Or, as HDT might have said if there were cars back then: I built a hot rod because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. ~Henry David Thoreau, 1854
i took out a few things beaner wrote but this sums it up pretty good for me after my bills are paid then whats left is mine to spend how i see fit and sometimes hindsight is 20/20 and i think man i wish i didnt spend that money on the damn car cause now i need it ..... i never look at cars as an investment i look at them like ahobby which they are i mess with them cause i love cars i never planned to get rich off them ive allways heard and believe that if your into cars as an investment ,your in them for the wrong reasons i eat sleep and breathe cars allday everyday they are my passion i dont have any habits or vices cause theyd take money from the cars i also dont have kids ...which i regret
For me its build stuff (cars, bikes, art, and home improvement) or see a shrink. I chose to create. If I dont have something going, I go wacko.
Raised 5 kids on a single income and still found time and money to build hotrods. It wasn't easy, and it took a long time occasionally, but it got done. Had to decide what my priorities were and whatever time and money was left went to the car. Wife and I were never big about spending money on eating out and movies, so that left more for the car too. I used to buy and sell all kinds of stuff for car money. Also hauled home tons of scrap wire from construction projects I worked on, and all that went into the car fund. Just had to be creative and keep working hard at gathering things to subsidize the car builds. Now that all the kids are long gone, and we're retired, it's even easier to find time and money to build cars. I rarely take a day off from working on something for one of my cars, and it's great!
Lots of good advice here. I'll share something I learned a few years ago. I'll re-tell it as beat I can remember. My mother went into a nursing home. Dad had passed years before. I'm no lawyer, but what it boiled down to was that if her bank account was gone, they would take her house or any other assets she had and only then would Medicare (?) take over. They even told me that if she had given away more than $?,000 (can't remember the amount), they could go after the people she had given it too! So, yes I plan on leaving something for my daughter when I'm gone, but I'm not gonna die rich
I always find a way. No kids or anything so that makes it easier. You gotta have some fun before you die!
One thing I've noticed.......It never gets cheaper to build a hot rod. The longer you wait, the more it costs.
In rare cases should you look at a car as an investment, but at what point do you/can you justify spending your expendable income on a "hobby?" being single with no kids I don't have to justify any money I spend to anyone. fun costs money. as a general rule if a person puts a car together it costs more than it is worth, so if you sell it there is a loss. I don't get that way of thinking. my sis and bro in law have spent more money going camping and boating over tha last 20 years than I have spent on cars and tools, yet they never think of it as a bad investment...just good times.
I know this may not be a "popular" answer around here, but think about buying a finished (or near finished) car, rather than building one. That's the way I did it, and it was the right way for me. Between full time day job, wife, kid, and other family stuff, I had very little time to spend in the garage. I sold a project car that was "in-progress" for about 10 years, saved up a little more cash and bought a complete, driving custom '50 Chevy for far less than it would have cost me to build. That's pure dollars - valuing my own time at $0. Now my time in the garage is spent on upgrading the car, and making it more my own, not the heavy lifting of just getting it together and usable. Plus, me and my boy can jump in it and go for a cruise any time we want. That's more fun to me than years of parts chasing and fab work. So when you're trying to decide if you can afford to build something, don't forget to look into the affordability of buying something too. Higher up-front cost, but often cheaper in the long run, and more fun sooner. Life is short, and your time is worth a lot. Plus, a down economy is a good time to buy.
I consider this my life not an hobby, as all i do all day is thinkin about cars.Thinkin how my shitboxx will look with paint and upholstery and thinkin how i could buy another car to build next w/out sellin any of the ones i own. You can afford anything if you want too. And always doin the right thing is boring. Oh, and for the record, i earn 1200 euros a month, which is peanuts, i live alone, and have no kids, althou i have 2 dogs... and im always broke, but car money is always my number one priority. i do all work myself, more beacuase i have too rather than because i want.
