[purple gas]

On a vehichle it starts out as " where do I begin?" and eventually ends up as " where do I stop?" Where you stop is a matter of what you want to do with it. It doesn't matter if your building a project from the ground up, or buying a new ride from a showroom, with very few exceptions you never get your money back when you sell it. My last "Project" got me about 20% of what I had into it. BUT, I had a car I enjoyed driving and working on for 10 yrs. The truck I'm working on now is supposed to be a " budget driver" , so far I've spent double what I intended and hardly drove it at all. But it's money I can afford and time I've enjoyed ( despite the swearing & frustration at times). If I wanted a truck to haul things or needed reliable transportation I'd have gotten a loan and bought something to serve that purpose , knowing that depriciation is part of the equation. Be it a trailer queen or junk hauling beater as long as you can afford it and it satisfies your needs thats all one can hope for from a truck. If you treat it like a financial investment and expect to get every dollar back, or have dreams of making a profit your setting yourself up for a big dissapointment.