- Growing up as a young car enthusiast,
I did a lot of stupid (beep),
(tires squealing)
(mellow music begins) but that's how you learn, right?
You learn by making mistakes and growing from them.
I learned that putting really, really loud,
aftermarket exhaust on not your car,
isn't really worth the hassle.
My mom was pissed that I straight piped her Mustang,
while she was gone at work. Anyway,
I was told a hundred thousand times
that what I was doing was stupid,
but nobody ever actually told me why it was stupid.
So that's exactly what we're going to talk about right now.
These are the biggest mistakes that you can make,
as a new car enthusiast.
You know, maybe you've heard the saying before,
"The cheapest Ferrari that you can buy
will be the most expensive Ferrari that you
can own." It's a great quote and it's extremely true.
And what I mean by that is the cheapest version of something
will inevitably cost you more long-term,
than an already sorted thing.
Super good deals from someone that's disconnected
from the market isn't really a thing anymore.
Once boomers started using the internet,
that (beep) all went down the drain.
So that $11,000 S2000,
that sounds like a bargain barn find is realistically going
to need a minor restoration.
I'd have to imagine that the suspension and all of its
bushings are probably going to need addressing.
It's probably got high miles. So we all know, damn well,
the thing's going to burn oil when you hit that VTEC and
the trans probably grinds into gear,
but you didn't know that until after you paid for it because
you didn't want to red line of stranger's car,
a trans rebuild, the coil over,
suspension, bushings, timing chain tensioner,
probably a clutch,
and new piston rings later,
and you're talking about a really hefty bill in just parts,
let alone labor and the while you're in there,
when you could have just bought kind of a sorted one in the
first place with less miles and a detailed documentation for
what will inevitably cost less money long-term and probably
then also be worth more at the end of the day.
Now you might be thinking to yourself, "But Sean,
aren't you literally the guy who strictly buys basket-case
cars to nurse them back to the life that they deserve?"
Well, yeah, but I do sacrifice a lot of my time
into learning how to do that labor myself,
and I do extensive research before purchasing cars to see
common issues and kind of price them out.
And then I give myself a specific budget to work with
that won't let me completely screw myself. (explosion)
Even though I do usually end up completely screwing myself.
And if you're a sane person and not okay with wasting all
your time on fixing a cheap enthusiast car, don't do it.
It's a trap. (melancholy piano music)
Save me. Please help. I have a real problem.
(soft hip-hop music) And this goes not only for buying cars,
but for modifying them as well.
Take coilovers, for example. I get asked almost every day,
"What's the best coilover for the money?
I'm kind of on a budget and I don't want to
spend a ton of money. What do you recommend?"
And my go-to is always BC racing BR series.
It comes in right in that 995, $1050 range,
and it has a lot of features that you really don't see from
other brands until you start getting into that 15,
$1,600 plus range.
But then they went and got a $400 set of no-name coil overs
from Amazon or eBay.
And then they get mad when they have to mess around with no
instructions using spring compressors to use the stock
top hats, making the ride (beep), when it's low,
because the height adjustment is based on
the location of the spring perch,
so the shocks only had 30% of its intended travel and
probably handles worse than it did from the factory.
And then,
- [Announcer] Several months later.
- That maxed out shock that you've been bouncing around on,
is going to blow out and you can't get a hold of them for
a replacement because this no-name company,
doesn't actually have a customer service team.
So you go and buy the BC BDRs,
I suggested in the first place,
and now your suspension setup has costed you almost $1,500
instead of the 995, the first time around.
Get the adjustable body,
so the ride height adjustments going to be separate
from that spring preload.
You get the adjustable damping standard
and most applications have a built in camber plate
on that top mount already on it,
just ready to bolt that whole thing and go, and best of all
in the off chance that you do have a god damn issue,
The customer service team is top-notch
with actual product specialists.
My rule of thumb for this is quite literally,
if it sounds too good to be true, well, it probably is.
Read reviews. Do research, be careful, please.
Arguably, the most important on this list is never,
ever, ever, ever,
ever try to out drive your skill level and or keep your
mother (beep) ego in check.
All right, I've seen it happen a hundred times.
Some dude who's only had a license for a couple of years who
just went and bought a 400 horsepower Mustang, shows up to
the car meet (tires squealing)
thinking this barn getting fricking junior,
because he can slide his car around the same corner near his
house all the time. So of course he goes to slide the car,
leaving the meet, right, and trying to show off.
And then when things get a little out of hand, dude,
over-corrects directly into a freaking' pole
because he wasn't visually scanning
and he didn't consider all the variables
that are out of his control.
(engine revving) The same thing happens
in Motorsport environments too, you know.
Someone will have their ego threatened and they will push
the car too hard and ultimately end up in an off-track
incident or even worse.
You damage your car or someone else's.
The saying literally goes,
"Check yourself before you wreck yourself", bud.
Another big mistake I see people make all the time when
starting out is that they develop a nearly obsessive
attitude for kind of a single make or a single model.
They think damn near everything else sucks.
And that their idea of the best thing is the only best
thing, which, you know, is totally fine.
