Spanky's E82 135i DCT

[Spanky]

So, I've undertaken the painful step of cataloguing all expenses incurred on the car to better understand where I stand with it. I track all my other finances and investments rather meticulously, but have avoided this task knowing that it's an irrationally large number.

What an old German mistress does to a MF:

(If only she was Gina Wild IYKYK)

The progression is relentless, with maintenance & mods totaling out to R219k, so far (insert Homer Simpson meme here).


Factoring in all other aspects of ownership, we have the following:



It's a lot, and I'd obviously have been way better off with a little runabout.
On the other hand though, it's actually not that much in the grand scheme, and what experience can one get for R7668pm all-in these days?

She stays, for now...

 

[Benji]

So, I've undertaken the painful step of cataloguing all expenses incurred on the car to better understand where I stand with it. I track all my other finances and investments rather meticulously, but have avoided this task knowing that it's an irrationally large number.

What an old German mistress does to a MF:
View attachment 36515
(If only she was Gina Wild IYKYK)

The progression is relentless, with maintenance & mods totaling out to R219k, so far (insert Homer Simpson meme here).


Factoring in all other aspects of ownership, we have the following:

View attachment 36517

It's a lot, and I'd obviously have been way better off with a little runabout.
On the other hand though, it's actually not that much in the grand scheme, and what experience can one get for R7668pm all-in these days?

She stays, for now...

I also keep similar records and think this is actually very cheap motoring, especially considering that you are driving a fun car that you are also improving by doing mods which brings additional joy.

Compare this to a cheap and soul destroying "runabout" like a BMW 118i which is 750k for a non-poverty spec one.

That is R16,900 per month over 5 years, add R2000 insurance and you are very close to 3 x what you are spending on your "enthusiast" car...

The picture looks even more rosy if you factor in depreciation

 

[320d]

I don't understand how you guys keep book of this well knowing you will never get any of that money back.
whenever i spend money on my projects i just blame it on" mod life" and carry on with my everyday life.

 

[Spanky]

I also keep similar records and think this is actually very cheap motoring, especially considering that you are driving a fun car that you are also improving by doing mods which brings additional joy.

Compare this to a cheap and soul destroying "runabout" like a BMW 118i which is 750k for a non-poverty spec one.

That is R16,900 per month over 5 years, add R2000 insurance and you are very close to 3 x what you are spending on your "enthusiast" car...

The picture looks even more rosy if you factor in depreciation

Absolutely! A German status symbol runabout makes zero sense for sure.

The runabout I had in mind was a secondhand Japanese workhorse - something like a Jazz/Corolla/Yaris etc.. From a purely financial perspective, they do make sense (I feel) and would probably end up costing less than half, all in, over the same period.

I don't understand how you guys keep book of this well knowing you will never get any of that money back.
whenever i spend money on my projects i just blame it on" mod life" and carry on with my everyday life.

The invoices were all stuffed deep inside a cupboard! Took me 7 years to work up the courage to actually look at them in detail

@Benji might remember this too, but we had a professor who always said "Om te meet, is om te weet". And that is kinda why I ended up doing it, just to know and gain perspective on the situation.