What's the most money you've lost on a car?

Corbic

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2015
Messages
10,925
Location
Desert Oasis
Either in depreciation, upside down trade, mods, repairs or insurance claims.

What's the most some of you have lost on a car?
 

CV355

_
Established Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2016
Messages
3,272
Location
_
Last time I calculated losses on my '00 GT, it was around $48,000. I keep a framed 20x30 of it in the garage as a reminder not to go overboard with cars.

How do you lose $48k on a '00 GT???

Simple. Build it to run 7's, spare no expense, and have someone you thought was a friend sabotage it on you. Then, try to sell it (being honest about transmission damage) while moving across the country. Great way to lose a lot of money.

We lost $8000 on my wife's 2016 JKU on unrecoverable gap when the stupid 17 year old hit her head on at over 100mph. And that was after we put it on our insurance...

Depreciation, my '08 Volvo was $21k when I bought it 8 years ago. It's worth $1800 today according to KBB. Thanks KBB. And that's why I didn't trade it in. Then again, it got me around for 8 years, multiple cross-country trips...

Every other vehicle I've bought or sold has been pretty even/typical.
 
Last edited:

Blk04L

. . .
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2006
Messages
11,313
Location
South Florida
Recently, my second raptor.

Supercharger and some minor mods.

Bought it for 41k, traded it in for 45k after mods.

Thought I did well considering it was a SCAB, but it just wasn't meant to be.

First place goes to the Lightning.

Roughly 10k into the rebuilding the engine. At least 10k on all the superchargers and plenums, 2-3k over the years for tuning etc. Bunch of other parts I don't feel like guessing or looking up the cost for the parts

Bought it for 26k, sold it for 15k.

So down roughly 33k over the lifespan of the truck ownership?
 

Revvv

Infinity Poster
Established Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2017
Messages
10,189
Location
GA
I have given away several vehicles. I guess you could call that a loss. I viewed it as helping someone in need.

Vehicles I gave to others:
Jeep Cherokee
Buick Lesabre
Pontiac LeMans
Chevrolet Z71

...and lastly my 2003 Ram that I should have put an engine in and kept driving.

Every other car in this list was in perfect driving condition, without any issues with the interior or exterior.

If I knew a few years ago that I would be without a truck, I wouldn't have given the Z71 away. I really need a truck, and don't have one.

Sent from my [mind] using the svtperformance.com mobile app
 

Recon

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2016
Messages
3,461
Location
In the 427R
The one I’ll admit is my old MG. Lost 10k from restoration and selling price. We won’t talk about the Porsche.


Pick your poison.
 

Mojo88

"Hammer" Time
Established Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Messages
1,319
Location
RI
I lost close to $50k on the '68 Camaro in my avatar. Had ~$75k into it, sold it for $25k. And the $75k doesn't include anything for all my time, yikes....
 

BlckBox04

I am the liquor
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2007
Messages
8,495
Location
NJ
I've spent close to $20k on my 04 already since I bought it in 07
 

2KBlackGT

The Man, Myth, The Legend
Established Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2005
Messages
9,636
Location
Arkansas
How do you lose $48k on a '00 GT???

Simple. Build it to run 7's, spare no expense, and have someone you thought was a friend sabotage it on you. Then, try to sell it (being honest about transmission damage) while moving across the country. Great way to lose a lot of money.

Drop that story plz
 

quad

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2004
Messages
8,073
Location
Detroit
We're not taking the money to our graves so it is irrelevant if it is lost or not. The car got you from point a to b. And maybe you had fun in it. Personal, private transportation cost money so you're going to lose. I gladly pay for this privilege. I took a public bus a few years ago to go pickup my car and never again. Lots of loud, obnoxious plebs were in the bus and I had to listen to them yapping about. Took all my will power not to grab and toss them out.
 

Corbic

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2015
Messages
10,925
Location
Desert Oasis
We're not taking the money to our graves so it is irrelevant if it is lost or not. The car got you from point a to b. And maybe you had fun in it. Personal, private transportation cost money so you're going to lose. I gladly pay for this privilege. I took a public bus a few years ago to go pickup my car and never again. Lots of loud, obnoxious plebs were in the bus and I had to listen to them yapping about. Took all my will power not to grab and toss them out.
Move along grandpa.
 

T.Man

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2010
Messages
1,197
Location
The Desert
I lost about $7K on my 2018 GT very recently. I don't regret it one bit either. It was a short lived, fun ride but not worth long term ownership.
 

mysticsvt

southernmustangandford
Established Member
Premium Member
Party Liquor Posse
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
8,915
Location
Charleston, SC
22K before lawsuit and 16K balance when the dude died of a cocaine overdose. Had the story here many years. Was a performance shop that went belly up and a guy named Robert Perales I think. Worst Decision of my life. Other than that...been screwed over by many performance shops.
 

CV355

_
Established Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2016
Messages
3,272
Location
_
Drop that story plz

*Deep inhale*
  • Bought the car bone stock in '07. Did some basic mods (exhaust, gears, tune), got hooked.
  • Put on a KB 2.1, nitrous, and SVT fuel system in early 2008, Roush S3 body kit, started getting really addicted between car shows and hitting the drag strip
  • In 2009, I bought an MP 2000hp shortblock, Trick Flow heads (I was on the waiting list for 'em for months), custom cams, sprockets, head plane adapters, the works, everything 100% new. Also had all suspension replaced with UPR Pro-series and Wolfe Racecraft.
  • In 2010, I sold the KB and started spec'ing a custom turbo system. MMR 5.4 hotside w/ Jet Hot, 91mm Y2k turbo, Lightning intake w/ sheet metal upper, massive intercooler in the passenger footwell area, TiAl, Aeromotive Eliminator return system, lots of custom sheet metal work, cage, it was a stupidly expensive year. Finally got the car running in late 2010, just in time to shove it in a garage for winter
  • Took it out in 2011, debated on a Lentech 4R70W or built TH400, new converter, driveshaft, 9" rear, axles, etc. A friend/shop owner talked me into letting him build me a 4R70W. While he was building it, several people reached out and said he was building it with junk and blowing the money on drugs. I asked him for receipts, things got ugly (even had a gun pulled on me, found out last year it was a fake). He took the car for a "Test drive" and came back in 1st gear after 45 minutes. Transmission was roached. He starts rebuilding it a few days later. Around that time, I noticed that my parts and tool bins were disappearing, so I drove down and took everything that was mine, which lead to an ugly encounter. A friend got the car out of there for me and told me that the owner pulled that stunt so he could leave it on his lot and apply to the DMV for the title. Around that time, I moved to SC and my friend helped proxy the sale for me.
  • Sold it for $10,500. It was a work in progress with a garbage transmission, which I had to disclose to the buyer. I didn't feel too bad- he talked me down substantially and got a disgusting deal out of it. Whatever. New owner finished the transmission right. It made 1196rwhp at 27psi and weighed 2950lbs.

Lesson in naivety learned. Can't say I'm faultless these days, but I'll never make a mistake like that again. The guy that owned the shop was a friend for years. He'd give anyone the shirt off his back, and unfortunately he did. Customers started taking advantage of him, bad. It caused him to lose a lot of money on his business, which changed him, and unfortunately he fell victim to his demons. He got out of jail a few years ago and from what I hear he is doing well again. Honestly, I was glad to hear that for him.
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top