Black Saab Orange Stripe- One year later
January 20 was the one year anniversary of the date I bought the 900 last year. That day I went to the Northwest Saab Owners Club meeting for the first time with that car and got to show it off. Everybody really liked the stripe… thanks, Erik.
In any case, to mark the passing of one year, I thought it would be fun to show a summary of the money I’ve spent on the Saab, as I’ve done a thorough job of logging each expense in a notebook in the car. I wanted to know how much it costs to operate the car, to see if it’s somewhat economical to have a separate autocross car / utility vehicle. I was excited to add up the numbers; I thought it would show that I was doing a good job of keeping costs down and running an economical autocross car. HAH! The numbers have proven me wrong. Of course, many of the costs I’ve incurred in the last year have been startup costs (new wheels and tires, shocks), and I’ve been making up for neglected maintenance of the previous owner(s). In any case, the numbers added up to a figure much higher than I expected:
I was shocked to see that I’ve spent $3687.55 on my beloved car for a year. And only $800 of that was to buy the car. The second highest expense (behind wheels and tires) was the insurance, and that’ll be recurring every year I own the car. I’m actually feeling petty foolish, and irresponsible for spending this much money on the car. It’s just over $300/month on average. In the next year, I’ll not be spending $800 on a new car, nor $150 for more wheels, or the $432 for shocks, so there’s almost $1500 I don’t foresee… of course, there will always be unforeseen expenses owning a 15 year old car. Our other cars probably have similar operating costs… but I’ve never sat down to tally them, nor do I keep as good records as I have for the 900. Looking at the amount of money I’ve spent, I’m totally humbled. I should have invested, or just bought new wheels and tires for the R for about $1500-1800 total. One way to think about it is that this is also my hobby… other people have season tickets to sporting events, or go boating, or RV’ing, or travel more. My hobby is working on the Saab, and driving it around. I’ve certainly gotten a lot of enjoyment from the car this year. Perhaps that’s the best way for me to look at it… the money I spend for the thing I enjoy. Yikes. It’s still a lot of money either way.
| Cost category | Amount |
| Car | $800.00 |
| License, registration, title, emission tests | $219.05 |
| Maintenance parts: wiper blades, hoses, fluids | $340.70 |
| repair parts: window motors, sunroof motor | $190.90 |
| Repair book, owners manual | $57.64 |
| Key | $1.94 |
| Service performed on car by others including parts and labor (transmission flush and oil change) | $138.73 |
| Wheels and tires | $617.91 |
| Insurance (12mos) | $522.40 |
| Fuel (3230 miles, approx 161 gal = 20.09 MPG) | $365.65 |
| Shocks | $432.23 |
| Total cost for 1 year | $3,687.15 |
Looks like you are putting your money where your mouth is! (funny, since it is the title of the last post) Anyway, your hobby is stated as "driving and working on the car." This is also funny, because it seems like that is also one of my hobbies. I like driving it, but I spend a much higher percentage of my time with the $3600 BSOS Race Team rental driver working on it than you seem to (since almost every posting about working on it includes me, except the times you pay somebody else to do it). The total added value should actually be higher, since the stripes also had a cost (although not to you) and you purchased tools to wokr on the car (although you should have had a decent set of metric spanners before our two-day struggle with the rear shocks!) and you have outfitted the entire BSOS Race Teeam support staff in team shirts. We wear them with pride.
In any event, it seems to me like the best $3600 you've ever spent, since I now have a loaner car when I come to town. (I'd call it a hassle free loaner, but 8 hours of work for a five-day rental hardly seems hassle-free)
Hopefully we'll be seeing more of you putting your mouth where your money is and doing a bit more blogging about your investment in Swedish auto nostalgia! (Comment this)
http://www.madisoninternationalspeedway.com/
Step 1)
On the left side of the page click "Race Divisions." Scroll down to the last rac division called "Roto Rooter Bandits."
Step 2)
After reading that the BSOS Race Team Saab 900 is eligible for this race, click on "Rules & Forms." The Bandit Rules begin on page 6. You'll notice that they have a $850 claim rule, which means that your car value shouldn't exceed $850. Golden. No Turbos. Golden. Only 3- or 4-cylinder engines allowed. Golden. Front-drive only. Golden. Doors must be welded. Hood must use pins, not standard release mechanisms. Welded-in roll cage req'd. Okay, not quite what we have, but not far off...
I can't wait to go see some of this in the spring and see what these things are like! Craigslist, here I come! (Comment this)
I've taken the 900 up there the last 2 days, it's the farthest I've ever driven it from home. It's done a good job, I'm anxious to fill the now-empty tank and see if it gets very good mileage between 60 and 75 MPH. at 60 it's turning around 2500 RPM, but at 75 it's more like 3300 RPM. It should be able to get better mileage than the R, I'd assume.
In any case, driving the 900 to jobs instead of the R will help the 900 earn it's keep, rather than just freeloading off of miles I put on the Volvo... (Comment this)
And it has kept the whole family entertained! (Comment this)