Conundrum-How much is too much: the cost of Driving your car.

There seems to be a continuing discussion over how much a "Rod" (read that as Street, Hot, Rat ,or Classic) should be driven. I was just on Hamb reading a thread on car shows and trophies. "...only real cars are driven.." and "....gold chainers, trophy whores and trailer queens never drive their cars cause their afraid to..", are some of the many comments I've read.

Which bring the thought to mind "What does it really cost to drive our cars"?

Take insurance for instance. I have the Willys insured through Condon and Skelly along with our other two "classics" only because the premiums are 1/3 that of everday insurance. The full coverage premium on the Willys alone is a lot more than for my new Ford pickup through my regular insurance, and that is for restricted use on the Willys. If I did want to drive it to work everyday, (between the price of gas at 4 mpg + the cost of insurance), it really does cost a small fortune. And with restricted use insurance if I'm in an accident they may or may not pay depending on whether I was in the wrong driving situation.

So, as owners of street rods (toys) what choices do we have?
Don't drive them at all?
Don't worry about having full coverage (or any) insurance altogether?
Bite the bullet and spend what it costs and enjoy it?
The hambers would "say nobody twisted your arm to run a blown big block or have a fancy paint job to worry about"?
On the surface it seems to be a very valid argument. After all we chose to spend the kind of money we did on our cars in the first place.

So how much does it really cost to drive your car, whether it be a small block roadster, or a 632CI GTO? And how much do you really drive it?
John

My 48 is pretty easy on me, the mild build allows for almost 15 mpg and the insurance isn't too bad. It costs me more a year to store my car than it does to drive it.

except for the price of gas mine is pretty cheap

People will always find money to pursue their hobbies, regardless of how high those costs go. We may cut down a little, but pretty soon we just suck it in and put out more cash. When I lived in California during the gas crunch, my main concern was how to find gas so we could go boating on the weekend.

I came out of the marine industry, and they are facing some tough times right now. Gas on the water is about $ 4.25 on up a gallon, and it isn't uncommon for a typical boater to drink 50 or 100 gallons of gas (or more in some cases) in a weekend, so people ARE cutting back to some degree. But we recently went out on my Son's boat for a day, and the water is still pretty crowded........people are somehow getting room in their budgets to go out and catch some fish and sun.

To put it into perspective, once you add up the price of the boat initially, insurance, dockage or storage fees, required regular maintenance, upkeep, repairs, fuel, and supplies like food and drink for a day on the water, our car hobby is actually not a bad deal comparatively.

And then there are those people who like to fly recreationally........:eek: :eek:

Don

I agree with Brickman...it cost me more to store my car for 6 months than it does to insure it for a year!!!!

As far as I'm concerned, I really don't care how much it cost to drive. No; I'm not Big Daddy Warbucks!

Since our cruising season in Rochester, NY usually lasts about 4 months, I drive my car as much as possible. Since many of us here have a daily driver, it shouldn't matter. If you have to worry about how much it cost to drive something that many people dreamed of having, you probably shouldn't have built or bought it in the first place.

Come on, It's all about the enjoyment!

Pat

Except for gas, my two cars have been relatively inexpensive to own and drive. MPG's are in the single digits most of the time, but the SMG (smiles per gallon) are always in the triple digits.:D :LOL: :LOL:

Neither of them cost a fortune to acquire or build, I do mostly local (100 miles or less) events, and insurance costs are very reasonable (half as much as they used to be under a different company). Maintenance and repairs have cost less than a $1000 over the last 10 years for both cars. Biggest expense for the 34 has been rear tires. Replace every 2 to 3 years, 6000 - 8000 max. Wide tread, soft compound, heavy foot = poor wear.:eek: :LOL:

Bob...I like it! That's what I was trying to say "Smiles Per Gallon!"

