So, I suppose total invested in my Jeep, around 5-6K, that includes the purchase price, and I've owned it for almost 4 years.

I couldn't disagree more with the "cheap cars are never cheap" statement.

Most of the people I knew in the car biz owned cheap cars. The majority of these cars were high mileage trade ins that wouldn't bring much at the auction but other than the high miles and cosmetics, there wasn't anything seriously wrong with them.

If you can buy a car for $1000, put it on the road and drive it for a year without putting any more than basic maintenance money in it (which you'd have to do with any car) you are way ahead o the game.

People who sell cars for a living know how much of a waste of money cars are, the newer it is the more you're wasting. Buy it cheap and run it til it don't run no more.

Why are you always b*tching about it, then?

LOL.

A $1000 car may need thousands of dollars worth of work to keep it on the road for a year.
That is, if you can even find a running car for $1000. If cheap cars were cheap, everyone would be driving them.
I know people too broke to afford a used car (or repair it), so they lease a brand new one.

Yeah, if your not very smart a buy a ****box that needs lots of repairs.

A $1000 car may need zero dollars in repairs too. The smart people buy the one that doesn't need the repairs.

I paid 1200 for my XJ, it needed nothing other than fluids changed. I've had it for 8 months now. If it blew up tomorrow it still would have cost substantially less than any new car you could buy or lease.

The only way to keep your car expenses low is to not spend a lot in cars.

Here's a little comparison between my 2 current vehicles (1995 Jeep Cherokee XJ, 2013 Ford Mustang) and my previous car (2007 Pontiac G6). The price per mile of the XJ is only slightly higher ($0.03/mi) than my 1 year old Mustang (mainly due to the higher insurance cost on the Mustang) when down payment/payments made are not included and the price per mile of the XJ much less when down payment/payments made are included. Though they are both higher per-mile than my 07 Pontiac G6 was regardless of whether purchase price/payments are considered. The Pontiac had 42k mi on it when I bought it Certified-Pre-Owned, I guess that proves true that a low-mileage used vehicle is usually the best bet cost wise.

1995 XJ with 222,000 miles.
Years owned: 2.25
Miles Driven: 9,000
Purchase Price: $810
Maintenance, Repair & Upgrades: $1,790
Registration, Insurance & Inspection: $540
Total Cost: $3,140

Dollars per Mile: $0.35 (including purchase price)
Dollars per Mile not including purchase price: $0.26



2013 Ford Mustang GT with 7,400 miles.
Years owned: 1.0
Miles Driven: 7,400
Purchase Price: $31,000 (for this calculation I will use down payment and payments made so far = $14,200)
Maintenance, Repair & Upgrades: $180 (3 oil changes with 8qt. full-syn)
Registration, Insurance & Inspection: $1,530
Total Cost: $15,910

Dollars per Mile (including down payment and payments made so far): $2.15
Dollars per Mile not including down/payments: $0.23


2007 Pontiac G6 V6. (traded in at 93,000 mi)
Years owned: 3.5
Miles Driven: 51,000
Purchase Price: $10,000
Maintenance, Repair & Upgrades: $1,620
Registration, Insurance & Inspection: $4,530
Total Cost: $16,150
(trade in value $6,000)
Total Cost less trade in value: $10,150

Dollars per Mile(including purchase price less trade in value): $0.20
Dollars per Mile not including purchase price: $0.12

Well guys, I got about $5k purchase price for mine, and easily that into it, and I've had it 1 year and 3 months. Counting tools (I didn't have any prior to the XJ)

Yes, it's a money pit, but like all others said...it's my hobby. I love every minute of it.

Well if you wanna include tools, I'm in way more than 6K then, LOL....but like you, my jeep is my hobby, and it got me into fabrication, so expensive tools, LOL. I, too, love every minute of it, and it is worth every penny IMHO.

I'm just going to make people hate me...... I've got about $10.00 into my xj.

the smartest thing you can do is not add up all the numbers. because now I feel sick


owning a Cherokee just isn't feasible. and in fact may be fiscally irresponsible in most cases. but you gotta pay to play
if you don't need a Cherokee or you don't wheel often, I would get rid of it for a more economical and safe car. hell if you're 1994 or older you don't even have an air bag!

Surely you misplaced that decimal point!!! Haha but really $10 how do you manage that?

I feel ya, I've saved damn near every receipt from nuts and bolts to oil changes to lift parts over the past eight years. I could add it all up and come close to my total investment but really I don't want to know. Aside from the money, sweat, blood, and late night's just trying to get a project finished...the knowledge I've gained and compliments from random people, and seeing people do a double take as I drive by are priceless!

10K? Easy

Custom front and rear bumpers with swing arm carrier plus powder coating 2K
Stereo system $500
3" lift $350 installed
5 1/2" lift $600
New shocks $300
8" lift with long arm kit $1300
Bilstein shocks $800
Rims $500
Tires $1200
Body armor $300
LED lights and light bars $1k
SYE $200
Tom Woods front and rear drive shafts $600
New AC system $1k
front and rear gears and installed $1k
8.8 rear end with mounting brackets and truss $750
and the list goes on and on....

Tools are an investment (good quality tools that is), cars are an expense. Don't kick yourself over buying good tools, they will fix more than just vehicles and they can fix more vehicles than just your jeep.

What you spend on tools to fix things yourself will save you money in the long run over paying others to fix things for you for the rest of you driving life.

yep. 10k goes surprisingly fast. although some of the things in your list are outlandish and overpriced and unnecessary! I do agree