Here's why a Bugatti Veyron oil change costs $21,000

Having made my living working on CART Indy/Champ cars (dry sump/splitting car in half to drain oil) for a decade, I'm failing to see where even half of the alleged $21k bill is coming from. Even with the shitty design regarding serviceability, and the extra/unnecessary labor involved to access key points, a $10k bill is still ridiculous. Even if their shop rate is $500/hr, two techs, and 100% markup on the oil, it shouldn't be a $10k bill.
 
Here are some numbers from the stealership I worked at in parts for a year with regards to mark up and cost. Oil filter cost 1.49 sell 8.99, oil cost .97qt sell 3.99, air and cabin filters cost 3.99 to 6.99, sell 24.99 and wipers cost 3.50-5.00 ea sell was 15.00-25.00 ea. Keep in mind these are generic parts not Wix and the oil is bulk from some brand I can't recall what it was. Just oil and filter change would cost 39.95 plus the add on parts with 15 to 20 minutes labor they still made a tidy profit. If you wanted factory branded filters ect. add 20% to 25% to the cost. The lube techs made 6.00$ per change plus a percentage of what they could add on. I saw many perfectly good air and cabin filters get tossed or they would dirty them up if the customer wanted to see them. I hated that job and seeing people get screwed over all the time. So I can see where if you own a Super Car you would get charged 20K for a complete service but I wonder what the profit margin is?.
 
I had a customer bring in his '63 Ferrari 330 GTE in for an oil change, He supplied the oil, filters, and even the safety wire for the drain plug so I charged him $25 for the oil change like everyone else. He thought it was funny and said it was the cheapest service on the car in it's life and was going to tell the story to his other Ferrari friends. I thought it was worth it just to get to look at it on a lift and under the hood for a while.
 
I had a customer bring in his '63 Ferrari 330 GTE in for an oil change, He supplied the oil, filters, and even the safety wire for the drain plug so I charged him $25 for the oil change like everyone else. He thought it was funny and said it was the cheapest service on the car in it's life and was going to tell the story to his other Ferrari friends. I thought it was worth it just to get to look at it on a lift and under the hood for a while.
i would do the same given the opportunity .
 
I remember a Slick 50 commercial like that.

Yep,I think I remember that,If it's the one where they had the engine running with the valvecover off and were spraying it with water and throwing dirt and gravel into it. I also remember thinking at the time ''you cheating b**tards,any slant six will survive that!!''

Ha,that's nothing to do with Slick 50,that's everything to do with loose Mopar;)
 
Looks almost as complicated as changing the serpentine belt on my Aurora Northstar ... <G>
 
Yep,I think I remember that,If it's the one where they had the engine running with the valvecover off and were spraying it with water and throwing dirt and gravel into it. I also remember thinking at the time ''you cheating b**tards,any slant six will survive that!!''

Ha,that's nothing to do with Slick 50,that's everything to do with loose Mopar;)
Plus, there was no pan, so none of the dirt got pumped through the system, and the water kept it cool.
 
Yep,I think I remember that,If it's the one where they had the engine running with the valvecover off and were spraying it with water and throwing dirt and gravel into it. I also remember thinking at the time ''you cheating b**tards,any slant six will survive that!!''

Ha,that's nothing to do with Slick 50,that's everything to do with loose Mopar;)

I remember that one too.
I have to admit it made it look like a good product.
OTOH, I never bought.
IIRC it was pretty steep at the time.
I also had that , " if it sounds too good to be true , it is" thing running through my head.
Reminds me of day dreaming reading the JC Whitney or warsharsky (?) Catalogs just before I bought my first car (save 10% on fuel mileage, save 15% on fuel mileage) (I'm trying to remember what they all were.....headers, electronic ignition conversion, that ring that went on the fuel line and aligned the fuel molecules. ......)
I asked my father (who owned a shop at the time)
He said if they all worked , the car wouldn't burn any gas.
Reality, tough concept on a naive 16 YO mind.
 
Easy......

Disconnect the coil packs so the engine won’t accidentally start, then pull the dipstick and push a tube down the dipstick hole because the dipstick measures at the lowest point of return for the oil. So sucking the oil out with a pump will remove most of the oil. Then with the coil packs disconnected and spark plugs removed turn the engine over so the engines dry sump oil pump transfers the rest of the oil to the crankcase where the dipstick is and pump out the rest.

I’ve had to use a plastic tube and a pump to remove oil from many difficult engines too include while in the military.....
Might not have a dipstick, many new cars dont.

As for the cost of an oil change, most of these will never see enough mileage to ever need one, just a bunch of garage queens.
 
Some cars have 'oil life indicators' based on usage of the vehicle and the actual condition of the oil. I think maybe the Veyron is a car that is just expensive enough :king: for this not to be on an 'optional extras' list - if there even is one for a Veyron? :D
 
As a bespoke vehicle you can basically get whatever options you want - that’s the rich man’s prerogative.
 
Might not have a dipstick, many new cars dont.

As for the cost of an oil change, most of these will never see enough mileage to ever need one, just a bunch of garage queens.

Yah....

That’s if you live in the States !!

I was privileged enough by way of being stationed in Germany for ten years and being a rabid car rebuilder....I thought I was in heaven. Autobahn Five (A-5) between Frankfurt and Heidelberg is a straight long stretch of wide multi-laned road. About half way down that stretch of road is a McDonald’s and on a Friday-Saturday night that large parking lot is full of exotic cars. Then there is the road between Stuttgart and Berlin. So I agree with you, I can’t see any reason for owning anything with that much overkill. Small exotic sports cars are more practical for this country....
 
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