Pat

"SPG" is high for sure, that says it all. It really doesn't matter because this is the only thing I have for a hobby and don't plan anytime soon to stop enjoying it. Like Patmonaco said, we enjoy cars that alot of people would gladly give up body parts for and it's hard to put a price on that. For me it's a lifetime dream come true.

If you play golf, there's always $$$$$ for that trick new club.

If you fish, there's always $$$$$$$$ for a boat.

If you're into cars there will always be $$$$$ to drive and enjoy them.

AND, you do get those "smiles per gallon"!!

How much is too much?

I don't know.:D

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Originally Posted by brickman

.. Like Patmonaco said, we enjoy cars that alot of people would gladly give up body parts for and it's hard to put a price on that. For me it's a lifetime dream come true.

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Well said!!!!!

(It doesn't appear as though most of our HAMB brethren share those same ideals;) )

My 67 Nova has been sitting with fire and theft insurance, the plate say's 1998.
I have been trying when, and, as I felt well enough to patch on the floors. I didn't know how bad they were until I got ready to sell it and the person interested informed me.

Now about 8 years later I just ordered new floor pans so if anyone has tips on what not to do to keep from messing it up please let me know. I did watch a video on putting pans in a Chevelle so I’m going to try. It’s a 2dr. ht. I would like to drive it to Indy to the Super Chevy Show, and the Goodguys Show, this year. It may get 9 or ten miles to the gal. But grin and bare it for the pleasure of it. Plus {smiles per gallon}:) :) like mopar34 has coined the phrase.

Richard

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Originally Posted by 41willys

Well said!!!!!

(It doesn't appear as though most of our HAMB brethren share those same ideals;) )

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that would depend on who and what day you ask , and the alignment of the cosmos!

First ,i would not worry about what they say over there!

anything enjoyable costs money, its up to the person to identify how much is enough. What`s affordable for some ,might not be the same for others. If you can afford it ,and it makes you happy, then do it!

The merc was cheap for me. I did not have fancy insurance, so other than gas ,and maintanance, i had no expenses

As of july this year, it has cost me 2,650 dollars a year to drive and own my T. New expenses for 2007 amounted to about 600 dollars for fuel, insurance, a couple tires and a brake update. I do most of my own work so there is very little outside expense involved. I don't get a lot of miles because my ol bum and knees just don't get along all that well with settin flat on the floor but every one of those miles is a hoot. Thing is, I get more enjoyment out of the tinkering with it than anything else. I guess that cost is just a secondary thing to what you enjoy. The more youenjoy it the more it costs and the more it costs ad infintum. :whacked:

Its a cost that I dont mind paying because it gives me great enjoyment just to hear it start, not to mention the thrill I get lacing into it out on the road. I only hold liability insurance, They think it has a 4 banger instead of the 12-1 compression 460, So I dont get slapped there. Its the 7.50 a gallon 110 race fuel that has me on edge. Along with my expensive drum playing habbit, and my sons skateboarding and 5 guitar habbit, And my wifes stamping, scrapbooking and cooking habbit that keeps us broke. way too many hobbies around here. But we are living while we are alive, instaed of saving for a future of only possibly retireing. I know that sounds crazy but I just accept the fact of working until I leave this world, Oh crap what am I worried about , I bought a winning lottery ticket today, DUH !

It's all about what makes you happy. Like Don said, we'll find the money to pursue what we like. In my case, I build my cars to drive. Even when I lived in Indiana, I never put my hotrod in storage. If we had a clear day and the roads were dry, you might have seen me in a ski-mask and gloves driving my fenderless C-Cab delivery in 20 degree January weather!:HMMM: :LOL: Now I live in Florida, so seasonal weather is not a factor; my coupe gets driven year-round... a lot!:cool:

