Sorry there's not a whole lot of tech to this, but it's something that I wanted to point out. There are a ton of hidden costs come with owning a vehicle. Just look at what I did with my car:

$5,000 for the car ($4500 plus taxes, title, registration, and license fees.)

$500 for new tires in the past three years (random blow-outs / balds)
$1500+ in car audio, not all at once though (buy and sell)
$750 from a fender bender (lady hit me in her Excursion in a parking lot)
$100+ on waxes, cleaners, buffer pads, and a buffer
$300 for my Cragar SSs (with two rubbers)
$100 on new window glass because some ******* smashed my side windows (installed myself)
$50 for a new power window motor (installed myself)
$275 shipped for my catback (installed myself)
$365 shipped for my headers (installed myself)
$275 shipped for my heads
$175 shpiped for my intake manifold
$100 shipped for my cam
$175 shipped for my TBI
$100 shipped for gaskets
$650 on various Spohn suspension parts that are not on the car yet still
$100 on struts and shocks
$50 for a WS6 swaybar (front) and poly bushings
$15 for a tranny mount (poly as well)
$100 for a pair of rotors and pads for the front
$275+ fluids: $15 for semi-synthetic oil and a filter per 2-3 months (3.5 years)
$2,200 for gasoline (26,000 miles / 20mpg = 1300 gallons, at avg $1.65)
$300+ in tools that allow me to work on my car (both common and special)
$100 for a radar detector, but that's a very nice investment so I won't add it in to the subtotal below

I've spent a total of $13,555 of my own money on this car. G- damn, I never added it all up. I can break it down:
$5000 for the car itself and the addon BS
$6750 on mods and upgrades and fixes
$2600 on fuel and oil
$300 into the tool supply

I've owned the car for 3.5 years so thats $8500 spent on this car after the initial purchase (13,500-5000), meaning I've spent an average of $200 per month on this car after purchasing the entire thing with 100% cash down. This comes out to 33 cents per mile that I've put on it. Want a ride to the store? It's gonna cost ya... And, I don't pay my own insurance, but it's $100/mo full coverage. Add that in.


Obviously half of the things I listed are mods instead of replacement parts, but you can't avoid the bug. One mod leads to another. Beware. No wonder why I'm so far in debt but I'm still a teenager.

 

wow I forgot a LOT of stuff: wires, plugs, air filters/cleaner, cap/rotor, coil, etc.

 

So did you finally get it running right?
How is it?

 

FAST! I'm running stock injectors, stock fuel pump, ~14psi and getting ~16-17 mpg in every-day driving (with a lot of racing). My transmission is also taking a dive on me now, so probably 18 mpg city if it didn't slip so bad. Not at all shameful when stock I was getting 20mpg city. This didn't hurt my economy much, and Ive got much more power.

 

wowzers, thats alot, i did swap from V6 to V8 including trannys and i know i have about $5K in the entire car as it sits now minus all my mods, which's a total of another grand.

 

that's nothing....couldn't list everything in 2 pages if i tried over the last 7 years. that's quite a bit for a younger person though.

 

Glad to hear it's up and running
Look at it this way, now that the investment is made and you're doing more driving, your cost per mile driven is decreasing

 

I hear you on fuel...

 

I've got over 10k into my car after buying it for only 1k lol Still looks like chit but it goes

 

This is why I choose not to add up my receipts. Better not knowing.

 

Its an expensive hobby... Hell I would hate to add up all the money I have spent on gas in the last 2 + years. That right there is a lot of money.

I paid $3000 for the car, and then probably another $3000 on motor parts in teh past year and a half, plus this and that... I hate to add it all up...

 

I added up my receipts for the bird, camaro and the truck once. I hit 6k without gas on the bird just 8 months after I bought it, the other two totals were scary.

 

Token, just be glad you are only into yours for 13,500. I'm into my $3000 GTA at least $15000 if you add up all the crap I've put in it. But that still isn't too bad. My brothers car has cost him roughly $40,000 over 9 or 10 years. That doesn't inclde gas, oil, and all the normal wear out stuff. The lesson I took, and we all can take, from him is, research and only do each mod once!

 

i have about $7,000 in misc parts sitting in the garage right now waiting to install...

most of them are related to the new motor going in....(hopefully soon).

 

I totally understand that. I am doing what I thought was going to be a budget rebuilt, or built for the 355, but it sure hasn't turned that way. I got a goal power and time wise, and I gotta hit it now no matter the cost...

 

Who else's money would you be spending???

It doesn't have to be mods/performance upgrades to cost you money. In Nov '02 we bought a '92 Lumina from my brother for $500. He had it for a year and had done a lot of work to it, was getting a truck, so he sold it to me for what the dealer was offering in trade-in. We drove it home from Omaha with no problems.

2 months later the rear brakes went out. Did all 4 while at it, $200 for rotors & pads. Daughter was the regular driver, said it made a lot of noise under the hood after driving it awhile, turned out to be water pump, $35. After that was replaced still heard noises, alternator $110. Tires are wearing funny, she's now going to be taking the car to Wisconsin for college, don't want her to have problems, go with 4 new, $450. One rear caliper kept sticking so replaced calipers a couple of days before she's leaving, another $150. While under the car doing that saw muffler was starting to rust through, so day before leaving for WI take it to Midas, cat also shot, hey can you replace those rear brake hoses while you're at it, $600 bill. A month after being in WI she calls, says brake pedal goes to the floor. Find someone to look at it, one of those new calipers is leaking, he replaces it for $25 labor, caliper is replaced under warranty (one piece of good news, at least).

All for a $500 car that was in good running condition when we got it.

Still cheaper than a horse.

 

no.. im getting a great deal here... im putting about $10,000 worth of stuff into the car... for the low low price of 7k.....

lol... now no one drag real logic into that.... thats the only saving logic i have to explain it.....
:lala:

 

it looks okay in the picture.

 

If my wife new how much I really spend on my car I'd be dead in a ditch and my car would probably be sold.I keep a file in our cabinet of spending on the car but I pick and chose carefully what is in there.Some things are better left unseen.