MX-3.com

How many of you are in S#!+ over your spending spree or just how much you spend money on your mx-3........ I know I am one... g/f of 10 years still cant understand why I spend some much time and money on a 95 mazda car... " you will never get that money back out of it " is a familiar saying... also " why dont you spend money like that on me " or " HOW MUCH WAS THAT PART .... and what does it do?? " ... I have heard many over the years....

She still has no idea that working on my car is the only thing that keeps my sane!!

So I know there must be more people on the board that have this issue with a significant other.. so heres a shout out to all thoughs people!!..

you will never get that money back out of it

I hate that quote. I had a GF and my freakin Parents use that one on me all the time. Until I dumped her and told my parents how freaking retarded of a saying it was. You will almost NEVER get as much cash back out of a car as you put into it.. whether you build it or buy it. Its called Depreciation. And only retards dont understand it. There is one thing you will get out of a car if you build it though.. and that is the self satisfaction of a job well done. Beware that GF man.. I dont mean to be insulting.. but she sure sounds like the kind of GF that gets big time jealous and feels she has to compete with everything just to have your attention 24/7.

Tunes67

Haha no worries tunes... She lets me do as I please with the car.... Shes good that way.. and after 10years she knows she is always b4 the car.. no matter what... ....I hope my car wont read this...

I've never really heard that, but I have been asked on why I spend do much money on an older car. My parents don't anymore, they actually understand it not and partially support it, they just want me to manage my spending better. Adding to the self-satisfaction, you do get praise, you make friends, make connections, and I will tell you I've definitely gotten my money back in terms of knowledge gained. It's an expanding hobby, an outlet, a way to "keep out of trouble" as the adults would say. Thanks to my car, I've found where I fit in. I'm proud of my car, and I do miss her. Mind you, it's never about pleasing others but pleasing yourself, getting that good feeling and a smile on your face when you stand back and look at her. When you sit in your car and "It just feels right", she the way you want it, and you can't get that feeling from a dealership.

I will say one thing, I haven't seen my car in almost 3 months, and I'd love to just hear her exhaust right now.

I've heard all that in my tenure as a MX tuner (if you could call my hobby that). I love the car and love working on it. I like racing it, but like working on it even more. In a race crew I would rather be an engineer than a driver... Nothing satisfies me more than a cool mod well done. The projector headlights, the straight neck or any one of the many other things. Just doing something cool and enjoying my time is what it is all about.
My newly wed wife (got married last Saturday, the 13th- yay) has been pretty understanding about the car. I mess with it and spend money on it all the time. Nicole does take a back seat some times, that is just necessary and she understands my passion. Letting her know that if she needed I would put the car off, as I did last year to save money for the wedding. It is key if you are serious with your GF to let her know that you enjoy the car, but love her. If she loves you too she will let you have your toy and enjoy the fact that it brings you pleasure.

Ah...the money thing, i found a bit of a loop. In saskatoon mx-3's go from 2500 for TERRIBLe condition, up to about 5 or 6 for one in very good...anything modified sells for much more, so i expect to get at least 7 grand...which is more than i' have invested, including the car...


We'll say i'm just that good, and living in Saskatchewan is this awesome

Vanished wrote:Ah...the money thing, i found a bit of a loop. In saskatoon mx-3's go from 2500 for TERRIBLe condition, up to about 5 or 6 for one in very good...anything modified sells for much more, so i expect to get at least 7 grand...which is more than i' have invested, including the car...


We'll say i'm just that good, and living in Saskatchewan is this awesome

Jebus!!! I could make a living just driving cars north. I bought my mx with no scratches, no stains, no cracks, no tears, flawless, 5 speed, 60K miles for 2500. I can pick up a old tired one for $500. That's a 500% return!

Yeah it costs money to keep an older car up, but as with most of you the satisfaction gained is worth it. Plus unless you are actively building or modding your car you may be spending less per month than many of the people who have new cars. My 92 MX is the newest vehicle I own, I have a very nice 84 Chevy Silverado and my wife drives a very nice 85 Pontiac Parisienne. All of them are paid for so any money I want or need to spend on them, well I just spend it and am usually happy with the results.

