How do you justify spending all this money on your car?

[DSC]

For those of you who have put $$$ into your car or plan to put $$$ into your car...How do you justify spending that kind of money on your car vs buying more important stuff or paying off debts or whatever? I have been spending every dime I make on my car for the past 4 months and when I sit back and think about it, its really not worth it. $5,000 for a new engine just so you can go faster? It just doesn't make since. Even after thinking about this, I still get up and go to work just so I can buy more car stuff...

[Grant]

I dont know, I really can't justify, sometimes I just think theres more to life than just cars, and sometimes the money can be spent somewhere else.

[negular]

its all about lovin your car, thats all that is.

[misnomer]

####, as long as I don't go into debt, who's to bitch about it? <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

[bing]

absolutely everyone needs a vice, my car and my girl are mine

i know that it is better than sitting around spending money on drugs, alcohol, and frivilous things that dont exist next week...

i've watched all my friends sit back and take it easy, rarely work, often drink and piss away what little money they have... i am the only one who gained an interest in cars and i have held at least one job for 3 years (im 19) and right now a few of my old best friends are either not working or workign a shift a week at 7-11....

they drink their money away and wonder how i can be interested in cars?<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>??

as far as i'm concerned it builds character, not in the way your parents say, but when it comes time to buy the house, pay the bills, it's been there done that instead of Mommy where are you now.

everyone who doesnt like cars is a loser.... print/quote

[D]

I have always thought of modifying my car it as a hobby and not my life. &nbsp;To elaborate on this thought, the illogical reasoning of building up a car must be questioned. &nbsp; If you think about it, there is no logical reasoning for putting more money than is neccesary into already well functioning automobile. &nbsp;However, like the people who skydive[adrenaline junkys], we strive for that same type of excitement or rush. So, i think our tendancy for building up our cars for speed is formed in the same way as the skydiver who strives to jump again.....think about it

[Zenki Two40]

trust me DSC, u'll stop thinking like that in a little while. sometimes i think the same, but then the next day i think the total opposite n get back to normal. the thing that makes me think the most though is that i'm in college n maybe i shouldn't do like nething but maintain my car till' i'm out n then think about putting money into it. if ur really into it then u'll still end up giving up money to make ur car happy.

[IceTekGuy]

&quot;I have that Attention Deffic something,..'ADD?'... yea thats the shit, there's just something about engines that calms me down...&quot;

you know thats true with alot of people, 2 of my friends have A.D.D. and cars is what cools em down, me personally, i like cars and spending money on them, because its my hobby...
so that could be why

i walk down the strip and i see a hot chick, then i see a 800hp machine from ####, and i totally forget about the girl, its sad i know, but hey... its what floats my boat

[240booster]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from IceTekGuy on 2:46 am on Dec. 21, 2001
&quot;I have that Attention Deffic something,..'ADD?'... yea thats the shit, there's just something about engines that calms me down...&quot;

you know thats true with alot of people, 2 of my friends have A.D.D. and cars is what cools em down, me personally, i like cars and spending money on them, because its my hobby...
so that could be why

i walk down the strip and i see a hot chick, then i see a 800hp machine from ####, and i totally forget about the girl, its sad i know, but hey... its what floats my boat</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

HHELLLLL YESSSS!! that is exactly me!! That #### quote from fast and furious is dead on with alot of peeps i think. Plus, I would rather check out these forums and talk cars than i would look at porn on the net :-P Neway, it's all about what ur passionate about. Everyone has something that makes them happy and they do that. Drugs, Alcohol, sex, cars, #### ne hobby for that matter, and without that escape or that something that makes u happy what is life worth living for neway if ur not happy.

[AceInHole]

I justify the money spent on my car by the enjoyment I get from it. &nbsp;It's the same reason I buy good hockey equipment, so I can compete in a sport. &nbsp;WIth my car it's AutoX or even just street drags. &nbsp;It's like, why do you buy expensive tools to work on your car??? &nbsp;
If you enjoy doing something, you might as well do it well.

hmmm well it's a hobby that I enjoy...but I think my dad put it best...well as long as he spends every dime the boy makes on his car I don't have to worry about him blowing it on drugs -=X
LOL

my wife calls my car my Mistress and it costs a lot less than a divorce!

