The Diablo's V12 has two $5000 engine computers, which occasionally fail. Lamborghini is sold out of replacements.

On paper, a used super-exotic makes sense. You get the mind-blowing performance and heartbreaking looks, but at a lower price than a new hypercar, and with no yearlong stay on a dealer's waiting list. But—surprise!—the buy-in is only half the damage. Parts are far from cheap and often hard to come by. Many jobs require purpose-built tools. And for countless reasons, supercars are rarely designed for ease of maintenance—the same task that takes an afternoon on your mother's Toyota could consume five days on a McLaren. We polled owners and mechanics to find out what makes working on these cars aggravating, expensive, and just plain weird.

McLaren F1

McLaren estimates annual running costs to be $30,000. Oil changes are $8000. Owners can have their cars serviced at the factory in Woking, which employs two full-time F1 techs. (Ralph Lauren does this with his three F1s. The money from that blazer you bought goes to good use.)

The factory generally insists on replacing tires ($3000 each) in pairs. McLaren scrubs in every set sold, for free.

Service can take up to six weeks, not including transit to the UK. (Ten days door-to-door by air, seven weeks by boat.)

"The car is appreciating so fast, the repair bills will never catch up to the price."

—The bright side, according to Lauren's mechanic, Mark Reinwald.

Ferrari Enzo

Resale value on the 650-hp Enzo works as it does with all Ferraris—service records are crucial.

"Every time something was done to the car, you better have the piece of paper that goes with it," says Michigan's Ken Lingenfelter, the owner of our photo car. If you don't, get ready to knock far more than the service cost off your asking price.

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$6,000

Oil or shop fluids can irreversibly damage a $6000 carbon-ceramic rotor, so a set of factory covers protects them during service.

Each dealer must buy a $10,000 tool package and this scissor lift for Enzo work. (It won't hold the new LaFerrari, either.)

Scheduled Maintenance

15,000 miles: Oil change and air filters. Not bad.

Oil change and air filters. Not bad. 30,000 miles: Spark plugs, fuel filters, and timing chain (an engine-out service—ouch).

Spark plugs, fuel filters, and timing chain (an engine-out service—ouch). 15 years (mandatory): Seatbelt pretensioner replacement.

Topping off after an oil change takes an hour:

Add eight quarts oil, idle V12 until warm.* Run engine at 4000 rpm for two minutes, idle for two minutes. Add oil one quart at a time until full. Total capacity: 12 quarts.

*Warm up the Enzo's V12 with the $60,000 engine lid open, and the carbon-fiber body will expand enough that the lid won't close until the car cools.

Porsche Carrera GT

Like other Porsches, Weissach's 205-mph, V10 super-Boxster runs 15,000-mile oil-change intervals. And by supercar standards, a valve-adjustment service (30,000 miles, engine out, four days) hits once every blue moon. Everything else is, predictably, nuts.

$3,000 Oil Change

Three reasons why:

A set of four ramps ($1100) is required to get the car over the hoist arms. The rear-heavy car has to be fixed to the lift so it doesn't tip or fall off. A $550 set of ¾-inch aluminum plates bolts to the car for the purpose. (Many owners leave them installed.) Two engine-oil filters—one replaceable and one reusable screen. Strip the drain-plug hole in the aluminum cover, you're out $6800.

Service your Carrera GT, or just buy a used Cayman?

Replacing the trick ceramic clutch: $25,000 including labor. A full brake job—$30,000—is a steal by comparison.When the CGT was new, dealers had to buy a special $10,000 table and an $8000 jig to hold the car's engine during service.

*The battery hides behind a panel in the right rear wheel well and only fits through the hole one way. All the more reason to use the sold-with-every-car trickle charger.

Lamborghini LM002

It's not a supercar, but the Rambo Lambo used enough parts from the superbin. Roughly 300 were made from 1986 to 1993, using the V12 from the Countach.

$5,000 per tire!

Pirelli recently resumed production of LM002-specific Scorpion tires, although without the early sidewall ridge for flotation in loose sand. A set of five is discounted to $15,000.

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