Originally Posted by maxdustington
I wouldn't buy a $2700 car and pay a shop $3500 for repairs, that's a little ridiculous. Penny wise, pound foolish.
Seems foolish but I could see it making sense, at least in some situation (every situation being unique). I picked up my Camry from $1,500 and put $1,500 into it. $1,200 or $1,300 was actual work, the rest was stereo & trailer hitch. Outside of welding the flexpipe ($200, ouch) the rest I did myself--mounted tires in order to save $70, timing belt and the oil pump seal, valve cover gasket, odds and ends. A shop would have charged over $3k I bet for what I did. All the same: 2 years and 54k, and counting.
I guess since most people couldn't do that out of pocket it changes the scenario, but I could see it working. Me, I could have written it off at any time as an experiment, so I guess it doesn't count--I was willing to gamble. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I wouldn't buy a $2700 car and pay a shop $3500 for repairs, that's a little ridiculous. Penny wise, pound foolish.
Seems foolish but I could see it making sense, at least in some situation (every situation being unique). I picked up my Camry from $1,500 and put $1,500 into it. $1,200 or $1,300 was actual work, the rest was stereo & trailer hitch. Outside of welding the flexpipe ($200, ouch) the rest I did myself--mounted tires in order to save $70, timing belt and the oil pump seal, valve cover gasket, odds and ends. A shop would have charged over $3k I bet for what I did. All the same: 2 years and 54k, and counting.
I guess since most people couldn't do that out of pocket it changes the scenario, but I could see it working. Me, I could have written it off at any time as an experiment, so I guess it doesn't count--I was willing to gamble. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.