Hello Members,

About a month ago I purchased a 2001 Sebring Silver with 125k miles sight unseen on eBay. I was going to FL anyways for a family event so I took delivery of it then. It needed new tires so I had them delivered to the seller in advance. I was in about $8600 total before registration. The car had a clean carfax and all matching body panels. No rust, good brakes, no top leaks, and pretty straight overall. Since she arrived home, I've been taking care of small things like:

New visors since they were seriously faded
New rearview mirror
New Head unit and two new speakers

The more I drive it, the more things I want to do to it such as:
New clutch to fix clutch buzz
New front clip
I'd love to respray the car the same color to fix years of Florida sun wear
New floor mats
Im considering new carpets
And the list goes on.

At what point does one stop and say that the car was $8100 and that dumping more money into it wont affect its value? I tend to want to restore things but at some point you get deep into diminishing returns. What are your thoughts?

 

I'm not super familiar with the market where you are but the prices on s2000's are just going up.

Things like clutch buzz, carpets etc are maintenance things that are necessary in my books.

Paint can be restored I think with a really good detailer.

Enjoy the car, do what makes you happy, and don't let the resale value or whatever make the decision for you (within reason)

 

How long do you want to keep your car is the question you need to ask yourself. At least that's how I view it.

I plan to keep this car for the rest of my life. So any upgrade I "want" can wait. No rush. Anything I buy won't feel like a waste. More like something new to enjoy. In the year and a half of ownership I've bought a radio, an exhaust and billmans tct.

My future plans are full body paint job, hardtop, and wheels. But these are costly so I'd rather continue buying small things first or take care of maintenance stuff which is more important.

At the end of the day it all comes down to how much money you have. If you plan to resell in the future then I don't think investing money in the car is worth it. You will never get that in return. Just enjoy the car as is and sell it as is.

 

The value of these cars seems to be on an increase the past couple of years. Keeping the car in good shape preserves the value. As a general rule original cars typically retain more value than modified. E.g. - repainted cars are worth less than cars with original paint. The "front clip" is part of the "matching numbers panels" but takes a lot of stone chips. A good body shop can respray it to a very close color match -- it never exactly matched when new because it's paint over plastic vs. steel. They can probably restore the original paint as well.

New clutch is your major expense. Start saving for it.

I assume all the fluids were changed before purchase or you've done that? Hydraulics and coolant are on a time, not mileage basis. Engine, gearbox, and differential are based on miles. Seems that folks here change all this long before schedule but they're not that expensive. Even I can to this stuff once the car is off the ground.

A decent upgrade is the AP2 (17") wheels but you just bought 16" tires so that's a distant upgrade.

-- Chuck

 

Its different for everyone.

I don't care about "current prices" or "future prices". I bought mine 10 years ago and have since ridden the price rollercoaster without any care. I don't foresee any plans to sell it. Any upgrades or fixes I do are done if they are worth it to ME for some sort of purpose or experience.

I limit myself based on rationale and logic. I make (X) amount of money. I am willing to spend (Y) amount of money on my car hobby.

I have no delusional thoughts telling me that if I decided to sell the car, I'd get my money back for mods or maintenance. The money is considered gone once I spend it. I justify spending the money only to myself. If I cant justify it...I don't buy it. Simple rhyme.


My personal examples:
A $2200 GT wing to use for track days? No. Because I'd use it a few times a year and then be saddled with the effort of removing it for street use. Its not a track-only car.

A pair of Recaros, some wheels/tires and an exhaust? Yes. Because I'll use/love/enjoy them every single time I drive the car.

Do I need any of them? No. They're all f#&king stupid purchases. The car runs fine without them...and the car is just a car I bought for zero practical purpose in the first place. Why rationalize the irrational? The only reason to buy it is if you want it/plan to use it.



If you plan to sell the car in a few years, buy things that you'll enjoy for a few years. If you added a head unit to the car...who cares if it isn't worth the $200 you paid for it in a few years? You paid for the use of it while you owned it.

Then again, most of my purchases are just for me. Generally, IDGAF about preserving the car for the next guy or how the market is playing out. I care about how it works while I own it. When I buy a new car that I intend to drive through the winter, for example, I buy a set of custom fitted all weather mats. Why? Because I want the car to stay clean for *ME*...and I don't want *MY* mats sliding around under *MY* feet. When I sell the car, the fact that its value is preserved by using said mats is secondary to the service they provided for *ME*.

 

I paid around $10k for my 2000 with 105k miles, then promptly put $30k in mods. My logic was I knew what I wanted...and the mods were forthcoming regardless of the initial purchase price so I went with high mile car to decrease initial purchase price

 

The second you buy a used a car, I think youre in the territory of diminishing returns. I dont care what strong market resale value has to say. That being said, I dont think you should plan out your upgrades based on what the car will be worth in the future because you would never enjoy the car with that mindset. Even driving the car would bring down its value and I know you dont think of the value of your car for every mile you drive.

I say it never really ends if you can see yourself with this car for a long time.

 

if you plan on keeping it for a long time stick with simple upgrades and keep up with maintenance. Don't neglect fluid changes or cleaning your air filter. I recently replaced my fully working clutch(go with OEM disk btw) because I was tired of the buzz that I dealt with for a few years and I feel 100% better about the buzz going away. Now I need to quit being lazy and figure out what's rattling sometimes at around 4000rpm, a heat shield maybe?

Don't do mods that are distasteful or hinder the reliability, that's really all I can say.