jimlab

Jeff's right, body work and paint are the least of your worries.

It's things like $80 radiator reservoir tanks, $130 hood liners, $165 (each!!!) side spoilers, and $100 (each) fender liners that add up quickly. The interior pieces can be even worse, believe it or not.

Unless you've got spare parts coming out of your ears or the patience to wait for a really good deal on the parts you need from people parting out their cars, piecing together all the little odds and ends with new parts can be incredibly expensive.

RX7UP

YOU PAID $5,000 FOR THAT?

Thats a steal! How many miles? Details etc?

BMike

Personally I think a patient person who knows what they're doing would get the best deal out of a CHEAP car with problems that was still COMPLETE. Ie dont buy a car that had an engine fire and needs a ton of parts, or one thats just gutted and has who knows what in the pile of parts that come with it. If the car is still in one piece and just hosed, you get that new motor you were gonna get anyways, you get that single turbo kit you were gonna get anyways, and that power fc...and that suspension...ok ok, i guess im speaking from my position as a guy who doesnt ever leave a car alone. I've spent tons of money replacing "good" stock parts with "better" aftermarket ones. I might as well have started with a cheaper car and replaced all the broke stuff instead of replacing usable parts... But I bought a complete 60k mile excellent compression R1 for 13k, so I think I still got a pretty good deal.

rotary-tt

I'd rather buy a near perfect car and go from there since I don't have much time anymore. Now if you asked me 15 yrs ago I'd picked fixer-upper. I think mine was somewhere between these 2 extremes...been fun fixing over the years but recently I've been wishing it was perfect Funny how a baby takes up all your car play time

pugg57

i spent a bit more than most on my car... but its a 93 with 33k on it and in what i considder excellent condition (even the Mazda dealer couldn't find anything that they could rip me off on... hehe, stupid dealers... just a little joke i have with myself, sorry, i'm an engineer) but i feel it was definitely worth it. i plan on doing most of the work myself but since i spent the few extra at the beginning i can get right onto the fun stuff now and start learning with a fresh, clean, strong running car instead of working to get it working.

revsteve

iTrader: (6)

Well, I bought mine for 14k w/ 30k miles, original motor/turbos.

However, I really think I would have preferred a project. I never really worked on any kind of car before I got my 7. I think people make it out to be a lot harder than it really is.

I do not claim to be any kind of informed on my car's engine or know the insides and outs as so many of you do, however I can say that if given a second chance, I would buy a project and use this forum and a few other things to really figure out the what my car was about.

Instead I feel like I am playing preventative maintenence by putting in the DP, AST, etc. instead of building the whole thing from the ground up.

Great poll!

T-Rex86

lol seriously wtf! I'd sell my SR 240 and buy that for 5k in a heartbeat.There has to be SOMETHING wrong with that car.

racerx93

I vote for the mildly used car for a good price, not a perfect example, and not a beaten up shell. This allows you to get into the game at a reasonable rate and enjoy driving what you have while saving for your next upgrade or improvement.

I followed this line of thought and got a little lucky with the car I purchased as it has been free of most of the demons others have reported.

I have enjoyed not having to fix broken parts all the time as one might do with a more abused vehicle. Most of the money (60 to 75%) spent on my car has been spent on upgrades.

pmazda

I've got one you might like but it has a salvage title. check it out.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2464191396