Well about 3 years ago i bought my first evo. Its a 2008 Evo X GSR. I spent 3 years over seas saving every penny so i could make the biggest down payment possible. I ended up with 10,000$ down payment and i finally purchased the car i wanted. I had so many plans of getting a bigger turbo and pertty much everything you could think of. About 8 months later i got married and had a kid. Everything has changed in my life and now I can not afford everything i wanted to do. I have no problems making payments on the car and i live pretty comfortable right now. I just DO NOT have the money for all the mods i wanted nor racing it. Also I find myself taking my beater car that gets 30mpg for my ride to work and back because of the gas prices. So pretty much the evo is sitting in my garage collecting dust. I can no longer justify the 400$ a month payment for pretty much nothing. But I can't bring myself to sell the car I've always wanted. More and more I think about it, 400$ extra a month would be really nice to have for other things. What to do?

 

did you ever think about refinancing, my original payment was 538 when I bought mine for 31,XXX in 07, refinanced in 2010 and payment dropped to 398, maybe try that, good luck

 

The monthly payment isn't a problem. It's very much affordable. The problem is that I can't mod the car as i would like or race it. Which was the plan from the start.

 

I would keep it. You will regret it if you get rid of it. If you can afford the monthly payment then keep it. The mods and other things can be put aside until the car is paid off. I have a family of six and regret getting rid of my IX. That is until I bought my X.

 

My first Evo I felt the same way you are. Monthly payment wasnt the problem, I just couldnt mod the car and have fun with it, other stuff going on. I would keep the car man, because you will miss it even just looking at it in your garage. You never know, sooner then u think u might be able to mod it and start to race it. But dont make the mistake i did and get rid of it. I got rid of mine for the same problem then went back to them twice and now im on my 3rd Evo. Just enjoy it and be patient and soon the mods will come Just my 02.

 

How much longer do you have until it is paid off? Just keep driving and enjoying the car, then when it is paid off you have 400 dollars a month that can be used for mods instead of the car payment.

 

2 more years left on the 5 year 0% loan i got

 

how the hell is your payment $400/mo with $10k down? you must have over paid like mad, or got a fully loaded mr or something

 

Evo has 4 seats, take the wife and kid out for fun drives after work or on the weekends. Find time to enjoy it and you won't want to get rid of it.

 

It was 35k after tax, so that left me with 25k over 5 years. Do the math lol. I bought it when the X was first released.

Yea, that's what I've been doing.

 

so you owe about 10k on the car? and with the payment, you're not able to do with it what you wanted? the car will sell in the low 20's, so you have some positive equity, about $10k worth, maybe a bit more.

here's what i'd suggest: dump it, take the cash, buy cheaper reliable track-ready car. you'll save $400/mo, and if you want to use that for track days (~400/weekend), it evens out. months where you dont, you save. sure you wont have an evo to get groceries, but you'll at least accomplish one of your goals and save over-all. i'd suggest keeping an eye on racingjunk.com's used car section. spec-built mx5s and e30/e36's are bullet proof and as faster than an evo with full bolt-ons. you can get either with a cage and all the safety gear for $10k, easy. if you want one that also street-legal, you can knock the price in half, but its not as fast or safe. whatever floats your boat.

just because your situation changes doesn't mean you have to give up on your goals. just change the approach

 

You live in Florida?

And you have a beater car?

While the Evo collects dust.......

Get rid of the beater.Use the Evo.

My GF uses our '08 X as her daily driver including Canadian winters!

You should also try out some Solo2 racing,no mods are needed.A well driven stock X can easily show up many,many so called "race cars".A Evo can easily handle the daily grind,lay a "smack down" on track,and last for years......









My 17 year EvoII does it all.....

 

I've always been very mindful of the usage I receive out of the items that I pay for. You said it yourself: you're paying money for an item that you aren't using, and after all of your thoughts on the matter, you haven't listed any plans for the Evo whatsoever (at least not based on your comments in your post). In fact, your comment was "the more I think about it, the more that money would be nice for other things." That being the situation, I don't see any reason why you need to keep the car. If you change your mind and actually intend on using the vehicle, congrats on keeping the Evo. Otherwise, invest your money elsewhere.

 

I was going to do an informative post, but I'll just say:

A car is harder to replace than money

 

I had a similar situation, bought the Evo, then promptly made my first kid and my wife got laid off. I drive it every day and have enough fun with a few basic mods. I wish I could afford more mods, but I guess I like the car enough as is to keep it. I don't see the reason to let yourself enjoy nothing just because you can't have everything you want. I'm not saying break your family but you don't have to dump every hobby that costs money to be a responsible dad.

I don't really understand though how you say the monthly payment is no issue, yet you drive a beater because gas is too expensive? If you can't afford it, then dump it. A McLaren F1 would be no fun to own either if it just sat in the garage.