How much do you blow on your beater?

[bigbadboss101]

Let's say we will consider a beater $2000 or less.

How much money do you spend on your beater? Some things are pretty much necessary such as brakes, mechanicals, tires etc.
Do you spend enough on blings and things that are above and beyond what the car requires to run?

I have a 91 Civic with 300000+ km on it. It would be irresponsible to spend $ on stuff like spoilers, pimp wheels, neon lights and so on knowing the car isn't worth much, and extra $ put in would not be recovered when it's time to sell or when the car is toast.

Someone I know is wanting to buy stuff like aftermarket cluster, projector lights, spoilers, remote starter for his car. I am very tempted to tell him to be wise and spend $ on things to make the car run, not cosmetic stuff. The car is worth probably $1200.

Am I right to make such comments?

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Some people really take these cars to heart, and go all out repairing them.... When I had my 86 accord, I had seat covers and a huge mirror... and an aftermarket deck, other than that, it was just whatever it needed to keep it running (and sometimes i didn't even spend that >.>)

Tell him to save his money and buy a better car that'll be worth it, unless he's dead set on this car.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by bigbadboss101
Do you spend enough on blings and things that are above and beyond what the car requires to run?
Absolutely not. I want the car to remain stock and functional as much as possible. Even the factory power antenna still works. :D


These are the only extras I added to my beater:

- Rewired headlights to run off the battery using relays.
- Swapped out stock sealed beam headlights with Hella Euro beams with high-wattage bulbs.
- Added Hella driving lights with high-wattage bulbs.
- Upgraded the factory fog bulbs.

All this is to enhance night driving because it's my ski car and most of the km I rack up are in the dark. No blue ricer bulbs nor improper HID kits.




Originally posted by bigbadboss101
Someone I know is wanting to buy stuff like aftermarket cluster, projector lights, spoilers, remote starter for his car. I am very tempted to tell him to be wise and spend $ on things to make the car run, not cosmetic stuff. The car is worth probably $1200.

Am I right to make such comments?
Sure...once. It's his money to spend and you've done your duty as a friend to let him know your thoughts and then it's his decision.

[Whitetiger]

Ha ha, ever been to California? Where there're like 1986 Ex-cop cruisers sittin' on $5K worth of 22's...

[bigbadboss101]

I have a 91 4 door Civic now. Had an 00 ITR before that, and 97 Lude, 93 325, 02 Maxima, 98 Maxima. This is the least expensive car I owned since my 85 Corolla GTS. I had the GTS 8+ years ago. It had 200 or so km, ran well. I bought it for $1700, sold it a year later for $1100. Should have kept it cuz they probably sell for 3x that now.

Anyways I like doing minor work on the old car. Don't spend much $ except for maintenance work. I enjoy making the 'beater' run better. Not a fast car, nor is it good looking but it gets me there :-)

Even when I had the ITR all I purchased were a set of Rota SS's and tires cuz the wheels on the car were too large. And for the Lude I put in a 2 way started/alarm.

Eventually I will get a nicer car. Working up North so I have the 91 Civic here, and a 98 Outback there.

[frozenrice]

You forgot to mention the G2 Teg in your list......
I'd say spend the money on making the car run well. Once it's in a good reliable running state, then maybe start considering the cosmetic stuff if you're dead set on keeping the car. Everyone views cars differently. Some cars have sentimental value to some, others might view the same car as a thorn in their sides, while others are just passionate about that particular car for whatever reason. We all have different reasons to justify why we keep/sell our cars.
You've seen my Teg. I know it's 16 years old, but this particular style of Teg has grown on me over the years. It's been paid off for years and hasn't given me any grief in terms of money spent repairing it. I figure the money saved on payments and repairs can go into aftermarket stuff. Some say it's a waste of money, but if I were to buy a brand new car, I'd be stuck with payments on a vehicle that would depreciate year after year. So either way, it's money out the window.

[RiceCake]

I just spend the money to keep the car running, and stock as possible. Perhaps upgrades to lighting may come as I do a lot of highway driving and night time driving. That and some comfort items such as new weather stripping and seals.

[Teggy2nr]

my plan is to keep the civic reliable and not to be embaressed to be seen in so i can go all out on my teg. my view is once the car is paid off and if it has sentemental why not go all out on it. not shure if this applys to your freind but that applys to me because I will have a 30 g teg that will get a lot more looks and be a hell of a lot faster then a 30 g car

[stealth]

I have a 95 Civic for a beater.

I try to keep it in tip-top shape.

Right now I am just starting to modify it to my tastes.

It was riced out with Exhaust, Headers, Z3 Fenders, Decals, Altezzas, Halo Lights.

Now I converted it to stock for the most part, and am modifying it with the money I generated from selling those aftermarket parts.

I am just going for simple appearance mods like lip kit and lights, and thats it.

Engine stock for the most part, as its my slow car.

As long as it looks presentable im happy, and as long as it gets good gas mileage.