I've taken a couple days off work because I've been sick, but feeling a lot better now.

I'm not sure if it's just me or if there's anyone else out there, but I've been thinking about my life, and my future, aside from my love for my car.

The end result of me finishing my car is roughly $5,000 away, which is definitely attainable within the next year, but I'm also over $20,000 invested into the car as well as almost 2 years. What's the benefit of the car when it's finished? It's a hobby, but it's an expensive hobby, I can track the car, but there's more money right there. Fortunately my loving parents purchased the car for me as a graduation gift fully paid for for me being an honor student in high school. I am very thankful for that. Most all the money in aftermarket parts came out of my own pocket. I am also thankful for being able to have a job with the economy the way it is that allows me to spend my money on car parts, and not put myself into any major debt.

A dream I've always had before modding my car was having my own house, but now with that dream, I've imagined also having a garage to store my "track tc" and walking into the garage and seeing it every morning. The dream of owning my house is a long way from now, but that's with the thought of keeping the tC. I have been heavily considering parting out my tc and converting it back into stock. I may get $10,000 back for parting it, which is almost half, but the other half that I lose won't be as big of a deal because I can honestly say I lived the life of a car enthusiast, being able to attend shows, working on my own car, meeting other car enthusiasts and even creating awesome friendships along the way. There are some other goals that I have yet to achieve, but I begin to wonder what those goals will do for me once I attain them.

Keep in mind that I'm a 20 year old college student that's working fulltime also, so I'm very very busy, but I don't like to use any of that as an excuse to make myself sound better. I'm an average kid that likes to work on my car, drink, have fun, and meet lots of people, especially pretty women. I also love money. I'm mildly happy with what's going on my life, but of course I run into times where I am depressed too. Not depressed where I want to hurt myself, but depressed where I want to just stay home, listen to music and lay in bed.

Should I part my car out? Should I finish? I know that this thread may be pointless to others but I'm just venting, and I needed maybe some words of advice to lead me in a direction, hopefully the right direction, success, or even happiness.

I apologize in advance if my writing is a bit confusing, I've been taking some crazy medicine that relives tension headaches (stress from work) which makes you drowsy and dizzy.

you can still have fun while your young, but you need to start putting money away bc before you know it your buying an engagement ring and a place to live, and time seems to pass by quickly

dam thats a _____ im in the same position about to graduate high school and not sure what to do. save up to move out or keep spending on the tc.

when you put 20K into a bathroom of a house you get it all back, cars it never happens, thats not goin to stop me from still modding a little but just sad reality of car enthusiasts such as ourselves is its an expensive hobby

i'm glad theres people out there that can relate to my situation. My word of advice is Spend what you have, don't spend on what you don't have lol, but I'm still up in hte air of this crazy idea of parting my car. I'm leaning more towards fishing it to see the end result, but again I'm still unsure of anything at this moment. I still have parts on order that are on it's way too :S

Hi,

Your post is very touching actually, as I have gone through similar situations in my life. I am 25 now and I have made some good decisions and bad ones, but here is my advice.

You need passion in your life, if you give it up, you will in the long run just be more depressed. I think a solution you should consider is to maybe lower your goal on your car. Instead of spending 5k more on your car this year, spend 2500 and put the rest back. It sounds like you have a ton of mods on your car already, so maybe focus on enjoying it now instead of adding to it.

Best of luck to you. Your humbleness is inspiring, and rare these days with all these punk kids around.

I can't believe your even considering the idea of parting out this beauty. But then there are more important things out there then a car. So whatever you decide there's going to be people backing you up 100%. I'm behind you 100% whatever you do man.

I call dibz on the bride seats, brackets and harnesses!!!!! :)

I call dibz on the bride seats, brackets and harnesses!!!!! :)

Scavenger!!! :lol:

I call dibz on the bride seats, brackets and harnesses!!!!! :)

Scavenger!!! :lol:

LOL!!!! :rofl: Heck ya!!!!

^^ jb23fan and iceman

I really appreciate your guys's kind words. One thing I didn't realize that jb23fan pointed out is that I never had the idea of taking my time to accomplish my car goals. I've been looking at the end result and not giving myself time to absorb what's really going on and enjoying what I have with my car.

I can't believe I never took the time to take a step back and look at the whole picture. I've been too into it and not letting myself live.

I think that is one of the best solutions, spending 2500 now, and 2500 later over the next couple.... actually I'm not gonna set a time frame. I'm building the car for myself, so I don't need to finish it immediately.

You definitely opened up my eyes jb23fan. Thank you again for reading me vent, and providing advice that I will definitely keep in mind.

Been in your same frame of mind when I was your age,except it was with a 1976 Camero.Spent about $15000 in parts on a $3000 car.I wish I had taken the time to enjoy what I had while I had it.Enjoy your ride Stephen,no need to part it out.

But.......do indeed begin to plan on the future if you put $5000 a year away for the next 5 years you would have the money to put down on a home,put $10000 away for 5 years and geta really nice home.

Continue to work on your education,but also do not tear the car down at a loss and try to fund the future with it.Enjoy the car......you have done a great job building it.....it is ready to be enjoyed.

Honestly you are a bit young to need to purchase a home right now,without money down you would end up with a old home with issues and high mortgage......

Just take your time and focus on putting the future into your plans.Write down your goals,then write down ways to get to those goals without losing ground on where you are now.Never go backwards if you can help it to move forward.

Remember if you et bored driving that car you can always trad me the Yaris for it.........lol.