[misnomer]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">my wife calls my car my Mistress and it costs a lot less than a divorce!</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Never has there been a better justification for spending money on a car <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

it's kinda like you never know unless you try it and if you don't try it you'll just get mad at yourself...need that new motor not only to go faster but because if you never got it you'll still be dreamin of getting it...those rims, exhaust and intake...anything...if you don't buy it your juss gonna keep dreaming of how much you want it...but when you have it...yeah it's just there....but..don't worry just take a smoke and it'll be all good...heheh..j/k about that last line....

[konkman]

Most people spend a good 1/8 of their lives in cars. &nbsp;Why not drive something that make you feel better everytime you step into it?

Besides the amount of money I want to and have put into my car will give me a car that is faster and more fun to drive then if I bought a new one.

[whateverjames]

it's actually not worth it at all if you buy bolt on's only. the only time spending 5000 on your car is to replace your old engine with an SR that has under 30,000, then it's not a waste of money.

some people like spending lots of money on flowers and stuff to make their house look better. my mom does that, i can't understand it but it makes her happy spending a little more money than she should. my dad has been playing guitar since he was thirteen, he has 9 expensive guitars, he just bought another...... &nbsp;but whatever makes you happy, you gotta go for it, lifes too short. they can't understand spending money on a car makes me happy.

but it's just a shame it takes time and money to realize what makes you happy and what is a waste of money.

[hideyoshi]

I justify it by telling myself, &quot;All the ladies are going to be all over me when I put so and so in my car.&quot; Plus I enjoy my car and I like making it run better.

[burgy240]

Simple, You make money to be able to do the things you enjoy! &nbsp;Some use it to go drink, go on vacation, buy clothes, ski on the weekends etc........My hobbie is the car I drive. &nbsp;I juust get to appreciate my hobby everytime I drive somewhere. &nbsp;If it's just a car then you probably shouldn't spend that much money on it. &nbsp;However, If you feel like many of us our car IS NOT just a car but a hobby and a project, and an extention of who we are!!

My car calms me. If I had a bad day at work I just take the long way home and by the time I get home I can be a normal person (my wife very much appreciates that LOL) Also working on my car does the same, I enjoy doing something I have never done before and having it work. I hate to drive my wifes car (escort) by the time I am get wherever I am going I am pissed!!! LOL Some one pisses my off on the road a little blowoff in the ear and a smoke/fire show after I am in front of them and I am happy again, much better than the ol road rage pistol whip method...... <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Alan

[rabbit23]

it's all about what makes you happy. does driving a slow stock car make you happy? it doesn't make me happy, so i modify and make it faster. happiness, not money is the most important thing in life. this applies to all things not just the car!

[S13Grl]

I agree... it's about happiness. I guess if you think you're wasting your money on your car, then you really should consider another hobby...

<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>

[Kid Zelda]

I think everyone should die broke........

so spend spend spend.........

[DragonReborn214]

Taken from Supraforums.com

-------------------------------------------
A formula for curbing spending

SAN FRANCISCO (CBSMW) -- A few weeks from now, millions of us will wake up to realize just how much we dropped on holiday shopping this year and be inclined to berate ourselves for excessive spending.

We shouldn't be too hard on ourselves. Most of us have put more thought into gift-giving this holiday season than we have in years. And busting a Christmas shopping budget is not wanton excess; it's an irrationally exuberant expression of love and gratitude for family, friends and business associates.

Spending more than you intended on gifts is not overspending. But spending excessively for your own &quot;needs&quot; that are actually just &quot;wants&quot; is. It's that financially crippling habit that many of us would do well to curb in the year ahead, regardless of whether the economy turns up in coming months.

Simple arithmetic

I've long embraced a simple formula that helps me keep spending in check, and it's especially useful for people like myself who aren't strict budgeters. I shared my formula this week with several certified financial planners who were both bemused and intrigued by the idea.

When making major purchases, how many of us consider how much its siphons from our total income? That is, how much of our gross pay does it consume? How many hours worth of pretaxed earnings must we expend to acquire goods or services whose price we deem within the realm of affordability?

&quot;Looking at expenses in terms of how much of our life's work it takes to acquire them is exceedingly valuable, because people often nickel and dime themselves into poverty,&quot; said Jim Kniffen, president of Trinity Capital Management in Cary, N.C. &quot;Ben Franklin said a penny saved is a penny earned, but he never envisioned taxes. Today, a penny saved is more like a penny and a half earned.&quot;

To determine one's cost in earnings, as a rule of thumb, it's fair to multiply the price of an item by 1.66 (i.e., a $600 item consumes about $1,000 in gross income). That takes into account 27 percent in federal income taxes, 4 percent in state income tax, and 9 percent for Social Security and Medicare. Some states don't levy income tax, but to account for that in part, we won't add a sales tax onto the purchase price.