Here are some real numbers: Since I do 100% of the work myself, I build my cars pretty reasonably. It cost me just over $7,600 to build my coupe. It's undoubtedly worth at least 4 times that (No, it's not for sale at any price!), but the real worth is in those smiles per gallon. I have regular plates on it and conventional insurance because I don't want any restrictions on when, where, and how much I can drive it.:D I have liability, property damage, uninsured motorist, medical, and comprehensive insurance. I do not carry collision insurance because if I wreck it I'll be the one who has to fix it anyway. The insurance costs $644 per year.;) It's not a blindingly fast car, but it has decent acceleration and handles like a European sports car. It averages 18.5 mpg on the road and about 15-16 mpg in town.:D

Haven't put a drop in mine in 5 years. :LOL: :LOL: Can't seem to get it to start. :LOL: :LOL:

I must be the exception.... Most of the time when I do have a "done" car of my own around it either sits or does most of it's travelling in the trailer....and not because they are a show car. When the car is out of town in the trailer it could be going to a show, to the dragstrip, or maybe even up to Brainerd for an open track day.....

Soooooo many idiots, drunks, and cell phoners on the road these days I just prefer not to let them take a shot at my pride and joy. The trailer isn't bullet proof, but it does give it a bit of protection. I still enjoy driving Hot Rods, I just am a bit fussy about the playing field I use.... I guess when I was a lot younger and there were a lot fewer cars on the road I wasn't quite as fussy about it as I am now. When I do take something out now it's either very late at night after all the drunks have floundered their way home or early on Sunday morning when most are sleeping in.

As for the hamb and other of these if you don't drive it, you ain't **** sites, I would imagine a lot of them are relatively new to Hot Rodding, or suffering from "I am Invincible" syndrome!!!!! Another reason, I'm afraid if someone did run into me, I'd probably wind up comitting at least one felony before the cops got there!!!!!

I still enjoy the process of the build as much or sometimes even more then curizin' in the finished product anyway!!!! Given my druthers, I'd rather be out in the shop then out on the road anyway.....

....my '32 w/ a small block Chev motor gets 10 MPG {w/ 4:11's} it used to get 12 MPG (w/ 3.0's}. It's insured for 1 million PL/PD, 2 G's deductable, w/ $60 G's agreed value that costs $525 every 6 months {State Farm}, no restrictions. I drive it everywhere, 365 days a year, cuz it's the only car I own. Although, I do rent cars from time to time to go long distances {if I'm in the 'mood' for a little confort!}.... I spend a lot of time in a town that's 25 miles away so I pretty much fill it up every time I leave the house {$50 bucks}. BUT the SPG are well worth it! I get the 'tumbs up' all the way from kids that are 6 years old up to 90 year olds! I'd drive it everyday even if it got 4 MPG!!! A while back in a gas station I had a guy driving a Ferrari looking it over & complimenting me on it! Bill

Hmmmm
What does it cost to drive my car?


Lets see. 2 1/2 weeks ago- drive to car show, lumber falls from truck, Deuce hits lumber.
That was a $19,970.00 day.

Still fighting w/ Grundy & the car sits at SoCal- gathering dust.

I get 8-10 MPG, depending on how and where I'm driving it. That figures to about $.40 per mile for fuel at today's prices. I drive it a lot in the good weather, and unfortunately, in this part of the country, that's usually only April to October most years. Cruising is my favorite pasttime, so I'll continue to do it as long as my funds holdout. I spend about $600-$800 a year playing golf. That money would be traded without a second thought for the cruising fuel, if push comes to shove. If I can't drive it, I think I would get rid of it. .

Steves32......I don't have Grundy, but all I've heard is how great they are about settling quickly and fairly. Looks as though you may disagree? i currently have Heacock, and have never had a claim, but am thinking about switching to Grundy, to save about $125 a year.

I participated in a recent Hagerty insurance quiz and the results concerning cost to drive, gas prices and stuff in that area would not affect things- so said the majority of hobby car owners.

When folks get all wiggly about gas prices they rarely take into account the actual price differential. If gas costs 50% more that figure riles them up. 50% sounds like a lot of something. Yet say gas cost for a little vacation trip that cost $200@ $2.50 a gallon now costs $300 at $3.75. A $100 more for 80 gallons of gas.