^^ jb23fan and iceman

I really appreciate your guys's kind words. One thing I didn't realize that jb23fan pointed out is that I never had the idea of taking my time to accomplish my car goals. I've been looking at the end result and not giving myself time to absorb what's really going on and enjoying what I have with my car.

I can't believe I never took the time to take a step back and look at the whole picture. I've been too into it and not letting myself live.

I think that is one of the best solutions, spending 2500 now, and 2500 later over the next couple.... actually I'm not gonna set a time frame. I'm building the car for myself, so I don't need to finish it immediately.

You definitely opened up my eyes jb23fan. Thank you again for reading me vent, and providing advice that I will definitely keep in mind.

Glad I could help :) I am picking up my xB RS6 on Saturday, so I will be heading down the same road soon :)

I have had that exact same thought process going on in my head for awhile now. I have put so much into my tC, I dont want to get rid of it. But the trill has slowly been driven out of this, things went from fun and games to super competitive. I guess I never thought it through when I took the big step.

I would say keep the tC though, happiness is more important than any amount of money you could have.

Just my two cents

i agree with Kirby! and the others, its maybe time to slow down and enjoy the fruits of your labor! keep the tc man!!!

No matter what, what you did to the car will always be with you... you do not need the car to know what you accomplished and the fun it gave you.

I suggest focusing on the larger things... I spent many years and a ton of money on my tC, then Minicooper, Then S2K, and know although I loved doing it all myself and have a ton of trophies, I wish I'd spent the money more wisely, as cars always break, always lose value, and eventually rust away... I know try to value experiences more than I value things.

Now, I work someone making half the money I did at my last job, but LOVING it a hundred times more... I still check out the cars and love researching and seeing them, but in this economy and in this time of my life, cars are a REALLY REALLY bad investment all around.

Do what you feel is best, but remember, the important things rarely ever have horsepower.

Investing in a house is always the right thing to do if you can afford it. Especially right now, it's the perfect time to buy. But you are still in college, and I would just have fun. There's plenty of time to worry about a house, just don't screw up your credit.

I've had my house since I was 21, and been living on my own since I was 16. This year, I have decided to start putting money into the house, instead of the car and hopefully it will pay off in a couple years when I go to sell, and there will be money for a bigger house and a faster car, lol.

Oh man, you're my age and you've spent tons of money on your car in comparison to me. :P My money goes to my expensive appetite. :(

From the point of view of someone the same age as you, I think that you should just keep working on your car, but like what others have said, save some of the money that you'd spend. Then when you're sick of it part it out so you at least get something back,.. but make that sorta a last resort.

Luckily modding is only a hobby and you can stop whenever you feel like it, you still have school and work to deal with. :P

My .02

Don't spend anymore money on the car unless you are going to make money off the improvements. If not, part out the car or keep it in its current state. I have countless friends who spent small fortunes on cars/bikes/atv/watches....etc. who are now freaking out because they have nothing to show for their hard work. They wish they had the funds to buy a house, propose to significant other, travel....but can't because they either have no savings or worse off have tons of debt.

I have a nice new car, house, investment savings & travel...because I didn't spend my money on "want to have's"

Don't get me wrong, enjoy life...but plan for the future.

If you can, put 1/3 of what you are taking home each month into savings (either money market, CD, etc.) This way you are less likely to spend it because it isn't in savings...but it is liquid if you need it in an emergency. Stay away from mutual funds & retirement funds for the time being.

Spend 1/3 on bills

Spend last 1/3 on having fun

Don't go as strict to not leave fun money, otherwise you will get the urge to spend more than you should.

Do, I feel what you mean. I'm 20, I am getting to that point where I might want to start living on my own and I can almost visualize that part of my life, where I say, "I want to buy my own house". The amount of money that has gone into my car has undoubtedly crossed my mind many times. Especially when family/friends ask me why I do it so much; why not just buy a nicer car than to drop $X,000 into a $XX,000 valued car.

My response to that is: experience. Like you have said above, about taking a 10K loss on your parts, I get the sense that you have really enjoyed it and taken away experiences from the car scene, and that's what matters. I guess my plan for the future is....I'll spend as much money as I can on my car now, but when I find a full-time job, I'll have to make some decisions.

The way I look at it is I want to mod my car because its a cool feeling to be able to put in some time and make a middle class car look "nice". Once I achieve all that is to be achieved within my budget, I might move on and get something new; "new" doesn't always have to mean a car. After "finishing" this car, I think I might focus on a house. Houses don't depreciate as much as cars, usually lol. And hey, who says you can't make simple mods to the car when you have a house. It's all in a matter of time, right?

I hope that you car is more then just a hobby to you..that it has still retained some sort of sentimental value. But in most cases, people become bored of there ride mainly because material things are just temporary pleasures. However I believe you do have a passion for your ride and your style is unique. So as long as you are decent on money then continue your passion.

Honestly dude been there. While it is different for everyone, I actually went like this: Had the car, put a ton into it, bought a house, stopped modding the car, ended up selling the car, then got the Scion. While modding the Scion has gone a lot slower than the previous car, I realized 2 things: I was young and putting money into the car kept me out of other things, and secondly that I enjoyed every second of it and if i had to do it over, I wouldn't change it for anything. Basically to me it was reaching that point where I didn't want to daily drive it anymore made me think about it and I am guessing that is where you are at. At that point I got a Ranger and rocked that daily for like 3 years. Not very glamarous (sp?) but meh it did the job. In the end you will do what is right for you but as said before it might not hurt to at least get a savings going, and make sure all your bills are paid off, before you look into houses.