A friend of mine just bought a new Toyota Tundra which will cost him $38,000 by the time he gets it paid for, if it lasts that long. Besides the payments he has to make there is going to be the regular maintenance costs. So I think it pretty well evens out. Like someone else mentioned, al that matters is whether or not YOU a happy with what you have. Anyone else can just take a hike in my opinion.

OldMan

Hey nice feed back guys..

Pat.. Congrads man!!! and good luck budy!!!

First I want to congratulate Pat! I wish you both much happiness every day!

Also Nd4spdse - I liked what you said about proper spending habits.

My wife is much more financially intelligent than I am, and I'm lucky to have her input when I get a wild hair and decide to try something to my car. Usually after some rational thought, I realize that the true cost of the project is more than I want to spend in money or time right now in my life. We are also working hard at paying off all our debts so we can have the time and money to do crazy fun projects whenever we want.

As for the statement "you will never get your money back out of that car", she's never said that to me, and I don't expect she ever will considering my other projects are two antique tractors I will be restoring. One of which I expect to put way more into restoring it than I could ever get out of it, but it was given to me by my father, and to him by his father, so money is not an issue with this one, and I'll spend whatever it takes to make it look perfect.

The thing is, like others have said before me, it's not about the money, and if your GF does truly know that wrenching on cars helps you to relax and helps create a balance in your life (you have told her this, right?), then she will be supportive of your hobby as long as you maintain some balance with hobbies, work and spending quality time with her (which it sounds like you do). Good luck with your hobbies, and your GF.

Have fun,
Vol

I can relate to all this input... I don't think my GF will ever fully understand why I like the MX-3 and I spend so much money on it. Especially for just OEM parts with my excuse "they aren't available in the US" or "I am one of 4 people in North America that has this part". Since my international project is nearing it's completion, I will probably start thinking about putting a KLZE in it... and she understands a newer engine since it is necessary for the car to run...

BUT what I never forget is that she loves me and I love her and she is more important to me than any wordly posession. If it was necessary that I had to choose between the mx-3's or her it would be her for sure (lol no brainer)!

Everyone always asks me how much I will get out of my car if I sold it and their guess is at least ten thousand. That shows how great our cars look and how much they look like they are worth. I know I will never get that out of my car and just tell them that cars are a bad investment and knowing that I will never get what I spent out of my car I just modified it because I love to drive it and like how unique it is when it is done up. Maybe not in some cities but in edmonton alberta there are not a lot of modified mx-3's on the road, they are mostly all stock. A guy came up to me with a 60 thousand dollar corvette and complimented me on my car which made me feel great knowing that my car is not worth anything. But to me its worth everything just not when it comes time for an insurance appraisal or time to sell. Thats what it is all about though, personalizing your ride.

What I find hilarious are people that dont even check the blue book value of their cars before they put a price on it.. There is a 1.6L ATX SOHC Black RS for sale on my local craigslist.. it has 160k miles or so.. which they claim is LOW miles.. and they think the car is worth $3995. Oops.. my bad.. they lowered the price this week to $3333 LMAO. It does look ok.. but really.. LOL

Tunes67

chertel wrote:Everyone always asks me how much I will get out of my car if I sold it and their guess is at least ten thousand. That shows how great our cars look and how much they look like they are worth.

I would never get $10K for my car, I know that and accept that because I have no plans on selling it. If I wanted to sell my car, even C$6000 is probably pushing it, but people always want a deal, they have no appreciation on the work I have put into it because there's very little Mx-3 following, if it was a Civic, 240, Rx-7, even Miata, sure, probably, but the MX-3 nowadays is just a basic economy car for kids in high-school and college, it's definitely not like it was 6+ years ago when I first got into it, but that's what I do like about it. My Mx-3 is for me, and no one else.

Nd4SpdSe wrote: nowadays is just a basic economy car for kids in high-school and college, it's definitely not like it was 6+ years ago when I first got into it, but that's what I do like about it. My Mx-3 is for me, and no one else.

You know what Nd4SpdSe... Your right.. I had my first mx-3 right after a Graduated h/s in 2000 and one of my teachers had a red mx-3 gs .. stock.. And I loved it... Thats what got me hooked.. everyone in school liked it It was so much better looking then all the old civics, chrysler lebaron, plymouth laser's... ( I had one of them lol 4cyl 16v DOHC ) rust-tangs( had one of them too lol 78 mustang 2 351), and Toyota corolla's that everyone else had in h/s.........