The question should be "can you afford to buy a new car?" My wife's first new car (SUV) is worth a small fraction of the purchase price 10 years and 80k miles later. Even though both of my old cars are poor investments compared to even a passbook account, they should retain most of their value over 10 years rather than losing 90+% of it. This also comes at the cost of air bags, crumple zones etc.
Fuck! i should have read all 2 pages b4 replying. im gonna use this as my signature line. hope you dont mind man.
Relaxation and recreation make for a balanced life. If I have to question what i do for a hobby,I would stop.
With a little planning and persistance ... you can build most any type of hot rod project you choose. I was a government worker for 29 years. Not a lot of paycheck there but good benefits and retirement. I have worked a second job most of my adult life. Started a part-time business also. Never used paycheck money for the HOBBY. It took me 10 years to build a all steel 32 Ford roadster. After it being on the road and enjoying it for over 10 years ... the wife and I decided we needed the add a coupe to the gargage. So I bought a neat old 40 Ford coupe. Most FUN CAR I have ever owned. Then I got STUPID !! Sold the 40 Ford and went and bought a 1932 Henry Ford all steel 3 Window coupe. Super body but needed everything else. 5 years to build it. But I am happy with it. I never have subscribed to the " make do " concept. I will not buy or work on a project just to have a project. I will not settle for a vehicle that is less than the vehicle I really want. This does require planning and persistance. Patience is also required in large amounts.
Investment? For you, never. When you die and your children or heirs sell it, they will think what a great investment because they will never know how much you have in it in cash, never mind time. For my cars, I have a car fund that gets a direct deposit every paycheck. I try to live within the car fund. sometimes I go outside of it, but try not to. I pay for all my gas, maintenance of all vehicles and buy parts or services from it. You need a wife that agrees/understands. My first one was like one of the ones mentioned previously, NO, NO ,NO. My new wife, says if you can afford it, it isn't illegal nor immoral you can do it. She also likes the idea of cars, "she knows where i am at (garage), knows what I am doing (car stuff) and where my money goes (car stuff). If you don't have a good partner, you need a new one.
Is the average guy really ever ready "financially" for anything? Kids, new car, home etc. You have to prioritize and when the things that need immediate attention are taken care of then you get to spend some on yourself. It keeps you sane. I made the mistake of telling my wife when I bought my truck cab that I didn't care if it took 3 years to build I was going to have something in the garage to work on. I honestly didn't plan on it taking over a year. Well I am at 2+ years and no end in sight but when I do a side job or buy and sell some parts I am that much closer. Most every time I do side work for my truck fund something else comes along that takes priority but that drives me to keep going. It will be done some day and I believe it will be worth it.
I know the young guys will not fully understand this comment, but as you get older life gets easier in a lot of ways. Your kids grow up and are on their own, some of life's little emergencies that drain your wallet slow down a bit, and you start living cheaper than you did when you were younger. All of that frees up some money to play with our toys. When you are younger the kids always need something or other, your Wife wants to move into progressively nicer homes, the family car payments eat into your money, etc, etc. When you get older you pretty much have settled into the place where you will live out your days, the car(s) have been paid off and since you only drive 5 miles a day now they last longer, and in some cases (like mine) the little lady has headed for the hills so you only have yourself to entertain and support. All hobbies are expensive, but I can't imagine how people get through life without something that is a fun diversion to keep them sane. What a boring life it must be to not have something you can do that gets your mind off of the serious side of our lives. I don't golf, haven't fished in years, and sports don't do a lot for me, so I play with cars. If I didn't have them I would probably spend my time in a bar, so I see this as a much healthier passtime. Don
Early in life I always worked 2 jobs. Never made much money but lived comfortably. I passed on several cars that in hindsight now would have helped in retirement. (68 Shelby for $17K) (1969 Mustang Cobra Jet Mach 1 with a blown motor for $1000). At the time I had kids. I now have a car fund that I buy and sell parts and add to it. It is at the point now where I can buy something but with gas approaching $5 per gallon I am wondering if I should even bother.
