i love my car with every bit of me. im currently 19 and going to school and i work at 8$ an hour, about 40 - 50 hours a week. i have no kids or pets. just some bills. ive had my 1996 z24 for a little over a year. in that time i have done lots to it!
however the whole time, my brother and most of my friends have been telling me to sell it and buy a newer cavalier, and not to put money into it, to just save and do somthing else.
i cant because a lot of stuff has happened in this car. its my first car. my first official date was in this car. a girls first time was in this car. my first street race, ticket and accident was in this car. which brings me to my next point.
the car had a salvaged title when i got it. i crashed it one more time since, but it has been fixed. the car has 150k miles on it, but i plan on doing an engine swap with a built 2.4L w/a turbo and nitrous. the body does need work tho, needs new bumpers front and back, new fenders, and some other minor stuff.
my question is, am i really an idiot for wanting to keep it and put money into it to make it nice? is it too old like my family says? i mean its been running awesome since i got it, and if you read my profile you can see i have already done a lot of stuff including over 800$ in suspension and a CF hood.
please note: im not putting money into it to ever sell it, i know you cant get the value back out of a salvaged title.
just was hoping you guys could give me your opinion to make me feel a little better (or worse if you think im an idiot)
-Cameron (CaliforniaCavalier)
Girls make me mad and break my heart, but my car is always there for me.
CaliforniaCavalier wrote:
however the whole time, my brother and most of my friends have been telling me to sell it and buy a newer cavalier, and not to put money into it, to just save and do somthing else.
You have a 1996 Cavalier w/ a salvage title and another accidents. It's worth almost nothing.
Ponder this for a minute. You sell it, spend 4-8000 on a newer Cavalier, a newer car that in short order will be as worthless as the one you're driving, and you'll gain zero value, zero performance.
Let's pick 6000 dollars as the price you'll pay for another car.
For 6k, you CAN put in a engine in your car. Since you live in California, a turbo is not an option. You'll make it illegal, and the fine is pretty stiff WHEN you get caught (huh fstcav?). However, you could probably get away with some cams, port/polishing and still pass smog. You can get headers, full-cat back, rims, etc etc all for well under 6k.
I think buying a new car would be foolish, especially for someone making $8/hr.
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BTW, if you do choose to sell it, I'll give you $500 for it. I'll let you remove all your parts to put on the newer cav.
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i apperciate the advice.
-Cameron (CaliforniaCavalier)
Girls make me mad and break my heart, but my car is always there for me.
i love the look of a white Z like your year.....but that is alot of miles, if you do switch the engine out still everything else has it's share of ware and tare, you migth start breaking things
ehhh if you do upgrade to a newer one, don't go over like 5 or 6 grand that way your not stuck paying on it for a whileeeeeee
but for that price you can get like a 00 z24, which wont be to bad
Well it's a 2 way street,
Spending $300 (or whatever) on car payments
Or spending $300 dollars month op fixing your car up.
Now you like your car and I don't blaime you I like my car too.
So Think of all the things you could fix for that $$$. keep you car and fix it up, Somethings brakes put a better aftermarket pice on..
Also if you chose to get a newer car your insurance will also go up=more $$$$$
What's wrong with stock..?
Id say keep it. New engine tranny and body work could equal the price of a new car with extras. And with all those memories why would you sell it?
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Madjack wrote:Like I said before, building an engine like ours (2.2 or 2200) is a painstaking chore , since there is so few custom made parts. It's frustrating to me too, but that's what I like about doing this engine, it's the challenge.
You can't put a price on the sentimental value.
If there's nothing wrong with it that you don't already intend on upgrading anyway, why get rid of it?
if its paid off, just keep it. i personally wouldnt buy another cav. i just hate the fact they dont hold any value at all.
yeah that was another thing i forgot to mention. i dont want car payments. i had to pay on it (2,000$) the first 5 months i had it. i couldnt put any mods on because the payments were like 400$ a month.
you guys have made me feel much better on this subject
-Cameron (CaliforniaCavalier)
Girls make me mad and break my heart, but my car is always there for me.
