Because first 4 years, you don’t need to deal with maintenance.
And when your car ends up being closer to 14 years, with a book value almost the cost of the tires, you begin to realize that all that engineering and complexity is worth less than rubber…Plus, my burn rate on tires is excessive. Some folks can get 4-5 years on tires. I never do…1.5 years is good for me. And I need to replace 4 at a time because of AWD.
For me, I can be just damn cheap when it comes to old stuff. And I’m a strong believer of once a car is old…less is definitely more, as long as it doesn’t compromise performance…
My headliner fabric just started peeling. I took the headliner material off so the bare metal is showing… Car is going to lose probably 10 lbs when I’m done with everything…. The sunroof is flaky. I’m going to be getting a carbon fiber blank insert to fill in the sunroof hole after I remove the roof and roof track, the electronics,etc. Probably saves another 5-10 lbs. The seats cracking are gonna be pitched soon for lighter seats. And while I’m at it, the carpets are coming out, all the sound deading material too is gonna be scraped off the floor, and only the bare metal will be there.. I might delete the rear seats too while I’m at it. Spare tire goes out (I have roadside service and won’t be taking this on a long trip unless it’s on a trailer hitched to my suv), and jack tools as well. I’d do 16 inch wheels to save on rolling weight and cost of track. But if probably wouldn’t be able to fit in bigger brakes.
If the AC goes, the compressor and piping everything comes out. If the radio flakes out, rip that out and put in some more useful things, like a boost gauge.[/quote]
I thought I was the only one that felt this way. When gadgets that aren’t required for operation fail, they get chucked. Every car I’ve had ends up lighter than when I got ahold of it.
AWD? Scooby, Evo or Quattro?[/quote]
quattro.
Once a car gets to a certain age, I don’t believe in spending maintenance costs more than the car’s book value if that car is going to be driven on public roads. Because IF you happen to get into an accident that isn’t even your fault, the insurance company (your’s/ their’s doesn’t matter) most likely would end up totalling your car than actually pay for the repairs, especially because these days labor is so expensive and components of certain modern cars are expensive.
I’ll give you example. A lot of car’s have HID headlights these days. When these cars end up getting old, it is possible the car itself might be worth $2000-3000. But the HID headlights themselves purchased as a replacement cost would be close to $1000. So let’s just say one has a minor fenderbender and someone in an SUV accidentally backs into your car and crushes the front bumper, two HID headlights, and manages your hood. Although the damage itself isn’t really that extensive, parts/labor could easily run $2000-3000…Insurance would probably consider totally your car. That could leave you in an interesting predicament in which you paid X for repairs over the past few months but were only compensated Y for the value of the car…