This formula takes into account that luxury goods -- whether going out to dinner each weekend or taking a cruise -- generally consume our discretionary income, which is taxed at the highest rate. So how does applying the formula reveal the impact on total income? Try these examples on for size:

After shopping travel Web sites for the best possible deals, you put together a spring-break trip to Orlando for your family of four for $1,600 for airfare and hotels. Add in another $1,000 minimum for rental car, modest meals, theme-park entry fees and incidentals, and the entire trip will consume about $4,400 of gross income.
That $299 a month car lease seems within your budget. You can be forgiven focusing on that number since that's what most car salespeople will ask of you -- &quot;What do you want your monthly payment to be?&quot; -- in their attempt to cloud the deal. But add in $1,200 a year in insurance costs, including the collision and comprehensive that lenders require on new cars, and you're looking at a hit to your gross income of about $8,000 a year.
Then there's the seemingly inconsequential daily expense that adds up to a bundle. That $5 spent on lunch each day as a well-earned break from the workplace amounts to about $1,250 a year - or $2,075 in gross pay.
And that big-screen TV at $1,800 is far more of a budget buster than it seems. It consumes $3,000 of gross pay, or 3.5 weeks of earnings of the average American household's roughly $44,000 in annual income. Viewed in that light, a top-quality 32-inch TV at a third the price might be more appealing.
A fairly sobering approach to spending, isn't it? Yet it's not meant to discourage spending outright, but rather to encourage spending discipline that many of us lack.

&quot;It's a terrific way to put things into perspective,&quot; said Andy Keeler, a certified financial planner in Columbus, Ohio. &quot;Is that TV important enough to you to work for more than three weeks to buy it?&quot;

Just how blind are we to the impact of big-ticket purchases on our income? A prospective client boasted to Keeler recently about the deal he got through General Motors' zero-percent financing offer, which in this case was for a maximum 36 months. He was so enthralled by the perceived &quot;savings&quot; on the interest costs that he bought a nearly $40,000 sports utility vehicle, saddling himself with a $1,000 monthly payment.

The SUV buyer, who had a household income of $150,000 a year, had almost no retirement savings, but is exhausting $18,000 a year in gross income on the vehicle payments alone. Oh, and he and his wife own six other vehicles.

&quot;Some people are just brick brains -- you can't penetrate them,&quot; Keeler said. &quot;In general, the thing that derails most middle-class people the most is budgeting.&quot;

A spending Jones

The trouble is, excessive spending is an addiction that doesn't get much recognition as such. Most of us accept gambling, alcohol or cocaine addiction as an illness, but chronically uncurbed spending, well, those debtors who end up filing for personal bankruptcy are just #### fools, aren't they?

&quot;Some people use spending just like they do alcohol, to regulate their emotional life and make themselves feel better,&quot; said John Fitzgerald, an addiction specialist in Portland, Ore. &quot;But we don't see it as a problem because, after all, when does spending go from normal to abusive to addictive?&quot;

&quot;If you confided to someone 'I'm really having a problem with spending,' they'd likely say 'What do you mean?'&quot; he said.

It is, indeed, an absolute pleasure to acquire something you really desire: &quot;How much is that doggy in the window? The one with the waggly tail?&quot;

Yet, from my experience, it's even more gratifying to buy something special knowing just how hard-earned it was. Considering your purchases in terms of how much labor it takes to afford them not only encourages spending discipline, but also a greater satisfaction.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[whateverjames]

that whole thing made sense to me. i've always thought my friend had a spending problem and after reading that, i'm almost positive he does. when i didn't have a job, he asked how i could be happy without money. he's the type of person that he has to go to best buy and just buy whatever, or just happen to buy 600 parts he may never put on his Z. &nbsp;i don't need to 'spend' money to be happy, i need to buy the things i like, like computers, tv's, stereos (using that budget idea) then just get by and save money. &nbsp; i'll never let anything control my happyness, espeically money!