Your meals, Motel 6 and other crap far outweighs fuel cost as a percentage of the trip's cost. Yeah Motel 6 WAS once actually $6 and its usually like what $39-59 the ones I've seen advertised lately. So if gas went up like cheap rooms did we'd be paying 6.5 to 10 times as much @$2.50 per gallon or $16.25-$25.00 per gallon.

I've only got about $20,000 into my '55; but, I wouldn't really want to drive it as a daily driver; mainly because I too worry about the other folks on the road, and 32 miles each way (to and from work) every day on I5 just doesn't compute.

I still have 4 wheel drum brakes on it and, even though I have a dual master cylinder for the sake of safety, there's just no way I'll be able to stop as fast as the guy in front of me with 4 wheel disks. In the end, it would end up being me that would rearend someone because of that and I'd be at fault; even though they may have cut me off and then slammed on their brakes like I see just about every day. In my current daily driver, I can stop because my brakes are as good as or better than theirs. No way I'd be able to do it in my '55.

I don't really see the need to pay higher premiums and then have to turn around and rebuild the '55 all over again as well because something stupid happens, just so that I can drive it everyday.

I'll agree I need to upgrade to disks; but even when I do, I'll still have the cell-phoners, make-up artists, drunks, narcoleptics, idiots riding wheelies on crotch rockets, TV watchers, computer users, trucks with un-secured loads and every other kind of yahoo I see out there daily. It's simply too much to worry about and it just doesn't seem worth it to me.

As such, I don't drive the '55 as much as I used to; but, spring before last, I did start driving it quite a bit more than I had for the 5-6 years prior to that. Mainly, I drove it around town through the spring/summer/early fall and had a lot of fun doing it. I also drove it to work 1 day and used the "back roads" to get there (because of all the issues above). Took me about 2 1/2 hours to get to work and a little over another 2 to get home; but, I didn't have to worry about going from 70 - 0 in under 100 feet either. Still, I felt that the 4 1/2 hours was a bit excessive just to go to work and back; so I haven't done it since.

Spring is about here now though and I'll drag it out and drive it again through the summer.

Cheers,
Dutch

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Originally Posted by Firechicken

...the cell-phoners, make-up artists, drunks, narcoleptics, idiots riding wheelies on crotch rockets, TV watchers, computer users, trucks with un-secured loads and every other kind of yahoo I see out there daily. ..
Dutch

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I used to drive my 62 Impala alot, even in bad weather until I went to Walmart one Sunday. I parked way out in the toolies just to make sure no one would park next to it, lo and behold, when I came out the left rear fender was caved in. If I didn't have agreed upon coverage buy a specialty insurance company they would have wanted to total it for the cost of the repair. That's the biggest reason to have specialty insurance, restrictions and all. And just the thought of some idiot gawker taking out a fender is one of the reasons I hesitate to drive the Willys.

Must have been the same person/idiot that got our 88 Monte Carlo SS, I always parked it way out since we bought it new. My wife didn’t want to walk too far so I thought I had a safe place. When I went to the car I saw the driver side quarter panel caved in. The parking lot can be as bad as the expressways sometime.

I don't have the typical hot rod build mentality. From what I see as i am sleezing around the forum, it looks like the 'true' hot rod is a big block, built for power, getting about 6-8 MPG.

Well folks, that just ain't my concept of a hot rod. To me, it has to be streetable, and that means being able to afford to fuel it as a daily driver. Enough power to blow away 90% of 'stock' cars, but moderately economical if you keep your foot out of it.

I think your thread premise was, how much is too much? Well, if the bank account is falling off, then it's too much. It is a relative thing.

