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Dec 22, 2007 16:17:49 GMT
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I guess most of us never really add the real costs of running a retro up. The cost of false starts, driving all over the country on wild goose chases, until you find the right car. Followed by the cost of a new battery. MOT and other costs. Sometimes the real horror only comes to the fore when a full resto is initiated. With glassfibre, old newspaper, cereal boxes, and steel wool making up wings, sills and other structural parts of your pride and joy. Back to the subject at hand. Yesterday I bought one of these for the new car that will soon be casting a shadow on my drive ;D It will make up part of the bits I need to get in the forseeable future, a decent trolley jack, with decent lift, compressor and spray kit, etc , etc..... Oh, and as a good friend of mine told me in no uncertain terms, "Never ever keep book of something that brings you joy and is only a hobby"   |
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Rich G
Posted a lot
Keyboard Worrier
Posts: 1,059
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Dec 22, 2007 16:29:11 GMT
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Too right there Grizz!
I made the mistake of keeping track of what I spent on "restoring" our '67 Austin Mini (restored on the pretence that Mrs FR was going to learn to drive in it) - once it went well over the £1000 mark I gave up, threw all the receipts in a box and have never looked at them since!! ;D
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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Dec 22, 2007 16:56:15 GMT
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Normally my cars don't really cost me too much, if they break badly then I just put them to one side and buy another with tax and MOT... But then again I guess you can argue that's wasted expense buying instead of fixing. It's more of a time issue than a money issue normally!
Edit: This also has a side effect of cars building up, I had 7 BMWs a few weeks ago.
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Last Edit: Dec 22, 2007 16:58:08 GMT by rob0r
E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i
ETC
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Dec 22, 2007 17:01:44 GMT
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I'd rather spend my hard earned on the skills of proper motor engineers to keep my old classic going than on depreciation - which is just absolutely nothing - or finance - which only makes rich men of the bank owners. I've spent a fair bit on the 2CV this year (various issues but those 3000 mile service intervals come around quickly too!) but I doubt it's anywhere near what a new car on finance would cost me - and you still have to service those.
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1986 Citroen 2CV Dolly Other things. Check out my Blog for the latest! www.hubnut.org |
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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Dec 22, 2007 17:04:56 GMT
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I find it bloody cheap! You got to run it like a buisness tho.
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sniper
Part of things
Posts: 158
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Dec 22, 2007 17:11:58 GMT
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Ian's right, the depreciation and/or finance payments can easily be a couple of hundred a month. Compare this to the cost of the occasional breakdown and repair or maintenance, whether you buy your own tools and do it yourself, or pay a proper mechanic to do it for you.
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1955 Ford Fairlane
1960 Humber Super Snipe
1988 Volvo 240 Estate GLT!
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Dec 22, 2007 17:15:30 GMT
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My cars have cost me over £10k so far and i aint even started the interior on the Cortina yet  |
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sniper
Part of things
Posts: 158
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Dec 22, 2007 17:22:19 GMT
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There's two sides to it, if you just run cheap old cars, because its cheap, then you need to have a ruthless streak, if it starts costing money, bin it.
But if you have a classic you are restoring or even just running then it will cost to keep it up to scratch, there's always something that needs doing. And the usual route is that you want to do the best job possible which inevitably costs more than you think.
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1955 Ford Fairlane
1960 Humber Super Snipe
1988 Volvo 240 Estate GLT!
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Marc
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,037
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Dec 22, 2007 18:02:05 GMT
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I've made the mistake of pouring money into cars before, something I'll never do again. I love my Jag to bits and in fairness, aside from fuel, its only needed lightbulbs so far. The way I see it, I'm driving around in an ultra comfy "luxury" saloon thats cost me £950. Sure the guages tell lies sometimes and the seat wobbles a bit, but I'd rather spend a bit of cash on servicing and looking after my Jag then enter into the horrid world of finance repayments to own some POS Astra or some such.
