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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 👌👍
I was born with a heavy right foot, and that was a looong time ago. Why did I buy a new '67 Mustang fastback, drive it off the lot right into the garage, where I proceeded to tear the 390 apart and make it a go fast car? Why did I do the same with a '70 Z-28, and a '78 Z-28? But my most funnest car was when a couple of us put a Hemi into a Cordoba. You never saw Corinthian leather go that fast. Now even though I'm an old fart, I have plans for my recently bought C5. Just born this way I guess, and have no plans to change, unless of course that great pit stop in the sky decides that I've run enough laps!!
Or look at it this way. You can go spend 30 grand on a new midsize car ( Mazda) and drive it for 5 year and 100,000miles and sell it for 5 grand.
I commutate 110 round trip miles a day to work. I buy a good mid mileage vette and drive it for 5 years. I run the millage up to about 150,000 then I sell it for a loss of 3-4 thousand compared to losing 20-25 thousand on a new car. the best part is that all of the big shots at work envy me as all I drive are vettes. they pay 3 times as much for their maxima's and camry's and think about how they wish they could do it.
I talked my wife into the vette for work and told here I could save money. now see goes with me to find the next one. it's great.
The mods I've made are relatively simple and inexpensive. Not planning on doing any engine mods. Just trying to keep it stock as much as possible. The less I mess with it and keep things simple, the more likely it will stay trouble-free for years to come. Most expenses will go for general maintenance and upkeep.
I could easily dump the cash I spend on my 99 FRC into an ETF or big company stock and look at it on a screen but what fun is that! I just budget for everything... savings, 401k maxed, house, daily living expenses, 529 college plans (kids are 1 & 3) and all cars and student debt are paid off. As long as I budget for the Vette I really don't mind if I lose some money on it because nothing beats driving it around town, working on it in the garage (usually at night when wife and kids are sleeping lol) and having my dad and brother bring theirs over to hang out! Treating these cars as an "investment" makes no sense to me.
Most of the mods I plan on making are purely for cosmetics...maybe sprucing up the interior a bit, making the underhood area a bit more attractive, changing the wheels...the only functional mods I'd be looking at would be the skip shift eliminator, an LCM5, and probably going with a metal gear set for the headlights...I don't really have any interest in making it faster, as they are fast enough for me stock...
After I got my C5 I have two High School friends (50+yrs) that got a C5 also. I've spent several thousand on mods and they have left theirs totally stock. They seem find with not doing anything and I've really enjoyed changing the look and sound of it. So, we got what we want and no one is complaining. We've also taken some fun trips in them too.
Funny thing though, I have a friend that has a 60 Vette he has had since the seventies. He and his wife came out to check mine out when I got it, and I told them it was perfect and didn't want to change a thing. They both grin like that's not happening. Little did I know.
I could easily dump the cash I spend on my 99 FRC into an ETF or big company stock and look at it on a screen but what fun is that! I just budget for everything... savings, 401k maxed, house, daily living expenses, 529 college plans (kids are 1 & 3) and all cars and student debt are paid off. As long as I budget for the Vette I really don't mind if I lose some money on it because nothing beats driving it around town, working on it in the garage (usually at night when wife and kids are sleeping lol) and having my dad and brother bring theirs over to hang out! Treating these cars as an "investment" makes no sense to me.
Exactly this. If it makes you happy and you can afford it without sacrificing your life and your family, why not do it?
From: Ideals are peaceful...History is violent...St.Charles, MO.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (appearance mods) 2019
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'12 thru'22
Originally Posted by 02BlownZ06
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!
Interesting assessment and I value your opinion....I guess just about any hobby really could be considered throwing money away. It just happens that we like to do it with Corvettes. My best friend's father was an engineer for McDonnell-Douglas back in the day, and he spent obscene amounts of money on R/C airplanes and such but, he had a passion for it. Although at the time, it was completely out of my realm financially to have a hobby like that, I certainly understood his motives for it.
Corvettes are a passion for me. I don't consider something I enjoy doing as a business venture, otherwise I wouldn't enjoy it. I never bought the car in the first place thinking what I could get for it down the road. Maybe some people have the means to turn around cars all the time after spending a king's ransom to mod it, not me. I knew years in advance that modifying a car is a losing proposition but, I don't care. Sometimes, you just have to take things at face-value. Not everything was meant to be taken apart to see what makes it tick.
"Car people" understand the mod bug and the passion for it. Non car-people will give you the Freud spiel because they simply don't understand. Just my .02
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!
