The cost of the hobby

motomoron wrote: Racing burns time and money like nothing I've ever done. Beyond the financial ruin and crushing workload, you can do everything right and still come home with a balled up car on the trailer, or end up dead or injured. Then one day the planets align and you win one. They hand you a little checkered flag that'd cost a solid $2.99 at Party City, and you're a hero until Monday morning. And it's the greatest thing on earth. I only roughly add up the money on the bad days.

This. I don't get to race anywhere near as much as I'd like but it's constantly on my mind, I truly value the small amount of time I get to spend behind the wheel. Winning is secondary- or at least that's what I tell myself.

motomoron wrote: I only roughly add up the money on the bad days.

I only add up whats left in my pocket. It's a lot easier.

Beer Baron wrote:

Appleseed wrote: Anyone here a pilot? With a plane? Makes a coke habit look cheap.

My running joke whenever my dad tries to get me back into flying is that I need a cheap hobby... like racing Porsches. Only it isn't really a joke.

That's why I fly other people's planes. I've always wanted to, but never got in to flying my own... it's like owning a ferrari.

I don't add it up - it can be a bit depressing - but I am pretty certain that if I was like a "normal person" and bought a new or nearly new car on credit every three years, the payments and insurance would be a LOT more than what I'm spending keeping a 16 year old BMW on the road, while working on several other projects on the side. Some of my wife's co-workers had car payments that would be like having one car eat an alternator and buying a new exhaust for another car - every month.

I don't keep track.....it would be too depressing lol.

I have 12 cars. Most of my family and not-close friends and acquaintances look at me like I have 12 heads when they find that out. None of them cost much to buy, insure or maintain/modify, but it does add up. To how much?... I don't care to consider.

Maybe I really am crazy.

Maybe I don't give a berkeley.

Just like everything else in life, cars are good in moderation.

I like knowing how to fix stuff in an emergency, I also like "experiencing" a vehicle like a trip in Miata or Jeep or something older with character.

I'm also a bit of wanna-be minimalist, and cars don't jive with that. Parts, tools, and vehicles themselves take up tremendous amounts of space and time.

It's that last thing that is the most difficult to reconcile. I love learning, I love a challenge, and wrenching offers both, but there are definitely times when I'd rather be riding mountain bike, or enjoying vacation, or enjoying a day off, than fixing or repairing an older vehicle.

In reply to PHeller:

That pretty much describes me to a T right now.

My coworkers were giving me a hard time yesterday when I was describing all of the maintenance work I need to do to my car. One of them just can't understand when I said I would shoot myself if I had to drive his 2009 Camry all the time. To him, it's the perfect car.