Plus the girls at work think its uber cool! ;D
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Dec 22, 2007 18:50:28 GMT
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I've made the mistake of pouring money into cars before, something I'll never do again. I love my Jag to bits and in fairness, aside from fuel, its only needed lightbulbs so far. The way I see it, I'm driving around in an ultra comfy "luxury" saloon thats cost me £950. Sure the guages tell lies sometimes and the seat wobbles a bit, but I'd rather spend a bit of cash on servicing and looking after my Jag then enter into the horrid world of finance repayments to own some POS Astra or some such. Plus the girls at work think its uber cool! ;D |
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kee
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,991
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Dec 22, 2007 20:10:03 GMT
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id rather spend a lot on a car that feels and sounds like you are completely in control, than loose money on a curse word modern car that is ten times bigger than its ancestor.
only reason i would get a modern would be for petrol consumption, but it would be cheaper to keep the fez than buy a new car.
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,542
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Dec 22, 2007 20:20:11 GMT
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But if you have a classic you are restoring or even just running then it will cost to keep it up to scratch, there's always something that needs doing. And the usual route is that you want to do the best job possible which inevitably costs more than you think. Yep, spot on. Worth doing it properly once so it lasts as long as it should. To be honest I couldn't afford to pile a load of money into a car that is then going to get barely any use. The more miles you do the cheaper it gets  I've probably spent a load of money on parts for the Oxford over the years but there's no pint adding it all up as I may well have replaced some of those again by now due to wear and tear. Also, tool costs (such as the charger, jack etc that Grizz talks about) kinda get absorbed when they get used over and over again. You can't really put them down against a single car. From experience I know that Katie using the Herald for her commute is a darn sight cheaper than running something more modern and getting the servicing done by others etc. And far more interesting for her  |
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable. |
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Dec 22, 2007 20:35:43 GMT
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To be fair What disposable cash I actually get goes on the cars, despite being careful and a 'tight Yorkshire man' (actually quite generous  just read and evaluate prices/costs) , I still spend loads, but not all of it is dead money. I could cash a lot in if need be. Back on the original post, I have spent too much on my van now to tell people it was free, but its a bloody good parts chasing urban proof blaster, and still owes me a lot less than 2 months of a finance package on a 206  so whys my wallet so light then!  ;D must be all the other heaps too!  |
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 it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts |
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Dec 22, 2007 21:33:35 GMT
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A delicate balancing act. Many of my friends think I am bonkers for "wasting" money on old crocks. But they are the ones who lose thousands in depreciation. My current "project" has a definate budget, not microscopic but not huge either but which will give me a cool old car that will out-perform & out-handle many current blandmobiles. As some have said the killer is the fuel consumption. OK, so LPG can mitigate some of this but if you cover more than average miles then the arguement "for" starts to fall down a little. As denoted in my signature, I now have a very dull Astra Van for daily duties. It is quite horrible. But I view it purely as a tool, an expendable object that will become obselete with time any way, much like many other of the tools I use in the course of my work. It does 40+mpg, will cruise at 90mph and (hopefully) will only need basic servicing. After a while it will be sold and replaced with a similar dull tool. Means I can have more fun with my old toys, where I am not watching the pennies so much. |
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Dec 22, 2007 21:42:45 GMT
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:)Every single one of my Skodas will, and have cost me more to restore than I'll ever get back.
Truth is I don't care about that. It's something I'm passionate about, and get lot's of pleasure from. I don't smoke, I don't drink, but I have a wonderful family, similarly wonderful friends, and my Skodas.
You only live once....do what you enjoy as long as you can afford it, it's legal and you aren't hurting anyone!
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Last Edit: Dec 22, 2007 21:43:41 GMT by daverapid
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Dec 22, 2007 22:52:24 GMT
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Mpg is an issue. All of our cars (H van excluded!) are good on fuel but at the cost of performance - something I've decided I can live without.
I'd really like a Merc W123 but the mpg would hurt me, especially compared to what I'm used to. The Volvo was shocking enough and that was brilliant for its size! But then, perhaps it'd be nice to have the Merc for those long jaunts when a bit of peace and quiet (and the ability to do 70mph, even uphill!) is nice.
