How much have you spent?

zero89lx

Registered User
We just did this over at tccoa recently and the results were pretty interesting. How much have you paid to keep your car running since you got it? Keep in mind, this is NOT counting upgrades and performance. Just maintenence and repairs. I bet it turns out to be more than you think once you add it all up.
 
i was just thinking about that today, i have had my car for 2 1/2 years. i estimate about $5000, probaly a little more? and i still have to put alot more in within the next month....
-chris
p.s. that is a very good question, i am looking foward to seeing others replies.
 
When I had my 95 SC:

Front cross drilled rotors and pads $400 for the set
Plugs and wires $70
Fuel filter $10 I think

Mods or upgrades:
K&N cone setup $130
Supercharger fluid $6 group buy with big bottle
Removal of resonator and added Y pipe $50
Jerry Chip $250
89-93 supercharger pulley $FREE (thanks Jeff)
 
According to the spreadsheet I keep of this crap:


Junk Yard Gas Tank 35
Compressed clamp Hoses 102
3 Drive Belts 70
PP Champion Plugs 16
Nascar Plug Wires (8 mm) 45
Compressed Hose (to heater) 60
Water Pump 50
Solid Motor Mounts 230
Rear U-Joint (Greasable) 14
PCV Valve 5
Stock Shifter Rebuild 65
 
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My 1 year anniversary will be on Labor Day weekend. Drove from MS to IN to get it. And back, of course.

Repairs, maintenance, alignments etc:

$2593.01

Not counting voluntary expenses like restoration pieces, detailing supplies, stereo, a few mod's and speeding tickets. LOL! :p
Not bad, I fully expected to pay more than that right after I bought it. Most of that is right when I got it and went ahead with a lot of preventative maint. like radiator work, fluids, belts, wires etc. Also the usual rubber items for a 12 y/o car, like control arms, valve cover gaskets etc. Not much in the last 9 mos other than the a/c recharge (leak already lost all that lovely R12).
I figured I'd rather have a car budget than a car note, and would save money that way. Much better off than if I'd stuck myself with a $400/mo car note. This has been a much, much, much more solid car than I ever expected. Knock on wood. :p
 
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Havn't had car for much over a month. So far:
Waterpump $65(wasn't actually bad just replaced it for peace of mind while doing motor mounts)
solid motor mounts(included when I bought car just had to install them)
Water Wetter $18(3-bottles due to other problems and having to re-fill coolant)
heater hose and splice to fix broken hard line heater hose with compression fitting $5
Aftrmarket stereo head unit(factory one wasn't working) $140
Ignition tumbler $15

So far including the price of the car and a few upgrades, I have less than $3K invested in a good looking '94 5-speed with 130K miles. See sig pic.
 
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long term list

Got a 90 new for the wife, in all these years the list is not too long, crank triger..$60 plugs,wires,valve cover gaskets all last month, $65.. one battery, $45 and recharge the air and convert to 134, $35...one set of tires,$200. Thats it, will be needing tires soon but that is the list, $405 in 85,000 miles and yes I don't get to drive it either.....Rich
 
When I picked up my '90 last year with 64,000 miles on it, the previous owner only did oil changes, nothing else.
So, in the space of a few months:
Replace all belts...$40.00
Steel idler pulleys..$30.00
New rad hoses.....$20.00
Plugs and wires..$100.00
Upper ball joint...$150.00
Alignment..............$60.00
Supercharger oil....$20.00
Crank sensor.........$65.00 (This is why I got it so cheap, the previous owner could not figure out why it would sometimes cut out, or not start)
Cam sensor...........$25.00
Complete rear brake rebuild..$250.00
New accumulator......$100.00
New battery...........$65.00
New starter............$150.00
3 row rad...............$200.00
Water pump..............$65.00
New tires.................$500.00
Fix crack in rear seat..$150.00
Fix cracks in dash.......$130.00
Convert to R134a.......$150.00
After doing this, I have gone over a year without doing anything.
However i just bought the parts to rebuild my shifter...$60.00.
Good thing I do most of this myself.
And here she is,
http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=26634
 
You don't need to spend a lot to make these cars go fast....and I've never had a car that stood up to the punishment that I've given this car in all the 70K miles I've had it....

1989 5-speed....only 4 mods consisting of....

1. Exhaust....Headers, SCCOA magnaflow resonator and odds and ends to connect to stock back exhaust.....(remove cats of course).....approx $800

2. 1 inch raised top $300

3. Pro-M MAF.....$200

4. Ram Air, 4 inch pipe to front sealed to stock air box with silencer removed....+panel K&N .....$35
11 lbs max boost registered starting at 110 mph.....

