Those of you who have spent big $$ on mods

Do you regret it? Would you do it again?

I'm getting very close to starting a forged build and respray along with some minor body repairs and the $$ I'll be spending is many times the value of the car...

I know that you never get your money back when you start fiddling with a car, but it can be awful good fun. Drove the zed on Christmas Eve for the first time in ages and did make me giggle like a little girl :br: I'm not sure if having another 100kw is going to make me giggle much more through...

There are a lot of other very nice things going for reasonable money these days too.... Some of my dream cars from high school. Saw a 996 911 Turbo for $75k today, 360 Modena's can be had for under $100k, 996 GT3's for similar money. Lotus Exige's for under $60k. Depreciation on those will be minimal, I can't see them getting too much lower. And there is heaps of other things out there too, GTR's, M3's, AMG's. Would be a shame to miss out on them too

I'm wary of throwing another $20k at the zed for little return other than (possibly) more giggles. Pex and Minivan sold theirs, Karl and Rob both have their incredibly nice zeds for sale not long after finishing them.

Thoughts and opinions?

 

You only live once, Chris. I've spent bucket loads on my 2+2 and will have it on the market soon. No regrets at all. It's fun to tinker and change things up & as you said, you never get your money back. But you do continue to earn more

So even if you throw another 20k at the Z, you could still buy another of those dream cars you've mentioned later down the road if you wish. But then again, you might be in love with the Z still and not want a slower car

 

Mine came up for sale over 2 years after I finished the respray Chris so I would not say it was not long after. Only due to change in lifestyle sees me selling mine, otherwise I would keep it.

For me personally, the injection of cash and time into mine was more of seeing a life long dream come true. Every bit for me was worth it even though it will sell for considerably less.

 

i regret the way i went about it when i started out, spent too much on body and not enough on performance.

 

There are fast cars and proper fast cars.
When you start driving the likes of a porsche, AMG, or ferrarri, it's a whole different league.

I don't see the benefit in rebuilding a Z to be comparable to a porsche, because it will always just be a Z. Buy that 996, put some miles on it, then try to sit in a Z and try to tell me it's a better car.
Or if you really want to be in a Z, buy one that's already built and enjoy that.

 

Quick easy answer. No regrets spending money on the Zed. My Zed will be a keeper. Other cars will undoubtedly enter the stable at some point, but the Zed will always be there.

 

Do I regret it ... Sometimes ...

But than i drive her and flex the accelerator slightly and I forget what I was questioning!

 

Having a Surf and a Zed has cost me a ridiculous amount of money but from playing with them I have learnt so much. Engine rebuild, diff rebuilds, suspension overhaul/modification engine tuning the list goes on..

It's been a fun ride I would probably do it all again, only thing I regret is not buying a house first.

 

After spending the equivalent to the price of an investment property on my cars, I have this point to me on many occassions. I think it is a question you should ask yourself all the time and not just about spending it on car, but all things.
I have seen people in my family save and save and save for that ?rainy day?, or to keep reinvesting to ensure that there are funds there for the future. But, forget what we earn money for in the first place.
The same goes with those that spend it on their houses, they eventually over capitalise and that is just money wasted. Or, people that waste even more than that on just some trip overseas to see ?. things.
It is all in moderation, but do what makes you happy. Do I have regrets about spending a six figure sum, a little, would I do it again? You bet. I learnt heaps, both tangible to professional and personal growth, but also what is important in life. Also, you will gain skills that are not as obvious to start with but will make sense in time. Such as project management, system engineering, contract negotiation, logistic analysis, etc. All very marketable skills if you have a formal qualification and experience. You will have the experience that not many others dream of risking their own funds to achieve (especially knowing it is a 100% monetary loss making venture)
Take your time enjoy the build/modification. Too many people rush theirs, being more focused on the end goal and don?t savour the journey. Also, don?t procrastinate over a decision, by sitting there fretting about the consequences you are effectively making a decision; the coward?s decision of doing nothing.
Finally have a look on my website. I have an article on projects and the Ps needed (It will make sense when you read it), at www.evade.com.au do a search under projects.
Remember there are three people in world. Those that make this happen, those that watch things happen, and those that wonder what the **** happened.

