Some advice from an old man...

93SOHC · Post by **93SOHC** » February 26th, 2005, 11:29 pm

I stopped at a friend of mines today and we went to check out another friends new apartment. The dude w/ the new apartment, dan, is 48 and collected muscle cars and hot rods for 20 years until he got introuble with the irs years ago and lost everything. I met him while working at a gas station. After we peeped his new house, we went with him and one of his pals to a bar up the street. Dan was pretty wasted when he started lecturing me about how I waste and loose to much money cars. While working with me he saw me loose about 3000 on my subaru, 1200 on my 94 escort, and now he see's me puttin $$$ into the mx. He basically compared it to his car collection and how he always lost when he sold a finished project. He basically said that I should get a decent car and leave it alone. I attempted to explain that tunig cars was a hobby and that I enjoyed it but he insisted it was a waste of cash. Now coming from someone who isn't into cars, I would just brush it off, but coming from a guy who was into cars for 20 years, I found this all a bit confusing. Sure I have lost a lot on projects, and sometimes I feel like i'm wasting money, but its my hobbie and I enjoy it. And someday I hope it returns as my carear. This is all just an interesting bit of oppinion, but I thought i'd see what you all thought of it. BTW, I don't drink and by the time him and his pal left the bar he was falling down drunk and we had a good laugh at his expense. ?'s comments???

Ricksmx3 · Post by **Ricksmx3** » February 27th, 2005, 12:23 am

My thought is that i am putting money into my car so that i can be proud of what i am doing and what i have done, not so i can sell they car later for a profit. So no matter what anyone says about wasteing and loseing money on my car i will keep doing it no matter what.

jplar · Post by **jplar** » February 27th, 2005, 12:47 am

I don't view it as any more of a waste of money as say collecting baseball cards or building computers. If you don't plan on making money for your hobby (most people don't) then what does it matter?

Whenever I hear someone saying how my car is old and falling apart or something, I always reason back that I'd rather spend $1,500 in car repairs than spend that buying a different car which I won't like as much. Ultimately, I think if I spent a good couple grand on getting a new engine/tranny/etc, I'd be happier than buying some early 2000s honda (not that I'm bashing honda, they are convenient.).

ScooterBovine · Post by **ScooterBovine** » February 27th, 2005, 1:40 am

I do it because I like the attention I get. I love attention!

And, I like to drive a zippy car every now and then since I mainly drive trucks and SUVs for work, and being slow and having the handling of a brick, I appreciate a sporty car.

But mainly, for the head turning a nice looking car gets.

Especially in my area, where most people don't do car tuning, so it's a pretty rare sight, and I like being different.

DavidOS · Post by **DavidOS** » February 27th, 2005, 1:43 am

simple advice:)

dropping a few grand on your car isnt a big deal. But keep in mind that you have to moderate it, keep it balanced... really the key to most things in life i guess.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » February 27th, 2005, 1:57 am

I messed with and wasted money on my earlier rides. I think I stopped that, at least for a while when I got my MX in '95. With the exception of a K&N replacement filter, mud flaps and rain guards, from then til last fall all I did was keep it in a good state of tune and condition (10 years). I came into a bit of inheritance, so I was financially able to treat myself. Hence the facelift with suspension and engine mods. Still in the middle of some cosmetic mods and looking forward to some interior facelifting also. Having got this far this past winter with this project I decided that it was no longer going to be a daily driver. So, now I have a '02 Protege that's my 3 season car. Friends and family look at me and shake their head. For the original worth of the MX and what I've spent so far on it added to what I just spent on the Protege, they said I should have bought a new car. I don't look at it that way. I've got the MX, which in itself is fairly unique and will be keeping it for another 10 years (daughter does not want to drive a stick - yippeee!!) or so. I'll never buy a new car again, never want the hassle of "new car payments", but family just doesn't seem to see it my way. My MX and Protege is paid for so now I'm having the opportunity to indulge in myself - something I financially couldn't do for the last 10 years. Why the younger crowd wants to mod their rides for whatever reason, well, been there and done that and they will too. It all comes full circle anyways, just don't miss out on the fun parts in between.

