It's been a money pit for the past 4 years. I bought a new car to get away from the maintenance. It's still taken me 2 years to get it running somewhat decent as a daily driver:
2 bent rims. Aftermarket (TSW) that are discontinued. 4 new wheels & tires (stock) $1000
Transmission mounts$350
Busted front strut.$600/pair
Broken control arm (suspension)$200
Engine mounts$150
Valve-job$325
Transmission Service$170
Radiator/Cooling System$170
Catalytic Converter (Rear catback)$165
that's all in the past 20 months. I still need the front cat and a paintjob. I'm close to $4,000 in the past 2 years. A 2002 i35 with 170k miles is worth about $2000. All for a glorified Maxima.
Registered: 2003-03-27 Location: San Antonio, TX. Posts: 469
I have a strong emotional bond with the car. It makes no practical sense to keep dumping money into it, especially with my other (and much nicer) car as an option.
it wouldn't be pointless at all! if it takes zero dollars to be undriveable that's arguably better than thousands to be driveable.
whatever you've paid until now is sunk costs and you just have to ask yourself each expenditure out if it makes sense to continue.
of course if its a hobby and/or you derive some sort of pleasure from fixing broken things that's value, even if you aren't spending money with absolute efficiency.