I don't want to make it sound like you can't have your
opinions or be an expert in one concentrated area,
but, the kid that's obsessed with naturally aspirated
domestic cars and thinks imports are trash without
realizing, you know,
that GM vehicles are mostly built in Mexico
might never experience the magic of a high revving,
lightweight well balanced chassis
to the likes of a Honda S2000.
And you know, sometimes that script is flipped around too.
Sometimes the Nissan Z guy thinks
European sports sedans are complete and utter (beep).
And so he won't ever get to experience the gut punching
power of an AMG V8,
(car engine revving) simply face stubbornness.
There are so many cool, fun,
and unique and quirky cars out there.
Most of which have a unique purpose in denying the
experience of certain things,
because you think only one does it
the best, is such a lame way to be an enthusiast.
And it really puts a damper on your credibility at the end
of the day. So I'm not saying
you have to respect all builds,
but once you open up your mind and you wonder about what
other cars have to offer,
I promise that you will find yourself connecting with other
car enthusiasts more easily.
You know, maybe you'll even stumble across
opportunities to drive some other really unique cars
and find a fun car that checks all your boxes.
And then some that you didn't already know about. Trust me,
you'll thank me later. Do not fall for favoritism.
Having a plan with your vehicle is a life and a money saver.
When I first got my license,
my first legal car was a '97 Cavalier. (engine revving)
I called her the (indistinct) queen.
Anyway, I proceeded to chop off,
the exhaust and by random (beep) whenever I could, you know,
cold air intakes, tail lights, headers,
just little stupid (beep) that wasted my money, essentially.
You know, it didn't make the car quicker.
It made my car inevitably part of the sell and really made
the money I spent on it and kind of a complete,
waste of funds.
Now I don't want to discourage anyone from doing whatever
the (beep) they want to their own vehicle,
but if you don't have a plan, it's really easy to not follow
the planned path and end up with a bunch
of really random (beep) on your car.
And it can really make it look kind of tacky.
This goes double, especially for cars,
that for a lack of better term, aren't worth modifying.
Now I totally get it.
I can't keep my hands off anything either.
I want to modify literally everything just for 'funsies'.
But trust me, when I tell you,
I learned the hard way sticking unnecessary money into
something just for the 'LOLs',
is keeping you from buying that
dream car of yours. Because as a car enthusiast,
the penny saved is a penny earned, thing
is extremely literal, because that $90 eBay cold air intake
on your CRV could become
$90 you put towards your S 2000 fund.
You know what I'm saying? Just be smart about it.
Don't go balls to the walls without a real plan to follow.
And finally using the right tool for the job is absolutely
critical to having a good experience with cars.
Trying to work on your own car with the wrong tools
(engine revving) will make you never want
to work on your car ever again,
and doing your own work is damn near essential
to being able to afford, or to do anything
with this god damn hobby, unless you're
some kind of rich guy.
Anyway, I've watched way too many
people strip nuts and bolts and screws and mess up
timing and ruin engines and get into some really messy
pickles because they were kind of improvising on the job and
they kind of straight up quit cars because of these
mistakes. Now, don't get me wrong.
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do,
and you gotta hammer a 12 point socket onto a locking wheel
lug nut to get your wheels off because the dealership won't
sell you a wheel key for the VIN
of a salvaged sixth gen ZL1 hot off the auction lot, but
you're wasting your time out here trying to reinvent the
wheel. Now I get it. Tools,
they are expensive and I'm guilty of trying to improvise
with what I have too, but it's always,
it's quite literally a gamble and nine times of ten,
the house wins and I've wasted hours of my time just to go
back and buy whatever the hell tool that it was that I
needed in the first place. Plus some hardware,
probably an (indistinct),
but it's kind of a double layered statement as well,
because I also use the phrase when people ask me
recommendations on wheels, tires, and suspension.
You know, if you have a vehicle that sees
a moderate amount of track days a year,
and really likes to push the car in a competitive setting,
I would totally recommend a race oriented tire,
like a Pilot Sport Cup 2.
But if you're looking for a performance oriented tire for a
daily driver or something that does long trips, you know,
it's kind of a commuter, a set of Sport Cup 2's
aren't gonna last you more than eight to 12,000 miles.
You probably won't ever get them hot enough to make them do
what they do best, especially if you're on the street.
So it's kind of wasted money, right? You know,
whereas a Pilot Sport All Season 4 DWS 06 Plus would
be more than enough performance for a street car
without all those sacrifices or the extra costs.
And the same thing goes with coil overs.
If you want the $5,000 racing coilovers for your 350 Z,
more power to you,
but if you don't competitively track your vehicle,
you're kind of just throwing that money away. You know,
where a BCB R, might be the perfect coil over for you
for a fifth of the price.
So always use the right tool for the job.
It will always save you time and money.
So if you are a new car enthusiast,
I sincerely hope this can help you not make some of the same
mistakes that I fell for. If you're not new here,
what are some mistakes that you guys have made
as young car enthusiasts? Please leave a comment.
Let me know. I'd love to hear all about it.
And I'll try to respond to as many comments as I possibly
can. Don't forget to subscribe,
to stay up to date with all the crazy stuff that we've got
going on over here. My name is Sean from Fitment Industries,
@seanb.fi on Instagram. Thank you so much for watching.
Ah peace.
(chair squeaking)