As I read in a recent Hot Rod magazine article:

" Who cares about the price in gas, when you are breaking thousands of dollars in speed parts"

If I should decide to build a daily driver type again, it would be a featherweight (under 2000 pounds) roadster with a raspy V-6, maybe a blower or a turbo, and a 6 speed for the double overdrive..... Light car + reasonable power= performance, double overdrive = very respectable mpg.....

That's sort of the idea behind my track-T, Dave, although it's a 4-cyl with a 4-speed tranny. I expect it to weigh about 1600 - 1800 pounds.:rolleyes: Like everything I build, this one, too, will be a driver...:D

I've been doing a bit of planning, have to see how much work I get done this summer and if I can free up a stall in the garage..... Then the next day I want to bring my '68 Torino in next fall and build another bracket racer!!!! Who knows?????

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Originally Posted by roofcam

Steves32......I don't have Grundy, but all I've heard is how great they are about settling quickly and fairly. Looks as though you may disagree? i currently have Heacock, and have never had a claim, but am thinking about switching to Grundy, to save about $125 a year.

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I guess I wouldn't call it a problem yet. I'm suppose to hear something in the next few days. The one thing that irked me was you buy Grundy but it's written by Philadelphia Insurance. For a claim on a show car (agreed value coverage) they send out an appraiser to assess the damage.
So now you are dealing w/ 3 different companies. To be fair- they wanted to look at the car at the shop I choose & on a lift. Once the car got over there (6 days later) it took a week to free up a lift. As soon as the car was on thelift- they came out that same day.
I'll feel better when they agree to the estimate & cut a check.

Steve, I made a pretty decent living dealing with insurance repairs, though not on rods. Convincing the insurance folks to do "the right thing" is a learned skill. You've chosen a good shop (reputation wise), but they don't probably have a lot of experience with the insurance process/mentality. From what you've described Grundy is actually giving you pretty good response so far. Just remember, unlike most purchase/business/normal transactions that are two party (buyer, seller), you're now in a three party transaction. If you and the shop remain aligned in your objectives you gain a slight advantage (two against one), but don't forget, you're playing the insurance company's game, and they do it everyday. Just saying, stay on your toes and don't cave to anything you're not reasonably desiring. They will negotiate to a reasonable conclusion if properly handled.

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Dave wrote:
Soooooo many idiots, drunks, and cell phoners on the road these days I just prefer not to let them take a shot at my pride and joy.

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That's one reason that I head out early and take a route less traveled. I enjoy the ride to where ever I am going and between 4 AM and 7 Am traffic is relatively light.:cool:

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Dave also wrote: As for the hamb and other of these if you don't drive it, you ain't **** sites, I would imagine a lot of them are relatively new to Hot Rodding, or suffering from "I am Invincible" syndrome!!!!

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It is also a distinct possibility that those hambers with that attitude don't own anything worth worrying about.:eek: Sometimes the line between "traditional"and "ratrod" is very slim.:LOL: Many of the Hambers that I know, don't have an a attitude about being in or on a trailer.

As to insurance I have been with three different insurers. The most responsive company that I have had to deal on an accident claim was Hagerty. They are a quick, thorough, and excellent company to deal with. They are also pricier than many, especially Grundy. I have had Grundy for two years and have never had to file a claim with them. I have friends who have and were very please with the process and the settlement. I don't think there are any perfect insurance companies out there. They all have their little quirks.

Two summers ago both of my cars were attached by silver SUV's. Both were over $3000 in damages each. In neither case did I have to go to my company as the attacker's companies handled the claims. I made sure that when the adjusters came to see the cars, that both I and my metal man were there to walk them thru it. A lot of adjusters have absolutely no clue as to the extent and cost of damage on these old vehicles. :confused:

My biggest problem was the sleazebag who tried to tell her insurance company that the accident was my fault,not hers. :mad: That claim held every thing up for several weeks for investigation. :( After they saw the damage to my car, they knew she was lying and settled. They also dropped her since it was her 3rd accident in two years. :LOL: :LOL: