Losing Faith

ex2fast4u · #1 03-27-2002, 12:48 PM

I have had my civic for nearly 3 years now. Its a 98' Ex (obviously). I have done all that I can to my existing engine. But now I am against the wall. I want to do a swap. But the funds just aren't there. And Everyone wants like $3000 for a b16a2 with shipping. I am beginning to lose faith in this way of life. What are we doing this all for? I guess what I need to know is, all the money I (we) are spending, is it useless or is it worth it.
~chris

tsunamiHB · #2 03-27-2002, 12:54 PM

when i got into this hobby i had no expectations and i knew i had no money but i know my car is worth alot to ME. It depends on what you wanna do.? Are you bored with it.? Is your car paid off. Could you afford another car payment.? Maybe buy another car and fix it up. My HB will be paid off in about 3 years and i have had it for about 3 alread. (6 year loan) and i'm not bored yet and as soon as its paid off, i plan to keep it and i plan on getting another car.... but with a perfect payment history and excellent credit i'll be able to get that 36,000 dollar S2000 or what eva'.... who knows, but the time will come.... my 2 pennies...

iLLuCiv99 · #3 03-27-2002, 02:27 PM

Hey its only worth it if you want it to be worth it. Like tsunami said, its a hobby! You gotta put time and money into whatever u wanna do. What do YOU want to get out of your car? I just want mine to look nice and be kinda quick, nothing to beat 5.0 or anything. So its all up to you..no one can tell u if its worth it or not, but urself

90CRXZCSi · #4 03-27-2002, 02:51 PM

Yea maybe think about gettin a HB and put a B16 or B18 in it and keep it a sleeper for a while. If you want out of your car and can afford another payment then go for it.

Sparc · #5 03-27-2002, 02:56 PM

It's all up to you. I have something to show for my time and money I put into my cars. I love working on car audio so that's a plus. Do you enjoy what you are doing and where you invest your money?

Rice-Rocketeer · #6 03-27-2002, 03:12 PM

It's worth it for me. I get almost everything I want out of my civic. I look good, get good gas milage, it's relable, has a loud sound system and get compliments from alot of different ppl. It's a reflection of my personality. The only thing I'm missing is speed but hey, I didn't buy it for speed. If you don't think it's worth it anymore, sell it for a bundle and use the money to buy a Toyota Tercel and blend in with the general population again.

soul180 · #7 03-27-2002, 07:28 PM

ex2fast4u, do you do the work yourself, or do you pay to have it done? I think it's more fun when you can install the parts you buy yourself, then look at it and say "I did this", instead of "I paid for this". I've been where you are, but then I get the one compliment on how this person wishes he could have my car, and my faith in renewed. I'm not planning on keeping my car forever. I'm probably going to trade it in for a beamer in a couple years, when i'm ready for a family

, but for now, just take a long look at it, remember why you bought it, and then decide...

jaxle · #8 03-27-2002, 08:47 PM

i kinda lost faith in modding my civic, don't think it will be worth it much (i know i can get swaps but i want more torque!...and rwd) , so now im saving for a 240sx (which i can get one for lil more than what i bought my civ for and it'll be faster)

HXCivic97 · #9 03-27-2002, 09:44 PM

i'm in that money situation with you - I've been toying around with my civic for a little over a year now, and haven't done any real mods yet - biggest thing i've done to it is a short shifter =) But it's still my hobby, and I even though i get frustrated that all my money goes to paying for rent, insurance, and tuition for school, I don't look on this past year as wasted time (or money - the little that i've spent on it). This past year has been a total learning experience. I see/meet a lot of people around here with semi-sported out cars (lots civics) and can sit and talk with them about it, and sometimes am even shocked to find that I know more than they do. But I still learn from them, and enjoy talking to them, and enjoy planning out everything that I'm going to do to the car - when I get the money. So the question to ask yourself I guess it, what's not satisfying you? Is it just that your car isn't as fast as you want? Have you lost the interest in learning about it?

Modding cars is a hobby, and like someone on this thread said (I can't remember who, but I'd give you credit if I could remember

) hobbies take time and money - but even more than that, they're supposed to be fun. Hobbies are those things that take you away from the speed (or lack thereof) and stress of living. They're the things that you can talk to someone about for hours on end and never get bored. They're things that quicken your pulse to think about. And when you start looking at it and it's just not fun anymore.... then what's the point?

So step back for a minute, and instead of focusing on what you CAN'T do, maybe look at what you've already done and things that you can do to the car to keep that spark of your hobby alive. And if it's not monetarily feasible at the moment, then keep dreaming about it, and working for it, and when you finally get it, you'll love it all the more. And no matter what anyone else says about it - or if they even notice it - you'll still be able to smile to yourself with that ultimate sense of pride and know that you've made something beautiful. Because that's just how you feel about you car. Because it's your hobby.

Darkwing · #10 03-27-2002, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by HXCivic97
i'm in that money situation with you - I've been toying around with my civic for a little over a year now, and haven't done any real mods yet - biggest thing i've done to it is a short shifter =) But it's still my hobby, and I even though i get frustrated that all my money goes to paying for rent, insurance, and tuition for school, I don't look on this past year as wasted time (or money - the little that i've spent on it). This past year has been a total learning experience. I see/meet a lot of people around here with semi-sported out cars (lots civics) and can sit and talk with them about it, and sometimes am even shocked to find that I know more than they do. But I still learn from them, and enjoy talking to them, and enjoy planning out everything that I'm going to do to the car - when I get the money. So the question to ask yourself I guess it, what's not satisfying you? Is it just that your car isn't as fast as you want? Have you lost the interest in learning about it?

Modding cars is a hobby, and like someone on this thread said (I can't remember who, but I'd give you credit if I could remember ) hobbies take time and money - but even more than that, they're supposed to be fun. Hobbies are those things that take you away from the speed (or lack thereof) and stress of living. They're the things that you can talk to someone about for hours on end and never get bored. They're things that quicken your pulse to think about. And when you start looking at it and it's just not fun anymore.... then what's the point?

So step back for a minute, and instead of focusing on what you CAN'T do, maybe look at what you've already done and things that you can do to the car to keep that spark of your hobby alive. And if it's not monetarily feasible at the moment, then keep dreaming about it, and working for it, and when you finally get it, you'll love it all the more. And no matter what anyone else says about it - or if they even notice it - you'll still be able to smile to yourself with that ultimate sense of pride and know that you've made something beautiful. Because that's just how you feel about you car. Because it's your hobby.

*standing ovation*

hobbesboarder · #11 03-27-2002, 10:50 PM

before u are gonna sell your car that youve put lots of time and money into, do this first:
1. wash it
2. wax
3. take a step back and look at it for a long time
4. get into the car and rocket down the windest funnest road in your area.

if u arent attracted to your car then its time to get a new one. i was about to sell my car about 3 months ago and i did the steps above and realized i still want my car.

dreemkill · #12 03-28-2002, 01:27 AM

its a hobby - hobbys are expensive.....
my other hobby is no less expensive (computers)
but in my opinion, hell yeah its worth it, its worth every penny. you have one life - enjoy it.
i use my computers every day, and i love them all, and spent a lot of money on them all. but i dont regret it, not even close.
as for my hatchback, ive been in love with the car forever, i finally got one...i drive it almost everyday, if not just to work..why not do things to your car that are functional if nothing else? i spend a lot of time in my car, so i see no problem dumping money into it to make it a more enjoyable experience.

you spend approx. 248,200 hours of your life sleeping - buy a nice/expensive bed.

CivicEx95 · #13 03-28-2002, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dreemkill
its a hobby - hobbys are expensive.....
my other hobby is no less expensive (computers)
but in my opinion, hell yeah its worth it, its worth every penny. you have one life - enjoy it.
i use my computers every day, and i love them all, and spent a lot of money on them all. but i dont regret it, not even close.
as for my hatchback, ive been in love with the car forever, i finally got one...i drive it almost everyday, if not just to work..why not do things to your car that are functional if nothing else? i spend a lot of time in my car, so i see no problem dumping money into it to make it a more enjoyable experience.

you spend approx. 248,200 hours of your life sleeping - buy a nice/expensive bed.

Holy shit dreemkill we've must have been seperated at birth or something cause that's EXACTLY what I was going to post. My other hobby is computers, and that sucks more money out of you than a car does. Plus, I get more satisfaction from fixing and upgrading my car then installing a new AMD cpu.

If you dont' spend your money on your car, then what else? If you can think of something better, then do it, and shut up, or get a better job and do it all.

x86 · #14 03-28-2002, 05:42 AM

Computers do suck quite a bit of money out of you. Between buying computers for my home lab, routers, and switches I can't even guess how much I have spent, but I have something to show for the money and I don't feel I am wasting my time.

Quote:

Originally posted by CivicEx95

Holy shit dreemkill we've must have been seperated at birth or something cause that's EXACTLY what I was going to post. My other hobby is computers, and that sucks more money out of you than a car does. Plus, I get more satisfaction from fixing and upgrading my car then installing a new AMD cpu.

If you dont' spend your money on your car, then what else? If you can think of something better, then do it, and shut up, or get a better job and do it all.

CivSiGuy · #15 03-28-2002, 07:53 AM

now as everyone knows, I don't condone modifying the shit out of a Civic but..

If you really enjoy what you are doing, then it's worth it. Get into it, when you can't buy things for it, research your next mod until you know the machinist's number who's gonna make it. It took me almost a year and a half to start modifying my car over lack of funds, so I just researched the hell out of everything, and started to spread the word. Then they made me a mod or something..

To me, this hobby is not just what you put on your car, it's about enjoying it and helping everyone else to learn it. I can't count how many complete newbies have shown up on the board and turned out to be productive as hell members. I don't want to take credit or anything, but just giving them a headstart over AIM or email or something, and then seeing them really get into it makes me feel really good. The hobby isn't about what you take from the hobby and put on your car, it's more about giving back a little bit to the hobby. Can't buy anything? Find out why a B16 will spin 8 grand. Depressed cuz your exhaust is on backorder? Find out if yours is gonna slam more power to the ground than a Mugen twinloop. Someone will ask that question and there's nothing like knowing the answer and aiding the cause in helping us pull away from this 'rice' culture we've been stereotyped in. Some day, I won't be doing imports anymore, I'll go back to what I learned on, the ol' V8, but unlike most other "V8" people, I'll have seen the darkside of imports, and be damn proud I was a part of it.

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