Quote:
Spending $300 (or whatever) on car payments
Not only $300 for payment but also a few hundred for insurance (depending on you)
cheaper to fix you car as needed.
hold onto it. in the long run it will be cheaper and it will be the car you want. Not the one you have to deal with. Thats why there is still alot of classic muscle cars or classics for that matter.
i am pretty much in the same boat as you but @!#$, if i am buying a new car i am not sure if i will be getting another cavalier...
It really depends on how you stand financially. I always like to have a couple of grand saved up for emergencies, besides my usual budget. So if your going good financially then I would sell it and get something newer. If your not doing good financially then keep it, don't dump anymore money into it and save for something newer and more important things in life. I know modding cars is a passion for all of us but it really depends on if you have the budget to do it. Good luck with your decision.
nah im already going to keep it, i decided that before i made the post, i was just hoping that there were some other people in my boat, so i didnt feel so "crazy" as my friends call me.
after i do my exhaust, and fix up the exterior for a few hundred $, it will be a sweet car. ill get the title cleaned eventually, but thats after i do some body work.
-Cameron (CaliforniaCavalier)
Girls make me mad and break my heart, but my car is always there for me.
Title cleaned? The car will have a salvaged titled for the rest of its life.
I do believe that the GM supercharger is legal forced induction in California due to the fact that it was an option on the cavalier for a while so I do believe it's CARB approved, at least that's what fastcav said to me while he was living down here.
That's the direction I'm going in right now. Supercharger for the win.
a salvaged title can be cleaned.
let me explain: i know someone who got thier title cleaned last year. all you do, is go to the DMV (i think its the DMV, might be somthing u get from your insurance,) but anyway you fill out a form explaing the car is safe again, etc., and turn it into the DMV.
the DMV has an inspector inspect the car for safety stuff (frame damage, airbags, lights, etc) and then gives you a "rebuildable" title. then you have a certain amount of time to get the things the inspector found fixed, then it is reinspected and if it passes you are sent a clean title.
-Cameron (CaliforniaCavalier)
Girls make me mad and break my heart, but my car is always there for me.
I'll give you 600 for it right now.
i would not spend more money on it and just drive it til it dies, save the money you would have spent on it for a better, nicer, faster car.
If you like your car work with it. i rather enjoy polishing my turd
99 Turbo Sunfire GT | Ram 2500 | International Rollback | Mr Hanky the Suburban
150k miles? hows it run? i was thinking about getting another cav z24 96 with 160k miles for 1500 im a little iffy on the engine tho runs good now but who knows how long it will run?
well i got mine for 2k, and it had 125k miles on it. now it has about 152k, and it ran as good as when it came out of the factory.
the oil comes out cleaner after 3000 miles then any car i have ever seen. i mean really, the oil is perfect.
the radiator fluid stays green and i havent had to add any since ive owned the car, although i did flush it once about 8 months ago. i dont burn oil, and i dont leak oil either.
i did replace the alternator recently when it went out, but that was simple enough.
a 96 and up z24 with ANY amount of miles i would say is a sweet deal if its under 2k. if the body is in great shape i say go for it!
you can always do an engine swap later if it blows up
-Cameron (CaliforniaCavalier)
Girls make me mad and break my heart, but my car is always there for me.
well it's up to you. I'm 22 now, I've been working on the sunfire since I was 19. I'm in school full time studying industrial design, and I work 30 hrs a week. Paying for school and bills it's hard to save up to spend on the car. But I still manage to save up (might take a while), but ill still save up, and work on the car because it is my passion. I love doing it, and I don't see myself stopping yet. Everyone in my family says sell it take the money and save it. I do think in the next year or two I will sell the car.
Is it a waste of money? No i don't think so. Nothing is a waste as long as you enjoy what you are doing with it. There are people that work, and spend their money on things but have nothing to show for it. I have my car. Modding is in your blood, either you do it or you don't. It depends on what you like, and what you want your car to end up like.
I imagine my car as crazy, wild, and nothing seen like it before...others like a clean simple ride....It's all up to you though. If anyhting swap engines, or sell the car now, buy another one and transfer your mods from this car to the new one.
