Whats your most money "invested" in a vehicle after purchase?

[adsm08]

Start to finish by dollar amount, my Ranger.

I started in 2008-ish with a stock Ranger, bought a trans/transfer case, bought an engine, bought several sets of axles, bought another engine, bought a bunch of other parts, bought a whole other truck, made both trucks into one truck, etc.

My BII is probably my lowest cost project vehicle. I got an engine for free because there was no core, traded that to a guy I worked with for a transmission, bought a transfer case for $50, rebuild said trans for about $300 in parts, got the engine for it with that second Ranger.

By percentage it may be my Explorer. I bought it for $1529, put $800 of tires on it within a month, $250 in brakes, $75 axle shaft, $3000 transmission and $250 rear diff.

 

[19Walt93]

I paid $1500 for my 93 Ranger with no engine,trans heater box,radiator,driveshaft, or gas tank. It had an 8.8 that was completely junk and the box was held to the frame by two 3/8 carriage bolts. It's now completely mechanically rebuilt with a 351,C4, 8" rear, Vintage Air HVAC system,power steering, all new brakes and steering system, and the cab and box are both securely mounted to the frame. By the time I've bought tires for it the total should be just over $11,000- $1000 over budget. My former assistant was a golf nut and he'd pay $6000 a year for a membership, then buy clubs,balls,etc. I think our hobby is a better investment.

 

[Snoranger]

I paid $1500 for my 93 Ranger with no engine,trans heater box,radiator,driveshaft, or gas tank. It had an 8.8 that was completely junk and the box was held to the frame by two 3/8 carriage bolts. It's now completely mechanically rebuilt with a 351,C4, 8" rear, Vintage Air HVAC system,power steering, all new brakes and steering system, and the cab and box are both securely mounted to the frame. By the time I've bought tires for it the total should be just over $11,000- $1000 over budget. My former assistant was a golf nut and he'd pay $6000 a year for a membership, then buy clubs,balls,etc. I think our hobby is a better investment.

I don’t know... his hobby has a ball washer:

 

[1986RangerXL]

What's crazy is 72-month and 96-month loans on an average car that will depreciate right off the lot.

My Ranger is my first project vehicle, I spent $400 on first truck, $550 on the body and interior (2nd truck), and a few hundred on parts. Beats getting a car loan, and I've learned how to work on vehicles

 

[adsm08]

What's crazy is 72-month and 96-month loans on an average car that will depreciate right off the lot.

Warranty is over before the loan is.

Sorry, if I fork out that kind of money for a car it better be under warranty until I am done paying for it.

 

[pjtoledo]

Never count on a "project vehicle" being in any sort of budget. It is what whatever it can suck out of your wallet

FIFY

 

[lvwill]

Exactly!!

 

[Dirtman]

42 dollars

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I bought a $200 1991 ranger rollover. After over $8,000.00 I still can't drive it on the road. And I don't think I've put on more than 100 miles on it in 10 years. But its a lot of fun when I race it.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

KaP pays for itself with junkyard parts on ebay.

I also feed two hemis, so don't ask

 

[G8orFord]

I haven't added it up precisely, but I've probably spent around $4k on my $800 Ranger.

Spent probably twice that on the '04 F250 6.0, I bought for $16k in 2013, but I expect it to make it to 500k miles with only regular maintenance now.

Probably have spent about $3k on the '17 F250 6.7, but that's all been on tuning and weight loss. Yes, the warranty will most likely run out before it's paid off, even with the extended warranty. Not my smartest purchase, but I do love that truck.

 

[Blmpkn]

I refuse to try to put numbers on it. But I’ve already got more than your projected “finished” number in my 93 Ranger and I’m just starting an engine project.

That's commitment. Got a build thread I assume? I'll have to check that out.

Congrats on the Longroof Chevy... I have always liked the Malaise Era GM cars..

Thanks! It was a wicked impulse purchase. Fell in love with wagons when I had my turbo outback, and fell in love with big American boats when I had my p71. One day I was on Craigslist with money to burn and found it, and the rest is history lol.

I'm just starting down the rabbit hole with the 2019... $3100 for the cap.

Damn, I didn't realize caps were such big money.

... My former assistant was a golf nut and he'd pay $6000 a year for a membership, then buy clubs,balls,etc. I think our hobby is a better investment.

I definitely agree with you. 6 grand for the ability to walk on someone's lawn for the year is a little ridiculous haha.

42 dollars

Money is goes ka-ching?

 

[19Walt93]

I should explain that I'm not out of pocket 11k, I sold my 2011 Ranger, paid off my Kioti tractor and used the balance to finance the truck project. I've actually spent around $2000 above that, which I consider a bargain. I've always wanted to build a street rod, start with 2 frame rails sitting on stands and end up with a vehicle but I know I don't want to keep a street rod clean after owning a black Mustang for 30 years. I need a truck so I built the truck as my drive it in the rain, park it outside, go to the dump and hardware store street rod. I didn't start out with bare frame rails but I did have the cab and box off the frame. I've spent more on the Mustang but I drag raced it for over 20 years, won some trophies at car shows, and drove it to work on nice days. As long as stepping on the gas makes me feel 19 again, it's worth every dime.

 

[Curious Hound]

Got a build thread I assume? I'll have to check that out.

My build thread

Engine project is "3.0 won't be slow" I don't have the link handy right now.

 

[91stranger]

I'm just starting down the rabbit hole with the 2019, so just tires and the cap as far as major expenses. $1200 for the tires and $3100 for the cap.

On the 2011, $2000 for the cap, $1500 for all-terrain tires, $800 in suspension upgrades, and $344 for the windshield visor. Those are just the big ticket items. Some of the repairs and preventative maintenance have been upgrades as well. All told, I've spent about $7900 in preventative maintenance, repairs, and upgrades on it since I bought the truck new.

I'm in the wrong business if you can sell truck caps for $3 grand..... I would have laughed at that price...

I think there should be two categories for this topic:
How much money have you invested to KEEP it running and how much money have you invested because you WANTED to in order to gain something. Need to and want to are completely different scenarios when talking about money.