- There are times where we know that things, you know,
just, pretty much, aren't really a good idea.
Like, maybe it's that one time we learned
about an eccentric billionaire,
who I am actually convinced is an evil genius
in some movie being filmed right now,
like 007, or something like that.
I'm talking about Elon Musk, okay? And Dogecoin.
And now we must, at all costs, buy Dogecoin
which by the way, if you're doing that now,
you're probably already past the hype.
Maybe I'm right, I don't know.
All right. Or maybe it's the "Game Stonk" moon adventure
that we got on three weeks late.
Or maybe it's the fact that we put all our money
on black at a roulette table, half drunk,
because it was the last night before our flight home.
Of all of those things,
they're bad ideas.
Don't do them, okay?
Unless you actually know what you're doing,
in which case, go nuts.
Take pictures on Instagram and talk
about how you're a famous "stonk investor", okay?
But there are cars that are the equivalent
of that kind of anxiety, okay?
Vehicles that, on paper, are likely one of the best,
most engineered, pinnacle pieces of moving metal
on the road,
even if they're 30 years old, okay?
And then you buy one,
and you realize why it was on the market
for four months, at half the price it's supposed to be.
I'm Alex, @ALEX.FI on Instagram,
and today were gonna be talking about the cars
that we look up to,
because that one influencer has one,
but no one else does.
The cars that probably came across the sea
during the peak of the country's industrial high,
which was shortly followed by a tremendous recession,
because that's just how economics work.
Cars that you sometimes hear about from other
car enthusiasts that you should stay away from,
that you'll ignore, anyways.
Ladies and gentlemen,
today we're going to be talking about
you wanting to own a financial mistake of a car.
(hip hop music) (car engine revving)
Welcome to Fitment Industries,
where we spend time talking,
(claps) holler!
Where we spend time talking mostly
about aftermarket wheels, tires, or suspension,
because we like that sort of stuff.
That's actually like the whole pitch.
And we have like a 1.75 liter of vehicles
in our gallery that allow you to enter in
your year, make, and model to see exactly
what wheels, tires, suspension, or modifications
actually look like on that car.
So if you're looking to buy a car,
you can use it to figure out what fits, all right?
And if it makes you happy, you maybe pick them up from us.
I don't know.
You know, you could.
You don't have to,
but it'd be sweet if you did.
But yeah, be sure to check it out.
And if you're looking to add your car to the gallery
fitmentindustries.com/add
At least if you're not going to do any of that,
and you're just here to listen to me
talk about financial mistakes of a car
to see if your car is on this list,
well, welcome.
It probably is.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Financial mistakes are nothing new,
especially to people like us,
usually younger, usually don't know anything, okay?
Currently, I have about three financial mistakes,
aiming for a fourth with this Lexus LS400
dude posted from Janesville, Wisconsin.
But the one you see is actually a pretty good motor.
So it's not technically a financial mistake.
In fact, it's probably the exact opposite.
In our brief history of cars and modifications,
people like you and people like me have learned
that there are certain platforms that behave, like,
well to our grubby little hands, okay?
And then there's platforms that break before even get
to the first gas station after you bought them,
on the way home.
The ones that do that are the cool ones.
And those are the ones that we always want to buy, okay?
Cars that fit the first definition,
are ones that are usually
prioritized as "functional reliability", okay?
And they have strong use cases where longevity,
and value, are at the forefront of the car.
You could say that it was probably a value proposition,
and it wasn't really meant for flash and attention.
It was meant for actually driving.
Some of these vehicles,
like the LS 400, the Mazda Miata,
the Honda civic from 2016 to 2019, the Ford Ranger,
it's a truck, still counts, S2000 Beetle,
and more, those are cars that were just solid.
However, there are some cars that came over
from the '80s in the States, '90s from overseas,
and Europe in the early double O's, then Italy,
specifically in the 2010s, that did the exact opposite.
So what's the deal with these multi-billion dollar companies
making such easy mistakes with their cars,
causing them to end up becoming financial mistakes,
for people like us, that allows us to use our FAFSA
to pay for the bill,
that we're inevitably going to get
because we decided to buy an S class, Sean?
The first thing to remember is that
most of the time financial mistakes
of today's car enthusiasts came from
a car manufacturer's inability to stay with that,
what they knew back in the day, okay?
