The Goat's Granny
(Even though it'd be funnier if I had a GTO, there's no way I could afford one... old or new)
I've got a 99 Grand Am SE V6. It's red. It's all stock. I want to change that, but I have no money. I finally got a picture.
Can't even see the big scratch on the other side of the front bumper. :-)>
(in case it's not blatantly obvious, this page is permanently under construction)
The Past
does not include oil changes
Not long after I got it, either the water pump or one of its hoses started leaking, so I got that fixed. New alternator (luckily, the warranty
covered it). Right headlight bulb replaced. Right brake light replaced (I did this one myself. Had I known how easy it was to change a bulb,
I never would've wasted 2 hours at a dealership getting my headlight changed). I've also had my brake rotors and pads replaced. The
Passlock system hadn't been working right, so I went in to the dealership to get it fixed and they had to replace the whole ignition cylinder.
The Future
What I want to do is: remove the side ribs, SLP exhaust, Angel Eyes fog lights, stage 3 CAI, lowering springs, inlays on the bumpers,
bordered arrowhead overlay for the hood, Grand Am 3rd brake light overlay, arrowhead fender hole overlays, install the horns, and paint the
interior. What I actually end up doing is another story entirely. I'd love to get headers, ported manifolds, and the supercharger that APoC is
working on, but I'd have to win the lottery first... or manage to sell a few houses. I'd kinda like to get the RK Sport bodykit with the SD
hood... but that would probly be the last thing I'd do with the car, after I'd gotten everything above. I want to pay off my debt first, so all this
is gonna have to wait a while.
Costs
SLP exhaust: $390 pyfc.com, angel eyes: $55 pyfc.com, CAI: $180 docterspeed.com, springs:$235 pyfc.com, vinyl: $49 grafxwerks.com,
The Other Guys Headers: $730 pyfc.com, Manifolds: $270 docterspeed.com, APoC Supercharger: ~$4000 apoc.com, RK Sport bodykit:
$1300, SD Hood: $760, Total: $7969 + shipping + labor
Audio: Not really knowing anything about auto audio, I'm just picking a few things that might work... 2 Alpine 690A 6"x9" speakers (back)
$120 each, 2 Alpine 460A 4"x6" speakers (front) $100 each, Alpine CDA-9807 head unit $280. I am completely clueless when it comes to
subs and amps, so I'm not even gonna try. $720 total
I think it's safe to say that the final bill on all this would be $9000 - $9500... wow...
Realisticly, I want to get a later model ('02 or '03) console so I can have a usable cupholder, if I can find one reasonably priced (GM
wants $110 for a console that I don't need, so I'm looking at salvage yards). If I can get headlights from the same source (GM wants about
$260 per light), I could be replacing my current headlights, which are purty much fogged over. Now if I get extremely lucky and find front
and back GT bumpers that are the same color as my car, that would tide me over until the RK Sport bodykit... :-)>
*7-13-04*
I found this little item today through an ad in Motor Trend magazine. I'm wondering if it'll fit in my GA... I've also grown to like the
"bullseye" taillights that AED is offering, but I don't really wanna pay $465 for them. I also probly wouldn't get them installed unless I
decided to have the entire car repainted.
*8-17-04*
I found these taillights through grandamgt.com. They're much cheaper than the AED ones, and don't look too bad either... The same
site has headlights for $120 each, so I'm kinda excited. So far, this has been the cheapest place to get headlights that I've found.
The Debts
Currently, my debts consist of car payments, insurance payments, and student loan payments. You may think That's all? What's he
complaining about?, but those three things take a huge chunk of my income. Right now, my car payment is $300/month, insurance is
a little less than $200/month, and the SL is $50/month. The SL isn't really that bad. Borrowed $2600 and I've paid that down to less
than $1500 now. Not really too worried about the SL. Can't really do much about the insurance payment. 21 yo single driver with 2
totalled cars... not much I can do at all. btw, the $200/month is liability ONLY. The car payment, however, is another matter entirely.
At this very moment (lunchtime, Feb 17, 2004), I owe $9000 to my parents (this would be the aforementioned car payment debt). You
may wonder why I owe so much on a used Granny, but this isn't just one car I'm paying on. Remember those 2 totalled cars I mentioned
with insurance? Yeah... sucks to be me. Could be worse though. Actually, the insurance paid off my Fukus (car #2: 2001 Ford Focus).
I didn't really owe that much on the Fukus, cuz I used the insurance payoff from the Sub (car #1: 1997 Subaru Legacy wagon, pronounced
"SOOB") as a down payment. I had borrowed money from my parents to buy the Sub, and managed to convince them that using the payoff
as a down payment would be better in the long run. So far, it has been. Now to the good part...
My income basically consists of ~$245/week after taxes. My expenses are basically the debts mentioned above. I live at home, so I don't
really have to worry about living expenses. My gas is paid for by my work (family businesses are great), since I usually spend about 1/3
of my time in the car (showing apartments and running errands). I've cut back my CD and DVD purchases to nearly $0 (this has been a main
draw on my $$ for a long time). I've cut back a lot on snack foods (can't give up the root beer though). There's basically no place to play
pool since Boulevard Lanes closed down, and the closest place that I'd want to bowl is about 20 minutes away (Galaxy Lanes is too family-
oriented. That sounds bad if you've never been there). I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs. There haven't been any decent movies recently that
I'd wanna pay to see in the theater. I have most of the books I want (the ones I don't have haven't been published yet).
While trying to figure out a way to pay off my debts, I figured that I can set aside $150/week from my weekly pay to help pay things off.
That'll leave a little less than $100/week to put in the bank, but that should be ok (insurance is automatic withdrawl, I write a check for SL). On
a standard 4-week month, I can manage to pay $600 on the car, $200 insurance, $50 SL, and have ~$130 in pocket. In months that have 5
weeks (5 fridays), I can pay $750 on the car, etc, and have ~$225 in pocket. If I can keep on this schedule, I can pay off my car debt in April
2005, instead of September 2006. Once that's paid off, I'll continue to hold back the $150/week until I have enough saved to pay off my SL (if
I continue paying the $50/month on the SL, it'll be paid off in November 2006). That will take about a month and a half after the cars get paid
off. I can be debt-free by the time I turn 23 (July 2005) if I can stick to this schedule. I've thought about getting a second job, but I don't think I
really wanna do that. I'd get everything paid off sooner, but I'd probly have to deliver pizzas to do it (I absolutely refuse to work fast food. Pizza
delivery is slightly less degrading). On the other hand, If I can sell a couple of houses, I can pay everything off much faster. I also plan to put my
income tax return against my car debt.
*7-13-04*
My balance is now $6350. Not quite as low as I hoped it would be by this time, but still considerably lower than $9000. In the 5 months
(not counting the Feb 2004 payment) since I created this page (Feb 17, 2004), I've paid $2650 on my loan. Had I continued the $300
per month payments, I would have paid $1500, and would still owe $7500 right now. Not too shabby...
On the other hand, a part of me is looking up at the "The Future" section above and thinking, If I had saved that extra $1150, I could have
headers and exhaust right now, and enough cash to install them next month... Oh well.
Amount I Owe on My Car: $5450
as of: 8-18-04
"I love it when a plan comes together."
btw, sicc from GAGT.com was looking for a particular angled pic to do a photochop. So I drove across the street, took the pic at the top
of the page, and emailed it to him. This is what he came up with:
This is a pic he sent me while he was still working on it:
And here's the final product:
And in blue:
