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Mondak · 07-20-2004, 08:34 AM

Talking out loud here, but I was wondering if you could help me get some idea of cost / worth of a project. I was thinking of starting my own thread, but when it comes down to it, merkerguitars has the most experience with this.

My wife has a 5.0 1995 Mustang Convertable. It is a green / Blue with a camel top and interior. It has 104k miles on it, but Chasey (wife) drives it like a grandma and we really take good care to maintain it. Other than the fact that it burns oil pretty well and DEMANDS 91 octane (pings like shit at anything else) it is a very reliable car. The top is showing some wear and although it looks great (we just had it waxed) it has the normal tiny dings that any close to 10y/o car would have. Also, the seats are a little worn. No holes mind you / just worn from sun and use. We live on the beach in San Diego so it is a killer car to have.

The thing is that we are going to start a family soon and I know there is no way she will be able to reach the clutch with a belly. Plus it is not the best for toting around a kid.

She wants to sell it and buy something else. I can't realisticly switch vehicles with her I don't think since I use my Jeep Grand Cherokee for skiing which I take a major trip once a month at least. The problem I have is that selling this car does not get what it is "worth". What I mean is that we can get like $4000 or so for this thing which I think is a sin for what this car is.

I want to keep the car and just pay for the new one with other money we scrape together. Then put a cover on the car, leave it in the driveway and drive it from time to time / or give it to a friend to use if they come out for a weekend. As we get some spare money, maybe make some improvments. An overview of things over the next few years I would try to do.

1. New Top
2. Interior (I can send it to Mexico for a couple weeks and have it done over reliably and with very good craftsmanship)
3. Paintjob (Like a patriot blue / metalic)
4. Engine - What can be done here / should be done to a 10year old engine?

Finally - any strategies to convince her that this is not just the money pit that it looks like?

So far I have the "Where are we going to be able to get a powerful convertable that we can trust when we ever do decide to get one again? " and "This thing is not going to keep going down in value all that fast so if we need the money, it has already lost most of the value it is going to lose."

Thanks for the help.

07-20-2004, 08:34 AM	#186 (permalink)
Mondak Industrialist Location: Southern California	Talking out loud here, but I was wondering if you could help me get some idea of cost / worth of a project. I was thinking of starting my own thread, but when it comes down to it, merkerguitars has the most experience with this. My wife has a 5.0 1995 Mustang Convertable. It is a green / Blue with a camel top and interior. It has 104k miles on it, but Chasey (wife) drives it like a grandma and we really take good care to maintain it. Other than the fact that it burns oil pretty well and DEMANDS 91 octane (pings like shit at anything else) it is a very reliable car. The top is showing some wear and although it looks great (we just had it waxed) it has the normal tiny dings that any close to 10y/o car would have. Also, the seats are a little worn. No holes mind you / just worn from sun and use. We live on the beach in San Diego so it is a killer car to have. The thing is that we are going to start a family soon and I know there is no way she will be able to reach the clutch with a belly. Plus it is not the best for toting around a kid. She wants to sell it and buy something else. I can't realisticly switch vehicles with her I don't think since I use my Jeep Grand Cherokee for skiing which I take a major trip once a month at least. The problem I have is that selling this car does not get what it is "worth". What I mean is that we can get like $4000 or so for this thing which I think is a sin for what this car is. I want to keep the car and just pay for the new one with other money we scrape together. Then put a cover on the car, leave it in the driveway and drive it from time to time / or give it to a friend to use if they come out for a weekend. As we get some spare money, maybe make some improvments. An overview of things over the next few years I would try to do. 1. New Top 2. Interior (I can send it to Mexico for a couple weeks and have it done over reliably and with very good craftsmanship) 3. Paintjob (Like a patriot blue / metalic) 4. Engine - What can be done here / should be done to a 10year old engine? Finally - any strategies to convince her that this is not just the money pit that it looks like? So far I have the "Where are we going to be able to get a powerful convertable that we can trust when we ever do decide to get one again? " and "This thing is not going to keep going down in value all that fast so if we need the money, it has already lost most of the value it is going to lose." Thanks for the help. __________________ All truth passes through three stages: First it is ridiculed Second, it is violently opposed and Third, it is accepted as self-evident. ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)