Essentially what they did, is,
there was this over complication
of technology, system, innovation, okay?
New designs or overconfidence is what will initially
spur the rapid death spiral
of reliability on a platform.
Times where a car's budget spin and a car's technological,
that's not a word, advancement,
just didn't align.
You'd see this plague a lot of the JDM cars
of the early '90s
that were overly invested in technology
and variable performance technology, specifically,
and they just didn't work.
There were issues like the 3000 GT VR4,
with their active arrow and all-wheel steering.
Whereas, the other times,
most of those other companies could have invested
in engine motor performance improvements,
like the Toyota Supra.
Most of these cars that ended up
going through this uncomfortable puberty,
ended up sorting themselves out.
Cars like the 3000 GTV R4 would revert
and remove a lot of those extra things,
in later generations,
with the 1999 VR4 likely being
one of the purest examples of the car to date,
it is beautiful.
And I love it.
And if you own one, call me, all right?
Cars like the 300 ZX Turbo experienced something similar
with a tie cast, odd fuel injectors, and oil temp issues,
but was later sorted out in the latest models of the car
straight from the manufacturer,
because they've realized
that they shouldn't have done that thing.
They should have just done what they should,
they know how to do. Anyway!
The unfortunate thing is that people don't recall,
and don't really care
about the manufacturer's improvements
that were made later down the road,
to fix the defects from the earlier years.
And a lot of times people just, kinda just say
that they're unreliable and they never looked back,
which is pretty much what a lot of people do.
They make one blank accusation and then they never
actually tried to change his opinion.
Welcome to America.
All right, but that's the same thing
where then they say the RX7 is unreliable,
when it's actually just more so difficult to keep a lot.
Which then results in the second thing.
A lot of the things that cause this,
is people owning cars
that they're just way over their head.
And then they sell them to you,
which become financial mistakes.
Everyone wants to own an RX7.
Everybody wants to own an FD, until they realize
that you can't just fill them up with "gasolina".
Everyone wants to own an R33 GTR.
Until you realize that their welds rust
from the inside out of their wheel wells
and require a little extra care,
or you'll end up just ruining the car.
Everyone wants to own a Datsun 240z,
until they find out that they're constantly trying
to start themselves on fire,
because their electrical system
are about the equivalent of a ten-year-old with crayons.
This lack of understanding is huge
for the mistreatment of cars,
and often leads to the neglect of keeping them maintained,
keeping them healthy, or performing consistently.
This lack of care compounds into days, months,
and years until people like you and people like me
end up picking them up from that one random person
that hasn't driven it in three years
and just needs a battery,
often leading to an underwhelming ownership,
until they trade it for something less picky.
They get a Honda Civic,
the way you got a Dodge Stealth twin turbo.
They're going to have a better time.
And this cycle of over-engineered
and under-maintained cars can span the history
of automotive manufacturing.
And it happened with almost every single brand.
We know which platform they're on,
and we know what models it happens to,
but we end up buying them anyway,
and then get upset when they do exactly
what the internet told us they would do
which it's like, it's gambling.
Like, you know, you're going to lose and then you lose.
And then you're mad that you lost.
I don't understand it, but we do it anyway.
Which is why we're done talking
about the history of cars that hurt us more
than that one tease that kissed you
at a bonfire only to tell you
that you're just friends in high school.
No, we're here to talk about you wanting to own
one of these cars
that is blacklisted as a financial mistake.
So you want an early gen, N54.
I mean VR4, I mean Z31 300,
I mean,
996 non-turbo.
Any Maserati ever made.
(beep) JAG pre-Ford--
Okay. Nevermind.
Well, set down your credit card,
and grab your favorite flashlight,
because we're about to talk about what it's like
to actually own one,
and how to actually prepare for a financial mistake.
If you still want to own
a twenty-five thousand dollar vantage,
which actually sounds like a pretty fun time.
The doors, they slightly open upwards, not just outward.
It's pretty cool.
Hear me say it, and say it along with me, okay?
It's okay, to own a car,
that's not as reliable as a Honda Civic.
As long as I know that it's difficult to own.
Congratulations. You've now crossed the line.
You can buy a 250,000 mile N54.
Okay, it's not the best tip, but it's true.
If you're going to own a car labeled as a financial mistake,
you need to acknowledge its difficulty before you buy it.
It's going to just get you mentally prepared.
There's also a couple of two, three things,
that you'll want to know before sending that money order
to pick up an early gen E55 AMG.
Many of the cars labeled as financial mistakes
had manufacturer improvements later in the year,
as the generation, specifically, that you're looking at.
As such,
when researching a car that has a sustained history,
look to see if the manufacturer fixed it later in the years.
The extra couple of grand that you'll likely spend
for a couple of your newer car, will 100% be worth it,
if you can skip over the issues by buying, let's say a Z32,
versus a Z31, as an example,
or a car that had a lot of its electrical issues
sorted out in the latest year.
Good example, is an E55 AMG.
Don't fall in love with what the owner tells you
about the car that you're buying, either.
Fall in love with the car's review
from an online independent resource
that is brutally honest, okay?
Nearly every buyer out there will tell you
that their Alpha Romeo
"it never had any issues" and they don't understand why
they were considered difficult to own.
And they don't understand why the maintenance
was difficult to have, because theirs was perfect.
You'll likely be calling that same person,
240 miles later, asking for a refund,
only to tell you that they're going to curse
at you and tell you to F off, okay?
Instead, fall in love with the reviews from people
that say Alphas are difficult to own,
difficult to keep alive,
and as a new platform full of unknowns,
that people only experience once they get there.
But here's some common things
that you can do to fix those things.
Those ones are the ones you want.
That way, it's not a surprise.
Kia Stingers are great example of a car
that continues to prove
that taking this risk can and is worth it,
because the Kia Stinger is a blast of a car.
It's underrated as hell,
and still don't have a following
that's causing a price hike,
especially in today's day and age,
where you have to buy a Roller 240 for 11 grand.
Maintenance is everything on these types of cars.
Records of this work must come with a C,
you know, like records of this work.
They have to come from an actual place
that you know of, okay?
And here's a good rule.
If it doesn't have, say it with me,
if it doesn't have maintenance records,
but it's got forced induction,
don't trust the seller!
If it's naturally aspirated,
but it has three digits for horsepower.
And the first digit starts with four,
don't trust the seller!
I don't even care if it's your friend, okay?
Your friend is still trying to make a buck
on his car, okay?
That's literally everyone.
The only one that isn't, is your mother.
Your dad even would, okay?
If the professional rebuild was done
at a shop that doesn't have a storefront
and actually just looks like a house on the corner,
when you go to Google Maps it,
don't dress the seller!
All right?
I'm just telling you guys, to just,
you need to be a little level-headed, okay?
And I know cars are cool,
but you also need to be a little smart.
Otherwise you're going to be in trouble, okay?
But if you keep those things in mind
and you understand the additional work,
you understand the maintenance required
to keep the car alive, and you still want to own it,
then do it, all right?
It's an awesome opportunity.
And there are so many incredible cars
that meet the above criteria,
and truly are something fantastic to own.
Not only that, but once you've checked all three boxes,
the after-mark modification like the wheels, the tires,
the suspension, from fitmentindustries.com,
and more, will feel like a hundred times better
because you're really working to get there.
It's just more valuable.
It feels more fun.
That's why a lot of times,
the more difficult owners of cars
have a tendency to almost want to tell you
how difficult it is to own the car,
because they want a little bit
of affirmation from the community.
Difficult vehicles require patient minds.
And even with the bad rep they get,
you shouldn't stop buying these cars.
The car manufacturers that built these cars
put their heart and soul into pushing the bounds
of what a typical car was supposed to do.
And even though they stumbled a bit,
it's our job to try and keep those cars alive and breathing.
Because if you can maintain them,
they still are a banger of a car.
And if we don't do that,
SUV's will continue to take over the world.
Now I love the RSQ 8, too, okay?
But I see more Honda pilots
than I do sport oriented SUV's,
and I really don't want to use that
as an excuse anymore to be okay with SUV's, all right?
The RSQ 8 is not even an SUV.
But what do you think?
Are these cars actually worth it?
Or should you stick with something simple?
Let us know below.
And of course, if you're looking
for aftermarket wheels, tires, or suspension,
be sure to hit us up over at fitmentindustries.com
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries, and we will see you later.
Peace!
(hip hop music)