 

I don't regret spending money on cars. But if i had my time again I would have sold the zed when they were still worth 15k and either started building a Cobra or modified a C5 vette in a similar way to what i'm doing now. I wouldnt have bothered with Jap cars [TIS]

 

Dont like Jap cars??

or just sick of the Zed?

 

I certainly haven't spent the bucks that a lot of you have but I don't regret what I have dropped. As long as its not affecting lifestyle, house, etc its all good.
Zed's are worth fark all so mines going nowhere, I'll just keep tinkering with it as I go. The body works starting but I'll do it at my pace on the cheap. Honestly couldn't drop $20k though, not all at once...

Does it really need a forged build? Tidy up the bodywork & enjoy it, then start saving for something to park next to it.

Totally should've just left the v8 in it though hey?

 

It was a learning experience. Now I know what mods I want on the next car and what I don't need for a street car.

Will always keep the zed though I think.

 

I've spent more than most on my Z

Regret it ? Not really ,over the years I've always had a toy in the garage I've set up for fun.
(It's normal to question and think what else you could have done with the money)


This is the last of the big modificated cars I will do though .. (and probably the best as far as performance and detailed setup goes)

My car is built for keeps as I'm sure my son will want it once off his P's

Also as I've said before ........

For me its no longer about money I will lose ..
its about the time spent over the years.

money you can always earn .. time spent will always be lost .
thats what makes me determined to finish my project.

I'm at point of no return :br:

 

No, it doesn't need a rebuild. Was just going to do it as I have collected a lot of parts. Haha, nah, the V8 was a interesting learning experience, but not all together suitable.

Good info Dave, and I have learnt a lot over my zed ownership. I don't regret what I've done really, but I don't want to just keep doing the same because it's there and easy.

You're dead on it there Mitch. I sampled quite a few fast BMW's when the old man was getting his new car, including a fang around the mountains in a new M3. It is leagues ahead of the zed in every respect. The zed might be faster in the straight line, but that's it. It does everything else worse. I'm going to go and drive some other things and then decide which way I'll go. There may be an epic part out thread coming

 

I don't

regret spending on my car, what I do regret is letting supposedly experienced people work on it, only to find out later I'd been let down. If your going to spend up big, make sure anyone who touches it (besides yourself) knows there job inside out.

 

What to try something epic, come and have a drive in one of my toys! I'll give you the plans and you can build one yourself.

 

been there and done it.....

spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on upgrades on various cars/bikes over the years, some to show winning standards/ major magazine stories and some to downright mean street killers .....


my best advice..... do it in stages, small steps over one big hit, that way you'll enjoy the whole experiance over a longer period and you'll keep it for longer aswell.... if you do decide to sell then its a smaller loss over that one off major "investment"



BADZX is only 3/4 done of what I had planned, sadly for me I have to make a choice as to keep or sell, physically I cant cope with it anymore after my back injury 18months ago.

I did ~800K's last year and that was largely the GOR run, I suffered for 3 days afterwards and I'm still not 100% at the moment

sure I could soften it up and make it "pleasant" to drive for an injured person, but that goes against the way the car has been setup right from the get go.


would be like taking an F1 car and turning into a taxi for an elderly home
just wouldnt work
:rofl:


till then.... it sits in the shed and gets started once a week for a few minutes untill I get game enough to suffer some pain, ofcourse I could always drive it gently.....


yeah right..... oh look ..... airborne piggies

:br:

 

I've spent a heap of money......but motorsport is like that. If the car was just a street car that didn't see the track then there isn't a lot of point going beyond the old "Stage 3" mods in my opinion. I doubt I will ever sell the car but I am getting tired of putting money into it. One day the urge to sell it might come up but if it does it will only be to get another toy.