How the hell...

[Acceler8ter]

I didn't know whether to stick this in off topic or here because it does have something to do with cars. So if I got it in the wrong one... sorry.

How the hell do some people get all this damn money to do shit to their cars? I know not every single one of them comes from a rich daddy. I worked my ass off at my last job for quite a bit of dough and still don't have shit.

All I have been able to do to my car was I dropped in a brand new engine and threw the widest Firehawk Indy 500's I could fit on my rims on the back. And that was only because my parents gave me a $2000 loan. I see some people roll around in cars that you can tell have had $1000's of dollars put into it... and they're my age. I wanna know what they're doing, but I never get to talk to them so I can't find out.

This might sound dumb, but I'm too frustrated to think at the moment. What do you think would be the best line of work to quickly raise cash for car modifications. Keep in mind I'm only 18 (almost 19). I've tried fast food (hahaha!!), working at a dealership, a warehouse, carpet cleaning, and a tire & service shop (Firestone). Oh, by the way... i hate Firestone's policys. I forget to put oil in one car and I get fired. Geez... all the other shops I've talked to don't care, they just say, "Hey... shit happens." Geez my boss was pissed that he had to fire me, damn this turned into a rant more then anything. Maybe I should apologize if you read this? Sorry for the length anyway. :rant:

[Asad]

Investments, making money work for you.

[pakisho]

You forgot to put OIL in a CAR? And youre working for an oil change center?

Hell, I wouldnt have just fired you, I would have had you stoned.

[Shok]

yeh sorry dude, ruin a motor over something simple and you oughhta be fired.

[Ike]

Well, you did put it in the right forum section, for starters...

[Moloko]

I'm 20, and I'm working at my highest paid job (8 an hour). Before I was only making like 6-7 an hour. You cant spend money on other shit. If you smoke thats like half your wages a year when you're young right there.

[pkrSE-R]

you just have to find a better paying job and stay there. the job i have pays well, is union, has great benefits, and is part-time. i've worked at the same place for 3+ years to be able to afford my WRX and fix it up. in order to save money i drove a 13 year old car (91 SE-R) with the bare minimum of mods to make it a fun track car. i also got lucky because i'm on scholarship so school is free. i do consider myself fortunate but dont assume that just because i drive a nice/new car, everything is handed to me on a silver platter.

[rocesm12]

like moloko said, dont spend money on other shit, and any mods you can do youself will help out alot as well.

[Acceler8ter]

You forgot to put OIL in a CAR? And youre working for an oil change center?

Hell, I wouldnt have just fired you, I would have had you stoned.
The reason I forgot is because we were incredibly busy and I had a gigantic list of things to do this this car. And at some point I drained the oil and didn't even realize I had done it. Then about 15 minutes later the boss needed the car out to put another one in because it had gotten screwed up by someone else. So, not even thinking about it I pulled it out. That's how I did it... I never screwed up like that before. Oh, I also didn't do oil that often, the other kid did that. I usually changed tires or gaskets (tranny, oil pan), did inspections or dropped in motors.

I still don't remember draining the oil out of that car either...

[Asad]

Are you going to school?

[HungryHippo]

you can make good money at sales jobs. like cell phones and nordstroms, stuff like that

[Big Chris]

sell drugs.... dont do them.... j/k

yea if you forget to put oil your fired no matter the excuse

[dero84]

out of curiousity what does a car run like with no oil? you couldent tell somthen was wrong when you started it?

[BlissedCivicEX]

right now im pretty broke and i need a lot of shit done to my car... but my car was bought for me (it was my gift), and that cut down on costs (obvisouly)
but when i wasnt broke (hah) i put like $20 away each week and saved up until the amount i needed. Right now all my money goes to gas. But im starting to save again cause i need new tires and want a paint job

[BLAH BLA]

forget to put oil in = you 're fired

hahahaha...............

[Sniper]

when i was 18, i read everything i could get my hands on, researched, studied and only bought parts after a very thorough conclusion.....never bought an 'intake' or a 'cat back' or wheels or anything else like that...the rest of the time i spent on my Calc and Physics homework..............fast forward five years and i'm out of college, have a badass job, a girl(with equally badass job), and buy any part i want.......

[Ghost Drifter]

when i was 18, i read everything i could get my hands on, researched, studied and only bought parts after a very thorough conclusion.....never bought an 'intake' or a 'cat back' or wheels or anything else like that...the rest of the time i spent on my Calc and Physics homework..............fast forward five years and i'm out of college, have a badass job, a girl(with equally badass job), and buy any part i want.......
*applause*

I thought I was the only one doing all that... good to see that im not.

[Ghost Drifter]

my advice to you man (if it's any good) is maybe you should go and get a sponsorship or something.. I've got a friend who's president of a show car crew and they've managed to get some heavy mods done to their cars just through that.. but their cars are usually trailer queens now... It's still a good thought though..

[twinkie8012]

the best way is to know people. In my group of friends that I hang out with on a daily basis are all car nuts. One works at a body, another guy has a parts business, I have a parts business, and I've built race cars. The biggest thing to save money is do it yourself if you have the talent. Not everyone is able to pick up a die-grinder and do a perfect mod on teh first try. SO if your willing to try and make mistakes go for it. But one thing is, take your time dont rush, otherwise you'll screw up like the oil thing. Yes thats a major screw up, and anyshop would fire you for it. Oil is just an engine, just think if you screw up on brakes, thats someones life in your hands, so my adivse on that note is slow down, and you wont make the careless mistakes.

[Civic_Sleeper]

#1 You are still better off than me...be happy that you have been able to mod you car at all.

#2 Those folks you see rolling around in "sweet rides" are usually living at home...amazing how much money you have when you don't have to pay rent or utilities.

#3 This seems may seem impossible at first, but, save your money and remove as many expenses as possible and pay off your car if possible (own it before you mod it is my policy). Build your credit up and take out a personal loan (if you want to do everything at once and it will help your credit).

[neofreak]

@19 uhh many years ago I was making $14+ an hour, at work (though they should have paid more for what I did, when I quit they offered me $20 something), and then $90/hour on weekends IT consulting on my own. (Not a lot, maybe 6 months worth of weekends till I got too tired to wake up early on weekends and I just got lazy and gave up)

Saved up, and bought what I wanted, did what I wanted. Still do.

[ShadyMilkman]

Yeah the key thing to remember is you're still young. You have no formal education and little work experience so the only real way you're going to make substancially more money is to have some skill(s) that would set you apart from the pool of precollege, highschool grads.

In my days (I'm 21) I've had pretty decent 'regular' jobs which have all paid at least $12/hr since I was 16... but even still, that does little to afford me enough left over to actually freely spend any of it on my car. I don't know what kind of hours you have or are working but you honestly can't save much if you're in school and only working part time.

I offer you this piece of advice. Whereas your car might mean the world to you... save your money. Either save up and buy a better car, or spend only what you need to on it to keep it running. Believe me, not doing anything for two months because you just have to have that new intake is really not worth it. Until you can afford to save and still live your life, don't do it.

Remember, the longer you're in school the more you'll make after you're out. So just focus on that and when you're done, you won't have to think twice about buying mods.

[ReaperMITS]

I work 2 jobs to make the money and both pay dam well one job pays 20% and the other one 12 bucks an hour so im basically tryign to get back on my feet

[The Rob]

Like whoa. A 3 year old thread.