This is the true....if you have the time and build 1 to 3 a year it is a great way to make some extra cash...only issue is that your time invested is lost...but hell with the cash in hand it's worth it...isn't it....?....I have been trying to build my first rod for the last 3 years....the winter time really slows my down...and I buy stuff as I go.
My wife is the one that usually pokes me to grab another project. When we saw a couple Henry Js at the oldtimer drags she liked them, then found an old gasser for sale and handed me a wad of cash and said "well don't just look at the picture, go get it!" We have 16 cars and at this point I usually have to talk her out of buying another. Her favourite line is "Well how long would it take you to do a little bodywork and paint while the upholstery is being done? A month? It would be cool to drive to (_____ place, show, Vegas, where ever).) It always takes 6 months, then it sits over the winter, finished but taking up garage space, to be driven for a few months then sold. I'm busier since I retired at 47(I'm 52) than I ever was when I had my business, I used to work 2 afternoons a week and spend my days drinking beer and tinkering with a few cars at a leisurely pace. Curse that devil woman....
My car has been dead for 5 months, every time im ready to spend money on it something comes up, but its always family first! My project doesnt cost anything to sit in the garage and wait for part money. When all is right at my house, i will slowly start putting it together again. It really depresses me at times to see it in pieces every night, but i get over it when my kids walk through the door. Can i afford a project? YES! Will it be a show car built in 6 months? NO! -LUKEY-
I make sure the kids have everything they need and that all the bills are paid, but my wife has grown used to the fact that extra money goes to the car unless there is a emergency. I can pay all out bills with my regular 40 hour check, so that leaves her check for fun with the kids. I work overtime and manage to bring in an extra gran or more a month when I'm in the middle of something spendy.
Once again, I have to totally agree with you. I've always had a separate checking account just for my car stuff. Quite often there was little or no money there so things would go on hold. Eventually, things get done. The time to build a car is now, buying someone's unfinished project is often the cheapest way and you will be very disappointed if you think a hotrod is an investment.
How long is a piece of string? I know a guy that liquidated his 401K to buy an OT MOPAR muscle car and after he bought it he ran out of money fixing it up. Now he's got an unfinished project instead of a more modest driver that he could enjoy. Genius, I tell ya! If I were selfish I could "afford" just about any car I want, but it would require putting aside the needs of my family, including future college and weddings, etc. not to mention retirement money for myself and the wife. As it stands now I spend very little on myself but I try to squeek in some play money now and again. Life is about balance. Don't go overboard on yourself to your family's detriment because if you do, you'll be remembered as a selfish SOB.
My rule of thumb is keep credit cards far away from any car projects I have. I have always made my hobbies fund themselves whether it be buying and selling or using one hobby to fund another. I have yet to lose money on a project but I also tend to do alot of work myself and keep the emotions out of it. Emotions cost money. The only time I take my actual cash and dump it into a project it's money that isn;t earmarked elsewhere, whether it be a rebate from something, escrow overpayment or services refund. Once money is written off, its free and clear to be re-purposed - income tax refunds count too Its a family hobby and entertainment expense as well. We don't go out to eat often and don't like to travel much so the costs of car shows, events and swap meets is a wash.
Actually credit cards get a bad rap. If you pay it off every month, you get all the extras the companies offer, whether its travel miles, reward points, cash back etc, plus extended warranties, a large company that will go to bat for you in disputes over purchases and more. Not only that but the companies best customers(to them) are the ones with a good job and bad spending and bill paying habits, the guy who carries a balance month after month. They don't make a thin dime off me, so they give me ridiculously low interest rates(4.9%) in the hopes that I WILL carry a balance, but I never do. I love the fact that half my tools were free, paid for with CT points etc. I buy everything on the card and pay it off to 0$ every month, THEY work for ME, haha!
The Jalopy Journal