165mph on local 2 mile stretch (starting at about 100mph)...and still plenty left....I believe this car could easily exceed 180mph....
no 1/4 times but car has outdragged in fair race 275hp camaro, is within 2 car lengths of C5 Vette to 100 mph, biggest threat now 325 hp firebirds in high speed runs but not being completely humiliated.....

Routinely beats 3.0 Z3 BMWs, 330xi, 745 types off line and at any speed thereafter.

Basic maintenence in 70K miles since bought at 130K is water pump, slave clutch cylinder, crank sensor, plugs, 3 sets of belts, 2 sets of brakes, 2 sets of rotors, and 3 sets of tires.....looming in future is power steering unit........
 
I have about $13,500.00 counting the $750.00 I payed for
the SC.And have been working on it for two years.

This is counting upgrades.About $8000.00 more I should be done.

randy
 
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Well let's see... it looks like I've put about $750 into mine since I bought it about 5 months ago. That includes the parts to fix the mashed frontend. Add the $400 I paid for the car and I'm getting away cheap (so far).

My wife would make me sell it if she knew how much you guys have spent on yours!
 
I've had mine for about 5 months. Paid $1900 for the car.

$100 for new plugs/wires.
$100 for some guy to tell me i need new plugs/wires.
$350 for some guys to put in new plugs/wires.
$50 for some guy to tell me a need a new MAFS.
$225 for a new 75mm MAFS.
$400 for a new (stage II) clutch and solid transmission mount.
$600 for some guys to put in clutch, slave cylinder, resurfface flywheel and do other stuff.
_________________________________
$1,825
 
spend on sc

well lets see.
blower belt after it knocked out tooth,$26
head gaskets + bolts+ intake gaskets$125
porting heads $35
porting exh manifolds $10
porting blower $10
extrude honed ic tubes $350 ouch not worth it
used radiator from amc
3 core 6inches wider $35
taurus fan motor +fan $35
hi flow cats and down tubes $200
ported mass 15/32 drill bit $5
inverted intake plenum $10
inverted lower intake $35
water outlet inverted $10
10% pulley free "trade"
327 reardiff from auto sc free "trade"
total $886
drive it every day not bad for a 5 spd oh yeah no wheel hop
 

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Heh heh, some of you guys must not have been at this too long, that's not enough money spent!! I don't think I want to know my total...

I'll just put some estimates, and that's not including all the nickel and dime stuff that adds up too, and stuff like tires (several sets), misc repair parts, stereo, etc.

car ('91, purchased in '93): $12,000
suspension upgrades: $1000
exhaust systems: $800 (couple different systems over the years...)
bolt-ons: $1000 (MAF, TB, ZR, etc)
S-model: $1500
engine rebuild #1: $5000 (labor is $$$ around here...)
heads/rebuild: $3000 (no charge for my labor!)

spanking V8 muscle cars with my V6: priceless
 
* $ *

Bought my car for 'round 4K. Overpriced but SCs are limited in this area :D

So far have probably put 500 into it for regular things like hoses, oil/coolant/mist fluid flushes, exterior care, various minor repairs (weather strips, wheel well cladding, misc plastic rivets, minor interior work, ect).

To bring it up to condition, I will likely be inserting another 5k. This will be for repairs such as clutch, trans, brake work, prbly a radiator at some point, plugs/wires/belts/tensioner pulley, repair of slight body imperfections, drivers side door pins, psngr seat motor & drvr seat lumbar, sunroof seals, tires, shocks/light suspension work, maybe more.

The 5k figure also pays respect to the fact that at least some of this work will include labor charges, unfortunately. But as the overall condition really isn't as bad as it probably sounds, it shouldn't take any more.
 
I bought my 89 SC with 92,000 miles in 2000.

I have bought and replaced the following:

needed repairs = $1790

tires = $500
heater and radiator hoses $100
belts $40
p/s pump $65
water pump $60
timing chain $35
headgasket kit $125
headgasket bolts $40
new exhaust $750
egr solenoid $30
idler pulleys $45

performance = $640

75mm TB $230
76mm MAF $130
MAC CAI $180
Mustang headers $100


So three years and 14,000 miles I have spent $2500 in repairs and upgrades.


I could sell my car for what i paid for it so for $900 a year that's cheap. Plus insurance is cheap compared to a new car. I did all my own labor except for the exhaust work. I I had to pay for labor then it would be better to have a new car and not pay for repairs.

Jerry
 
Between the stuff the car did need and the stuff i did want on the car plus all of the body work that it did not need but looked better with it i would say about $11,000

then i sold it back in May for $2,000:confused:


still kicking my self for it plus my wife hears it every day


Marcin
 
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