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I had a 76 LWB Shadow....I was rich and now I am poor.

Put the wrong Brake Fluid in and you have to rebuild the complete system...You HAVE to use RR Castrol 360... otherwise it turns all the rubber seals to mush and leaks. When I had the car parts alone would be $4800.

Overheat an engine thats 15K to 20K for a rebuild. Aluminum Block with Rubber O rings to seal the steel sleeves. Soft steel for valve springs.

Actually some Volvo parts are more expensive...like the oxygen sensor... and yes most parts and labour is expensive. I knew of people who took their cars in to so called RR experts only to find out they paid bunches of money to get ***** work and parts. Nothing really complicated about a RR, just LOTS of simple systems to go wrong.

On the 80 or 81 RRs they used 2 catalytic converters...$2400 each.

Problem with RRs most people DO NOT maintain them properly...the wealthy people think I will get a new one in a couple of years so what if I don't spend the dinero on maintenance.

Say a new RR goes for 200K why would you pay 150K for a year old car if you can afford that kind of money for a car..whats another 50K to get brand new. Thats why the used price on them drops like a rock. You can count on 50% the first year.

Another problem is parts availability..most of the RR suppliers of parts are long out of business. The rarer the car the less available the parts.

I enjoyed the car while I had it, rarely do I wax nostalgic for it, however having no repair bills on my F150 makes me much happier. and the ride was that much better. Also being anonymous is really the better way to go.