Bicycle servicing - more expensive than your car

My early days of car ownership were a delicate balancing act to manage enough cash to keep my car on the road with thoughts of how to buy enough petrol next week at the forefront of my thinking. As a result car servicing and repairs was generally conducted with a lowest cost wins evaluation. Anything I could do myself was done and any garage that undercut the rest irrespective of quality was the winner. As a result car expenditure was minimal although even with this Scrooge like approach on more than one occasion I had to concede and give up my motorised transport. Nowadays I seem to be the same process with my road bike, the pedal variety!  My road bike is used for training through the winter and then for triathlon races through the summer where I curse my lack of prowess on the bike and wish for lighter and faster kit. My bike now needs looking after which means a regular trip for a service which is becoming an increasingly expensive encounter. General service = check. Cable replacement = check. Group set replacement = really???!  What I had in my mind as a £50 check up quickly spirals into something approaching £500. When did my bike start costing more than my car.  Epic in its ability to empty my wallet!