. (we paid £24k, which was far more than Porsche would give him..... makes you wonder why a dealer maintained car is a good idea ?)
So how's it been ? I have it serviced at a local garage, non-specialist but they do service 4 other Porsches and an Aston, all local owners so they are good and in the UK if you try to sell a Porsche without service history stamps then it's hard work. Outside of annual servicing, I do it myself. Drive belts (PITA), discs, pads so far & using Porsche OEM parts bought through a motor factor & keeping receipts. I'd be surprised if I've spent £1500 over the 3 years we've had it.....
