What's It Really Cost?

In reply to Tim Suddard: Right along with this should be a guide to the cost of going fast. Is it cheaper to pay those costs up front with new or buy something slower and install a turbo or other go fast bits?

My inclination is that older cars are simpler and thus weigh less.. While the engineering may not be as advanced the weight without mandated safety gear etc. works in your favor..

Gawd I love working cars. I'm not sure why, maybe because what I do for a living is the complete opposite. Maybe because I should have been an engineer or a mechanic. Maybe its the satisfaction of accomplishing something tangible.

Whatever, all I know is that I can work in my garage all weekend, go to a race and thrash on the car (wrenching and driving) for a weekend, or just go to a car show and stare at other's projects and wake up on Monday ready for the rest of my life.

I'm sorry, why is anyone totaling up dollars spent on this? What are we, freaking accountants or car enthusiasts!

Seriously, I don't care whether the car I'm currently restoring is worth all I've got into it (well, maybe I care just a little), but what I'm getting out of it is more than a car with a dollar sign attached to it. It is a process that I enjoy...

In reply to Basil Exposition: That was my approach too right up until the housing economy blew up in 2008. Along with millions of others I was out of work. While I had been extremely conservative and had a really decent nest egg in no way was I prepared for the loss of the industry I had spent nearly 20 years in..

After 3 years without any real income I was forced to liquidate assets including my car collection.. With an extremely down market cars sold for dimes on the dollar of previous offers. Still, I'm glad I had them to sell. Extreme belt tightening and their sale meant I didn't lose the home I had put 30,000+ hours into building.. So while most of the cars are gone pieces remain and maybe I'll build one out of those pieces..

The alternative is shuffle board until it's time for my long dirt nap..

In reply to ggarrard :

Kudos to those that have the time, patience and money to do this. But for me, spending that kind of time and money on a car restoration would put me into therapy. Or divorce court, lol. Remember: you can still enjoy a classic that is "only" a good driver and not a show winner.

And let’s be really realistic about costs:  sales tax on the purchase, insurance, registration and flat bedding can easily inflate the initial acquisition cost alone by 10%+ in some states.  Then there is tools and shop materials you may not already own, shipping for parts (especially the bulky stuff ($), international shipping ($$), shipping for returns when a part is not right ($$$), quite a few more meaningful bucks right there.  Classic tires may be a bargain at $129/each, but shipping and mounting could easily add 15-20% to the price, more for shaving and wire wheel truing ($$).  Gauges and lights need wiring, switches, relays, and protective covering (the good looking stuff), so add another 15-20% to the cost of those gauges.  

It’s just a matter of being realistic about what it costs all-in. I have a hard time seeing any restoration other than very very very collectible cars ever yielding a profit (even when you supply the labor).  But then again, that should not be why anyone pursues this wonderful and rewarding hobby.

All this talk of how much time and money we have in our car(s) --- in 45 years of marriage and 50 years of being a gearhead, nothing good has ever come from adding up the time and money I have in a car.

I have a spreadsheet with a tab for each of my cars. Same thing for my golf clubs only different. For the cars I have a tab for each car. Each tab has two sperate sets of columns. The comuns on the left Are as follows: the milage, date, cost of part/repair, identifying repair over purchase*, description. The columns to the right are: time spent, description (relates to "identifying repair over purchase"), and three columns to identify how I calculate the time (research isn't calculated at the same dollar rate as mechanic work or going to the store). I caculate repairs at $80 per hour, research at $35, and going to buy parts at $25.

Research means I spent time looking through catalogs or the internet for a part. Mechanic work means I actually worked on the car.  So far I haven't paid someone to work on one of my cars but if I did I would add it in the eft column and designate it in the right as only 1 hour of going to buy parts indicating that I had to bring the car in and ick it up.

When it comes time to answer the wife's question she only gets the left columns figure. When I self justify my investment I only consider those same coulmns. The ones on te right I chalk up to experience and part of the fun of ownership.

My car buddy suggested I add one more set of coulmns to record the value of admiration people have shown about one of my cars. We often joke when telling stories that one was a $5.00 compliment or this one was a $20.00 one. His suggestion is that the spreadsheet could deduct the comliment figure from the other two sets of columns to give a truer record of what a particular car costs.

In reply to mrblimp :

I recently had a chance to help someone buy a MGTD and give him a guess as to the cost of restoration/ race prep. 

I totaled up the parts that were missing/ needed replacement/ or updating. That alone came to over $21,000.  

Plus a $5000 budget for labor, work he didn’t feel capable of doing. 

Add paint and misc. the total  with over 1500 hours of his time was over $30,000. That ignores the $8000 original asking price.  

For cars that are lucky to sell for $20,000. 

And you also have to consider the enjoyment you will get out of driving the finished restored car.  What price can you put on the "Ooohs" and "Ahhhs" you get from the people who see it?  If you drive it regularly, those add up on the plus side!  What price do you put on the scenic views of the special trips you will take in the car?  What price do you put on the fellowship you have with other enthusiasts?  You get to enjoy the fruit of all your money and hard labor.  Priceless.

mrblimp said:

I have a spreadsheet with a tab for each of my cars. Same thing for my golf clubs only different. For the cars I have a tab for each car. Each tab has two sperate sets of columns. The comuns on the left Are as follows: the milage, date, cost of part/repair, identifying repair over purchase*, description. The columns to the right are: time spent, description (relates to "identifying repair over purchase"), and three columns to identify how I calculate the time (research isn't calculated at the same dollar rate as mechanic work or going to the store). I caculate repairs at $80 per hour, research at $35, and going to buy parts at $25.

Research means I spent time looking through catalogs or the internet for a part. Mechanic work means I actually worked on the car.  So far I haven't paid someone to work on one of my cars but if I did I would add it in the eft column and designate it in the right as only 1 hour of going to buy parts indicating that I had to bring the car in and ick it up.

When it comes time to answer the wife's question she only gets the left columns figure. When I self justify my investment I only consider those same coulmns. The ones on te right I chalk up to experience and part of the fun of ownership.

My car buddy suggested I add one more set of coulmns to record the value of admiration people have shown about one of my cars. We often joke when telling stories that one was a $5.00 compliment or this one was a $20.00 one. His suggestion is that the spreadsheet could deduct the comliment figure from the other two sets of columns to give a truer record of what a particular car costs.

 

How many hours did you spend setting up and doing all this accounting?  

I just throw receipts in a box ( and eventually throw out the box) 

I like doing this stuff.  What else should I do with my time?  Drinking, partying, getting in trouble, playing Golf? ( please not that, I’ve played two rounds of Golf and in both of them someone died) 

my financial  approach is spend what I can afford. Try hard to not go over but if I do cool it until things are back in order.