[negular]

that was too long to read, forget that, besides the fact that engines are bad ass machines and its amazing how they work.....speed is addictive

[dave2u]

It stinks being in a weedy little car and being bullied on the road.
Years ago i had a 1 litre Nissan micra and i remember pulling out of a retail park with other cars and oblivious to them and simply trying to get on my way i ragged it to 40 (the limit) and held it there.
Anyway i notice this prat in a Vauxhall Calibra coupe come along and sit in front of me and slowly brake slowing me (then shot off) leaving me to build up my speed again in my little 1 litre.
He was obviously taking the piss out of me and my car and ridiculing my acceleration. You`re in a piece of shit . What can you do.
I`ve moved since then on a steady upward curve. I`m now in a 2litre turbo s14 &nbsp;. And now i look at the new bullies like the Jaguar XK8`s of this world and i am going to mod my car until some arrogant poser in one of these tries to look down his nose at me at the lights or whatever. And i`m going to leave him in an automobile sense &quot;picking up his teeth&quot; and then i`m going to have to laugh my tits off all the way home. So i suppose i am doing it for respect. And i would be suprised if deep down everybody else wasnt too. Or maybe i`m just a sad twisted freek.
&nbsp;

My justification is that I rely on my car almost everyday. If I'm going to spend a lot of time with it, I should do what I can do make my experience with it better. What I think really needs justification is its position on the priorities list. Or is that the same thing just with different wording? <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'> I'm sleepy. cAn't thiNk cleArLy...

[wyldchyld7x]

as some of you know i just got my 240 7 days ago. &nbsp;Before this car i had been without a car for a few years while i was in the army. before the army I was lucky enough to own some badass rides but never had the money to really hook them up. &nbsp;Now i have the car and the money and the old car junkie fever has taken full hold. &nbsp;I think a big part of modifying my car for me is the fact that my car is a representation of myself. &nbsp;Like when you go in a persons house it tells you something about the kind of person they are. &nbsp;Well when people see or ride in my car I want it to say something about me. I was out partying in miami and saw three identical ferrari's at this one club in different colors i couldn't help but think how pissed i would be if i went to a club and someone had the same car as me that i just blew a few hundred g's on. &nbsp;that all being said I am also a sick kid blowing all my time and money on my ride puts a smile on my face and thats all that matters.

[drift freaq]

Well, is it an addiction? Yes. Is it a good addiction , I have seen a alot worse:D . I love sex, I love music ,I love cars along with other things. Three things give me ultimate satisfaction. Pleasing the women, making great music and having a good drive. Music and driving relaxs me and gets the tension out from daily life . I am not a happy camper, when I cannot sit down in my studio and write a track, or jump in my car and go for a &nbsp;drive. to that end my car must handle well and accerelate like its an emergency <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'> . That justifies spending the money on my car to make it better.
call it what you want thats my take

Happy Holidays everyone.

[transient]

Well, everyone's got a hobby, some people do rock climbing, some collect china dolls, we happen to like modding cars. I don't see anything wrong with that... any hobby is going to take money to pursue. Truthfully, I think that's part of the fun of it. That &quot;I finally saved enough money for the swap!&quot; or &quot;Finally, I can port and polish my heads after this paycheck!&quot; u know?

Other than that... I plan to keep this car until they outlaw internal combustion engines. Whether it's still my daily driver or not. I don't see why I should spend the money on a new car when I can just put money in to one that I really like and already own, and keep it in good condition.

[Drifting Ricer]

DSC always ruinnig the fun. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> I want to make my car a fast to comepete in auto-x that's why I want a SR. Some day this car will be my RACE only CAR. This hobby makes me want a better job. Makes me want to do better to make this car into a V8 killer. Right known I mony is tight. That's why I'm 240sx freak. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>. Yes I want to kill SS cowmeros and vette and Rustang.

Thank you and goodnite.:)

[DSC]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from Drifting Ricer on 2:36 pm on Dec. 22, 2001
DSC always ruinnig the fun. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>...</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>Hehe, sorry. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> I'm definately hooked on makeing my car better. Just in the next few months I'm gona be putting a large (for me) ammount of money into my car and Its just hard to believe I'm spending so much just to make it turn faster. Am I really willing to get up and go to work every day for three months so I can corner faster? I'm planning on doing it, so I guess the answer is yes. And I guess if I didn't spend money on my car, I'd just piss it away. Besides, my car makes me so happy, I owe it to her to buy her nice stuff <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'> So I guess I'll justify my car spending on the fact that it makes me happy, and thats good enough.

[cbcustoms]

It's better then buying crack...

[ILoveMyRHS13]

It's better then buying crack...
THANK YOU so much for bumping an 8 YEAR OLD thread.

:lockd:

[ThatGuy]

Pinked for 2 weeks for bringing back a Thread from TWO THOUSAND AND FUCKING ONE!

:lockd: