"they-will-know-my-velocity" (velocitah)
12/24/2015 at 11:07 • Filed to: Money matters, Give me cash or car parts for Christmas
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"they-will-know-my-velocity" (velocitah)
12/24/2015 at 11:07 • Filed to: Money matters, Give me cash or car parts for Christmas | 2
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I probably shouldn’t have but I started thinking last night. I’m helping someone find their “dream car” and I was telling them that I have no right to judge someone for spending a little more than they should for a car they really want. Some quick mental math had me confessing that I had probably spent more than $40k on cars in my short 25 years.
Whoa.
When I got home I pulled out my pen and paper and pulled up the two parts suppliers I had purchased almost all my parts from.
The criteria was this -
Purchase price of the car
Price of all modifications
Maintenance/accident repairs NOT included (unless, I suppose you repaired it out of pocket)
Insurance and fuel not included
I remembered the few parts I didn’t purchase from these two Mustang suppliers. I have owned 2 S197 Mustang GT’s and the GTO is perfect so the only thing I have purchased is a simple front splitter.
So, I’ll cut to the number that matters -
$44,307.17
Holeee fuck.
And I probably forgot some things that would push it to a nice round number. $45k. More if you wanted to consider maintenance ($3k transmissions) In my few years of car ownership I spent nigh $45 thousand dollars. At the same time, I justified it as I always do - I don’t drink drugs, I don’t get arrested, I don’t get caught speeding very often. My one vice is cars and the accompanying parts and modifications. I’m sure a lot of you guys have spent more but in the 5 years I’ve been buying my own vehicles (I don’t count hand-me-downs) I’ve wasted no time.
However, I realized I did it wrong this morning in the shower.
I was adding up the total purchase price of each vehicle whereas I actually had the first 2 cars almost totally paid off before I was done with them. So I’ve revised my figures to consider down-payments which amount to basically all the money from insurance that I rolled over into another car. I added whatever extra I borrowed to purchase the next vehicle. All told I’ve come to $5,430.17 in parts and $21,000 in cars.
$26,430.17
Ahhh, that’s better. I’m just a few months away from having a nice $1000 dollars per year of life.
I’m not at all unhappy with this figure. These last two incidents I have learned SO much about insurance companies and how they work that once I’m done with the repairs I’ll write a post about how I managed to not lose money totalling a vehicle and getting it repaired and re-insured without having a total loss reported.
Any Opponaughts want to dive into madness and try to total up your sordid financial past regarding cars?
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they-will-know-my-velocity
> they-will-know-my-velocity
12/24/2015 at 11:08 |
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Kinja, why your picture posting tools suck so hard...
Luc - The Acadian Oppo
> they-will-know-my-velocity
12/24/2015 at 11:48 |
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That’s cute.
In the last 12 years I spend ~$87,600.00 and that’s not counting the actual price of the cars only how much worth of payments/parts/repairs I made on them.
Example: bought 30K car and traded it in for 18k = 12K on my total.
For a few years I was pretty careless with money. I’ve smartened up a WHOLE lot since then.
I’ve had 14 cars in 12 years (5 of them I bought new) if that matters.
87K of cold hard cash right out of my pocket straight out the window!
For reference I’m 30 yeas old.
Seat Safety Switch
> they-will-know-my-velocity
12/24/2015 at 11:50 |
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If you add up the numbers, you’ll just be depressed. So don’t add up the numbers.
Instead, quantify the happiness and add it up. One burnout is 10 happiness points per gear, for instance.
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they-will-know-my-velocity
> Luc - The Acadian Oppo
12/24/2015 at 11:52 |
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I think I aspire to make bad decisions like you.
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Luc - The Acadian Oppo
> they-will-know-my-velocity
12/24/2015 at 12:34 |
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The biggest of that was a 2010 Dodge Challenger SRT8.
Bought for 63K and got rid of it 3 years later for 29K.
Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> they-will-know-my-velocity
12/24/2015 at 12:35 |
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“ Some quick mental math had me confessing that I had probably spent more than $40k on cars in my short 25 years.”
And it’s even more when you include all fuel, insurance, maintenance, repair, depreciation and registration costs. You probably spent at least double that if you include all costs.
Many people don’t fully understand how expensive car ownership really is.
My car costs (all inclusive) are as follows (in CAD$):
$10,800 most recent 2007 Ford Focus I’ve had for 13 months
$11,800 over the 2 years I owned my 2006 PT Cruiser (it was written off and I got more for it than I paid for it 2 years prior)
$29,300 over the 55 months I owned my 2000 Saab 9-3
$5400 over the 17 months I owned a 1995 Ford Escort Wagon
$12,700 over the 39 months I owned a 1987 Honda Civic Wagovan
And at least another $22,000 on a 1991 Escort and 1990 Festiva I owned prior to the Wagovan... but I don’t know exactly because I didn’t track my car expenses in a spreadsheet back then.
So since 1996, I’ve spent at least CAD$92,000 on cars... which is about US$69,000 at current exchange rates.
And these were all cheap, manual transmission cars... the most expensive being my current Ford Focus (cost $5000 plus tax).
If I bought/leased a new car or a fancier car every 3-5 years as many people do, the costs would have been at least double.
And I only owned 1 car at a time. This list is one car after another (going from current to back in time).
And this is also with me doing some repair/maintenance work myself. And I live in the city with public transit available (which I use some of the time) and I live close enough to work that I ride my bicycle some of the time.
This is why many suburbanites who buy an “affordable” house in a new development in the middle of nowhere with nothing close often find themselves perpetually broke... they’re spending 3-4x what I spend on cars/transportation. They would have been better off buying a place closer to work and/or amenities. The house would be more expensive, but their overall cost of living would have been lower because every family member wouldn’t need a car, nor would they have to use a car 100% of the time to get places.
And they get fucked even worse when fuel prices rise.
I would love to have a nicer/fancier car. But when I run the numbers and look at my other financial obligations (like my mortgage) and other life goals (travelling 1 new place I haven’t been to every year), I end up sticking to my tried and true method having only one cheap/cheaper used car and keeping it until it falls apart or it needs so many repairs that it makes more sense to replace it with something newer.
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they-will-know-my-velocity
> Luc - The Acadian Oppo
12/24/2015 at 12:37 |
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Damn. Is there like hotline or a group to intervene for you now?
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Luc - The Acadian Oppo
> Luc - The Acadian Oppo
12/24/2015 at 12:40 |
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Manwich brought up a good point. If I include fuel and insurance I’m easily over 100K probably closer to 120k
OUCH!!!
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they-will-know-my-velocity
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/24/2015 at 12:43 |
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And it’s even more when you include all fuel, insurance, maintenance, repair, depreciation and registration costs. You probably spent at least double that if you include all costs.
Definitely. I didn’t include fuel or insurance/maintenance since I would spend that on any car I had regardless of fun level. I should clarify that all 3 of these vehicles have been my daily driver AND V8, RWD, fun vehicles. I knew the price when I made the decision. Sometimes I wish I had a total beater that I didn’t care about but I know I would immediately regret it if I got rid of my GTO.
That being said, all this money spent is a dirty secret from my girlfriend so all you guys keep this under your hat.
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Luc - The Acadian Oppo
> they-will-know-my-velocity
12/24/2015 at 12:53 |
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Now I have a modest 1.6L Ford Fusion that averages 33+mpg that I have no intention of getting rid of.
Instead of spending all my bucks on fancy shiny cars. I’ll spend just a little money on older cars.
I’ve honestly had more fun with these 2 cars than anything else I’ve ever owned.
1979 Lincoln Continental Bought for $1500 bucks maybe spent $500 on it and sold it a year later for $1800. That $200 bucks it cost me for a year. It was WELL worth it for the joy this car gave me.
1986 Chevy C20. Bought for $2200 bought a new battery for it ($100) and other than that I’ve spent about $200 bucks sprucing it up.
So I’m in it for ~$2500 bucks and it’s easily worth more than that but I plan on keeping this thing for a LONG time.
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Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> they-will-know-my-velocity
12/24/2015 at 13:10 |
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“ I didn’t include fuel or insurance/maintenance since I would spend that on any car I had regardless of fun level.”
Yes and no. Some cars use much more fuel, cost more for insurance and require much more maintenance. An old BMW (like a V12 750iL from the 1980s) can be horrendously expensive... much higher than average.
The maintenance and repair costs for the cheap cars I’ve owned have been as little as $132/month (Ford Escort) to has high as $200/month (the Saab).
For fuel costs, I’ve spent as little as $95/month (Honda Civic) (adjusted for current fuel costs) to as much as $164/month (PT Cruiser).
For the the cars I’ve owned, the cost of fuel only made up for about 1/4 to 1/3 of the total cost. And on my current car, my biggest cost so far is depreciation... though that will get cheaper and cheaper the longer I own the car.
Depreciation is often the biggest car ownership expense.
And typically I spend more on maintenance and repair than I do on fuel. The only exception was when fuel prices were much higher a few years ago.
Something like a GTO can be okay and not much more expensive IF you keep the car for a long time and do the maintenance to avoid expensive repairs, which will make it last.
And if you live close to work, that will automatically make car ownership cheaper since you won’t need to drive it as much. And that means the car will typically last longer.
So keep your GTO, take care of it and keep it for a long time!
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Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> Luc - The Acadian Oppo
12/24/2015 at 13:14 |
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Yep... I fantasize over owning something like an SRT8... and then I run the numbers and the fantasy dies... LOL
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Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> Seat Safety Switch
12/24/2015 at 13:18 |
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On the bright side, the longer you own a car, the cheaper it gets on a monthly basis (since it gets more and more depreciated).
So one approach is to get one car that you like/love, take care of it and own it for a long time.
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Luc - The Acadian Oppo
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/24/2015 at 13:22 |
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I can tell you this.
It wasn’t worth it! 2/10 would do it again
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Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> Luc - The Acadian Oppo
12/24/2015 at 13:46 |
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Maybe what you need is a car I invented in my mind... the QuadGoKie... which you can eat and drive...
http://oppositelock.kinja.com/the-quadgokie-…
Which someone else rated 10/10 on the eat/drive scale:
http://oppositelock.kinja.com/10-10-would-ea…
LOL
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they-will-know-my-velocity
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/24/2015 at 13:49 |
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I think of it as more of a fun tax. I’m going to own and drive the miles in SOMETHING.
How much more am I willing to pay for an interesting and satisfying car...that’s the real question.
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they-will-know-my-velocity
> Luc - The Acadian Oppo
12/24/2015 at 13:54 |
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Yeah, I see little point in buying new unless I just have the cash or absolutely HAVE to have it new. I pride myself on finding very nice used cars (3 for 3 all original Texas owned V8’s) so I still haven’t paid over 15K for a single vehicle. I totally plan on a buying a little beater for my daily commute and keeping the GTO for the fun trips. Pity the Fiesta’s haven’t depreciated to my beater price range yet.
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Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> they-will-know-my-velocity
12/24/2015 at 13:55 |
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Well if you’re in the US, you could always make some of that money back by donating blood...
:-)
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they-will-know-my-velocity
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/24/2015 at 14:27 |
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I bleed enough for my car
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Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> they-will-know-my-velocity
12/24/2015 at 14:35 |
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Enough? Nah... I think we can get a few more pints out of you...
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they-will-know-my-velocity
> Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
12/24/2015 at 16:01 |
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Ha, I’m saving that for the impending clutch replacement.
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> Luc - The Acadian Oppo
12/24/2015 at 19:12 |
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Good Lord