*So endith the sermon*

93SOHC · Post by **93SOHC** » February 27th, 2005, 3:18 am

these are all great replys. This is exactly what I attempt to explain to 98% of the people in my life. I guess if you don't look at cars that way than you just don't understand. Allthough I feel like I am wasting money sometimes, as I look at whatever it was I bought and i'm content with it. People thought I was nuts when I did a motor swap/turbo on my 90 Legacy awd with 190000 miles on it, but when I hit the track knowone seemed to complain. Even though I lost lotsa money on the cars I fixed up I don't look at them as a waste. Its not like i'm fixin these cars up for resale, i'm fixin them for my own personal pleasure.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » February 27th, 2005, 5:35 am

There are many many worse ways you could waste cash.. drugs.. alcohol.. volkswagon bugs & vans... etc.. Having been into building cars myself for about 20 years, I can say that for me.. it wasnt about anything but being able to step back and look at my car and say "I did this". In a lot of ways I would compare the sense of self worth I got from it to that of a craftsman after he built a fine piece of wood furniture like a table or dresser. For me it didnt matter what anyone else thought of my car or how much any given project cost. Every hobby costs cash.. very few hobbies make cash. I dont want this to sound like preaching.. so dont take it that way... but one thing I did discover after being into this for so long is that there are also a lot of other ways to boost ones sense of self worth. My only regret about building any of my rides was that although they made a huge difference to me.. they didnt make any difference to anyone else. Having lost almost everything in a house fire will change your perspective on things. And while I still enjoy my hobbies (cars, computers & photography).. I have also found that helping out my community and helping out those less fortunate gives a huge sense of self worth far more so than any hobby I have ever been into. Everyone NEEDS something to do with their life, whether its a family, their faith or religion, or even building hot rods & choppers. Does this mean we waste cash on our rides? Hell yes.. Does it mean its not worth it? Hell no! I guess what this whole topic really comes down to is how much of a difference does anything you do make? And what difference is important to you? Everyone has something or someone in their lives that is important to them. So if building cars is what makes a difference in your life.. have at it man.. cause one of the best feelings you can get is that of accomplishment in anything you do. Its not a waste as long as you are satisfied with what you have done. Regardless of what it is. *Gets off his soapbox*

Tunes67

neutral · Post by **neutral** » February 27th, 2005, 7:28 am

Agree that everything in moderation is a useful guideline and it is possible to go over the top on any hobby, including being a die hard tuner. Relatively speaking, some yutes would consider me an old guy too I guess. I'm not an over-the-top tuner but do enjoy doing my own repairs and spicing things up with a few mods in the process. Rebuilds and swaps are worth it if the car is otherwise worth hanging onto. For the $$ I've spent aquiring 5yr.-10yr. old cars w/up to 100K miles on em + $$ spent DIY-repairing and modding cars over the years, it's still less than many of my friends and family have spent for their whopping monthly car payments and mech shop costs.

Since I pay cash for each car and given my car's older ages, I don't bother with added expense of comprehensive insurance coverage but save $$ by carrying just good liability coverage. If I were to total my car, and it's ever my fault so not covered under the other driver's ins. policy, I pay out of pocket to repair or replace my own car - still cheaper than years of comp ins. coverage premiums and an expensively financed new car every few years.

I fig'd some comparison costs a few years back and my own "car hobby" doesn't cost as much as buying new cars, paying interest payments (even as the cars depreciate) while paying others to maintain them. What we all spend more of than the avg. newer car owner is TIME. But hey, that's what a hobby involves-sweat equity- and you're right, the satisfaction and knowledge gained by doing the job yourself is good stuff plus you build up a wicked set of tools in the process - a reusable investment sometimes overlooked. btw, ever notice how a DIY installed sound system somehow just sounds better than one the shop puts in??

