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I wrestle with this all the time, and have been "scolded" by my elders for modding and dumping money into my cars. I am at the point now where I could de mod my c5 and all in all lose about 10k and invest in a c7 GS or used c7z but it just starts all over again. So I buy a faster car out of the box, I STILL spent the money, and then will spend more, cause I cant keep it stock. All in all I bet Ill have about 35K in my c5 purchase price included, after my next round of mods im not sure there is a stock car for 35-40k that will show my personality, have great street performance, and still turn heads(this 13 year old car still turns heads), maybe a c6z...
Financially, yes, I could invest the money in other assets, but I like to think that this hobby/addiction prevented me from wasting the money on other possibly poor decisions...
at the end of the day, you can't take it with you, as long a you do not spend your grocery money on the car and have to eat cup o noodles ramen, I say mod away!
Enjoyment is what it all boils down to. We're all Corvette lovers here. Corvettes got me into cars when I was 13. Saw a brand new (must have been an 02 at the time) black C5 in a chevy showroom and that was it for me.
17 years later and I bought a black C5 and want to do every mod under the sun to it. We want to treat our cars good, we want to make them look good, drive faster etc etc and its because we love these cars. People at work think I'm nuts because I'd rather have my 345 hp C5 over a 500 hp Ferrari or 1200 hp Bugatti or any other exotic sports car. It really is an epidemic that grabs hold of you and doesn't let go.
We made a trip to the Museum and walked out of there knowing it was time to buy a Vette. I bought a 2001 SW Z06 and have loved every minute of it. We entered our 1st car show last week and came home to spend some money sprucing it up a little knowing darn good and well I am about to go all out and buy a new Grand Sport. So something is definitely wrong with me!
Tell me if this makes any sense. We go out and buy a nice C5 with low miles for 20K or so, maybe more. Then we commence to spend obscene amounts of cabbage adding every possible mod you can imagine to look different, go faster, sound better, better tune system and on and on. So at this point you have upwards of 40K into it. You drive it for a while and turn around and sell it for around what you bought it for. Why do we do this?????? You could just drive it around stock and enjoy it for what it is, and in turn sell it for close to what you paid. I believe it is a disease or addiction or something as a sane financial person like myself does not do this!
The biggest problem with your argument is the assumption that buying a Corvette, any Corvette, is a sane financial purchase in the first place! Buying a Corvette is an emotional purchase and so is any additional money spent on anything other than required repairs. There is no logic to it other than it's what we want, so I certainly hope that you are not sitting there trying to convince us that you are a sane financial person who went out and bought a Corvette. A sane financial person would have bought a Corolla. It will get you to your destination just as fast, carry more people, use less gas, have cheaper insurance, cost less (year for year), etc, etc... C'mon man!
The biggest problem with your argument is the assumption that buying a Corvette, any Corvette, is a sane financial purchase in the first place! Buying a Corvette is an emotional purchase and so is any additional money spent on anything other than required repairs. There is no logic to it other than it's what we want, so I certainly hope that you are not sitting there trying to convince us that you are a sane financial person who went out and bought a Corvette. A sane financial person would have bought a Corolla. It will get you to your destination just as fast, carry more people, use less gas, have cheaper insurance, cost less (year for year), etc, etc... C'mon man!
Or you can be on th back end of that deal, the PO of my car is the guy that put all the $$$$ and mods into it and I was able to buy it for $17K.....good for me 👌👍
The PO on mine put a forged block, cam, heads, longtube headers, roller rockers, and various other mods about 10K miles ago. I bought the car for $13,000, and don't plan to add any more power since 475 is enough for me. I'm just fixing the issues on it and making it look nicer on the interior.
The biggest problem with your argument is the assumption that buying a Corvette, any Corvette, is a sane financial purchase in the first place! Buying a Corvette is an emotional purchase and so is any additional money spent on anything other than required repairs. There is no logic to it other than it's what we want, so I certainly hope that you are not sitting there trying to convince us that you are a sane financial person who went out and bought a Corvette. A sane financial person would have bought a Corolla. It will get you to your destination just as fast, carry more people, use less gas, have cheaper insurance, cost less (year for year), etc, etc... C'mon man!
Ok,...how far do we "Corvette People" want to take this analogy trying to defend our stupid spending habits?? Why not buy a Smart Car? It will exceed the Corolla? Come on, admit it. We really shouldn't have to defend our insane spending habits to anyone...with the exception of our wives. Corvette ownership is a hobby, just like a boat, an RV, a motorcycle, a horse, an airplane, etc. At one time in my 74 years I've owned every one of these examples and had to defend my reasons for owning them all. As for the Corolla, never rode in one that would do 138 mph, so I'm not sure it will get you to your destination as fast as my old black convertible will. It's all good.
