perrys4

BC, was that estimate what you spent on parts or did you include a labor charge for your own work. That does seem excessive.... I thought I had it bad at 12,000k over 5 years.

heinrich

I've spent let's see ..... about a million on one of those recently.

bigs

OK. Here's another way of looking at it that might make you feel better...

Whenever we total up any long-running expense item and see what the grand total turns out to be, we always get depressed because (and here's where we kid ourselves)...

...because we somehow think that we would have had that huge total amount in a lump sum to do something REALLY BIG with now if only we hadn't wasted it on the Porsche!

Well, let's be realistic here. That $60,000 was spent in chunks here and lumps there, and dribbles somewhere else. If you hadn't spent it on your shark, do you really think you would have saved it all up and had $60,000 in your pocket today?

Not a chance.

Quite possibly you would have spent it on many different trivial or even important items over the years - groceries, dinners with the wife, the gas bills, piano lessons for a kid who hates piano, maybe a trip to Hawaii, a new set of tires which would be gone by now, etc. etc. etc.... and it would have basically fallen through the cracks with no one really big and/or tangible thing to show for it today.

Jeez, at least you have a nice Porsche!

bcdavis

I pay for the work to be done, so yes, that includes labor costs.

So yes, this is also a thread to educate people about the value of doing their own work.

And yes, it is funny about adding it all up.
It's been 8 years, and I have never added it up.
I was always curious, but afraid!



I agree that it is like anything of value in life,
that you cannot have regrets about things like that.

But I think it is pretty funny that I avoided adding it all up for so long...

928ntslow

Let this be a lesson then to all who are looking to purchase a 928....new owner or verteran.


1) Find a car that you WANT. The best you can find for what you have $ wise
-Int and Ext colors, Auto or 5 spd.
-options
2) PPI if you are not comfortable making your own judgement
3) Assess costs for getting the car up to "0" at stock
4) Buy car if happy and enjoy for what it is.

Upgrades
1) see 1,2,3 and 4 above
2) figure what you want to do
3) calc how much you have to spend
4) find a happy medium

NOTE: It ALWAYS pays to do your own work...can save you bundles of cash.

If your numbers don't work out, SAVE your money and start a "928 Fund" in a seperate bank account...ING at 2.6% comes to mind best deal out there in savings!

After a year, 928 prices likely will have gone down, your bank account goes up with interest and then you will have the money to buy one of the top condition 928's out there. Chances are you will have minimal costs to get the car "right" according to what you want.

Now you have a pristine 928 to your specs and nothing but upgrades/improvements over time to throw at it. In the long run, this is the most cost effective way to purchase a 928...or any car.

(I wish I knew all of this when I bought my 82!)

bcdavis

Well, I was just kind of looking at the figures, and contemplating ditching the 928, the motorcycle, the SUV, and just picking up a new Viper or something like that...

Just tossing around some ideas.

No firm decisions about it yet.

Just wondering if I want to continue dumping money into a car that will still require a lot more $ to get it up to the level I would like it to be...

perrys4

Sooner or later the viper will need repairs and maintenance. I have always tried to keep one new car covered under warranty as well as the 928. This way if something major happens, i can park it and drive the new car until I can afford the repair. Works great until you stop working and then need the money out of the 928 for living expenses......

Joe '87 S4

Just divide the total cost per miles driven. Then the more you drive it, the cheaper it gets per mile.

slate blue

If it is any consolation I have spent more if you include labour. Also the other S2 I'm restoring, well I will probably work the best part of a year on it to make nothing. It has been a full time job too. Don't look too much at the bills it will take the pleasure away from the car.

Cheers Greg

Th Dude

Hey BC,
Go read the Z06 discussion board...you'll feel better.
We have older cars, we expect problems to arise due to wear and age. Those poor bastards on the Z06 board dropped 40-50 grand and expected none..boy were they surprised...go read.
Exhibit "A"
Tranny Problem Anyone?
Oh, THAT noise?...its NORMAL

Don't think for a second that things are any different on the Dodgey Viper board.

Me...I'm gonna put a s/c in my baby and watch the looks af angst and fear on the faces of Viper & Z06 drivers that I smoke by.

Peace,
D

Jeff McVicar

Look at the bright side...........could have easily put it up your nose hahaha Sounds like you made the right choice!!

Mongo

what was the condition of the car when u bought it?

bcdavis

Hahahahahahaha!!!!

Yeah...

It's lucky I do not have those other bad habits, or an expensive girlfriend, so I can have a lot more $ to dump into my car!

Well, thanks for the comments, and I will think about things...

I do think that having one new vehicle under warranty at all times would be a good idea.

I just worry about how much money I am going to put into it, to make it have
the horsepower and looks I want. I am talking about an s4 engine swap, a
supercharger, a body kit, interior work, wheels, etc... All of that is going
to cost a lot. So I am wondering if I might not be better off selling the
Euro, and getting a 90 or 91 928, and then start from there.
Or just keep mine, and when the time comes, just do what
Jeff is doing, and start from the ground up...
I think if I was going to go that far, I would just
build a kit car with a mid-engined setup.
A GT-40 replica, etc...

Hmmmmmm... What to do, what to do?

bcdavis

When I bought the car, I bought it because it was a euro.

So I spent a good deal of money just getting it an EPA certification sticker.

Other than that, when I got it, it was in decent shape.
A few minor leaks, paint a little faded, etc...
I paid $8,500 for the car back then.
I looked at other cars, and they were in terrible shape.
I can't imagine what a money pit those other cars would have been...

But over the years, more and more things started to go.

Head gaskets, radiator, transmission, cracked head from the radiator overheating, leaky hoses from the trans cooler, steering rack, etc, etc... I have the list of the repairs. I pretty much ended up replacing everything slowly but surely. And it was interesting to notice that I replaced the alternator THREE times in the time I owned the car. So that seems to be a weak area. And I had a lot of cam tower leaks and other oil leaks, until I got the breather system working. After that, no more minor engine leaks...

aircooler

Ha! That's good!