So I tell friends & family who might give me a friendly hard time, my own car hobby is NOT a-too-expensive-hobby-that-just-flushes-money-away. ppl who are addicted to GOLF have that covered!

93-Spec-Edn · Post by **93-Spec-Edn** » February 27th, 2005, 8:53 am

When I got my first mx-3 at 16, I added an aftermarket exhaust, full stereo with subs, gs spoiler. Spent about 2000-2500$ plus the maintanance over the 4 years i owned it. I have no regrets doing that and I enjoyed every penny put into in and when it got totalled insurance paid me more than I paid for the car. When I got my second GS I left it stock as it had everything I wanted except for the colour and when I saw the right opportunity I sold it for exactly what I paid 40,000km ago. Now i have found a 93 SE which has exactly what I want and I plan on leaving it stock. Now my philosophy is buy a used car for cash in good shape with everything u want and dont put money into mods. Nowadays all the newer sports cars have everything u want from rims to performance. When I am done school i plan on grabing a used rx-8 as a summer car. Also the money I save will go towards a house when I am ready. Now as I am getting older it doesnt make sense to put $5000 into a $5000 car. Also I get enough attention driving around in a purple/pink GS

MarkMoore · Post by **MarkMoore** » February 27th, 2005, 9:32 am

real estate is something that's considered an asset... you can fix it up and sell it for a profit... cars are considered a liability... you can fix 'em up and still take a huge loss... that's y you have to know goin into it that you are fixing it up for your own pleasure, not to make money

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » February 27th, 2005, 11:54 am

93-Spec-Edn wrote:I get enough attention driving around in a purple/pink GS

The cowboys out there (with the pick up trucks and gun racks) must love that........................LOL

93SOHC · Post by **93SOHC** » February 27th, 2005, 5:16 pm

MarkMoore wrote:real estate is something that's considered an asset... you can fix it up and sell it for a profit... cars are considered a liability... you can fix 'em up and still take a huge loss... that's y you have to know goin into it that you are fixing it up for your own pleasure, not to make money

Well Put!!!

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » February 27th, 2005, 10:15 pm

I love spending money into my car, not only is it my first car, but it's my first experience with cars and tuning, and i cant put a pricetag on what I've learned.

LIke it's ben said before, i like to stand back and say "I did this". Looking at something i've made original, something that is a part of me.

I will spend as much money as necesary to make me content with my car, not anyone else. Sure, i plan to take it to car shows, but i also plan on racing it...i was hoping to get into the Auto-X this year, but it doesnt look like my new job schedual will give me weekends off, but even then, i wanna get into some driving classes.

My car is not just a hobby for experience, but it's a hobby that gets me outdoors, away from the computer screen (well, er, you know what i mean,) and tv and get my hands dirty, meet new people and have some fun...and fun never comes free. The only thing i'm affraid of losing is my car to some disaster like a car accident or get stolen. Sure, some people have discouraged the idea of spending money on my car, but theres no feeling like a new performance mod (yes, it's even better than a computer upgrade).

Unfortunately this is a decision you need to make yourself. It's an argument that cna easilly go either way. You cant ask a old man or some buddies online cause their opinions will be biases and sckewed. You can't ask your head or your heart, cause they won't give you the truthful answer...the answer lies in the soul of the car ifself. Take the car, by yousrself, for a drive, on your favorite road in your favorites conditions and give her all she's got. Than, get out of the car, look at her and ask yourself that question, don't think about it, and it's there, at that moment that you'll find your answer, the truth your looking for.

monty73741 · Post by **monty73741** » February 28th, 2005, 10:55 am

the question that i have is.."what did he do to lose all his stuff to the IRS?

he didnt pay his taxes.......thats the problem...hes more mad because he lost his stuff.

I am self employeed & always pay my taxes.....
I dont want to loose everything i have.....yeah it suck paying taxes & sometimes i dont think it is right.....but what are you gonna do.

I also think that people say it is a waste are full of it.....
as long as you dont go broke or overspend your money nothing wrong with the hobby as long as you remain humble