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1986 Citroen 2CV Dolly Other things. Check out my Blog for the latest! www.hubnut.org |
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Hirst
Posted a lot
This avatar is inaccurate, I've never shaved that closely
Posts: 3,930
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When I got the Charmant, it ran badly, had rotten arches and rubbish budget tyres on stock grimy alloys. I have spent money on it, but I didn't need to spend as much as I did, I did that because I like it. The rear arches were repaired by a proper bodyshop, I could have just bodged them on the cheap. The running issues weren't that bad, I could have still driven it! As for the tyres, they would still easily have legal tread depth by now, so I could have just suffered it all.
Running an old car is generally only as expensive as you want it to be. I like my cars a lot and spend a bit of money making sure they're well-serviced, running well and gradually more free of rot. Sure you can get a bad one where everything goes wrong and it costs a fortune to fix things, but if it didn't cost much in the first place your losses wouldn't be great if you absolutely had to scrap it.
One day, I'm going to have the Charmant totally stripped down and given a full bare-metal respray. Yeah it will still be fairly worthless in money terms, but it's my car and is a valued companion to me! We've had some good times and I can't see me ever getting rid of it. The thousands I'd spend on getting it done are a drop in the ocean to what some people pay for holidays and fancy houses.
If you like something and it makes you happy, spend as much as you like!
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Ether
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,450
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Running an old car is generally only as expensive as you want it to be. I couldn't put it better myself. And I spend most days trying to put things better myself. I always find it funny where money ends up when you're pursuing a project - over the last few weeks people from work have made out cheques to boat builders, a fencing company (think garden not sword) and a furniture warehouse. All in the name of classic car restoration. |
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If you like something and it makes you happy, spend as much as you like! That sums it up for me too. Up until recently my classics were daily drivers, they had rolling restorations and lots of money spent on them over the years. But when totalling up all costs they always came up ahead of the new plastic stuff. If it´s getting used daily then i´d keep an eye on the costs and wouldn´t overdo it. Now i´m in the fortunate position that I don´t need to drive them every day to work (company car) so I can spend my time and money doing them up properly. Hobbies cost money, and counting it would just ruin the fun! Mpg is an issue. All of our cars (H van excluded!) are good on fuel but at the cost of performance - something I've decided I can live without. I'd really like a Merc W123 but the mpg would hurt me, especially compared to what I'm used to. The Volvo was shocking enough and that was brilliant for its size! But then, perhaps it'd be nice to have the Merc for those long jaunts when a bit of peace and quiet (and the ability to do 70mph, even uphill!) is nice. Ian go for a W123 240D and run it on 100% oil. The 200D´s a bit slow (but you´re used to that! ) and the 300D (five cylinder) is a bit thirsty..... If you fit a second tank in the boot for the diesel you can use the original one for cooking oil and with a valve in the fuel line all you need to do is run it on Diesel the last three miles so that the fuel pump is full of diesel for the next cold start. Had four or five of them over the years and there´s no cheaper way to run a car over serious mileage. Great family cars go for an estate if you can find one! |
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Last Edit: Dec 23, 2007 12:29:26 GMT by Oldbus
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Probably sums is all up for me. And as said before here.... cost of tools do get absorbed over time by other jobs and projects. :)Every single one of my Skodas will, and have cost me more to restore than I'll ever get back. Truth is I don't care about that. It's something I'm passionate about, and get lot's of pleasure from. I don't smoke, I don't drink, but I have a wonderful family, similarly wonderful friends, and my Skodas. You only live once....do what you enjoy as long as you can afford it, it's legal and you aren't hurting anyone! |
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I've probably spent a load of money on parts for the Oxford over the years but there's no pint adding it all up as I may well have replaced some of those again by now due to wear and tear.
just read and evaluate prices/costs) , I still spend loads, but not all of it is dead money. I could cash a lot in if need be.
so whys my wallet so light then! 
;D must be all the other heaps too! 