The biggest problem with your argument is the assumption that buying a Corvette, any Corvette, is a sane financial purchase in the first place! Buying a Corvette is an emotional purchase and so is any additional money spent on anything other than required repairs. There is no logic to it other than it's what we want, so I certainly hope that you are not sitting there trying to convince us that you are a sane financial person who went out and bought a Corvette. A sane financial person would have bought a Corolla. It will get you to your destination just as fast, carry more people, use less gas, have cheaper insurance, cost less (year for year), etc, etc... C'mon man!
drag raced when young, talk about money down the drain !!!! almost the best fun I have had !!!!!
Me too, some in cars, but most on bikes...I'm lucky to have ridden all those years without an accident...now it's time for me to move away from bikes and into a Vette...
Hi guys. Just chiming in here real quick. My answer to the OP question would be this:
(When I say "you" or "your" in this post, I am NOT directing my comments personally or directly at the OP, I am speaking to all of us/anyone in general, ok? lol Sometimes comments by text only can be misconstrued online.)
Life (especially in adulthood) is all about priorities. This is always especially true when it comes to your finances. What comes first in your life? Second? Third? etc.etc. If all of your priorities are lined up the way they SHOULD be, then there should never be a "problem" in the first place, with modding (What, when, how much, how little).
Take care of yourself/family.
Feed yourself/family.
Pay your bills.
Make sure FUTURE bills are at least planned for. (Yes, that includes bills that come with having kids.)
Put some aside in savings. (Yes, for that proverbial 'rainy day' that DOES inevitably come. YOU know it, I know it.)
If you're a religious and/or a charitable person, give to the charity (church, etc.) in your life.
IMO anything after those are taken care of is 'discretionary'. We ALL have our 'things' that we maybe like more than the next person. Guys like big boy toys. Girls generally like clothes, vacations, stuff for the house, etc. etc. and who knows, maybe cars too, lol. There's really nothing wrong with ANY of that. BUT, the problem arises when people have their priorities all screwed up. The divorce rate and the personal bankruptcy rate in this country is off the chart, and I personally would put MOST of the blame for BOTH those problems on people having their priorities ALLLLL out-of-whack. That is, their FINANCIAL priorities. For where a man (or woman) spends his $$$, there's where his HEART is. Period.
IMO Modding is no different than any other hobby or anything else that you like in your life. Have fun. Enjoy it. Live life. Don't get carried away.
Good Luck and happy modding my forum friends.
John
Hi guys. Just chiming in here real quick. My answer to the OP question would be this:
(When I say "you" or "your" in this post, I am NOT directing my comments personally or directly at the OP, I am speaking to all of us/anyone in general, ok? lol Sometimes comments by text only can be misconstrued online.)
Life (especially in adulthood) is all about priorities. This is always especially true when it comes to your finances. What comes first in your life? Second? Third? etc.etc. If all of your priorities are lined up the way they SHOULD be, then there should never be a "problem" in the first place, with modding (What, when, how much, how little).
Take care of yourself/family.
Feed yourself/family.
Pay your bills.
Make sure FUTURE bills are at least planned for. (Yes, that includes bills that come with having kids.)
Put some aside in savings. (Yes, for that proverbial 'rainy day' that DOES inevitably come. YOU know it, I know it.)
If you're a religious and/or a charitable person, give to the charity (church, etc.) in your life.
IMO anything after those are taken care of is 'discretionary'. We ALL have our 'things' that we maybe like more than the next person. Guys like big boy toys. Girls generally like clothes, vacations, stuff for the house, etc. etc. and who knows, maybe cars too, lol. There's really nothing wrong with ANY of that. BUT, the problem arises when people have their priorities all screwed up. The divorce rate and the personal bankruptcy rate in this country is off the chart, and I personally would put MOST of the blame for BOTH those problems on people having their priorities ALLLLL out-of-whack. That is, their FINANCIAL priorities. For where a man (or woman) spends his $$$, there's where his HEART is. Period.
IMO Modding is no different than any other hobby or anything else that you like in your life. Have fun. Enjoy it. Live life. Don't get carried away.
Good Luck and happy modding my forum friends.
John
This is good stuff right here. Case in point is my situation in that I satisfied all of those needs and have reached the point in my life where I have cash to buy a nice car like the C5 and I have the cash to mod the chit out of it. I have always made sure all of the other things are taken care of first, though and I actually just felt a little guilty blowing coin on something like that. You guys are making me feel a lot better about it though!!
This thread needs to be made a sticky so people will stop posting this exact same saying. And not all corvette owners mod their cars. I've returned mine to stock.
Why do we do this?????? You could just drive it around stock and enjoy it for what it is, and in turn sell it for close to what you paid.
I believe it is a disease or addiction or something as a sane financial person like myself does not do this!
